Shattered Spirits

by C. I. Black

  “So we have a youth counselor, no girlfriend or boyfriend, who maybe had an argument with the father of one of his kids.” His gaze dipped to her lips.

  Her heart stuttered. “And I’m not sure that’s connected because of Kardas Grigas, the first victim.”

  “Unless that father is also a serial killer.” He inched closer. So close, but not nearly close enough. Nothing but having him deep inside her would be close enough.

  “What are the odds of that?” she murmured.

  “Anything is possible.” He dipped down and captured her lips with his. Sizzling desire swept through her. Her breath caught in her throat.

  His tongue teased across her lips. The need within her grew. It flooded her senses, every nerve, every fiber of her dragon spirit.

  With a growl, she twisted, pulling him around and shoving him against the banister. He groaned into her mouth and jerked her tight against him. Mother of All, he felt so good. She slid her palms down the muscular planes of his chest, following the ripple of chiseled abs to the waistband of his jeans and easing open the button on his fly.

  He drew in a ragged breath, stealing hers from her lips. “Capri,” he breathed.

  Her name rippled over her, sensual, hot. It vibrated with something at the center of her being, something primal. It sparked a ferocious need that was so much more than what she’d ever experienced before. She hadn’t thought it possible, hadn’t thought she could contain such desire. And she couldn’t. It seared through her, igniting her earth magic and burning across her senses.

  She yanked his T-shirt from his jeans, needing to feel his flesh. In return, he flicked open the buttons on her shirt, his own fierce desire clear in his quick breath and racing pulse.

  He slid her shirt off her shoulders, revealing her breasts and the black lacy bra containing them. His pupils dilated, the darkness leaving only a bright ring of green that shimmered as if with earth magic like a drake. Then he dipped forward, trailing his lips down her neck and across her collarbone.

  Desire gripped her and she dug her nails into his flesh, unable to contain herself. A growl bubbled in her throat, soft, round. Not quite a growl. Something else, something—

  Metal clicked on metal on the other side of the front door.

  Capri froze, her heart still pounding, desire coursing through her. Ryan froze as well.

  The click came again, then the tell-tale sound of a key sliding into a lock. A shadow moved on the other side of the door’s frosted glass window, and that shadow had a key.

  Ryan jerked away from Capri, reaching for his open fly. “Ah, shit.”

  Shit was an understatement. She wrenched her back to the door, tugging her shirt over her shoulders and fighting to do up her buttons. Why were they so hard to do up when she was in a hurry?

  But it wasn’t her buttons. It was her fingers, and the trembling need still thrumming through her. Not to mention a roaring dose of frustration. Mother of All, if it was another drake behind that door, she’d shoot him. But the odds of that were next to nothing.

  The door opened. “Oh!” a feminine voice said, her tone clear she knew something was up.

  Heat raced over Capri’s face. God, what was it with this man, this human? He made her lose all reason. She shouldn’t have kissed him. She shouldn’t want to kiss him.

  She tugged her shirt straight and turned to the woman in the doorway. Two women, actually, although one was just a kid. The teen… maybe pre-teen, it was hard to tell… was a miniature copy of the woman, dark hair, dark eyes, and a heart-shaped face. Except the kid wasn’t glaring.

  Cold seeped from the still open door, freezing Capri’s inflamed cheeks.

  “So.” Ryan cleared his throat. “I thought you weren’t going to be home for another hour.”

  “Jess’s class was canceled. Something about a bomb scare.” The woman ushered the girl into the hall and closed the door. “It was just a blown-out window on a skyscraper, but still. I thought I could spend some time with my brother. But it seems you have other plans in mind.”

  Miller’s gaze slid to Capri, and a renewed heat swept over her face.

  This was ridiculous. She was a drake. A predator. One woman and a kid couldn’t embarrass her, and yet, boy, was she embarrassed. Somehow, she’d lost control. All Ryan had to do was look at her and she lost all common sense. He was human, for goodness sake. No matter how much she wanted him—and man, did she want him—only heartache could come from being with him.

  The woman hung her coat on a hook by the door that Capri hadn’t noticed before—probably because when she’d entered all she could focus on had been Ryan. “Jess, go start the kettle.”

  The kid, Jess, glanced from the woman, to Ryan, to Capri.

  “The kettle,” the woman said.

  Jess blew out a heavy sigh, shrugged out of her coat, and rushed past Ryan to the kitchen at the back of the house.

  The woman grabbed Jess’s coat from the floor and leveled a dark glare on Ryan. “Care to introduce me to your… friend?”

  “Right.” Ryan cleared his throat again. “Capri Jones, my sister, Trisha.”

  Trisha raised an eyebrow, and Capri fought the urge to bare her teeth. “Capri? As in the pants?”

  “No, the color.”

  Trisha’s gaze dipped to Capri’s cleavage, and her expression darkened even more.

  Yeah, if Capri had had more time she would have managed two more buttons on her shirt, right up to the neck to avoid suspicion. As it was, the door had opened and Capri hadn’t had time, and she was sure right now she looked like a sex kitten playing sultry-executive.

  Trisha’s eyes narrowed. “Right. The color.”

  Well, this was awkward.

  Capri ground her teeth. She could kiss whoever she wanted, and look like a sex-kitten, too—as much as there were a few dragons who’d find that immensely amusing. So why the hell did Trisha’s interruption piss her off? Capri should be relieved. Trisha had saved her from making a fool of herself. Except now how did she introduce herself as one of Miller’s co-workers? From Trisha’s perspective, it was clear Capri wasn’t.

  “Will you stay for tea?” Trisha asked, her expression saying, ‘I dare you to say no’.

  “Ye—” Capri’s phone rang. Thank the Mother. She’d never been so happy for the damned thing to go off. “Jones.”

  “We got another one,” Hiro said.

  All embarrassment, frustration, and desire snapped away—well, not all the desire, but she’d just have to ignore it.

  Ryan tensed. He’d caught her change, as subtle as it was. “Is it…?”

  And he was smart enough to figure out it was case related. “Yeah. I’ve got to go.” Capri reached for her coat.

  Ryan grabbed it before she could. “We have to go.”

  She opened her mouth to argue then snapped it shut. Her emotions were still strung so tight. Arguing would just turn her on.

  At the thought, a slick thread of attraction slid through her.

  “Fine.” She yanked her coat from his hand.

  Trisha pursed her lips, her gaze sliding from Capri to Ryan and her expression clear. The interview over tea might have been avoided, but it wasn’t canceled, merely postponed.

  He grabbed his jacket. “And I’m driving.”

  “Are you cra—?”

  He brushed his thumb across her lips. More attraction sizzled through her, and his pupils dilated again. He knew what his touch did to her. God damned traitorous body. It wasn’t even hers, just the corpse of the daughter of a 12th century laird. Stupid human form.

  Ryan flashed her a grin, not knowing how much of an invitation showing that much teeth was.

  Mother of All, she was in deep deep trouble.

  CHAPTER 20

  Ryan marched down the hall of the Medical Examiner’s building beside Capri. His sister had the worst timing ever…

  And yet, maybe it was for the best. He needed to save Capri’s life, not complicate it. And he was sure he was a complication. H
e was cursed. That wasn’t something a person should bring into any kind of relationship.

  But there was just something about Capri he couldn’t resist. It didn’t make any sense, and he had to ignore his attraction. Once he knew what was going on and Capri was safe, he’d have to go back to Elmsville. He certainly couldn’t stay in Newgate, which meant there couldn’t be anything between them.

  Capri shoved open the exam room door and strode in. Hiro glanced up from a decapitated man on her table. Her gaze jumped from Capri to him.

  “Well,” Hiro said, “this is—”

  “The body,” Capri growled.

  Hiro frowned, her surprise at Capri’s abruptness clear. She slid a questioning look at Ryan. He’d left her a message that morning after he and Capri had finished at the youth center, but he doubted she had expected to see him with Capri. Certainly the look on Hiro’s face said this was a development she hadn’t expected at all.

  Capri cleared her throat. “The body?”

  “Absolutely, Special Agent Jones. We’ve identified the latest victim as Don MacCabe. A manager at a motorcycle parts store on Liberty. Same decapitation. I’d say a single stroke to the neck with an edged weapon like a machete or a sword.”

  Ryan leaned closer to the body. “Single stroke would suggest a certain level of strength.” The victim was average on just about every level. Average build, average height, average looks—if that could be determined after death. He was a middle-aged man with a faded skull tattoo on his right forearm and another on his left shoulder.

  “Kardas Grigas was an executive at a software company, Andy Reynolds a youth counselor,” Capri said. “Now we have a motorcycle parts salesman. Two in their early 30s, now MacCabe here is probably in his 50s. Our unsub isn’t picking them based on looks or occupation.”

  “So when we find out what the connection is between them, then we have our murderer,” Ryan said. The catch was figuring out what that was.

  “Yeah.” Capri settled her gaze on him. A hint of ice slid across his sinuses. “Could I have a moment with Dr. Yoshida?”

  “Sure.” Was she trying to get rid of him? He supposed it was official FBI business, but he’d thought he’d convinced her to let him into the investigation. Except maybe with their kiss—

  The chill shivered across his face and down his neck.

  “It’ll just be a moment,” Capri said. Had her voice softened? He couldn’t tell. “Detective?”

  Of course. She needed a moment with her friend. It wouldn’t take long, and really he wanted to give her everything she desired. “I’ll be in the hall.”

  He stepped into the hall, unable to remember the five steps across the exam room to the door. A fluorescent light a few feet down the institutionally bland hall flickered. Capri just needed a moment…

  No, Special Agent Jones. He was thinking about her in her first name again. This was bad. Of course, kissing her wasn’t great for impartiality, either. And yet, he’d had no choice but to kiss her. He couldn’t have refused. Just like he couldn’t refuse her request now.

  But the kiss hadn’t been something she’d requested. It had been his own desire. His own foolish desire. And if his sister hadn’t walked in on them, they would have done more than just kiss.

  Why did his head feel too heavy all of a sudden, and why the hell had he left the exam room? He needed to know what was going on with the case. Now he’d have to ask Jones and there was no guarantee she’d tell him everything, or rather, that little insignificant detail that might explain why Andy Reynolds was an identical twin to Pete Matthews.

  He rubbed his face, letting the heat from his palms ease away the chill in his sinuses. He needed to get back in there. Why was it so difficult to stay focused?

  He jerked away from the wall and turned back to the exam room door.

  “Hello, child killer,” a deep voice growled from the far end of the hall. Detective Cooper.

  Ah, shit. Ryan unclenched his hands and forced them to relax. An encounter with Cooper was bound to happen sooner or later, since the decapitations were his case. Ryan had just really hoped they’d meet up later. Much later.

  “Hello to you, too, Cooper.”

  Cooper snorted and strode toward him. He had the typical pretty-boy football star look. Clean-cut blond hair, square jaw, piercing blue eyes, and broad chest and shoulders. If he hadn’t chosen law enforcement for his career, he could have been a model or an actor. Except, save for his face, he oozed a sense of dark violence, a predatory ferociousness. The same sense Capri gave off, although bigger, darker, and much more masculine.

  Ryan blinked. He had to be imagining it. Cooper and Capri had next to nothing in common. They were both efficient, trained law enforcers. That was all.

  And yet, he couldn’t shake the sense that beneath their skin, they were something else, something inhuman.

  Which was ridiculous. If Ryan didn’t pull it together, Jones would ensure he never saw the inside of a police station again. Certainly not during her current case.

  Cooper sneered, as if he were a bear flashing his teeth to intimidate a rival. “Didn’t think you’d have the courage to show your face in town.”

  “Did you learn that line from a bad movie?” Ryan would be damned if Cooper forced him to leave the city again. He’d run the first time. He wouldn’t do it again.

  Cooper’s expression darkened. “What are you doing here?”

  “Hanging out with a friend. An FBI friend.”

  “And does this friend know you’re a fire starter and a child killer?”

  “She’s FBI. I’m sure she’s heard your gossip.”

  Cooper’s eyes narrowed. “You can wait for her outside.”

  “It’s freezing outside.”

  Cooper grabbed Ryan’s arm and yanked him close. “Start a fire. I hear you’re good at that.” He shoved Ryan back, slamming him against the concrete wall. The air burst from Ryan’s lungs. Cooper rammed his forearm against Ryan’s neck. “Or do I need to charge you with trespassing?” His smile said he really wanted to arrest Ryan.

  Ryan wrenched against Cooper’s arm and rammed his fist into the other cop’s gut. Cooper grunted and the pressure against Ryan’s neck eased. Ryan shoved and reached for Cooper’s wrist to lock his arm behind his back, just as Capri had done to him last night, but common sense kicked in, and Ryan staggered back instead.

  He wasn’t there on official duty. He could get charged for assault, and with most of the force thinking him responsible for that kid’s death—even if Internal Affairs had cleared him—his fellow cops would take a long time processing him.

  “Tell Jones I’m waiting by the car.”

  “Jones?” Cooper’s eyes narrowed even more. “Now I know you’re full of shit.”

  Ryan bit back a nasty retort and stormed to the back door. Cooper could think what he wanted. It didn’t matter. So what if that asshole didn’t think Capri would be interested in him.

  Except why was she interested in him? She was FBI and he a disgraced cop. Maybe he only thought he saw an attraction to him.

  No. She’d kissed him back. Her desire had been real, but was it real enough for anything more than a bit of fun? And God dammit, he wanted more than just fun.

  CHAPTER 21

  The exam room door flew open and Cooper stormed in. “Miller? Really?”

  “That’s none of your business.” Capri fought the urge to snarl at him and reveal how frustrated his disgust made her.

  His gaze slid over the decapitated body on the table. “It is when it’s my investigation. The man starts fires and kills children so he can pretend to be a hero.”

  Hiro did bare her teeth at him. “That was never proven.”

  “Let me guess, getting the human involved was your idea.”

  “No, it was mine,” Capri said. Although getting involved with the human had definitely been Hiro’s plan. Capri raised her chin and squared her shoulders. She might not be able to shoot Cooper in the M.E.’s office to get her point a
cross, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t going to stand her ground. She was higher in status than him in Court, and she wasn’t beyond using that to get what she wanted.

  And Cooper knew that. “Fine,” he growled. “What have you got?”

  “A whole lot of nothing. I still don’t know if the second victim was a drake,” Capri said.

  Cooper sighed. “Neither do I.”

  “But I’m pretty sure this third one is all human.” Hiro handed him the file.

  Cooper scanned the first two pages. “So that means Kardas was an accident?”

  “Someone accidentally murdered one, maybe two drakes? That’s a pretty lucky accident.” But then Capri had no idea how any of that explained the other two murders. It looked liked drakes, specifically, weren’t targets, but they could somehow be a part of the target group.

  The memory of Vicky, the girl with the green hair at the youth center, flashed across Capri’s mind’s eye. Vicky had an earth magic aura. What were the odds that their latest victim had some connection to the youth center? Reynolds had worked there. Maybe that was the connection.

  Kardas had been a member of the Minor Brown coterie. Or at least that’s what everyone thought. But Zenobia had recruited across coteries for her coup. Maybe Kardas had switched allegiances. If so, the connection between victims could be human mages. Which would mean all these murders were sanctioned by the Asar Nergal. That would explain Diablo’s presence at Reynolds’s house.

  But if these were Asar Nergal assassinations, why not be more subtle about it? And why not inform her, Hiro, or Cooper about them? With three so public and so close together, the humans were bound to notice. The Asar Nergal would have to call in the Clean Team to fix the mess at some point. But no one had called, which meant—

  She had no idea what it meant.

  Cooper growled. “There’s nothing in the financials or phone records. The first two victims have nothing in common.”

  “The only connection to drakes that we have is that we know Kardas was a dragon and Mr. Reynolds worked for a dragon’s company, but not necessarily directly with any drakes,” Capri said.