I let out a snort, and Tris made a sound that made me wonder if she was choking on her own tongue.
Kris grinned down at Tris. “I don’t mind an audience.” He slid a sly look my way. “Unlike some people.” He mouthed the word prude.
I elbowed him in the ribs. “Not happening, Kris.”
“Spoilsport.” He raked me over with his mercury eyes. “Besides, your nipples say different.”
I looked down at my top to see the traitorous nubs pushing against the fabric of my polo shirt. I needed to get sturdier bras.
“Oh, Kat just has pointy nipples,” Tris said. “You can’t take it personally.” She frowned at me. “You need to wear sturdier brassieres, chickie. I’ve told you that lace stuff isn’t for you.”
Oh, God. Were we really having a conversation about my nipples?
I crossed my arms over my chest. “You shouldn’t bloody be staring.”
“I’m a hot-blooded demon,” Kris replied. “And they’re practically looking at me.” He sighed. “In fact, as your friend, I’m offering my sexual services. Sleep with me.” He looked to my gargoyle companion for support. “Tris, don’t you think she needs a little extracurricular fun?”
Nightbloods weren’t prudes when it came to sex. We slept with whomever we pleased but were careful not to procreate outside of our supernatural race. Moonkissed and most types of feyblood were safe to play with, as the chances of getting pregnant were low to nonexistent. Weavers were another issue altogether. And when it came to settling down, we were expected to find a Nightblood to marry. I’d had sexual liaisons, but they’d all been relationships. I seemed incapable of doing the casual thing.
The past year was a massive dry spell, though.
Henri.
Tris patted Kris’s thigh. “There, there, pet. Keep dreaming.”
Kris faux gasped. “You wound me, Tris. Your invitation to watch me shower is revoked.”
Tris looked dismayed. Kris and I locked gazes and then burst out laughing.
Mai and Lark entered the room, and Mai’s brows shot up at the sight of Kris with his arm around me.
“Jealous?” Kris asked before blowing her a kiss.
Mai grinned. “You wish.”
Lark pulled her down onto the sofa opposite us as Kris planted a kiss on my temple.
“Urgh, boundaries.” I shoved at his chest but couldn’t help but laugh.
There was something easy and comfortable about Kris. Non-threatening and safe. He was all sleep-with-me and sexual innuendos, but it was all in jest.
“Good, you’re all here.” Jay strode in and stationed himself near the warmth of the fire.
My gaze strayed to the doorway—Henri’s spot.
Dammit. He was gone. I needed to stop looking for him.
I needed to stop waiting for him.
Kris’s arm around me tightened a little in a reassuring squeeze. Did he know how much I missed Henri? Did they all know? I needed to work on my poker face.
“What’s with the urgent meeting?” Kris drawled. “Please, tell me something super creepy has wandered into town and is in need of a good bashing.”
Jay’s smile was terse. “No. But we may have a location for the Custodians’ base.”
Whoa. “Lex finally cracked?”
Three Custodians had come to Scorchwood around ten weeks ago with the intention of capturing the prime pack. We’d killed two and captured one. He’d been high on demon blood at the time, but Lark had taken him through withdrawal, using Kris’s blood to wean him off his addiction, slowly. We’d learned that the Custodians were a group of humans tainted by supernatural blood who hunted supernaturals. They operated under the rule of a council called the Rise, who put out bounties for the supernaturals on a dark net site. Lark had hoped that with understanding and kindness, we might be able to teach Lex that not all supernaturals were bad and that we wanted to protect humanity too.
Obviously, that hadn’t happened.
Lark’s expression hardened. “He did … crack, as you might call it.” His gaze flicked to Jay. “But only after another visit from Bres.”
Jay remained unperturbed by Lark’s dagger eyes. “It seems that not having any demon blood in his system made Lex more receptive to Bres’s unique brand of persuasion.”
In other words, Bres got his hands bloody again, which begged the question, “Is Lex alive?”
Lark nodded, his eyes hard like flint. “Yes, but he is ninety percent human now, and it will take time for his wounds to heal.”
“Ninety percent human, but not human,” Mai reminded Lark with a pat to his arm. “We don’t hurt humans, but we can’t allow them to hunt us either.”
Lark nudged his spectacles up the bridge of his nose. “I know. The Custodians need to be stopped. I get it. I just … It feels wrong to torture people.”
“But we now have coordinates,” Jay said. “They have a base on the outskirts of Reverie.”
“Which is fifty miles away.” Kris frowned. “Fuck, the Custodians are close.”
Jay nodded. “There’s something else that’s odd, though. I reached out to our contact at Reverie PD to see if they’d had any disturbances over the past few weeks and found out there have been several cases of missing people. Thing is, the cases have since been buried in archives and marked solved.”
“Wait a second.” I held up my hand. “Why do we have a contact at Reverie PD?”
It was Lark who answered. “We’re the only supernatural prison in the area and the only Nightwatch agents for a sixty-mile radius. Reverie falls into our jurisdiction.”
“Although,” Jay said, “until now, anything supernatural has mostly bypassed Reverie in favor of Scorchwood.”
“You think these missing people are linked to the Custodians? So, the missing people would be supernatural, right?”
“That’s just it,” Jay said. “The missing people are human as far as Vick could tell from the original details of the investigations.”
A shiver ran up my spine. “You don’t think … You don’t think it’s the shimmer man again, do you?”
Shit, did I sound as much of a wuss as I felt? The shimmer man with his hand in a human’s chest. With his face too close to mine. With his insanity and his fixation on me.
Fear washed over me in an icy wave.
Tris gripped me tighter.
Jay blinked slowly. “We can’t rule it out, but I’m hoping that the missing humans are unrelated to the shimmer man. Last time, he used the ghosts in Scorchwood to gain a foothold and the riders to do his dirty work. Reverie isn’t the hub of ghostly activity like Scorchwood. Hell, the missing humans might be a separate issue altogether.”
Right. Yeah, he had a point. Couldn’t be the shimmer man.
Still, I’d feel better once we knew for certain. “We need to find out why these cases have been archived as solved when, according to Vick, they clearly aren’t. I mean, why aren’t the families of these missing people putting up a fight?”
Jay frowned. “Vick said that when he asked his boss about them, he acted like it wasn’t a big deal. It’s like no one wants to talk about it.”
Lark sat up straighter in his seat. “It sounds like someone cast a weave to cover their tracks.”
“Wait,” Mai said. “The Custodians had a weaver with them when they came for the prime pack, didn’t they?”
Shit. “This could still be connected to the Custodians.”
“But what would they want with humans?” Kris said.
“There’s only one way to find out,” Jay replied. “You leave for Reverie at dawn. According to Lex, the Custodians operate at night and sleep during the day, so we attack the Custodian base in the morning. The objective is to incapacitate and retrieve, but if for some reason you can’t incapacitate, then you have permission to take a kill shot. If the Custodians have the humans, you should be able to retrieve them, and if not, then we investigate the missing people as a separate case. I’ve called this into headquarters, and they’ve agr
eed we’re to take point on this case, but we can call in for backup if required.”
Daytime … I’d be at a disadvantage. No Henri, no Nightblood power … still, I’d learned that I wasn’t as weak as a human during the day. My demon gene counteracted the effects of daytime, leaving me less helpless than other Nightbloods. We were going up against tainted who were souped-up on demon blood, so some serious weaponry would need to be employed.
“Take the camper van,” Jay said. “Just in case you need to stay to work on the missing people. You can detach the camper section, and a couple of you can stay to work on the case, while the other two drive the prisoners back to Scorchwood.”
Huh? “We have a camper van?”
Mai grinned her kitten grin. “It’s for away cases. Killion customized it. It’s a camper with a cell van attached to it, kinda like a trailer on the back of the trailer,” Mai said. “We’ve barely used it. Trust me, you’ll love it.”
Tris looked excited. “You have to take me with you.”
I looked to Jay, who smiled at Tris. “You saved Kat’s life. As far as I’m concerned, you’re one of the team. Most of the action will be during the day, but you’ll be safe in the camper during sunlight and can help out in the evening.”
Chapter Three
Kris, Tris, and I stepped into the buzz and excitement of the night market. The scent of cinnamon surrounded us, and lights twinkled, suspended from the lampposts that framed the market. Holly, ivy, and red berries hung in wreaths, and a huge evergreen tree stood in the center of the market, adorned with baubles and lit candles.
Supernaturals loved Yuletide, and the weavers celebrated the winter solstice with great pomp and ceremony. The rest of the supernatural community observed much of the Yuletide cheer and revelry in our own way.
“Ooh.” Tris twirled, taking it all in. “We need to decorate the mansion.”
A spark of excitement flared in my chest. I’d been so caught up in work and pining after Henri that I’d missed all the signs of the festive season. At Ravensheart prison, we’d decked the whole place out in pretties, and Gramps always made an effort for Yuletide.
I turned to Kris. “Do we have any decorations?”
He smiled slow-burn, his eyes lighting up. “Look at you. You actually look excited.”
Sod it, I would not apologize for being enthusiastic. “Do we?”
He shrugged. “I don’t think so. We’ve never decorated the place before.”
I gasped and placed a hand on my chest. “Not decorated? Look, just because we kill nasty shit and put away bad guys for a living doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy a little festivity. Please, tell me you have a big meal for the winter solstice?”
His eyes narrowed. “No, but I have a feeling we will this year.”
“Damn straight.” Tris huffed, hands on hips. “I need my turkey.”
I nodded in agreement. “Right, first task is to stock up on decorations, and then we hit Wicked Imaginations and grab some books.”
Kris threw up his hands. “Fine. We’ll do Yuletide your way.”
Tris shot Kris a sly look. “We always play naked Scrabble.”
Kris’s eyes widened, and then he let out a bark of laughter and leaned down to kiss Tris on the cheek. “Consider that my Yuletide gift to you.”
For a minute, I thought Tris was going to faint, but she caught herself on my leg and looked up at Kris with her huge gargoyle eyes.
“I think I love you,” she said with a soppy grin.
Oh, God. My gargoyle was making goo-goo eyes at the hot demon.
Kris shrugged. “Well, of course you do.” He held out his hand. “Want to ride on a set of powerful manly shoulders?”
Oh, man.
Tris took his arm and allowed him to swing her up onto his shoulders. She curled her tail around his bicep like she usually did to me and settled in for the ride.
Kris smirked at me. “Don’t look so jealous, you can ride me anytime you like.”
I rolled my eyes. “You need to get some new material, demon boy.”
“Coooeeeee, Tris!” Tris’s gargoyle friend, Glory, came bounding across the square.
Tris climbed off Kris and slid toward her. The two gargoyles met in a hug.
Tris looked back at me. “Is it okay if I meet you at Wicked Imaginations in an hour?”
I shrugged. “Sure. Have fun.”
The two gargoyles wandered off, arm in arm, and I looked to Kris. “Where can we buy decorations?”
Kris pointed at something behind me. I looked over my shoulder to see a storefront decked with lights and a twinkling sign that said Emporium.
“Wait a second, that wasn’t there a moment ago.”
“The Emporium is a port,” Kris said. “It exists where it’s needed and can be found simultaneously in other night markets across the world.”
“There are other night markets?”
He was looking at me as if I was some kind of cute thing, something he wanted to pick up and squish.
I frowned up at him. “Cut it out.”
He crossed his arms over his chest. “Nope. I’m going to stand here and revel in the fact that the big bad Nightwatch agent, a Justice no less, knows so little about the supernatural world.”
“I know enough.”
“Like the fact that there are other Nightwatch councils?” he probed.
Back on familiar ground. “I know there are thirteen councils across the world, but because of the huge rift and what lies beyond the mist, our council is the most important.”
He walked toward the Emporium. “If you say so.”
“Hey, wait, what is that supposed to mean?”
I followed him inside and lost my train of thought because pretties, so many bloody pretties.
Oh, this was going to be fun.
* * *
Forty minutes later, after buying half the shop and arranging for the decorations to be delivered to the mansion, we settled into a booth at the cafe with mugs of hot chocolate topped with whipped cream and sprinkles.
I took a huge gulp, reveling in the thick chocolatey goodness. It was almost as good as a fresh hit of warm blood from the vein. “Oh, God, this is sooo good.”
Kris chuckled. “You have a little cream …” He indicated the corner of his mouth with an index finger.
I swiped my tongue over the spot to try and catch the cream.
He shook his head with a smile and swiped his thumb across the corner of my mouth. “Better.” He drew his thumb in his mouth and sucked off the cream.
He did it casually, but the intimacy of the action wasn’t lost on me. I sat back and patted my mouth with a napkin.
His pupils dilated. “I mean it, Kat. If you need release, I’m your guy. No strings, just a little extracurricular fun.” He tilted his head to the side. “No attachments. Just friends with benefits.” His smile was lopsided and charming.
We’d flirted for a while now, but this was a serious offer that required a serious answer. “Yeah, I don’t do no strings. I’m a relationship kinda girl.”
He frowned. “Demons don’t view sex the same way as the creatures of this world. Sex is a leisure activity.”
“What about love?”
“Love is a chemical reaction that ebbs and flows. Demons aren’t constrained by it. Marriages are made based on social compatibility or political aspirations, not love, and couples often take lovers. It’s the norm. So, sex with me would be just that. Sex.”
Not for me. Never for me. I enjoyed Kris’s company, the banter, the flirting, but that was all.
I smiled to soften my rejection. “Let’s just stick to flirtatious banter, eh?”
Kris sighed. “Can’t blame a demon for trying.” His gaze slipped over my shoulder, and his lips curved in a seductive smile. “Well …”
The reason walked past a moment later. Dark-haired, svelte, and sexy. The feyblood gave Kris a little finger wave, which he returned.
I bit back a smile. Yeah, I doubted my rejection would
have much effect on Kris’s ego.
* * *
The bell tinkled as we stepped into Wicked Imaginations, and the sound of Tris’s excited voice drifted out from between the stacks of books.
“Ooh, you naughty man, you know exactly what I like, don’t you?”
A low chuckle followed her exclamation. “Anything for my favorite customer,” Luther said in his smooth melted-chocolate voice.
That man needed to narrate romance novels.
I dove into the stacks, which acted like an amplifier for their voices.
“Look at the crotch on this guy,” Tris said.
“An exaggeration on the artist’s part, obviously, chérie. The proportions would make it impossible for him to walk without a waddle.”
Kris snort-laughed.
We took a right, which brought us to the backroom, the inner sanctum where Tris did all her research and Luther kept all the special reference texts.
Luther was leaning back in his chair, hands laced behind his head and half a smile on his chiseled, handsome face as he watched Tris pore over the pile of books he’d ordered in for her.
His stunning green eyes fixed on me as we entered. “Ah, Kat, just the Nightblood I wanted to see.”
“And me?” Kris said.
Luther made a meh face and then laughed. “Sit. I’ll fetch some tea. But first …” He pushed back his chair. “I have something for you.” He padded barefoot to the back of the room, which was lined with leather-bound books, and through a door into another room, one I was sure led to his private quarters.
“Looks like you got a good haul there, Tris.” Kris picked up a book and studied the cover. “Luther is right, that is no ordinary crotch.”
“Pah,” Tris said. “Ordinary crotches are overrated. I like my cock—”
“Big.” Luther entered the room, holding up a huge tome. “I know it’s large, but it has a section on the Dreaming.” He placed the book on the table with a thud. “When you told me about this shimmer man and the way he enters your dreams, it got me thinking. I did some research and stumbled on this.” He tapped the book. “There is a chapter on the Dreaming. I think you’ll find it very informative.”
Ghost at the Feast: The Nightwatch Book 3 Page 2
