Blood Mate: A Paranormal Romance (4 page)

Swallowing, Bryn lowered her
eyes slowly and stared at the heap of bones around the trash can.
There was strips of skin and tendons hanging from the bones. His
flesh had been stripped quite cleanly from the bone. Ricky's body
had been eaten.

Lying among the bones was a
pair of striped boxers. Ricky had most probably been sleeping
soundly in his bed when he was attacked. He had been set upon
unawares and unarmed.

Dimly, Bryn was aware that
Scott's huge hand had landed softly on her shoulder to steer her out
of the kitchen.

Bryn turned stiffly and
trudged back out into the hall. She saw Jeanette turning in a slow
circle, blinking rapidly as she stared round the apartment. Jeanette
was a witch, and she could see auras. She saw moods and emotions as
flashes of color. When Jeanette said she saw red, she meant it,
literally. According to Jeanette, every person had a different,
distinctive aura. It was like a fingerprint. You could identify
someone by his or her aura.

Hopefully, she could see any
residual aura left by Ricky's killer.

“
Ricky was surprised,
but he wasn't scared,” Jeanette said at last. “I see
traces of his shock, and his pain. He wasn't afraid. He fought
bravely, to the last.”

“
The killer,” Bryn
prompted through gritted teeth. “Can you see the killer's
aura? Can you identify Ricky's killer?”

Please say yes.

We will hunt the murderer
down, and kill him, slowly.

Jeanette took a shuddering
breath, and shook her head. “I can only see Ricky's emotions
here. His resolve was strong, so I can still see traces. But...the
colors are fading.”

“
Fading?”

“
Only the living have
auras, Bryn.”

Bryn looked down. Ricky was
dead. Whatever traces that were left of his final thoughts and
feelings would fade and die with him.

“
There must be
something,” Bryn said angrily, snapping her head up. “Please,
Jeanette, what can you tell us about Ricky's murderer?”

“
Nothing,”
Jeanette answered, looking sad and angry at the same time.

Scott and Levi cursed loudly
behind her.

“
I don't even know if
there was just one killer, or many killers. The vibe and energy in
the apartment is decidedly male, but this was Ricky's apartment, so
it doesn't tell me anything. The killer may be male or female. But
what I can tell you is this. There is dark magick at work here.
There is no way any human or paranormal could enter an Enforcer's
home, rip a sturdy, muscular body to pieces, devour the entire body
in one sitting and not leave a single, identifiable trace. No scent
at all. No thoughts, no emotions, no lingering aura.”
Jeanette ticked the list off her slender fingers in frustration.
“This—is powerful cloaking magick.”

“
Magick?” Scott
demanded. “So a witch is involved?”

“
Witches, warlocks,
demons, mages all have access to magick,” Jeanette answered.

The Enforcers stood in a
silent circle, glaring at one another.

Levi's watch beeped, and he
read the message. “Jett's on his way,” he informed them.

Bryn saw the three Senior
Enforcers glance at one another and disperse quickly. They started
to work the crime scene quietly and efficiently, recording the
scents, sights and myriad other details into their watches.

Jett would be on the warpath
when he arrived, and no one wanted to be in his way.

Bryn's heartbeat sped up at
the mention of Jett's name. But it wasn't because she was scared or
nervous. Jett had always had this effect on her.

He had been one of her
trainers when she was a bright-eyed, bush-tailed trainee Enforcer,
and she had felt an undeniable, inexplicable attraction to him. She
had been surrounded by gorgeous, drool-worthy shifters, vamps and
demons, yet she'd only had eyes for that surly, snappy human.

Jett scowled more often than
he smiled. She saw tattoos and scars peeking out from under his
collar and sleeves. He gave the trainees hell, and terrified them
with his foul mouth and fiery temper. He was tall, as tall and broad
as the shifters and demons. Jett Riley was big and bad, and he knew
it.

Bryn had always had a thing
for bad boys. But after that terrible mistake, she had sworn that
she would never, ever get involved with a boy who was bad for her
heart.

She deserved better than that.
Yet, she couldn't stay away from Jett. He was different. He was
bad, but...he was good. He looked out for his Enforcers. He was
tough on them, but he never pulled rank on them. He walked the talk
and led his Enforcers well.

He never abused his power, his
position. He might be stern and demanding, but he always treated his
Enforcers with respect.

He always had their backs.

Bryn wanted Jett to have her
back. She wanted his mouth and hands all over her back.

Shit. She was doing it again.

Fantasizing about her boss.

But she knew, she just knew
that they would be so good together.

And a crazy part of her
imagined that...he was hers.

Bryn was unusually quiet as
she stood between Charlotte and Charlene in the Enforcers' training
room. She thought of Ricky Costello and the other two murdered
Enforcers. The night before, Jett had examined every inch of Ricky's
blood-spattered apartment. Ricky's remains were collected and
brought back to the PAC Headquarters. After the necessary
investigative work had been done, Ricky's head and bones would be
returned to his family.

Jett had called a meeting for
all his Enforcers tonight. The atmosphere in the training room was
highly charged with tension and frustration. Some of the Enforcers
masked their nervousness and irritation by cracking rude jokes and
shoving one another a little too forcefully.

Bryn kept her head down and
paid no attention to the sound and fury around her. She felt
Charlotte's hand on her arm. “You okay?” Charlotte
whispered.

Bryn looked up to see two
pairs of green eyes staring at her with concern. Bryn smiled quickly
at Charlotte and Charlene. “Yeah. I'm fine.”

Charlene nodded, but Charlotte
held on to her arm. Bryn gave Charlotte's hand a light squeeze.
Charlotte was her best friend and former partner. She was also the
PAC Alpha, Lucas Rieve's mate, but Bryn only called her Mrs Rieve
when she wanted to annoy the heck out of her. Charlene was
Charlotte's elder sister, and a relatively new Enforcer. Charlene
was mated to Glenn Constantine, the Master vampire on the Council.
Jett had paired the sisters together, knowing that they would stick
together like glue while they were on patrol and more critically,
while they were chasing rogues. Charlene watched her younger sister
like a hawk. There was no way she would let Charlotte out of her
sight and go running after rogues on her own.

Both sisters were tall and
curvy. Womanly, was the word Bryn often used to describe them. In
contrast, Bryn was slim and petite, with long midnight blue hair and
elfin features. Charlotte was always teasing her, telling her that
many of the guys found her cute.

Cute
, like a pixie or a
puppy.

Not beautiful, like a woman.

Bryn glanced at the door for
the umpteenth time. Where was Jett? He was always punctual.

Could something have happened?

Maybe he was still stuck in a
Council meeting.

Bryn fidgeted, and huffed out
a breath. Why was she worrying about him? Jett could take care of
himself.

She forced herself to look
round the noisy training room. The Enforcers were a rowdy, lethal
bunch, loud-mouthed, fast-talking and even faster with a blade and a
gun. She liked her colleagues well enough. But should any of them
try anything funny with her, her fists would be all too happy to meet
their potty mouths.

The noise and roughhousing
died down as the door slammed open and Jett strode into the room.
The Enforcers were standing around the room, leaning against the
walls, pushing and jostling one another.

Jett turned in a circle, and
managed to make eye contact with every single one of his Enforcers.
He knew them well. Knew their strengths and weaknesses. He used
them and pushed them hard, honed their skills to a fine, razor sharp
edge and made sure they were better than the monsters they hunted.

Finally, when everyone had
quietened down, Jett started to speak. “Three Enforcers have
been murdered,” he said without preamble. He wouldn't baby
them. He simply laid the ugly facts out for them.

“
Their bodies have been
eaten, and their heads dumped into the trash.” Jett narrowed
his eyes. “Whoever killed and ate them had access to dark
magick. The Council has verified that. The dark magick cloaked the
killer, enabling him to get close enough to his victims without being
detected. The magick covered and masked all his scent, his aura, his
power, thus enabling him to escape without a trace.”

“
The sick shit,”
someone snarled.

More comments and curses
followed.

Jett gave a sharp nod and the
swell of agitation and anger subsided somewhat.

“
Someone is targeting
Enforcers. The murdered Enforcers were beheaded and dismembered with
their own knives. The killer left no prints, no trace, no aura. He,
she, it, they—the sick shit—” Jett said with a nod
at the Enforcer who had yelled out the phrase, “—used the
Enforcers' own weapons to attack them. We could find no fang marks,
claw marks, bite marks, or any marks made by any weapon. The killed
stripped their flesh cleanly from the bone. Some of the smaller
bones could not be found. We believe they have been eaten as well.
The killer didn't spit these bones out. He crunched them up,
swallowed them. Devoured them. This is a killer without emotion,
without a soul.”

“
Must be a demon,”
someone muttered.

“
Hey!” The demon
Enforcers all raised their voices and their fists. “What do
you mean by that, blood sucker?”

Jett swung round and pinned a
burly vampire with a glare. “Demons have emotions, Khalid.
And I'm considering letting you have a taste of their fury.”

As Khalid stammered out an
apology to the demons, everyone piped down under Jett's stern, steady
gaze.

“
We are being targeted,”
he said, looking at each and every one of them. “Someone out
there wants your head...separated from your shoulders. But I think I
prefer your heads firmly on your shoulders. Much prettier.”
Jett looked Bryn straight in the eye as he said the last two words.

There was uneasy laughter all
around.

Jett held Bryn's heated gaze
for an instant, then went on, “We are hunters. We hunt rogues,
murderers. And we will hunt this killer down. This 'killer'..may be
one rogue, but my hunch is, we are hunting one group or one army of
rogues. The Council has given the approval for a special
investigation unit. We have to hunt these rogues down and destroy
them quickly, before they strike again. We will not lose another
Enforcer,” Jett finished grimly.

The entire room had fallen
silent. No one coughed or whispered. No one even moved a muscle.
Everyone was tensed, waiting, wanting in.

“
I will call out four
names. These are the four Enforcers in the investigation unit.”

Jett began to walk slowly
round the room. “Levi, Jeanette...”

Levi and Jeanette each gave a
nod to acknowledge and accept their positions. Bryn swallowed hard.
Levi and Jeanette had been the first Enforcers to arrive at the scene
of Ricky's murder. It made sense that they would be on the team.

Bryn straightened up and held
her breath. Was Jett appointing the four first responders to the
murder scene to the investigation unit?

Her suspicions were confirmed
with the next name Jett called out.

“
Scott,” Jett
announced.

Bryn tensed. She was Scott's
partner, and she had arrived at the scene a full minute before Scott.
Surely she would make the team...

Jett blinked, and his eyes
slid away from her. He stood with his back to her, cocking his head
at Mia and Zymfer.

Bryn sucked in a painful
breath.

No.

He was going to call out the
last name. And it wasn't going to be her name.

“
Z—”

Bryn's eyes bugged. What?
What!

He was going to call Zymfer,
the hot-headed, klutzy demon who was even more reckless and even more
of a rookie than her! And he wasn't even anywhere near the crime
scene.

What. The. He—!

Bryn lurched forward. “Me.”

Jett pivoted on his heel to
frown at her. “What?”

“
Me,” she
repeated, looking him straight in the eye.

Jett stared at her for a long
while. “Step back, Bryn,” he said at last and turned
away.