Pixie Dust (Karli Lane #1) (22 page)

“No, that’s okay Karli. I just haven’t thought about it in a long time. The short version is that she didn’t want the life I could provide for her.”

“Did you two have any children?”

 After a brief pause he replied, “No.” He finished his coffee and set the mug in the sink. He just sat there in silence, fixated on it. “I have to get going. Feel free to stay as long as you’d like. I’ll leave the spare keys so you can lock up.”

Shit, he wasn’t making eye contact with me. I definitely opened up some old wounds. I put my hand on his shoulder to get his attention. When he turned to face me I said, “Hey, I’m really glad I came over last night Vance.” I gave him the sexiest smile I could muster.

He returned my smile and pulled me into him. “I am too Karli.”

“I’m going to take off too. There are some things I need to take care of at home.”

”Are you sure?” He asked.

“Yeah, I’m positive.” I grabbed his hand and led him towards to foyer, grabbing my purse. “Good luck today.” I reached up to lightly kiss him on the lips. I lingered there for a moment before pulling away. “We definitely need to do this again sometime
really
soon.”

He moved in for another soft kiss. “I look forward to it.”

*******************

I got back to my apartment, worrying about Vance and Leo being together. I couldn’t stop thinking about it on the drive home. I called Erica to see if she wanted to come lay by the pool hoping she would distract me while we were catching up. She agreed and showed up an hour later wearing nothing but a hot pink string bikini.

“Wow, you would definitely get out of a ticket driving here in that!” I laughed.

“Hey, it’s almost a hundred degrees out there. I look good, so I figured why not?” She said, without apology. “You ready to hit the pool?”

“Yep, let’s go.” I replied, grabbing my towel.

When we got settled, she asked, “So how’s the love life? Did you break down and get in the middle of a warlock-vampire sandwich yet?”

“
Omigod, Erica
! No!” I exclaimed. “But that doesn’t exactly mean
something
hasn’t happened.” I admitted sheepishly.

“What?!? With which one?”

I shamefully admitted, “Um, both.”

Erica laughed and gave me a robust pat on the knee. “Now we’re talking! A girl after my own heart! Spill the beans
Chica
! I want all the details! Most importantly… measurements!”

I told her all about my make out session with Leo, and then my night with Vance. I also mentioned that Vance is part fairy and is teaching me about my people and upcoming change.

“Wow, that’s pretty cool. So Detective Hottie is a fairy huh? What are the odds?”

“Well, he’s only one quarter.” I corrected. “But he did live on Faerie for a while so he knows a lot about them and their magicks. Pretty crazy, huh?”

“So what is he now, your own private tutor?” She asked. “How much does he charge for his services? One BJ per hour? Hey, you’ve already made one payment! Now there’s only sixty-nine to go!”

“Shut up you skank!” I shouted as I was playfully smacking her arm.

“Hey hooker, watch it!” She laughed. “So what’s the deal with Chad? I heard he was in the other night trying to get you to take him back.”

“Omigod, I almost forgot about it!” I said. “Isn’t that nuts? The weirdest part was that I really think he was being sincere. I certainly don’t think he’s capable of changing his behavior, but his intentions seemed pretty genuine. It was very, very strange.”

“He just can’t handle the fact that you’re finally moving on. Fuck him! Or…don’t go fucking him rather! It’s a shame he’s such an ass because he is fine, and he has one helluva cock! Maybe you can just masturbate to him every once in a while. Hell, he’d never know!”

“Ah Eri, I can always depend on you to bring some class to the table.” I teased.

“Anytime, baby. Anytime.”

Erica left to get ready for work as I resumed thinking about my dilemma with the men in my life. What am I going to do about those two? I can’t keep burning the candle at both ends here. Vance and I have this really deep connection that I can’t deny. But I can’t ignore the fact that Leo is beginning to mean a lot more to me than I ever thought possible. It goes against everything I’ve ever been taught, but I actually have feelings for a
vampire.
I’d just be lying to myself if I said I didn’t.

 I don’t get it. For the last year of my life, the closest I’ve been to getting any, was from a speculum at my gynecologist’s office. Now I have two beautiful, yet horribly complex men in my life that can’t get enough of me. They both have so much under the surface to explore and I find myself wanting to know everything about them.
Both of them.

Since they were already plaguing my mind, I decided to call Vance. I wanted to know if he and Leo made any progress in the investigation yet. “Hello beautiful.” He answered the phone in an especially deep voice, making my toes curl.

“Uh…. Oh…. Um…. Hi.” Okay, so I was a little caught off guard by his greeting and sounded like an idiot. After catching my bearings I continued. “Have you had any luck with the footage from the club?”

“Yes, we have.” He said. “Quite a bit in fact. I’m just about to wrap up here. Why don’t I come over to your place and tell you about it? I can’t stay for very long, but I think you’ll be interested in this.”

“Sure. I’ll be here.”

“Great, I’ll stop by the deli on my way and grab some sandwiches. Do you have a preference?”

“Turkey on wheat would be good. Thanks Vance.”

“See you soon Karli.” Oh, there he goes with the super deep voice again! This time it sent a little shiver to my girly parts.
Yikes!

I didn’t have a lot of time so I washed up quickly and pulled my wet hair into a pony tail, put on a little eyeliner, mascara, and some frosty lip gloss. I think a girl always feels better with defined eyes and glossy lips. I put on my standard attire for ‘Spring in Vegas’ of a t-shirt and shorts. Okay, so I may have selected a slightly tighter shirt that I would normally wear. Sue me.

Vance arrived with sandwiches and went straight into the kitchen to get some plates. I enjoyed seeing him make himself at home like he’s been around forever so I just sat at the breakfast bar watching him. He handed me a plate and started eating his B.L.T. while standing against the counter in front of me. “So, our victim was a very busy girl while she was at the club.” He said. “We have footage of her with
several
different men and women, but one stood out more than the others. Someone that even I recognized.”

“Who?” I asked.

“Chad.”

I practically choked on the bite I was taking. “Say what?”

“I think Chad is our connection Karli.” He said.

Chapter 19

*********

 “What?” I repeated.

Vance laughed. “Chad and our victim were together right before she left. There’s even footage of them groping each other in the parking lot.”

“So you think Chad is the killer? “
Omigod.
“That doesn’t make sense. He’s a Zorak demon, not a Stryker.”

“No, we don’t think he’s the killer.” He said. “The DNA evidence clears him of that. But now we know that two of the three victims were intimately involved with him shortly before their murders. I’m pretty confident that with a little digging, I’ll find the same is true about Jordyn.”

“Wow.” I said. “What are you going to do now?”

“I’ll have one of my men pick him up for questioning in the morning. Knowing Chad, he probably won’t mind discussing his sexual exploits in great detail.”

“No shit.” I agreed. “Why aren’t you going tonight?”

“Because we already tried and he wasn’t home. He’s probably out whoring around somewhere as we speak. He’s going to be a lot easier to track down when he’s in bed recovering from the prior evening.”

“So, now what? You said earlier that you couldn’t stay long. Are you going back into the station?”

“Yeah,” he replied. “I want to check in with Forensics to see if they have anything on the latest murder. I’m also going to go through the tapes again, looking at people who were hanging around Chad.”

“So you’re going back to Leo’s?”
God I hope not.

“No. I burned copies on my laptop this afternoon.” He said. “I just needed Leo earlier to help identify the people she was with. I can easily email him a still photo for an ID if I see anything suspicious.”

“So you’re telling me you have a bunch of porn on your computer right now?” I teased.

“Yep. Why? You wanna watch some?” He winked.

Embarrassed I replied, “Um…noooo.”

He laughed. “So, we didn’t get to finish our conversation last night.” Misinterpreting his meaning, I blushed. He chuckled and added, “Karli, I was speaking literally, not figuratively.”

 “Oh. My bad.” Well, now I feel dumb. I probably would have gotten it in the first place if I didn’t have sex on the brain twenty-four seven.

“What other questions do you have about being a fairy?” He asked.

“I want to know about you and your training. What was your mentor like?”

“Ornessa was amazing.” He replied, completely glowing. “She was like a second mother to me. She had a daughter around my age and taught us about our powers together. She took me in despite my diluted blood, because she could sense the power inside of me. She said it was her responsibility to ensure that I used it for the greater good. She was one of the wisest, most respected elders in Faerie.”

“I wish I could’ve met her. I wish I could have gone there, even just once.” I said somberly.

“I can show you what it was like.” He offered.

“What? How? Fairie was sealed off almost twenty years ago.”

He led me over to the couch and grabbed my hands. “Close your eyes.”

“Why?” I asked.

“Karli, just do it please. I promise you won’t regret it. Take a deep breath and relax your mind.”