rogue shifter 05 - caught between (19 page)

"Yeah, sorry. I was just thinking." I took in a long deep breath. "Do you love him?"

There was no hesitation. "Yes. I've loved him—forever. His parents and his pack pushed him to find a mate, but he couldn't imagine sharing his life with anyone but me."

"Is he good to you? Does he treat you..."

She interrupted, her tone a little hopeful. "He's nothing like his brother or his father. He treats me like—like I'm his whole world, like I'm the only woman alive." Then she laughed at me. "I love you for asking these questions, but I'm a grown-up, older than you."

"Yeah, well, I'm your friend."

"I can't remember the last time my life felt so perfect."

She was head over heels in love at a time in her life which could have been so difficult for her because of the injury. Could I mess that up for her? No way.

"Aaron's coming down for Christmas with Cathy and little Sammy. I was going to invite you and your mom, so you might as well bring Gabe too."

I heard the hiss of expelled air as she relaxed and started breathing again."Thank you. We'll definitely be there."

"Just so you know, I'll be watching him like a hawk, and if he gives you a hard time about anything, he's out on his ass." I was only half teasing.

"I'll give him a heads-up. Just try to keep your eyes green." We both giggled. I'd been so furious while I was interrogating Gabriel after the explosion that my demon magic had kicked in and my eyes had flashed orange. It kind of flipped him out. It kind of flipped me out too.

Then I remembered what Maya had threatened. "Actually we may not be living here." I told her all about the new law that might be passed regarding fae residents.

"I'm calling that bitch and giving her a piece of my mind." She sounded furious.

"Don't. Just leave it for now. It may be voted down anyway."

"I hope you're keeping a journal, this could turn into a best seller."

Before we hung up, I told her about Kellaine's request for our team to look for a fae child in the foster care system.

"I think it's unlikely. Even the half human ones have lavender eyes, don't they? And some powers right off the bat?"

"Maybe some of them are born with human looking eyes. I never thought to ask. Their full powers start coming in around ten years old. If anyone can find a child like that, it's you, Sinc. I only told her that I'd try, that's all. No promises."

"Okay. I'll check into it."

"Thanks. Try to lay off Kyle. He's doing his best."

"I know. He just sent me another batch of pictures. I get cranky 'cause I miss you guys."

"We miss you too."

"Not me." Kyle shouted from the other room. "Ow. Stop shoving me."

"Tell her hi from me." Ethan shouted in my direction, then he yelled at Kyle, "You liar. You told me yesterday that you missed her."

"Yeah, well she should be here working the case, not making hot monkey love with that two-faced wolf. Ow."

Sinc spoke loudly into the phone. "Tell Ethan hi back and tell Kyle to get back to work and stop gossiping like a teenaged girl." She and I said our goodbyes and I went inside to give Kyle his phone.

"I heard her." Kyle grumbled as he rubbed his arm.

"So what's the story here?"

"According to the ME, the cause of death for both women was blood loss. Each victim's jugular was severed by claws, definitely bear claws judging by the angle and the length. There's a lot of blood at each scene, but it also appears that some was either taken or ingested by the attacker. He told me there were no other injuries on the body.

"He's sent me autopsy photos. Do you want to take a look?"

"No thanks." That was so not my thing.

Ethan and I have determined that there was no forced entry in either of the victims' homes, so he or she might have had a key or a magical way to get in without breaking the lock. Their houses weren't warded against magic, but most shifters don't feel that's necessary. They died in their beds in the early hours of the morning.

"Why would they let someone in and then go back to bed? Unless the other person was sleeping over?"

"There was no evidence of a shared meal or even two glasses of wine or cups of coffee, like there'd be if someone was visiting. There's nothing to indicate that the victims had sex recently either. That was confirmed in the report.

"Maybe they talked and then the victim let the murderer out and went back to bed. The door might have been rigged so they could get back in. Or maybe the murderer stole a key while they were talking."

"That occurred to us as well. Nothing was taken as far as we can tell, so theft seems to be out as a motive. The victims weren't related, and most likely were strangers. The first female was a twenty-four year old cougar and this one was fifty-two, a lioness."

Ethan spoke. "I knew the cougar. Her name was Ronnie—Veronica. I'd been to her house."

I noticed for the first time that Ethan looked angry and upset. "I'm sorry. I didn't know you knew her. I'm sure Garrett wouldn't have asked you to work the scene if he'd known."

Kyle started complaining, "Great, then I would've been here totally alone doing everything myself." I whacked him hard on the shoulder. "Ow." He rubbed himself. "Your pregnancy hasn't affected your strength. I'm gonna have a bruise."

"You deserve one." I snapped.

Ethan said, "I'm fine, Jackie. She was a friend, a teacher. She used to play at the Wild. She was giving me guitar lessons. I'd rather work to find her killer than sit around."

"Are you two thinking it's a vampire?"

"There were no bite marks anywhere, but we haven't ruled it out." Ethan shrugged.

"Could a blood witch or a sorcerer have a bear working with him?"

Kyle shook his head. "Yeah, but it's unlikely. Bears aren't team players unless there's s strong bond. They're also resistant to blood magic."

"Are you testing the fur for DNA?"

"We've found no fur."

"None?"

"Nope."

"But a shifter can't grow claws without growing partial paws, which means fur should've been left behind."

An experienced shifter could change their hands into their animal paws without changing the rest of their bodies. Those paws made great close-up weapons, the main disadvantage being the absence of opposable thumbs. Shifters usually preferred to fight other supernaturals in human form using weapons, because their skills couldn't compete with a vampire's strength and speed, or a werewolf's often much larger and more powerful wolf form. A lone bear shapeshifter would have trouble fighting off weres who generally traveled in packs. I had the advantage of using magic when I fought,, so I always stayed in human form in a battle.

"No fur, but the throat was definitely ripped out with bear claws. I'm thinking someone got hold of claws and mounted them on something to use them as a weapon and make it look like a bear is doing the killing. We found some metal shavings that don't quite fit in. And there was a smell neither of us recognized when we first arrived on the scene."

"Show me where." My senses were more acute than most shifters, so I followed Kyle into the bedroom. Thankfully, the body had been removed the night before. although the disturbing odor of old blood almost made me gag.

"I don't smell it now, but it was something unusual." Unfortunately, I couldn't sense anything out of the ordinary, possibly because they'd opened the windows when they'd finished gathering evidence to air out the room.

I had an idea. "Can I try..?" I touched Kyle's forehead.

"Sure, witchy woman. Do your worst."

It only took me a moment. "Oh crap."

"If you just saw that website I went to last night...I was only curious..."

"It's demon." I interrupted.

"Holy shit."

"Yeah, exactly. I guess I have to talk to Isaiah."

"What about Garrett's sis? Can she help?"

"It's worth a try." I sat down in an arm chair in the living room and made the guys stand by the kitchen doorway, keeping them out of the way."

When she appeared she looked stronger, as if being away from the Carmel villa was restoring her health, somehow. "Good afternoon, Jacqueline."

"Hello, Marie."

"Whoa. You didn't tell me she was such a fox." Kyle said from the doorway.

"Shut up, you tool." Ethan smiled and walked forward. "Hello, Marie. I'm Ethan and this is Kyle. We work with Jackie."

"It is lovely to make your acquaintance." She smiled at both of them, doing a double take when she saw Kyle.

"Hey, Marie!" Kyle walked forward and put out his hand.

"It is dangerous for you to touch me. I apologize"

"Oh, sure. No problem."

Her eyes grew wider. "I am sorry if I am being rude, but were you in a horrible accident?"

Ethan and I started to laugh, but Kyle's glare got us under control before the tears began to flow.

He changed the glare to a smile for Marie's benefit. "You're not being rude."

"It is just that you have pieces of metal embedded in your face."

"Those are there on purpose. It's kind of like jewelry." He explained.

"It is common to wear jewelry in your nose and eyebrow?" She looked quickly at Ethan, who didn't have any studs, then back at Kyle. "This is considered attractive in this era?" Ethan lost it and buried his face in a couch pillow. I was more in control because I had to stay focused to hold her in solid form, but still, c'mon. This was awesome.

"Yeah." Kyle was glaring at us again. "Anyone who has them is
particularly
cool."

"Cool?" She looked bewildered.

"In fashion. Up to date."

"Ah. Thank you, Kyle, for explaining that to me. However, I must tell you that I am a cheetah, not a fox."

Kyle chuckled. "You are both, Marie."

Ethan explained. "He means that you're an extremely attractive female. That's what he means by a fox."

"Oh." She smiled. "Thank you, Kyle."

"I hate to interrupt this fascinating conversation, but she's here to help in the investigation."

"Hey, no prob. I was just being polite."

I rolled my eyes. "Marie. We think a demon is responsible for a murder that took place in the bedroom of this house. Could you confirm this?"

"Please direct me to the room."

She was able to confirm that a demon was in the room within the last few days and that he'd worked a spell. She followed his scent outside the house and into the nearby woods, but then the scent disappeared. I thanked her, then said goodbye, releasing her from my hold.

I was tired, but not as tired as I'd summoned her to meet Bridgett. I guess I was getting stronger too. "I'll call you guys and let you know what I find out from Isaiah."

Ethan touched my shoulder to get my attention."Maybe it's him. Take someone with you to talk to him."

"According to the agreement, he can't leave our property. Plus, Marie and I both know his scent. It's not Isaiah murdering these women."

"Okay, but be careful." Ethan warned.

As I pulled into the driveway of our home, I wasn't surprised to see that the demon in question was sitting in a chair on the front porch, his legs up on the iron railing, crossed at the ankles.

"Out investigating, little demon?"

I sat on the chair next to his. "Two shifters have been murdered. Do you know anything about this?"

"I follow your rules. I cannot leave your property and I cannot harm anyone while I am your guest."

"I didn't say it had anything to do with you, I just want to know if you have any idea who did it." I handed him the woman's pillow case and a scrap of her clothing that appeared to have been ripped from her nightgown.

He closed his eyes and sniffed the items. His mental wheels seemed to spin as he thought for a moment, probably trying to work out how to answer my question without giving everything he knew away. "I do not know who committed the murders."

"But it was a demon?"

"These articles carry the scent of a demon. And..."

"And?"

"There was talk at home about a demon being summoned to this area." He looked at me more closely. "You were at one of the murder scenes?" I nodded. "I smell him very faintly on your clothing, along with the stink of blood magic."

"Do you know why they were targeted to be killed?"

He waited. "I do not
know
why they were killed."

I had a sudden inspiration. "Give me your best guess."

He frowned at me, not enjoying my new tactic. "If I were to do such a foolish thing as
guess
, then I would remind you that blood taken with violence could become an ingredient in a spell."

"What spell?

"I do not know what..."

"Give me your best guess." I interrupted.

Now he was angry. "Jacqueline, a guess is not truth and I am only required to tell you the truth. The truth is that I do not know. There are millions of spells."

"Your guess might not turn out to be fact. But regardless, if it's what you
believe
to be true, then your best guess is truthful."

He practically hissed at me. "You are putting me in a dangerous position. Dangerous for both of us."

"You've heard something, right? I want to know." I was surprised by how calm I felt.

He grunted. "There was talk of a spell being used to thin the veil between our worlds."

"The Demon Realm and the mortal world?"

"Yes. And also perhaps Faerie."

I twisted what he'd told me into many shapes, puzzling it out, then asked, "Are there any in your world who can pass into mine without an invitation or a summoning?"

"I will not discuss this."

I glared at him, angry with his attitude. I was in control here, not him. "Please answer my question."

His eyes narrowed, but he answered me anyway. "There were some demons who were able to travel between the realms using only the magic that lies within themselves. They needed no invitation nor summons. There have been perhaps a dozen who have tried over the centuries. Some did not survive the journey. Others were successful."

"Are there any alive today who can do this?"

"You already know the answer, ma petite demon." He'd leaned his body closer to mine, trying to get a rise out of me by using an endearment of Garrett's. I didn't like it one bit.