“This old thing?” He wriggled his fingers under the lights, so that the fiery eyes of the dragon heads glittered and burned. “It’s just a club ring. Not worth much, but it catches the attention of pretty girls.”
If he was lying, I couldn’t sense it. Not that
that
meant anything. He was human, after all. “So it’s a conversation opener?”
“It always helps to have one.” He picked up the paper and tucked it neatly into his shirt pocket. “What time would you like to meet?”
I picked up my coffee and sipped it again. “What time do you finish here?”
“Seven.”
“Then would nine suit?”
“Perfectly. Shall we meet somewhere for coffee or just go out for dinner?”
“Dinner.” I paused. “There’s an Italian place over on Rathdown Street. Small and intimate. Goes by the name of Riceni’s.”
He nodded. “Good choice.”
“I always make good choices.” My voice was a low purr, and heat rose in his eyes. I gave him a slow smile. “In the meantime, would you know if the restaurant upstairs is still open?”
“It never closes. If you head up the stairs now, I’ll ring the chef and tell him to look after you.”
“Thanks.” I slid off the stool, picked up my coffee, and headed up the stairs—fully aware of Jin’s hungry gaze following me and enjoying every minute of it.
The chef did indeed look after me, giving me a steak that sliced like butter and lashings of chips and vegetables. It was one full but happy wolf who headed out onto the street an hour later.
Once in the car, I retrieved my phone, pressed the vid-enable button, then dialed the Directorate. Jack, not the caramel cow.
“Hey, boss man, it’s Riley.”
“Good grief, she’s reporting in. Miracles do happen.”
I grinned. “I can be a good little wolf when I want to be.”
“Which isn’t often. What happened at Dunleavy’s?”
I gave him a quick roundup of events, including my thoughts on Gautier, the details about the ring, and who the little girl’s mom was.
“The thing I don’t get is how Gautier is getting around after sunrise.”
“I don’t know. He shouldn’t be able to.”
“Well, he is, so we’d better find out real quick just how.”
He grunted. “It’s a shame both victims were dead when you got there. You could have read their minds to see what information they had to pass on.”
Which was my cue to tell him about what I’d seen—and heard—in the bedroom. “Well, Dunleavy was sort of alive when I got there.”
“Define ‘sort of.’”
“He was groaning when I walked in. As I got to his side, his body sort of collapsed, and I saw his soul rise.” I hesitated again. “I swear it said Dahaki.”
“Dahaki?”
“Yeah. And I’m not sure whether it was simply air rushing out of a dying body or whether his spirit was actually trying to communicate.” Or whether I was as crazy as I sounded.
“Given the reports that suggest your clairvoyance is developing strongly in areas that are not the norm, I’d say there’s a fair chance you
did
hear his spirit speak. Which is interesting, to say the least.”
“It’s creepy, that’s what it is.”
“Maybe. But the ability to question the truly dead sure as hell would give us an advantage against the freaks we hunt.”
“Only if I’m there when they die, Jack.”
“Or if their spirits hang around.”
A chill ran across my skin. I did
not
want to think about spirits hanging around waiting for a chat.
“I’ve asked Cole to send me a transcription of the writing on the inside of the ring as soon as he can, but if you want to have a look at it, it’ll be on the recordings I sent via my phone.”
“I’ll get Salliane to dig them up. I’ll also order a check on the design and see what we come up with. What about Trudi Stone—any luck on your follow-up?”
So the caramel cow
had
gone tattle-telling. Again. “I went to the club where she worked and talked to an Asian fellow. He was wearing a ring with the same design as the ring I found at Dunleavy’s.”
“Could be a coincidence.”
“Could be. I’m doubting it, though. I have a date with him tonight, and I’ll do a little mind-probing then, but I was wondering if you could break into the Cattle Club’s records and look at his file.”
“What’s his name?”
“First name is Jin. He was born here, because there’s no trace of an accent.”
“Human or non?”
“Human.”
“Tread warily, then. Don’t let him suspect you’re something more than human.”
“Boss, I think the only thing he cared about was me being a hot-to-trot female.”
“Then keep it that way.”
“I will.” I paused and started the engine so I could turn up the heater. It was beginning to feel like a tomb in the car, and I wasn’t sure whether it was the cold weather or trepidation. “How’d Rhoan’s investigation go?”
“It’s apparently a regular feeding kill. One of the night boys can follow it up.”
I’m sure the night boys—many of whom were hundreds of years old—would be thrilled with that. “I’m heading home to grab a break before tonight. I’ll e-mail my report from there.”
“Make sure you do. And please, stop harassing my PA.”
I grinned. “I needed information fast.”
“I’m not saying don’t ring for information. Just asking if you’d be less of a bitch when you do so.”
“In case it’s escaped your notice, I
am
a bitch. Born and bred. Just shag her, Jack, and get it over with.”
“I don’t suppose telling you to mind your own business will do any good?”
I chuckled. “Not in the least.”
“Wolves,” he muttered. “Make sure you report in after the date tonight.”
“Will do, boss.”
I hung up and headed home.
I
had a towel wrapped around my body and was standing in front of the wardrobe, trying to decide what to wear, when Rhoan finally came home.
“Hey, sis,” he said, plopping inelegantly down on my big old bed. “Hot date?”
“A hot date that’s a possible lead.” I pulled out a black dress and showed it to him. “Jack told me earlier that your investigation turned out to be a regular kill. You sure?”
“That dress is too formal. You want something that has him thinking about your bod and what he’d like to do with it rather than the questions you’re asking.” He pushed up from the bed and walked over to stand beside me. “And yeah, the case isn’t connected to our Cleaver case. Peri actually thinks we’ve got a couple of baby vamps working as a team to feed.”
“Like we need
that
right now,” I muttered. “Why can’t bloodsuckers keep their kids under control?”
“Most do. It’s really only a few who run free of the leash.”
“That’s a few too many if you’re one of the victims.”
He shrugged and reached into the wardrobe, pulling out a lime-green ruched dress that had leg slits, a super-low-cut front, and open back. “Where are you going?”
“Riceni’s. And I’ll freeze my tits off in that.” Not to mention glow neon bright under the subdued lighting.
“Not if you work this right, babe. He’ll be throwing off so much heat and desire, you’ll burn.”
“That doesn’t negate the glow factor of the dress.”
“God, the older you get, the less adventurous you get.”
“
That
is a good club dress,
not
a reserved Italian restaurant dress.”
He put the outfit back. I crossed my arms, watching him flick through more dresses. It was annoying to note that most of the ones I’d bought were quickly glossed over. But then, my tastes did tend to be a little more conservative than my brother’s.
“So, what did Jack have you doing today?” He pulled out a dark green stretch-satin dress with long sleeves and cutouts on the shoulders and sides, and held it against me. “Perfect. Sexy without being too revealing.”
“Checking out a source, which turned out to be a crime scene.” I took the hanger from him and walked over to the bed. “The little girl we found turned out to be the daughter of the source’s girlfriend.”
“Both dead?”
“Yep. And Gautier was the cause.”
His gaze met mine, cold and angry. “We will get that bastard, you know.”
“I know.” I wriggled the bottom of the dress over my hips and smoothed down the material. Stretch satin wasn’t something I would have picked myself, but I had to admit, it felt smashing against my skin.
“Very nice rear view,” Rhoan commented. “I’d skip the undies and the stockings if you can stand the draft. As Liander would say, we don’t want ugly panty lines marring the outfit.”
I snorted softly. “Liander’s not the one who has to put up with the aforementioned drafts.” I slipped my heels on. “And speaking of Liander, have you seen him lately?”
“Had dinner with him.” He raised an eyebrow. “And if we’re going to get all nosy, how about Quinn and Kellen?”
“Quinn’s still off hunting demons, and you know Kellen’s the reason I was late this morning.” I smiled, remembering our early morning chat over my quick breakfast. “He wants to whisk me away somewhere secluded next weekend.”
Rhoan grinned. “That man is determined to pry you away from your vampire, isn’t he?”
Most definitely. And when the result of his determination was a really good time for me, who could actually complain? “I said no to the weekend because of the case, but I said yes to a three-week holiday somewhere exotic afterward. Jack owes me time off.”
“Man, that’ll piss Quinn off no end.” And Rhoan’s grin suggested this was no bad thing. He and Quinn might be friends, but my brother was more than a little annoyed with Quinn’s behavior over recent months.
Not that he particularly wanted me to be dating him in the first place.
“Quinn left me stranded in the middle of Airport West and hasn’t said boo since. He can go take a long jump off a short pier for all I care right now.”
Rhoan chuckled. “I love it when you two argue. It’s always such fun watching the shit fly.”
“Glad we’re amusing you.” I grabbed a dark green handbag then walked over and kissed him on the cheek. “You take care, big brother.”
“You too. And don’t forget the condoms if you’re pretending to be human. Wolves may be resistant to sexually transmitted diseases but humans aren’t, and he may think it strange if you allow sex without raincoats.”
I grinned and patted the side of my handbag. “Bought them before. Ribbed, studded, and ice.”
He raised his eyebrows. “Ice?”
“Blurb says they give a sensation that increases body heat and feels like ice at the same time. I’ll let you know if they’re worth the effort.”
“Please do. I’m always looking for a new experience.”
“Heard that about you.”
He swatted my rear. “Be polite to your elders. And get going, before you’re unfashionably late.”
I went.
The rain was still pelting down and the roads were slick. Of course, that didn’t stop idiots tearing past at a hundred miles an hour. I found myself wishing time and again I had a cop light to stick on the roof, just to scare the bastards.
By the time I’d found parking and splashed my way to the restaurant, I was about fifteen minutes late. The maître d’ met me at the door, helped me out of the soggy coat, then led me to a rear table where Jin waited. He stood up as I approached, revealing a dark blue suit and a pale gray shirt that looked absolutely smashing against his complexion. His gaze swept my length and came back full of heated approval.
I grinned and leaned forward to kiss his cheek. His skin was satiny smooth against my lips, his aftershave a delicious mix of exotic woods, lime, and tangerine. “Lovely to see you again.”
He smiled, waiting until the maître d’ had settled me before sitting down himself. “They actually asked me to work a second shift tonight. I said no way.”
“I’m glad.”
“So am I.” He looked up as the table waiter approached. “Would you like a drink? A white wine, perhaps?”
“Perfect.”
And really, the wine, the food, and the company were all that and more. We chatted about everything and anything, teasing and flirting and generally having a good time. I liked him—liked his sense of humor, the way he effortlessly moved the conversation from one topic to another. Even the brief silences were comfortable. I kept putting off questioning him until the desserts were cleared and I could delay no longer.
“So,” I said, swirling the wine around gently in my glass. I’d probably had a little more than I should have—I could feel the warm buzz running through my veins. Or maybe that was just the excited hum of my hormones. “Tell me, what do you actually do for a living?”
As I asked the question, I lowered my shields and reached out with my mind, carefully feeling for his thoughts. But I hit a protective wall as strong as anything I’d come across in the past—only it didn’t feel like the natural shields of a psychic.