“Was it a big human pretending to be Kindred, then?” Cassie asked, frowning. “Because with his alien tech and that Live Ink tattoo, I don’t see how—”
“No—not human either. We don’t know what the hell he is,” Captain Perkins said shortly. “And more bad news—we got the toxicology report back. We can tell the victim was drugged, but we have no idea with what. The chemicals in her bloodstream are completely unfamiliar to us—most of them aren’t even found on Earth.”
“Do you have any good news, Captain, because I’m afraid we’re drawing a blank, too,” Cassie said. “We’ve visited every single girl on our list and none of them has any idea where The Beast lays his head at night.”
“Shit.” Captain Perkins sounded disgusted.
“We were thinking of going back to Yarrow,” Stone growled. “Maybe he knows more than he told us the first time.”
“Or the Velvet Noose,” Cassie put in.
“Before you do that, go to the HKR building,” the Captain directed. “I got a call from them right before I called you, asking to speak to the detectives on the case. Maybe the Kindred have got something on The Beast that we don’t.”
“We’ll go right away—we’re not that far from downtown,” Cassie said.
“Fill me in when you get done.” Captain Perkins hung up without saying goodbye, which wasn’t unusual for her.
“Well?” Stone looked at her.
“Let’s get to the Human/Kindred Relations building,” Cassie told him. “Maybe your people found out something mine couldn’t.”
“Given our superior technology, I would not be surprised,” Stone remarked, without a trace of humor.
Cassie punched him lightly on the arm.
“Same old Stone. Come on, let’s go.”
Seventeen
As it turned out, the HKR building was only their first stop. Commander Sylvan himself, the head of the Kindred High Council, had sent word that he wanted to talk to them. So Stone was obliged to seal the shuttle for spaceflight and take off for the Mother Ship itself.
“I’m kind of excited,” Cassandra admitted, as they left the Earth behind them. “I’ve never been to the Mother Ship before and I’ve always wanted to go.”
Stone shot her a startled glance.
“Why did you not tell me? I would have taken you at any time.”
She shrugged.
“I don’t know. I guess it seemed kind of geeky and lame to ask you to give me a tour.”
“It is not ‘geeky’ or ‘lame’ at all,” Stone protested. “I am delighted to find out you have an interest in my culture.”
“Of course I’m interested—you’re my partner!” She sounded almost indignant, Stone thought. “Of course I want to know where you come from and all about you. The same way you wanted to meet my family and see the house I grew up in.”
“It was fascinating to see all the photographic evidence your mother had of you when you were younger,” Stone said thoughtfully.
“Photographic evidence? You make my childhood sound like a crime scene!” Cassandra laughed.
“According to your mother, it was,” Stone pointed out. “I believe she told me that you were always in trouble. Is that not correct?”
“Oh, whatever!” Cassandra laughed again. “I’m still waiting to meet your parents and find out what kinds of mischief you got up to as a kid.”
“Very little, actually. I was always a serious child,” Stone told her. “And I’m afraid you’ll be waiting for a while. My parents don’t live on the Mother Ship, as you know—they still reside on Tranq Prime, the Blood Kindred home world.”
“Too bad. I bet you weren’t nearly as good a kid as you try to make out.” Cassandra sighed and looked out the viewscreen. They had passed the Earth’s atmosphere and were almost halfway to the moon by then. “God, it’s beautiful out here!” she murmured. “You know, I’ve never even been off of Earth before? It looks so small when you get away from it.”
“Seeing your home world from space for the first time puts your life into perspective,” Stone remarked. “You realize how unimportant many of your troubles are.”
“You’re right,” Cassandra breathed. Her big brown eyes were starry and bright as she looked down at the blue-green ball getting smaller and smaller in their viewscreen.
Stone reached over to take her hand and entwined their fingers. He couldn’t help it—it was the wonder in her face. He wanted to share this moment with her, to touch her as she left her planet for the first time.
“Stone?” She looked over at him, clearly a bit surprised. He didn’t usually reach out to her unless he was comforting her for some reason. He didn’t trust himself to touch her too much because he wanted her so badly and he feared his desire would show on his face.
“I wish I could take you to the stars,” he said hoarsely, unable to help himself. “I wish I could show you the whole galaxy—the whole universe—Cassandra.”
“I wish you could, too.” In the soft glow of the instrument panel, her eyes were large and luminous and Stone thought she had never looked more lovely.
They had been growing closer lately, he thought—talking about things they never had before. The murder they were trying to solve was the worst one he had ever seen, but at least it seemed to be bringing them together.
You shouldn’t hope too much, he reminded himself. Remember that she only sees you as a friend. Remember she told her ex-mate she could never see you as anything but that.
But he couldn’t help the tiny spark of hope that had ignited in his heart. He slowed the shuttle a bit to make their journey last and held his partner’s hand all the way to the Mother Ship.
Eighteen
Cassie really wasn’t sure what had gotten into her partner lately. The trip up to the Mother Ship was almost…well, romantic. The chilly black void of space was all around them but the inside of Stone’s shuttle felt like a safe, warm cocoon for just the two of them. The way his big hand enclosed her much smaller one and the way he looked at her when he said he wished he could show her the universe made her heart pound like crazy.
His scent was working on her, too—she could feel it happening. Her breath was coming faster and she was tingling all over—especially between her thighs. Maybe it was because the shuttle was airtight and Stone’s warm, spicy aroma kept recirculating, she speculated. For whatever reason, though, his scent had never been stronger and her body had never reacted quite so urgently.
By the time they finally reached the Mother Ship, she was nearly dizzy with desire. She had to remind herself, over and over, that Stone was just her partner—just her best friend and he didn’t think of her that way.
Don’t make a fool of yourself! Don’t make a fool of yourself, she thought, over and over when all she wanted was to lean over and kiss him. Stay in control—don’t do anything you’ll regret! Don’t ruin the best friendship you’ve ever had in your life by making a clumsy pass he’ll only have to reject.