Davina shook her head. “I have no idea. But considering how completely different vitas and traditional vampires are, I don’t think I’d wager my life on the idea that a werewolf’s life force would be toxic to this one in the same way your blood is toxic to vampires. It’s been my experience that most creatures are rather fond of their heads and their hearts. Go for those first, and if that doesn’t work, good luck. Either way, let me know how this turns out. I’d love to be able to add more details to my library on these creatures.”
It was Trey’s turn to frown. “That’s it? No other advice to give on how to deal with this creature that nearly killed me the first time it touched me?”
Davina gave him a small smile before shrugging. “If she nearly killed you the first time she touched you, then maybe next time, don’t let her touch you.”
Before Trey had a chance to say something snarky in reply, Davina reached out to turn off the connection, leaving the four of them standing there on the top level of the parking garage, feeling no better off than when they’d started.
***
“I’m sure I’ve seen the woman you’re looking for around here several times,” the cocktail waitress said while the manager and a member of the club’s security staff shuffled through endless file folders on the computer, looking for video clips from the Sunday before last. “She only comes in on the weekends, usually late in the evening, close to last call. She’s definitely a one-night stand kind of woman. I saw her dancing with Ramiro, and let me tell you, they were getting friendly real fast.”
Trey and Connor had gone back to the club with Trevor and Hale, since the one they’d been at earlier had been a complete bust. The waitress Trevor had mentioned was still there and had introduced them to her manager. While she seemed extremely confident about seeing Cordova and their soul-sucker suspect, the manager did his best to lower expectations, pointing out that the club had thirty different security cameras. Even if Trey and the others only focused on the last hour or two of the night in question, that was still going to be a lot of video footage to go through.
Once they got to the right video files, the manager and security guy gave them a quick tutorial on how to operate the equipment, leaving shortly after that. There were only three chairs available in the security room, so Trevor and Hale took the first shift, sitting down with the cocktail waitress in front of the monitor, trying to jog her memory about where exactly she might have seen their suspect to give them a place to start.
Connor motioned Trey to the far side of the small room, the expression on his friend’s face making it obvious he wanted to have some privacy. Of course, that only meant that the waitress wouldn’t be able to hear them. Trevor and Hale could hear every word.
“Did you get a chance to talk to Samantha yet about the soul-mate thing?” Connor asked softly. “I mean, since you two have finally slept together, I thought maybe you’d told her. And gotten her to agree not to out the Pack.”
Trey glanced at Trevor and Hale, who were trying way too hard to make it seem like they weren’t eavesdropping. He shrugged. “I meant to talk to her about it afterward, but then you called telling me to get my ass to the Cedar Ridge Preserve. I haven’t had a chance to talk to her since.”
“But what about earlier today?” Connor frowned. “I thought you went to her office specifically to talk to her about being The One?”
Trey grimaced. “That was the plan, but then her boss walked in and the moment was gone. We’re getting together later tonight, so I’m hoping it’ll be the right time then.”
Connor muttered a curse under his breath. “Are you serious? How many times have we seen this blow up in our pack mates’ faces? There’s never a right time for something like this, only the wrong time, which tends to be after everything goes to hell and Samantha is running away from you in terror or spilling everything she knows to anyone who will listen. You need to just come out and tell her the truth, Trey. Before it’s too late.”
Trey knew Connor was right. But his friend acted like all Trey had to do was to tell Samantha that they were soul mates and then poof, everything would be better. What if telling her that she was The One for him—and admitting he was a werewolf—was the thing that made it all go bad? Everything was going so good with Samantha right now, even with all the lies between them. Was it really so wrong to want to hold on to that feeling for a little while longer?
“That’s her!” the waitress suddenly shouted, jumping up to point at one of the large computer monitors mounted on the wall. “That’s the woman I saw with Ramiro.”
Trey walked over to look at the monitor. There was no way in hell the waitress could have found their suspect so quickly, but he was glad for the interruption regardless. It would give him time to think if nothing else. But when he caught sight of the dark-haired woman in the middle of the paused video, he had to admit she definitely looked like the person in their police sketch, even if the image on the screen was a little blurry.
The waitress was chattering nonstop about being right until Hale nudged her out the door, thanking her for the help and promising to give her all the credit when they closed the case.
Trevor slowly moved the video forward frame by frame, trying to find a clearer shot of the woman. He found several other shots, including one where they could nearly see the woman’s entire face. With his werewolf eyesight, it wasn’t like he needed to move closer to see the image clearly, but Trey found himself doing it anyway, instinctively wanting to get the best look possible.
She looked familiar, though he couldn’t place where he’d seen her. It was only when he pictured her with her hair pulled back away from her face and wearing a hell of a lot less makeup that it hit him.
“Holy crap, I know her,” he murmured, leaning in even closer, as if that would help make the picture clearer. “She’s the woman we met in Samantha’s office. I’m sure of it. I don’t remember her name, but she was one of the other assistant MEs Samantha works with.”
His pack mates crowded around the monitor with him, looking at the woman from every angle.
“Nadia!” Hale said. “Her name was Nadia. I kind of thought she was hot in that cold-and-detached kind of way.”
Trey looked at his friend in surprise.
“How is that possible?” Connor demanded. “If you’re right and Nadia is the vita that attacked you in the park, wouldn’t you have recognized her scent?”
Trey shrugged, realizing how little Davina had really given them concerning the creature they were facing. “All I can think is that she has a completely different scent when she’s in her vita form.”
“What do we do now?” Trevor asked.
“The only thing we can do,” Trey said. “We confront Nadia and see what the hell happens.”