Chapter One
FINN
The first thing I notice as I walk into the room is the woman’s body lying on the floor, her blonde hair splayed out around an abnormally pale face. Just as I kneel down to get a better look, someone grabs my arm and pulls me back. It might have to do with the fact that I’m technically not supposed to be in the room, but I do feel like they could’ve been slightly more gentle.
“What are you doing here?” the man asks, golden eyes sharp. He’s dressed to perfection, not a single wrinkle in his button-up and suit jacket. His dark hair is neatly styled, very much unlike my waves.
“Working. What are you doing here?” I ask. While I know he is the one who technically should be here, I feel like the longer I engage him, the longer it’ll be before he throws me out on my ass. We don’t exactly have a good track record with each other.
“Clearly, I am investigating. And seeing as I did not hear that we were needing help from homicide, I believe you need to move on,” he says.
He’s a handsome man with light stubble, but he has a look about him that tells me he’s used to bossing people around. I saw as much when our paths crossed because of our jobs. I’m a homicide detective and he’s part of the VRC—Vampire Related Crimes.
Even so, my eyes stray over to the woman lying on the floor. I can’t help but wonder how long she’s been dead or who found her body. Since I work with normal homicide, I was not actually called in even though there is a dead body. The department seems to play favorites like that just because I don’t have pointy teeth and look like I’ve never seen the sunlight.
“Do you have permission to be here?” he asks.
“I do!” And then I return to ignoring him. I kneel down, hoping to examine her body before I’m pulled away again, but the man is far too quick. He grabs my wrist and pulls me back to my feet. “So touchy. Do you perhaps miss the time we worked together?” I was on a case a few months prior that was handed over to the VRC after I’d poured hours into it. I wasn’t pleased to be handing my case off to the other department, and even less pleased when the grumpy vampire in front of me had been the lead detective. Somehow, we got stuck working together for the rest of the day, but I hadn’t seen him since.
“No, you don’t have permission,” he said, completely ignoring my question.
“Then why’d you ask?”
And apparently that was his last straw. These fangy types are always a little quick to anger.
“Move along,” he grumbles. Clearly, we’re off to a wonderful start.
I am positive at this point that he wouldn’t mind maiming me. But before he can, I pull up my badge and hold it before him. His gold-colored eyes scan my badge. They’re such a unique color, only seen in a few vampires. Most hold the same color they had when they died, but his are a very clear gold. He takes a moment before handing it back. “What’s this prove? I already know who you are.” He sighs like he doesn’t have time to deal with me and motions to the door like I don’t know where it is even though I’ve just come through it. “You don’t have clearance to be here. It’s outside your jurisdiction, please leave the scene.”
I’m honestly kind of surprised there was a “please” in there with the look he’s currently giving me. “Actually, this is inside my jurisdiction, and I want to know why I wasn’t invited,” I say with a grin. While we are both aware why I wasn’t invited, I feel like making him say it will give me some satisfaction. What’s better yet is the scowl he’s giving me even though he still hasn’t left or forced me to leave.
“You can bring this up with your superior,” he says.
“What’s going on?” a voice I recognize asks. I turn and the new arrival gives me a huge smile. “Finn! I haven’t seen you in what feels like months!”
“It was just a week ago!” I tell the deputy chief of the Vampire Related Crimes unit.
“It sure feels longer!” Chief Brooks says.
“Aww, does that mean you missed me?” I ask as I slide in for a hug whether he wants it or not.
He takes it just because he’s that kind of guy. “More like I was hoping it was longer!”
“Nah! You love me and you know it!”
The older man laughs. “For some reason, I do,” he says as he gives me a one-armed squeeze. “Finn, you already know Detective Church, right? You guys worked together for an afternoon a while back?”
“We did,” the man says. “I didn’t know homicide had been invited to help us with the case.”
“I… don’t think they were. What are you up to, Finn?” Brooks asks.
I give him a smile. “Just happened to hear this called in and decided to stop and see if you needed my help,” I say as nonchalantly as possible.
Neither seems too convinced with my exaggeration of the truth. “Happened to hear it? Seeing as we’re on a different frequency, I’m having a strangely hard time believing that,” Brooks says.
I grab my chest as I stare at Brooks. “Are… Are you calling me a liar? My good man, does this face look like the face of a liar?”
“One hundred percent.”
I grin at him. “Actually… I’ve been offered a promotion.”
He gives me a genuine smile. He’s always been so proud of me no matter what I do. I’ve known Brooks since I was a teenager, and he was a mentor of sorts after I decided to get into law enforcement. Since he doesn’t have children at home, it almost felt like he pulled me under his wing and helped me along the way like I was family. “Wow! Congratulations, Finn. That’s amazing.”
“That I don’t want,” I interrupt. “I would like to be transferred to VRC.”
He raises an eyebrow. “Finn, you know that’s not open for debate. You can’t just join the VRC department.”
“There’s an opening, and you guys have been looking for six months to fill it. I’d like to apply.”
“Finn—” He’s giving me that tone like he wants to be sweet and nice but is also putting his foot down as father-figure Brooks comes out.
“Is it because I don’t gnaw on people? I mean, I can give a mean hickey if that’s what I need to do to get considered.”
Brooks tilts his head and raises an eyebrow. “You’re a crucial member of the homicide department, I know that much, but I can’t have you on the team.”
I hold his eyes as I stand my ground. I’m shorter than both of them and I know my thin stature doesn’t give me much of a leg up, but I’m determined. “I can hold my own.”
“I’m aware, Finn. But it’s still a no. There are no humans in our unit and there never have been because it’s too dangerous. You are a human, so you need to deal with humans; we’re vampires, so we deal with vampires. It’s not a choice. It’s what works, and it’s what keeps everyone the safest.”
I will not be deterred. “I’ve dealt with so many vampires in my life that I’m positive I can hold my own against them.”
“In an empty-handed fight, you’d get your ass handed to you,” Brooks says.