A decidedly feline purr starts low in her chest as fur covers her skin once more, and her amber eyes change shape subtly, angling out at the corners as her nose flattens. “I like you, Agent Zoe Dawes. I think we’re going to be friends. The jury’s still out on your partner, though. Short answer? When I look like this, I feel more…powerful. More me. Plus, fur does a better job regulating my temperature than my naked skin does.”
“This is all new to me,” I say with my first genuine smile of the day. “Thank you.”
Dion swipes a rag over the bar and glances down at her phone. “Jinx is gonna be a few minutes. Can I get you a refill on those coffees?”
Clearly, I need to work on my poker face, because as soon as my smile falls away, Dion leans forward and lowers her voice. “Hon, these are Blue Bottle beans. We only serve the cheap shit at night. When it’s just me and Jinx here, we spring for the good stuff.”
This is the most comfortable I’ve felt since I started at the Bureau, and I slide a hip onto the stool and pop the lid on my mug. “It was a long night. I’d love another cup.”
“Not as long as his,” Dion says as she tops off Sin’s mug as well. “Next time, demon, you’re cut off after the fifth drink.”
My brows shoot up. “Fifth? How much did you have last night, Sin?”
He remains silent and sullen, but Dion snorts. “Bastian kicked him out after number twelve.”
“You did six shots of vodka right in front of me, one after another,” Sin mutters.
“And I burn it off in no time.” Dion slaps her ass, clad in tight hot pants, and then winks at me. “Best part of being born this way? The metabolism. When my cousin got married last year, I went camping down in Yosemite. Spent three nights runnin’ from sundown to sunup. Came back fifteen pounds lighter. Though it works both ways. My grocery bill’s through the roof.”
After another sip of coffee, I meet her gaze. “Can I ask one more question?”
Dion’s easy to talk to, and Sin definitely isn’t. When she nods, I give him a pointed look, and he mutters something that might be “Humans,” before wandering over to the railing that looks down onto a dance floor.
“What’s the one thing you wish humans knew about shifters? Or the biggest misconception we have.”
“We are definitely going to be friends, hon.” Resting her elbow on the bar, she fiddles with the strap of her tank for a moment. “That we’re really no different than you are. Most of those in the Other community are just like the friends and family you’ve known your whole life. Hell, a bunch of them are your friends and family, they’ve just never come out to you. We want the same things. Solid relationships, trust, love, respect. That’s why losing Jacinda hurts so much. And why your partner saw me pound the vodka.” Dion’s eyes water, and she swipes the back of her hand over her cheek. “That girl was the sweetest thing.”
It takes me a moment to put the pieces together, and when I do, I glare at Sin. “Seriously? When were you going to tell me you got a name?”
He flinches. “When I sobered up enough to remember I hadn’t.”
If so many of my nights recently hadn’t ended at the bottom of a bottle of Jack, I’d be harder on him for his actions. But the hell I went through only left me with one scar. His? I think it almost destroyed him.
Twelve
Sin
Jinx beckons us from the back office, and as I follow behind Zoe, I kick myself, yet again, for letting my past interfere with this case. If I had been sober last night, perhaps I could have stopped Regina. Or trailed her to find Thorn—and the missing shifters.
The very idea of seeing Thorn again, of hearing his voice, of the mere chance he could snare me in his inescapable thrall a second time… I stifle a shudder. In Hell, I endured centuries of torture. By the end, madness had consumed me. And yet, my time in the Underworld was nothing compared to what Thorn did to me.
“Sin?” Zoe whispers. “Are you all right?”
I shoot her a look warning her to keep quiet, and she rolls her eyes. I deserved that.
“Agent Dawes and Agent Sinclair,” Jinx says as she drops lightly into her chair and taps a few keys on her keyboard. “Dion says you need to review our security footage.”
I blow out a slow breath. “When I was leaving last night, I heard a woman convincing one of your patrons to go with her. I believe this woman is a person of interest in our case. Perhaps even the murderer’s accomplice.”
Jinx presses her hand to her chest. “You think this same woman took Jacinda?”
Glancing over at Zoe, I see the accusation in her green eyes. She’s learning just how much of an ass I am. Particularly when drunk. “I do. We cannot go into detail—not with an open investigation—but what happened to Jacinda has happened before. If this woman is using your club as a poaching ground, we might be able to set a trap for her and put an end to this for good.”
With a curt nod, Jinx brings up a screen showing six different video images. “If your suspect is using my club to hunt, she will regret ever being born. We protect our own, Sinclair. Not that we won’t accept the Bureau’s help, but if this woman shows up on video and we ever see her again, I will intervene and stop her.”
“Jinx, I’m new to the Bureau.” Zoe sits up a little straighter in her chair, an earnest look on her face. “But I was with the SFPD for six years. I promise you...if you let us handle this, we will find this woman—and anyone else she’s working with—and we’ll stop them.”
“Dion likes you, human.” Jinx inclines her head as if she’s doubting her manager’s word. “But I do not know you, and there is something about you that’s—“
“Jinx,” I say sharply. “The only one allowed to insult my partner in my presence is me. And we require privacy. Give us the room, and you can view the feeds later at your leisure.”
Zoe shoots me a look that could flay my skin from my body, but as that particular torture is one I’ve survived multiple times, I shake it off. It is better if she does not know anything about her Other side—whatever it may be. If she were to discover it, or use any talents she might have, she could be even more of a target than she is already. Thorn would hunt her down and invade her mind until he wrung every last drop of power from her soul. And then, he would drive her slowly, painfully insane.
I do not know how to tell her that her mere association with me puts her in danger. I did not see Regina the previous night, and I do not believe she saw me. But if I am wrong?
Fuck. I should never have gone to Zoe’s apartment. I could have been followed. Commander Eve needs to assign Zoe a security detail.
“Get your head in the game, Sin,” Zoe snaps as she starts the video playback. “I don’t know where you keep going, but it isn’t here with me.”
I draw in a sharp breath. There are times that the woman at my side seems so familiar. And very much…mine, that she takes my breath away. The look on her face now? It stirs emotions in me I have never felt before. I cannot let myself give in. Emotion—any emotion—is a danger to both of us.
It takes me only seconds to get myself under control. After all, I have had years of practice feeling…nothing. “Apologies. It will not happen again.”