His voice carries the weight of a long life—not that I have any idea how old he is—and when he says my name, a lump swells in my throat.
I don’t know this man—this demon—but he’s my partner, and I haven’t been entirely straight with him either. If I want him to trust me, I have to trust him.
“It was her eyes.”
“What?” he says.
“You asked me what was wrong earlier. At the crime scene.” I glance up at him, only to find him staring across the street. A sliver of the bay’s visible, and the blue-gray waters are calming. “I’ve seen bodies mutilated before. After weeks of decomp. You never forget that smell. It’s awful, but it’s part of the job.”
“And her eyes still affected you that dramatically?”
“Yes.” Running a hand through my curls, I search for some logic, some reason why, but come up with nothing. “It was like everything that made that shifter who she was...everything that made her a person...was gone. Like someone destroyed her from the inside out. And I’ve never seen a body that made me feel that way before.”
Shock, anger, and understanding weave together, forming a deep rumble in Sin’s chest, and I fall silent as I try to understand his reaction.
After what feels like an hour, he sighs. “There is more to this murder than meets the eye.” At my cringe, he offers up a strained laugh. “Apologies. A most unintentional pun. Commander Eve should have warned us—warned me—about this before she sent us out there. Before she assigned you—“
“Hey.”
Sin holds up his hand, “You and a demon whose past is forever linked to what we just saw in there.“ Rubbing the back of his neck, he ruffles his dark hair, and for the first time, I notice his fingers. They’re burned in spots, the smooth, almost shiny skin at odds with the rest of him that appears to be perfection wrapped in a cocksure swagger. He shakes his head and turns his gaze to the parking lot once more.
His dark blue sports car stands out like a bird of paradise amid a flock of pigeons. Particularly next to my old coupe. I’m assuming from now on, he’s going to want to drive.
After another few moments, he turns to me, his stare so deep, it’s like he’s searching my soul. Unlike inside, his irises are a glittering sky blue now, and I wish I felt comfortable asking him why they change colors. The section on incubi and succubi in the handbook was woefully short.
“I will not lie to you, Zoe. This case will be dangerous beyond all measure. Are you certain you can handle it?” he asks.
The question grates, but I can’t blame him it. Not with how I acted at the crime scene. And in the morgue. Rookies puke at crime scenes. Rookies run out of the coroner’s office and want to burn their nostrils with a blow torch.
“I’ve been in Homicide for eighteen months. Before that, I walked a beat. I was at the massacre down at the Pier back in January, and I’ve found my fair share of vagrants and junkies well after their expiration dates. I’m here now because…” I clench my hands hard enough for my short nails to dig painfully into my palms. “Because my partner tried to kill me, and I shot him.” I don’t look away, and though inside, I want to fall apart, I’ll never let Sin see that happen.
With a curt nod, he says, “Very well. I hope neither of us regret this.”
Five
Sin
Sitting next to Zoe, I try to make sense of her. Her file listed her as human, but the power behind her eyes? It is very real and very much…other.
Twice now, she has caused me to wonder if I have fed from her in the past. There is a familiarity to her mannerisms I cannot place, but yet, she is so unique, I know I would have remembered her.
As for why the body disturbed her so? There is more to that mystery as well. More than her discomfort with the shifter’s missing eyes.
She leans forward with her elbows on her knees, staring at that little notebook in her hands. If I did not desire to keep her slightly afraid of me, I might do the same.
I’m drawn to her in a way I have only felt once before. Many centuries ago. I am always in control. I have to be. Now, more than ever. If the incubus bastard who called himself Thorn was able to escape Hell, any distraction could be fatal—or worse.
Nothing prepares me for the assault of memories. Screams. Blood. Women. Men. Every manner of being in between. They all begged. Pleaded. Tried to bargain with Thorn to kill them and stop his endless torment.
I could not help them centuries ago, but if he—and the Fae woman he made his queen, Regina—are behind this dead shifter, I must end them. Now.
Fuck.
So much of that time is a blur. Regina’s voice, so sweet and compelling as she used her Fae magic to wipe my mind of all independent thought. The unnatural, horrifying sensation of Thorn—mio maestro—using his power to compel me to carry out his sick desires. To terrorize and torture his victims, to bring them to auction where other, even more depraved demons would do…such horrible things to them.
During those two endless centuries, I was able to hold on to the thinnest shred of the man I’d once been. Not enough to resist him, but enough to drown in the endless, overwhelming guilt as I helped him destroy life after life and betrayed all I held dear.
Looking down at my hands, I can still see the blood. Somehow, I found a way to break free. But those memories are gone forever. My first clear recollection is dragging Thorn and Regina down to Hell and offering them to the Devil—along with my own soul as penance for my sins.
Surely, they could not have atoned. Hell isn’t a place you simply walk out of. Beelzebub does not give out hall passes. The last demon who escaped—Stefan, I think his name was—well, he almost took the place down with him.
Movement in my periphery brings me back to the present, and I find Zoe running a hand through her hair, stopping at the back of her neck, and rubbing like she’s trying to erase the memory of the shifter’s tattoo.
My arm throbs, the place he marked me, and I force the pain away. With a hard, slow blink, I meet Zoe’s gaze, and again, the power catches me unaware. Sucking in a breath, I put another inch of space between the two of us, though I ache to move closer. Something draws me to my new partner, something magical shimmering under her skin. In the depths of her green eyes. In her voice.
Does she know? About all that untapped power begging to be released?
With the grace that comes from complete and total control of my body, I rise and nod towards my car. “Follow me.”
Zoe gets to her feet, but refuses to rush after me. Is she trying to assert some form of control? If she battles me, she will lose. Every time. Though…the fun we could have if she tried… One look and she could be a quivering mess at my feet. But I swore long ago I would never use my power on the unsuspecting again.
And Commander Eve would have my ass. Most days, that would be a small risk with a very large reward. But today? I will not step one toe out of line. This case is personal, and I will see if through. Even—or especially—if it ends my pitiful existence.
“Where are we going?” Zoe asks as she pulls her keys from her pocket.
The leather seat wraps me in comfort, and I drape my arm out the window and force a smile as she unlocks her own car. “Headquarters. I believe it is time for your first glimpse of the Bureau’s red tape.”