Midnight's Master

Chapter 9

Holly walked down the hallway in Mistro Tower, putting one foot doggedly in front of the other as Dr. Drake’s words rang in her head.

Haven’t you ever noticed that you heal faster than normal?

Okay, yeah, she had-but she’d chalked it up to being a fast healer. All of the bruises and most of the cuts from the hit-and-run were almost gone now, and, yeah, in hindsight, she could see that was a bit, uh, too fast.

Haven’t you ever been aware of a thickening in the air around you? As if pressure is pushing on you?

Just when she’d been around Niol. But she’d thought that was his power.

Not hers.

Certain powerful instances or stressful situations may trigger the latent powers in you. An adrenaline surge-that could ratchet up the strength you have…

Maybe Niol brought out the inner demon in her.

Your parents-surely they knew. Didn’t they say anything to you?

Not a word about being a demon. Just the stay out of trouble and God, whatever you do, don’t take Peter’s path.

Peter. Her steps faltered. Had he been-

Her cell phone chimed. Fumbling, she yanked it out of her purse. “Storm-”

“Get down to the warehouse district.” Niol’s voice. Hard. Furious. “The bastard’s killed again.”

No. Not another slaughtered victim. “How do you know? Niol-”

“Sources, love. I’ve got ’em, too.”

The call ended with a click.

Another dead demon.

Swallowing, she punched in the speed-dial button she’d assigned for her cameraman.

Ben met her at the scene. It would have been hard to miss the place-it was the only building in the old warehouse sector that was surrounded by cops, swirling blue lights, and yellow police tape.

Strangely, though, no other reporters were on scene. Yet, anyway.

A long whistle from her side. “What the hell did you find, Holly?” Ben asked.

Death.

She caught sight of Gyth’s dark head as he stalked toward one of the cruisers. Her eyes narrowed. “Ben, start filming the scene.” Straightening her shoulders, she headed for that parked car.

“Where you goin’?”

She glanced back.

The brim of his cap shielded his eyes. “Oh, no, Holly, that guy is not gonna talk to you. Hell, even I know he hates you.”

“Hate is a very strong word,” she muttered. Her palms were sweating. Her back itching. Gyth looked up right then and instantly his gaze zeroed in on her.

Maybe it wasn’t too strong.

“Get the scene,” she repeated. “I’ll get the cop.” Or try.

Or maybe just get her ass escorted off the property.

But what did she have to lose?

This was her story. Would be, until the freak was locked away…or dead.

Gyth changed course and headed for her.

She kept moving slowly but determinedly toward him.

“Holly Storm.” The setting sun darkened his hair even more. “Why the hell am I not surprised to see you here?”

She lifted an eyebrow. “’Cause I’m good at my job?”

“Oh, I’ll give you that.” His lips twisted. “But I think maybe you’ve just got one fine connection to this killer.”

She pounced and ignored the suspicion. “So this scene is related.” Niol had been right. Cagey demon.

No response from Gyth.

“Come on, detective. Give me something. This makes kill number three.” She had no proof, but he didn’t know that.

“Actually, it’s number one.” He exhaled and shook his head. “Looks like she was the first.”

What?

It took her a minute to process the fact that the guy was actually talking to her about the case. “You’re saying the woman in there was the guy’s first victim?” If she’d been the first, then she would have been in that place for days, her body slowly decaying…

Holly swallowed.

“Looks that way.” He cast her a speculative glance. “You’re gonna have to be the one to tell me for sure.”

“I don’t follow-”

He caught her arm. “I need you to see the victim.”

Oh, hell, not again.

She dug in her heels. “I’m here to cover the story, not to-to-”

“He wants to know if she’s one of us, Holly,” Niol said, his voice like rough silk as he walked from the covering of a nearby building.

Holly didn’t jump at his approach-not this time-because she’d known he was there. From the minute she’d climbed out of her car, she’d known.

Because he wouldn’t have sent her to this scene alone.

Am I starting to trust the guy?

Sure looked that way.

Talk about twisted-she had to be the only person in the state who trusted Niol Lapen.

Gyth swore. “I’m guessing it’s not a fucking coincidence you’re both here?”

Niol caught Holly’s hand. Kissed the back of her palm. “Where she goes, I go.”

His tongue swiped over her flesh and her heart jumped.

“Bullshit.” Gyth looked disgusted as his mouth curled into a sneer. “And I’m not buying this whole lover crap-Wait!” His gaze flew between them. “One of us ?”

Holly decided the best course of action right then was to keep her mouth shut. She was too new at the whole being-a-demon thing.

“Shit.” He rubbed the bridge of his nose.

Two guys in blue uniforms wheeled out a gurney. On top of it, a black body bag was zipped up tight.

Her mouth dried up. A woman. Looked like the killer wasn’t being choosy about gender. Odd, that.

Did she know her, too?

“Hold it.” Gyth’s words were directed at the attendants pushing the gurney. Then, softer, for her ears only, he said, “Tell the jerkoff with the camera to cut or he’s gonna be losing his precious equipment.”

She believed him. Holly raised her hand and motioned toward Ben. “That’s enough. Cut for now.”

He lowered the camera with a scowl.

Gyth took her elbow and urged her toward the body bag. Since Niol still had her other hand, he followed right along, too.

“Open it,” Gyth’s snarled command.

The attendant’s fingers jerked as he hurried to unzip the bag.

The smell hit her first. Thick, cloying, clogging up her nostrils.

“Gyth, what the hell, this isn’t protocol-”

Her eyes darted to the left. Found a scowling uniformed cop she’d never seen before.

“Take it up with the captain,” Gyth said, never looking away from the body.

Her gaze snaked back down.

She saw the blond hair first. Tangled, matted with blood. Then the face. Bloated. Blackened in spots.

And she caught sight of the yawning second grin that tore across the woman’s throat.

Holly turned away. “I-I don’t know her.” Not another source. Just a poor woman who’d been slaughtered.

“I do.”

She glanced at Niol.

“Name’s Julia Powers. She worked in Paradise for a while last year. Stopped waitressing right around the time she hooked up with her boyfriend.”

“And her boyfriend would be?” Gyth pressed.

“He was Carl Bronx.” Niol’s lips thinned. “And she was one of mine, too.”

Demon.

Gyth’s jaw clenched and he motioned to the attendant. The zipper was hauled back up with a hiss.

“Tell me, detective…” A long pause from Niol as he waited for the attendants to move past.

That woman-God, what had she endured?

The gurney’s wheels squeaked as they loaded her up.

Niol cocked his head and studied the detective. “Did he take something from her, too?”

Take something? From the body? Holly’s palm pressed against her stomach. Oh, hell. She didn’t know where Niol had gotten his information, but the look on Gyth’s face told her that he was dead-on.

“How the hell do you know about that?”

Sources. The answer whispered through her mind.

“I told your partner once, there is something you guys don’t realize. Your police force has more demons than you can count.”

She could believe that.

“Someone in my department is coming to you with information?” Gyth’s eyes glittered with fury, way too bright.

“Someone in your department is scared shitless because he…or she…knows there’s a sick fuck slicing up demons and taking bits away.”

Holly didn’t even want to think about what “bits” the killer was removing. “Why did it take so long to find her?” Holly asked, her voice coming out way more controlled than she expected. “You guys were spot on the scene with the other victims-”

“Because we got a tip-off with them.” Gyth’s voice wasn’t controlled, not one bit. “Bastard called nine-one-one. Told us where to find the bodies.”

He’d wanted discovery.

Holly glanced at the black bag. But not for her. “Something’s different about her.” The possibilities had her heart racing. Maybe the killer had been sloppy-she’d learned long ago from an FBI operative she’d interviewed that killers were often damn sloppy with their first kills. Too nervous, too excited, too wired.

The wild thrill led to mistakes.

Mistakes that weren’t found later, when the killer struck again.

Gyth grunted. “She’s a woman, the other two vics were men.” He shook his head. “Wasn’t expecting a woman.”

But he had been expecting to find another demon.

He huffed out a breath. “Vagrant found her. First, the uniforms thought he was crazy or high when he ran to ’em, talking about a smiling dead woman.”

Throat, slashed, from ear to ear .

Holly shoved the image away and turned to Niol. “Still think we’re dealing with a human killer?”

A nod.

A grunt from Gyth. “The crime scene guys are gonna be scraping over the scene all night. Maybe they’ll find something-”

“You don’t think we’re suspects anymore,” Holly blurted, because he was sharing too much and not looking at her and Niol with that heavy stare of suspicion.

Holly drew in a deep breath, and caught the rancid scent of decay that still lingered in the air.

That woman-

Carl’s girlfriend. Julia.

The name clicked.

She remembered a day in the park, eating a stale sandwich and watching Carl toss some bread to the birds. “ Gotta leave soon. Meeting my girlfriend for dinner. ”

They’d never meet again.

“Are you serious about her?” She’d asked him, smiling.

“Don’t know,” he’d told her. “How do you tell if it’s love? Or just really good sex?”

They’d laughed, but she’d seen something in his eyes, and for a moment, she’d been envious.

But Carl and his Julia wouldn’t have a chance at love anymore. Dammit.

“Brooks thinks Niol is good for the killings…” Gyth spoke slowly.

“No,” Niol said, “the bastard wishes I were good for them. There’s nothing he’d like more than to throw my ass in jail.”

No response.

“But he knows I didn’t do it, and so do you.” A car door slammed behind them. “This…isn’t my style.”

No, flames and fury-that was more his style.

Punishing the damned, not killing the innocent.

Niol wasn’t perfect, she knew that, but there were some lines Holly knew he wouldn’t cross.

Well, damn…looked like the trust had come through even when she hadn’t expected it.

Now when had that happened?

During the night of wild sex?

Or when he’d ripped her world apart and told her the truth about herself?

A truth she still didn’t understand.

“What the hell is he doing here?” Todd Brooks demanded as he stalked forward. “Coming to gloat over another of his kills?”

Holly turned to glare at the detective, more than ready to rip him a new one-

He slammed into the ground. Just seemed to freeze, then he fell facefirst into the hard earth.

“Fuck,” Gyth muttered. “Not again, Niol.”

Her breath caught and she looked at Niol from the corner of her eye. An almost smile teased his lips.

Brooks pushed himself up to his knees. Shot a look that could have melted steel at Niol. “I fucking hate you, man.”

Niol did laugh at that.

Brooks rose to his feet and brushed off his hands, then his knees.

Jesus-did that count as assaulting an officer?

The human detective didn’t speak again until he was toe-to-toe with Niol. “You like screwing around with humans, huh?”

“Cara obviously does,” Niol murmured, and it took the words a moment to register for Holly.

Cara. The succubus. The guy’s lover.

Brooks’s fist lifted-

And Gyth stepped in front of Niol. “He’s playing with you, Todd. You know that’s the shit he likes.”

The rage had the cop’s face flushing. “He wants to play, then I’ll damn well play.”

Enough of this male crap. Holly cleared her throat. All three of the guys looked at her. “Niol, stop being a jackass.”

He blinked.

Gyth’s eyes narrowed.

Brooks slowly lowered his fist. “You’re still with him?”

“Um.” And planning to stay for a while, jackass or no. “Look, Detective Brooks, Niol isn’t responsible for these kills. Gyth knows it and I think you do, too.” The crimes just didn’t fit Niol’s MO.

“Now, we’ve got a serious problem on our hands,” she continued. “Some freak is picking off demons.” Yeah, and she was one, so that made her want to shake. “He’s hiding in the shadows, getting off on slicing up his kills, and probably loving like hell that you think the chief suspect is a demon.”

Gyth and Brooks shared a hard look. Ah, hit something there.

“These crimes are linked, and we all know it.” Julia hadn’t been her source like the others, but the dots were still connected. “This bastard is after me and Niol and I-”

“What?” The detectives roared at once.

Niol crossed his arms over his powerful chest and just watched.

“He’s after us.” Holly knew that with one hundred percent certainty. “The freak left a message for me at the station-a photo of me and Niol with the warning that that ‘The impure will die.’”

“Why the hell didn’t you tell us this sooner?” Gyth demanded, stepping back to glower at Niol. “Where’s the note? Where’s-”

“Your captain has it,” Niol inserted smoothly. “It was delivered to McNeal an hour ago.”

Gyth’s mouth snapped closed.

Even Holly hadn’t seen that one coming.

“He’s after you ?” Brooks shook his head. “What, does he have a death wish?”

“Perhaps.” Niol didn’t seem concerned. “If so, I’ll do my best to make his wish come true.”

“No wonder McNeal told me to shift my attention,” Gyth muttered. “Didn’t have time to explain, got the call about the body-”

And then he’d found her and Niol on the scene. “He’s jonesing for another demon kill,” Holly said. “The bastard sent a similar picture to Carl-and we know what happened to him.” Don’t think about it. Keep your chin up. Voice calm. Don’t break down. Not now.

Niol pressed closer to her, seeming to surround her with his warmth.

How had he known?

“And where’s that picture?” Brooks asked quietly. He sounded as if he didn’t want to hear the answer.

“Your captain will have it…soon.” Niol’s voice was as slow and easy as a southern summer day.

A dead body. Furious cops. Could nothing shake the guy?

“I’m going live with this story,” she told them all, aware that the words came tumbling out a bit too fast.

“The hell you-”

“There’s no way-”

She raised her hand. “I’m going live.”

Niol nodded. “Good idea.”

“Hell, you would say that.” Brooks shook his head. “The last thing we want is for the city to panic.”

“People need to be warned.” She was adamant on this. “They have a right to know what’s happening-”

“You really think folks can handle this shit?” Gyth demanded. “Do you know what they’ll do to-”

Holly exhaled. “I’m not going to broadcast any Other business, Detective Gyth.” Her intent to tell the world about demons had died long ago. “Just let the city know that a predator is hunting so folks will be on guard-and so they’ll watch things much, much more carefully.” People on alert tended to notice things the unwary never would. And maybe, just maybe, they’d get lucky and catch the bastard.

“She doesn’t need you, either of you,” Niol all but purred, “to run her story.”

No, I don’t. “I got scene shots for tonight. The body bag.” She didn’t flinch when she said it, just sounded like a cold bitch. That was hard, but she did it. “And now I know what ‘bits’ you guys have been holding back from the press.”

Gyth’s shoulders stiffed. “You can’t broadcast that-”

Holly had no intention of airing those gory details. The freak would like that too much. No, she needed to air just enough to piss him off…and to make him nervous enough to screw up. “Give me an interview, on air, about this killer. You can lead me, tell me what you want the public to know, and I’ll keep that information quiet for the time being.” Deals-the way of the world.

Gyth’s jaw worked, but it was Brooks who answered. “Five minutes?”

Ah, now he’d promised her an interview before…only to never deliver. “Five minutes- now .” She wouldn’t be put off again.

The shifter’s lips curved. “Looks like you’re goin’ live, pretty boy.”

Brooks muttered something back to him, something that sounded a lot like “fuck off.”

Her heart began to drum in the fast, steady rhythm she always got right before a shoot. “Then, detective, looks like we are, indeed, going live.”

It was the first time Niol had been close enough to watch her work. At the scene of Carl’s death, he’d arrived right after the camera lowered, and he’d been too preoccupied with blood and death and vengeance to pay much attention to the news van.

A bright light shone onto Holly. She gripped a microphone in her right hand. The cameraman had his equipment hoisted onto his shoulder and the round lens zoomed in on Holly’s tense face and the face of Todd Brooks.

She let the guy lead, as she’d promised, allowing him to make some general statements about the crimes and the connections between the victims.

“At this time, the Atlanta PD strongly suspects that the person who murdered Carl Bronx and the perpetrator who killed Sam Miters is, in fact, one and the same.”

Brooks didn’t mention Julia Powers. Niol had heard the cop and Holly talk about the woman a few moments before the camera went live. Holly had said she wouldn’t air the other woman’s story, not until family members were notified.

He’d been surprised by that. Holly wasn’t like most reporters, and he’d sure seen his share of them over the years. She wasn’t just after a story, not worrying about who she hurt or screwed to get the scoop.

No, she…cared.

Dangerous, that, because the lady might not realize it, but she was opening herself up to a whole world of pain.

Still, she had gotten herself an exclusive.

And now she may have also gotten the full attention of a killer, one who already seemed to have a hard-on for her.

“You really think this was smart?” The cop shifter’s voice was whisper-soft and came from right beside him.

Niol didn’t bother glancing his way. He liked his current view. Holly looked damn sexy under the bright light, her face pale perfection, her eyes so deep and green. That mouth…

“You’re making her a target.”

He knew that, but…“I’m the one the bastard wants.” Demons didn’t come much more “impure” than he did.

“You’re probably right on that.”

Not the typical reassuring cop answer, but then, Gyth wasn’t a typical cop.

He also wasn’t a typical shifter.

The detective was a wolf shifter, a wild, dangerous breed. And one who, instead of hunting humans, had taken a job protecting them.

Talk about screwed up. Gyth was fighting his heritage tooth and claw.

“Is it easy throwing your lover to the beast at the gate?”

He did turn at that, because the cop, as much as he might have a very small grudging respect for the guy, was starting to piss him off. “Don’t concern yourself with Holly.” A warning.

But Gyth just firmed his lips, then after a moment said, “It’s not as easy to protect a woman you care about, Niol.”

A woman you care about.

Niol’s body tightened.

“You’re always touching her,” Gyth spoke quietly. “Brushing her arm, holding her wrist- always touching her.”

Because he liked the feel of her against him.

“Watch that you don’t give away too much of yourself, demon. You never know who is watching.”

Niol glanced away and let his eyes drift back to Holly. Interviewing the human cop. Talking about a sadistic killer.

And broadcasting for the whole city to see.

You never know who is watching.

Yes, that was why Holly had wanted to go on air.

He rubbed his chest, aware of a dull ache below his heart. What the hell was that?

No way, no damn way could it be…fear.

I’ll keep her safe.

No matter who was watching.

Fucking bitch.

Her face filled the television screen. Lying green eyes all intent and sorrowful as she talked with the idiot cop about the murders.

And about the brutal killer who was loose on the streets.

Like he was the one doing something wrong.

No, no, all he was doing was taking out the trash. Putting down the monsters.

She knew that. But, oh, no, Holly Storm carried on like he’d murdered people, humans who mattered.

Not just spawns of the devil.

Demons didn’t deserve to live. They were evil, down to the core.

Survival of the fittest-and as far as he was concerned, the fittest was the human race.

Now the bitch was asking for information, for any tips on the crimes, and he couldn’t help but tense. He’d tried to be careful, but during that first kill-and Holly was at the damn scene right then, so he knew the cops had found the whore’s body-he’d been surprised by the fury that swept through him.

That demon whore shouldn’t have tried to fight me. He’d just wanted to get more information on her boyfriend. He hadn’t even realized she was a demon, until she’d attacked him and her blue eyes had flashed black.

No choice then, he’d needed to put her down.

“Police are encouraging people in the city to be extra vigilant. Pay attention to your surroundings-and stay on guard.”

Holly was such a fucking nuisance. Back in the early days, it had been different, but now…

Now she was a problem that had to be eliminated.

As soon as fucking possible.