Bound to Shadows

Chapter Four

"Where the hell is your report?" Jack bellowed, the minute I walked through the door of the day division's rather cramped Directorate quarters.

Of course, calling ourselves the day division was something of a misnomer, given we seemed to work all hours of the clock, not just the daylight ones.

"I sent it in before I left home," I said, plucking a coffee from the cardboard tray I was holding and handing it to him.

He sniffed the coffee and looked somewhat mollified. I'd learned some time ago that while Jack could drink any sort of coffee—good or bad—it paid to get the good stuff from Beans when I was in his bad books.

"You were supposed to send it in by five," he said, slightly less loudly. "This one could get nasty, Riley. We need to keep on top of it."

"I know." I gave Kade a grin of greeting as I handed him his coffee, then plucked my own free and tossed the cardboard tray in the trash. "Did Cole come up with anything unusual in the autopsy?"

"No. The body and the saw are clean."

I frowned as I walked around my desk and sat down. "That almost suggests a professional hit."

"If we have three men beheaded in the same way, then yes, I do think we are dealing with professionals."

"So Henry Gateway's death is connected to Haven's?"

"You know, you could read the report and find out for yourself," Jack noted dryly. "But yes, Gateway was killed by the same method as Haven, although it wasn't the same saw, and we haven't yet found the one that was used on Gateway."

"It's a particularly brutal way to murder someone," Kade commented. "It seems to me that the killers are intent on attracting attention more than merely killing."

I glanced at him. The harsh fluorescent lighting gave his normally warm red-brown skin a sallow look, and there were dark shadows under his eyes. Amusement bubbled through me. Several more mares from his herd had given birth recently—meaning he now had a grand total of nine kids—but it looked as if having that many youngsters in the one household was beginning to take its toll.

"If we're dealing with a gang intent on stirring up trouble between the vampires and the humans," I said, "then it's highly likely they do want attention."

"Which is why I've put a lock on the press for the moment." Jack took a sip of his coffee, then added, "And why I want this murder solved as soon as possible."

"Hard to track down a killer who leaves no clues," I muttered, logging onto the computer and leaning forward for the system to scan my retina. "I don't suppose you'd know if there's a connection between the three murdered men?"

I glanced at him as I said it, and saw the slight hesitation. Meaning there was a connection all right, but he wasn't revealing it. Which made me wonder if the vampire council was somehow involved. Jack might answer to his sister, but she answered to the council. She was on it.

"We're still checking into that possibility," he said eventually. Meaning he was still getting clearance to discuss it with the plebs.

"The sooner we know the better."

If only because, if we knew the connection, we had a chance of stopping the next murder. But Jack knew all that—he'd been at this game a lot longer than me.

Jack grunted. "Did you get anything useful from the witness?"

I restrained the urge to point out that it was in my report, and said, "Well, she wasn't really a witness, more a relayer of information. And the man who paid her to call was apparently disguised, so that's not much help."

"Did you check the security recordings?" Kade asked. "They might show something."

"Starke said he didn't use electronic security."

"Then the bastard is lying," Jack said. "Clubs like that must have full scale security by law. Requisition the tapes."

"Requisitioning them might not be wise," Kade said. "If he wanted the Directorate to see them, he would have mentioned them. Asking for them through official channels merely gives him time to dispose of them."

I gave Kade a somewhat filthy look, which only made him raise his eyebrows and look amused. I suppose he wasn't to know that confronting Starke—or rather, confronting his overt sexuality—was not something I wanted right now. Not after barely escaping his presence the first time with my dignity intact.

"That's certainly possible. Go view those tapes, Riley," Jack ordered. "And if Starke tries to deny their existence, tell him I'm ready and willing to conduct a little interview with him."

"That makes it sound like there's a whole lot of history between you and Starke, boss."

"Let's just say we've had a few run-ins over the years, and leave it at that." He pushed away from the desk he'd been leaning against, and added, "But before you talk to Starke, I want you and Kade to head over to Keilor. A woman named Renatta Bailey was found dead in her home a couple of days ago, and the police have called us in."

"So they suspect non-human involvement?" Kade asked, suddenly looking far more interested in the proceedings. Maybe it was the office work that was getting him down—something I totally understood, and the reason I tended to avoid it where ever possible.

"They have no idea what to suspect," Jack said. "They fast-tracked the autopsy and found no external or internal causes. She just died."

"People don't usually just up and die," I said. "There has to be a reason, even if it's as simple as old age."

"She was twenty and in good health, so old age and organ failure are out, as are drugs or other substances. As I said, there was no obvious reason for her death."

"So why has it been fast-tracked to us?" I asked. "And why has it suddenly got priority over the beheadings? If the autopsy couldn't find a cause of death, and the police couldn't find anything suspicious, why do they think we can solve the case?"

"It's been fast-tracked to us because the woman who died is the niece of the governor, and he wants us on it."

"Political clout is a wonderful thing when it's abused," Kade muttered, echoing my sentiments exactly.

"Abuse or not, we'll look into it. And you, dear Riley, are on the case because you're the only one who can see souls. If she's hanging about and feeling talkative, it might be a quick way to solve this one and get back to the important crimes."

As if things were ever that simple. I glanced at Kade as Jack walked out of the room. "You got time to head over there now?"

"Hell yeah," he said, standing and stretching. "Some fresh air would be good."

My gaze traveled up the long length of him, pausing briefly on the washboard abs his hiked-up shirt revealed before moving on past his broad shoulders and muscular arms. Arms that could hold a girl just right, although they hadn't held me for quite a while now. Jack's no fraternizing rule and my own commitment to my relationship with Quinn had seen to that.

"What case has Jack got you working on right now?" I pulled my gaze away from his magnificent form and called up Cole's autopsy report. I didn't bother looking at it, just redirected to my car's onboard so I could check it out later.

"Some stupid vamp is feeding on kids at Luna Park." Which was one of the local amusement parks. Kade walked around the desk and offered me his arm. "Jack wants him stopped before it goes too far. I've spent the whole fucking day going through witness reports."

I smiled and hooked my arm through his, letting him escort me to the elevator. His scent spun around me, rich and fresh, reminding me of sunshine and freshly cut grass. "Like the new aftershave," I said, then added, "So why aren't you out there talking to the witnesses yourself?"

"It'd take too long, and it's only repeating work the cops have already done."

"If the reports didn't give the cops anything, then they're unlikely to give you anything."

He shrugged. "Jack said read them, so read them I am."

Fair enough. "So this vampire hasn't killed yet?"

"No, but he's come close. Last week he attacked a couple of nine year olds who'd just come out of the ghost train ride, and dragged one into the shadows to feed on him. The other kid's screams attracted help, but the vamp had escaped by then."

Which explained why there was a kill order out on a vampire who hadn't actually killed yet. Any vamp stupid enough to attack little kids deserved to die.

"If all the attacks have been at Luna Park, then maybe he's holed up somewhere near there."

"I've done a thorough search of the area, and I can't find anything remotely resembling a vamp den."

"Yeah," I said, pressing the garage button as the door swished closed and zoomed us upwards. "But you're running on regular senses—"

"Well, no," he interrupted. "I'm an empath, remember? I couldn't feel him, though."

"But someone has to actually be emoting for you to sense them, don't they? And if he was asleep and not emoting, you wouldn't sense him."

"True." He glanced at me. "I'm sure you're working up to some point with these questions, but I'm damned if I can figure out what."

I grinned. "It's easy. I'll help you find your attacker, and you help me find the moron hacking heads off vampires."

"Deal—though Jack may not approve."

"Jack wants this case solved fast. I doubt he's going to quibble."

"You haven't seen the backlog of cases we have, obviously."

"I try to avoid backlogs," I said, voice solemn but amusement twitching my lips. "They're bad for the health."

"Your health will be on a downward spiral if Jack hears that."

I patted his hand lightly. "But he won't hear, will he? Because otherwise I'll have to tell Sable you've been flirting with the secretary on the ninth floor again."

"It's a stallion's job to flirt," he said, with a twinkle in his eye as he opened the driver's side door and ushered me in.

"Not when you've agreed to hold herd numbers at fifteen."

"Who said anything about adding to the herd?" His grin was mischievous. "I was merely offering to show her the advantages of being with a stallion."

Having tasted those delights myself, I couldn't help feeling a little envious. I might have Quinn, and I might have my soul mate, but that didn't stop the wolf from occasionally hungering for the pleasures to be found in the arms of others. I could have chosen to follow those desires had I wished, but only because I hadn't yet sworn my love to the moon for either man. Although there was only one man with whom I'd take that step, and it sure as hell wasn't my soul mate.

"You're incorrigable."

"That's why you all love me so much," he agreed, slamming the door shut and walking around to the passenger side. "And any time you want to revisit past pleasures, just say the word."

"Jack would kill us." I started up the car and reversed out. "And no amount of sex—no matter how brilliant—is worth facing his fury."

"He'll be even more furious if you crash the damn car again. I should be driving, you know."

"I haven't had an accident for over a month. You're perfectly safe."

He gave me a look of complete disbelief, then leaned forward and switched the onboard on. After identifying himself, he called up the police reports on Renatta Bailey's. "Okay, she lives at 13 Hope Street. Head onto the freeway, and I'll direct you once we get there."

I nodded. "Nothing illuminating in the report?"

"Nothing much more than what Jack's already told us." He frowned. "They interviewed her workmates, who said she hadn't been sleeping properly for the last week. Apparently she looked tired and run down as a result, but nothing more than that."

"So if she wasn't sick, maybe she was enjoying a little too much sex."

"Totally possible if she'd had a lover. But according to the report, her last relationship ended six months ago and she wasn't seeing anyone."

Which didn't mean she wasn't having sex. Although I guess the report would have mentioned it if she'd tumbled anyone recently. "If she'd run herself to the ground, the autopsy would have picked it up, wouldn't it?"

"I would have thought so." He leaned back in the seat and shrugged. "Sometimes people just die. It happens."

"Yeah, but apparently it shouldn't happen to the niece of the governor."

We drove on in silence, and quickly reached Hope Street. I parked in the driveway and climbed out. The air was fresh and filled with the scent of the nearby wattle trees and the happy buzzing of bees. The house itself was nondescript—just another large, brown-brick, double fronted house in a street filled with them. The only differences seemed to be the color of the roof tiles.

"She died four days ago," Kade said, walking up the steps and opening the screen door. "I can't see how us coming here now is going to help solve the case."

"I think the point is more us being seen. Jack may hate politicians using the Directorate like this, but those men sign the paychecks, so he does what he has to."

I held the screen door open as he got out what looked like a small black box from his pocket and pressed it against the door lock. A second later, there was a beep and the door clicked open.

"Still carrying illegal electronic lock pickers in your pocket, I see," I said, voice deadpan.

"Unlike you, I prefer not to break down doors." He stood to one side and waved me on. "After you, sweet cheeks."

I snorted and stepped past him. The hallway was dark, and the air had that slightly musty odor of rooms locked up for too long. Which was odd considering Renatta had only been dead for four days.

I looked through the first doorway. It was a bedroom, but obviously not the main one, unless Renatta slept in a single bed. Which I doubted, because it didn't smell used. I walked on.

"Her bedroom is the next on the left," Kade said.

I glanced at him over my shoulder. "How can you tell?"

"There's an echo of ecstasy coming from it."

"Ecstasy? So she did have sex before she died?"

"From what I'm sensing, yes."

I walked into the room and stopped near the end of the bed. The pale sheets were rumpled and the lingering scent of humanity and death emanated from them. I couldn't smell anything else—certainly not sex or even ecstasy.

"Renatta was alone in the bed when she died. I'd smell it if it were otherwise." I looked around the room. It wasn't plush or girlie in design, but more what I'd term 'beachy'. Her furniture was simple and classic, in sun-bleached hues paired with natural, neutral textures. On her dresser were several stands that were full of earrings and rings, and a jewelry case was open, revealing a goodly quality of gold chains and pendants. Whatever had happened here, it certainly hadn't involved robbery. White fingerprint dust lay over everything, even the many perfume bottles. The police had given the room a good going over.

"If the sense of ecstasy is still strong enough to linger, why wouldn't the fact that she'd had sex been picked up?" I asked, my gaze moving back to the bed.

"I don't know." He stood beside me, his hands on his hips and his gaze on the bed. "But regardless of the fact that it wasn't, I'm quite sure she was having a damn fine time before she passed away—and it wasn't just for the one night. It's too strong a sensation for that."

"So maybe someone cleaned her up before her death was reported?" I spotted her purse on the bedside table and moved around to take a look. "Or maybe she was a lesbian, which would explain the lack of sperm."

"It's possible, although if she was in bed with a woman, you'd be picking up the scent, wouldn't you?"

"Yeah. I'm not getting any vibrations along the clairvoyant lines, either, so her soul hasn't hung about for a chat."

"Meaning it was a natural death?"

I shrugged. "Maybe. Or maybe it was a death she went to willingly." Souls didn't seem to hang about in that case, either.

I opened up her purse and went through it. There were over one hundred dollars sitting in it, as well as several credit cards. There were also half a dozen business cards, all of them for vampire clubs—the higher end ones, not clubs like Dante's. I plucked one out and showed it to Kade.

He raised an eyebrow. "The police report didn't mention that she was a blood whore."

"Maybe daddy hushed it up." It certainly wouldn't be the first time that had happened. "There's been enough press about them lately to make it an unpalatable connection for anyone in power."

Kade snorted. "Yeah, but he also wants her death solved, and that's hard to do if we haven't got all the facts."

"So there was no mention of vampire bite marks in the report?"

"None. If she was a whore, she hadn't gone to the clubs for a while."

"From what I've heard, it's as hard for a whore to give the clubs up as it is for a drug addict to give up substance abuse."

"We don't know she was an addict."

"She's got six business cards in her purse. That suggests a more than casual interest." I put the purse back on the bedside table. "Maybe whoever she was with found out about the addiction and found a sneaky way to get rid of her. "

"Maybe." His voice was lazy, but his expression was intent as he walked around the bed. I didn't say anything, just watched him. After a moment, he added, "There is something else here."

I raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"I don't know. It's very faint." He hesitated, then walked across to the dresser mirror. "It came through here."

"Through the mirror?"

He glanced at me. "The sensation is strongest here."

I walked across and stopped beside him, flaring my nostrils and tasting the flavors in the air. I couldn't find anything that triggered either my mental or psychic alarms.

"Nothing," I murmured. "Whatever it is you're feeling, I'm not catching it."

"It's not really anything I can define."

He shifted the mirror to look behind it. I peeked under his arm, but there was nothing more than dust.

"Jack's going to ask you to, so you'd better try."

"It's a wisp of power, a sensation of age." His frown deepened. "What the hell sort of creature can come through mirrors and attack a person? And why wouldn't Renatta have been terrified?"

"Two good questions I can't possibly answer."

He grinned suddenly. "And here I was thinking you had an answer for everything."

"You're confusing me with Jack."

"Ah," he said, a devilish twinkle in his warm brown eyes. "But you're Jack's little protege."

I snorted and swiped at his arm. The blow had enough power in it to rock him back on his heels. "Watch your mouth or I won't go vamp hunting with you."

"Yeah you will, because you want my help more than I want yours."

He had a point. I trailed after him as he walked from the bedroom and checked out the other rooms. The rest of the house was also done in neutral colors, with easy comfortable furniture. I couldn't feel anything out of place, and nothing seemed to have been touched or broken into.

"I don't think there's anything else to find," I commented, after the last room. "What about you?"

"The only room that has the other scent is her bedroom. I'll snag one of the liaisons to do some research on mirror creatures." He glanced at me, a grin of anticipation twitching his lips. "In the meantime, let's go hunt us a vampire."

The screams and giggles of children on rides mingled with the blare of music and the scent of fried food and humanity, creating an ambience that was both intriguing and oddly nauseating.

I slammed the car door and stared up at the huge face with its open mouth that was the entrance to the park. Though the face was supposed to be laughing, I'd always thought it had a slightly maniacal edge. But maybe that was just an adult werewolf's natural distaste for anything that involved being confined in a somewhat small area with too many people.

Yet humans certainly didn't seem to have that problem. Despite the fact that it was nearly nine, the park was packed with people. And most of them seemed to be having a good time—if you ignored the high-pitched screams of the little ones who were obviously either tired or not getting what they wanted from their parents.

Something I could look forward to if I agreed to Liander's and Rhoan's plans.

Depending, of course, on whether everything went to plan and the pregnancy and birth went off without a hitch, the disbelieving side of me felt obliged to add.

And really, when had anything in my life gone off without a hitch?

I worried lightly at my bottom lip, and then thrust the concern aside as I fell in step beside Kade. Now was not the time for these sorts of thoughts. Work first, babies later.

"So when was the last attack?" I asked, watching the roller coaster roar overhead, the screams of the people lingering in the air long after the carriages had sped by.

"Last Saturday. He seems to be active only on the weekends." Kade showed his badge to the woman at the ticket counter, but she basically waved him through without even looking at it. Which didn't mean she wasn't looking at Kade—and the amused twitch of his lips suggested he was more than a little aware of it.

"Don't tell me the ticket lady is yet another conquest," I said, voice dry. "Jack won't be pleased if you've been fooling around during investigations."

He might be all for using sex as a tool to get information from suspects, but I very much doubted he'd believe the ticket seller would have any information that couldn't be gained through less involved methods.

"There's been no fooling around as yet," he said cheerfully, "but she's been most helpful during the investigation and is definitely a possibility once this case is handled,"

I shook my head in disbelief. "How can your herd not be satisfying your sexual needs?"

"They are," he said, a devilish glint in his eyes. "But there's always room for a little outside fun. Keeps the little man interested."

I snorted. "There's nothing little about your man."

"Totally true." He waggled his eyebrows at me. "Want a hot dog?"

"Nope, but you can buy me some cotton candy. The pink one, not the blue one."

He did, and I groaned in delight as I bit into the overly sweet spun sugar. It was heaven itself. "So," I said, licking the sugary goodness from the side of my mouth. "What are we going to do? Just wander around and wait for him to attack someone? Or are we going to check out the underbelly of this place and see what we can find?"

"I've checked every ride, and I haven't been able to spot anything."

Which didn't mean that I couldn't, if only because I had the advantage of infrared which could pick up body heat. And of course, vamps did have body heat, despite how they were often portrayed in movies and in literature. They only got cold if they weren't feeding enough.

But Kade knew that, so I didn't bother pointing it out. "What makes you think he's made the park his home rather than simply arriving with the weekend crowds?"

"Maintenance people have reported seeing something moving around after hours, but apparently whatever—whoever—it was disappeared before anyone could track it."

"None of the maintenance people have been attacked?" Kade shook his head, and I frowned. "That's rather odd, isn't it?"

He shrugged. "Maybe he's an older vamp who only needs to feed a couple of times a week."

Quinn was about as old as they got, and while he could go a long periods without feeding, he really needed to take blood every day to keep at his optimum levels of fitness and strength. Either this vampire was on a diet—and I couldn't ever imagine a vampire going though that willingly—or he was getting his meals from something other than humans. Like pigeons. There were certainly enough of them around—although there'd have to be a fairly high kill ratio to satisfy a vamp. Still…

"Don't suppose anyone has reported an increase in the number of dead pigeons, have they?"

He blinked. "Pigeons wouldn't have enough blood to satisfy a vampire."

"No, but if we're dealing with a small vampire, then a few drained pigeons might keep him going. It might also explain why he isn't going after adults. He might be stronger than a human, but maybe the size difference intimidates him."

"Good point. I'll ask."

I nodded. "A vampire also needs protection from the sunlight, and I would have thought the only viable places like that here would be places maintenance would need to go on a regular basis." And while vampires could wrap themselves in shadow and effectively vanish from human sight, they didn't actually become shadows. If someone brushed against them, they'd feel it. "Besides, you said you hadn't been able to sense anything that obviously felt like a nest."

"Nope, but that doesn't mean it's not here. Or he might be just moving around, keeping ahead of the maintenance people."

That was possible. And I suppose old amusement parks like this—even if they had been updated with newer rides and facilities—still had enough of the older rides left to provide hidey-holes for those intent on not being found.

"So let's walk around the older rides, and I'll infrared the internals and see if there's any body heat where there shouldn't be."

"Sounds like a plan." He bit into his hot dog, looking very much at ease with the noise and the crowd.

I ate some more cotton candy and wished I could be similarly at ease. I must have been exuding some agitation, though, because the crowd tended to part around me, giving me free space and less of a hemmed-in feeling.

Until someone fell in step beside me.

Someone who made my skin tingle and my wolf want to howl.

"What the fuck are you doing here, Rye?" I said, not even bothering to glance at him.

Which didn't mean I wasn't aware of him. His scent wrapped around me, musky and lush, and the heat of his body prickled mine, making the little hairs on my arms stand on end. It was almost as if they were reaching for him.

"I'm following you," he said, amusement in his voice. He reached across me, not touching me and yet close enough to make no difference, and offered Kade a hand. "I'm Kye Murphy. I'm guessing you'd be the horse shifter, Kade."

"You'd be correct," Kade rumbled, glancing at me with a slightly raised eyebrow and a dangerous glint in his eyes.

I shook my head at the unasked question. Kye's sudden appearance might be a problem in more ways than one, but I didn't want Kade involved. For a start, I very much doubted that Kade, for all his size and impressive physique, would have the strength to actually out hustle Kye, and second, we didn't need a scene that might just alert our quarry.

"We're on Directorate business," I said, dumping the cotton candy in the nearest bin. I'd suddenly lost my taste for sweet things. Or rather, my taste buds suddenly hungered for sweetness of a different kind. The kind that involved heat and flesh and lust…

I wrenched my thoughts from that particular direction, and added, "And you're definitely intruding."

"I usually am," he said, amusement so evident in his voice that it was all too easy to imagine the flit of it across his lips. But I didn't look. I didn't dare. "But I happen to think you and I might be hunting the same killer, and pairing-up achieved the desired results last time."

I glanced at him sharply. Hunger lurked deep in the brightness of his eyes. But he wasn't talking about the two of us bringing down the witches. He was referring to sex.

I shivered. I might hunger for his touch, but I feared it almost as much. Feared what it could mean to me and Quinn and everything else currently so right in my world.

"And why would anyone hire a killer with your reputation to hunt down a vamp who hasn't even killed yet?" I gave him a sour look. "We both know they wouldn't, so don't lie to me, Kye."

He smiled. It was a cool, hard smile that nevertheless had my insides quivering with desire. It was the nature of the wolf to seek out the strongest mate, and Kye was certainly that. "I wasn't referring to the cretin attacking children. That is certainly not worth my while."

"Then why are you here?"

I edged a little closer to Kade, hoping his sunshiny scent would swamp the allure of Kye's presence. But it didn't even make a dent in the awareness that was swamping me.

"As I said, I've been following you. Sometimes the best way to hunt down your target is to piggyback other investigations." He glanced at me, eyebrow raised. "Besides, isn't it natural to want to be near your soul mate?"

Kade made an odd sound and started coughing. I hit him a couple of times on the back and he nodded in thanks.

Kye glanced from me to Kade and back again. "That's a little detail you obviously forgot to mention to your fellow guardian."

"She sure did," Kade wheezed.

"It's not like either of us are ecstatic about the fact," I muttered. "So why the hell should I announce it?"

"Because you've been waiting your whole life to find your mate?" Kye said, the sarcasm absent in his expression very evident in his voice.

"At least I desire something more than the next kill," I shot back.

"Oh, I desire a hell of a lot more than that," he murmured, his gaze on mine, hard and cold and yet somehow heated. "And I always get what I want."

My stomach quivered. God, how was it possible to want someone so much, and yet loathe them this badly?

"Then it's about time someone made you realize that you can't always get what you want." I snapped, and yet even I couldn't help noticing the slight tremor in my voice—a tremor that arose from the breathlessness that surged through me.

He merely smiled. He didn't need to say anything. We both knew my words were little more than a flimsy façade. All he had to do was reach out and touch me, and the fight would be over. At least until sexual satisfaction was reached.

No amount of loving from Quinn would ever ease the soul-deep hunger of my wolf for her mate, and sooner or later that need was going to overwhelm all opposition, all common sense.

"As fascinating as I'm finding this conversation," Kade said, voice casual and yet holding a hint of steel, "I do believe we may have found our quarry."

I stopped. "You're picking up something?"

"Stirring hunger." He pointed to the ghost train ride.

"And it's coining from there."

"Someone's about to get a real fright for a change," Kye murmured. He flexed his fingers, his excitement surging, wrapping around me as sweetly as a caress, causing my own heart to leap and race. "Shall we go find the vamp?"

I swung around sharply, meeting his hard gaze with one of my own even as I desperately tried to control the growing desire to press my lips against his.

"There is no 'we'. This is Directorate business." I glanced across my shoulder, and saw that Kade was on the phone, then added in a softer tone, "Stay out of the way, Kye, or I'll arrest you. I mean it."

Something flashed through his eyes. Something dangerous and wicked. Then he grabbed my arm, dragged me towards him, and kissed me.

It wasn't a nice kiss. It was as brutal and as harsh as the man could be, and yet my heart raced and my body ached, and I found myself returning the kiss eagerly, my wolf desperate for anything she could get.

And I hated that. I really hated it.

But he released me as suddenly as he'd grabbed me, the kiss so brief I doubted that anyone had noticed. We stared at each other for a moment, still so close our harsh breaths mingled. I had no doubt that the desire and anger that raged in his eyes had its echo in mine.

He smiled. It was as bitter and as cold as the kiss we'd just shared, yet still my wolf hungered.

I forced my feet backwards. The sudden distance between us didn't help the ache.

"The manager is closing down the ride, but he'll keep the lights off. Hopefully, the vamp won't realize we're onto him," Kade said, shoving his phone back into his pocket. He glanced from Kye to me and raised an eyebrow. Being an empath, he'd no doubt be picking up all sorts of crazy emotions, but all he said was, "I'll make sure the vamp doesn't escape via the rear entrance. You want to go through the front and flush him out?"

I nodded, spun on my heel, and stalked towards the ride. Kye remained where he was, and I wasn't entirely sure whether I was relieved or dismayed. I might have warned him off, but at least if he'd remained with me, I could have kept an eye on him.

Or maybe that kiss had rattled me more than I'd thought, because wanting to keep an eye on Kye was insane. That man was dangerous in more ways than I could count, and keeping him close was only asking for trouble.

The ghost train ride was a stand-alone building capped by a skull wearing a top hat and holding a megaphone to his mouth. It was easy to imagine he was inviting everyone to roll up and try the ride, though no words came out of his skeletal mouth. There was a long line of people waiting out the front, although one look at the many unhappy faces in the line suggested word had gone out about the delay. I leapt over the metal railing that divided the ride from the rest of the crowds and flashed my badge at the ride supervisor. From within the building came a series of clanks, screams, moans and a multitude of other spooky sounds, all accompanied by the rattle of carriages running on a wooden track.

"The last carriage is going through now," the supervisor said, as another carriage rattled into the station and two teenagers climbed out, both looking somewhat bored. "When that one comes out, you can walk through."

"Have all your people been given the word to clear out?" He nodded. "Just let us know when the coast is clear." I waited until the last of the old wooden carriages came out, then pressed the two-way stud that had been inserted into my ear long ago and said, "Heading in now, Kade."

"The employees are out," he said, his rich tones warming my inner ear. "The place is empty of life."

But maybe not empty of death. I gave the ride supervisor a tight smile, then pushed though a replica of the park's entrance—only this time the smiley face definitely had an evil look to it—and entered the shadowed confines of the ride.

The doors crashed closed behind me, but silence didn't settle in. The staff might have abandoned the building, but the effects were still running. I stood there in the darkness, listening to the noise, trying to detect a whisper of movement. Something, anything, that might indicate the vampire was on the move.

There was nothing.

Frowning, I followed the wooden track around to the right, blinking to alternate between infrared and regular sight, but there was no life to be seen in either mode. A caged piano—complete with fake chopped-off hands playing the keys—came into view. Then, as the track swung around to the left again, there came a series of weird, supposedly ghostly, portraits and murals. I smiled and shook my head. It was a wonder that anyone got scared of any of these things, and yet I could remember screaming at them when I was a kid and here with my brother to celebrate our birthday.

Or maybe I'd been screaming at the thought of being trapped in the park with so many humans.

The darkness closed in again as I continued to follow the tracks. A ghostly apparition appeared on the top of a mural staircase, and it took me a heartbeat to realize that apparition wasn't the work of lights, but rather the red heat of life sitting perched atop the faded artwork.

Only it wasn't human sized. It was bird-sized.

And either that bird had weird roosting habits, or our vampire had been a shifter before he'd undergone the change. It would certainly explain why Kade had been unable to find anything when he'd done the search. A roosting bird probably wouldn't emit much in the way of emotions, and Kade certainly wouldn't have been looking for something that size.

I reached into my back pocket and pulled out my laser, flicking it on as the weapon settled into my palm. As I did so, the bird squawked and took flight. Not flying away, but coming straight at me. The vampire had balls, I had to give him that—especially given a pigeon wasn't exactly as threatening as a bird of prey.

I ducked under his swoop, then twisted around and fired. The red beam flashed out, briefly giving the shadows an eerie glow as the shot clipped the bird's wings. Feathers fluttered downward as it squawked and awkwardly tried to fly down the hall. I fired again, but the bird dropped at the wrong moment, and the laser sliced though the edges of a dancing skeleton. I swore softly and ran after the bird.

"Kade," I said, keeping the creature in sight but not firing, "he's on the run. He's also a pigeon."

"A pigeon? Good lord, that's almost as bad as a seagull. No wonder he became a vampire."

He wasn't getting an argument out of me. A seagull might be one of my alternate forms these days, but I had something of a love-hate relationship with it.

"He's going to have to shift shape to come out these doors," Kade continued. "I'm ready and waiting."

"You always are," I said, ducking under the ghostly tendrils of fake cobwebs.

Kade's laughter rolled through my inner ear. I fired the laser again. This time the bright beam clipped tail feathers before slicing into a bed that came complete with a white draped body hung with cobwebs.

The vampire squawked and fluttered to the ground, landing rather ungracefully on the old wooden track. I slid to a stop and trained the laser onto him.

"Directorate," I said, my voice edged and low. "Whoever you are, shift shape or you'll die in bird form."

He hopped around until he faced me, his beady black eyes glaring somewhat balefully.

"Your choice," I said, pressing my finger against the trigger. The whine of the weapon powering up cut through the surrounding noise, and the pigeon hopped backwards in surprise.

After a moment, a shimmer rolled across his bloody feathers, hiding his form, reshaping it, until what stood in front of me was cloaked in human skin.

Only it wasn't a man, but a boy. A child. A cute, cherub-cheeked child with golden hair and big blue eyes.

A kid this size could certainly survive on a diet of pigeon and seagull blood, although it was still odd no one noticed the steady supply of dead birds.

Then the adorable image shattered when he snarled, revealing teeth that were long and pointed and every inch a vampire's. He came at me, fast and furious, and though I had my finger pressed against the laser, I didn't fire.

I couldn't.

It was a kid, and I couldn't shoot a kid. I didn't want to shoot a kid—even one that was a feral vampire attacking other children.

Surely there was hope for him. Surely there was a chance…

I jumped as a gunshot boomed through the darkness. The breeze of it burned past my ear, signifying the bullet was silver, then the little vampire went down. The back of his head disappeared, splattering a mess of blood and bone and gore across a somewhat macabre collection of dolls with revolving heads.

For a moment, I simply stared, disbelief and horror churning my gut. Then I swung around. Kye stood several yards behind me, his face expressionless, but cold fury in his eyes.

"Don't ever hesitate," he warned softly. "Bad things happen when you hesitate."

"It was a kid," I all but yelled. "Goddammit, Kye, you shot a kid."

"That kid was a vampire attacking other children. Remember who we're trying to save here, Riley."

The laser whined as my finger twitched against it. It was tempting, so tempting, to just raise the weapon and shoot the cold-hearted bastard. I switched it off instead. As much as I might want to shoot Kye, a guardian who killed without reason wasn't long for this earth. Besides, he was my soul mate, and killing him meant I'd be basically killing myself. And I wasn't ready to die just yet.

"The kid hadn't killed yet," I spat. "He might have been saved."

"You can't ever chance that." His gaze swept me, followed sharply by his hunger. I half expected him to close the distance between us and kiss me, but he shook his head and stepped back instead. "You're a guardian, Riley. A protector of humans, not vampires."

"Don't fucking tell me how to do my job."

"Someone has to." He glanced behind me, then gave me a sketchy salute. "Consider this payment for the information you owe me. And you will meet me with it later tonight, or I shall be forced to take other steps."

Something went cold inside. Coming from a hired killer, those so called 'steps' could only mean one thing. "You touch anyone—"

"Oh," he said blandly, "I wouldn't touch anyone. Shooting, though, that's another matter. And we saw here today just how well a silver bullet can work against a vampire."

Sick fury filled me. I clenched my fists, digging my nails into my palms against the urge to use them against him instead.

"You wouldn't dare."

He merely raised an eyebrow. The fury within me got stronger.

"He's just as much my soul mate as you are, Kye. Are you willing to risk shooting him without knowing just how that will rebound to you?"

"Are you willing to bet on the fact that I'm not?"

He knew I wasn't. It was there in the victorious twitch of his lips. I hated him. I wanted him. God, did things have to get this twisted? "Where and when?"

"Five Proximity Drive, Brooklyn. One o'clock." He gave me another one of those cold-half smiles. "I'll even provide an after-midnight snack."

The hungry glitter in his eyes made it clear just what type of 'snack' he was referring to. "Don't bother, because there's nothing you could offer me that I'd actually want. Now get the hell out of here."

He stared at me for a moment longer, his gaze flat and yet so heated, sending alternating flashes of desire and annoyance surging through me. Then he turned on his heel and disappeared into the darkness.

"Why did you let him walk away?" Kade said from behind me. "You could have held him with a threat like that."

I shoved my laser into my pocket and turned around. My gaze fell on the remains of the cherub face at my feet, and all I felt was a useless sort of anger. Kye had been right about one thing—my hesitation had been fatal. Just not for me.

"I have no doubt that Kye has a herd of lawyers who could get him out of such charges inside a minute flat. It isn't worth the hassle."

"You could just have shot him. I would have backed the shoot as justifiable."

I smiled. It probably looked as thin and humorless as it felt. "He's my soul mate. I might as well take a gun and shoot myself."

Kade frowned. "I thought that whole dying-when-your-mate-dies deal only happened when a wolf swears their love to the moon."

"Death is certain when that happens. There have been instances of unsworn wolves surviving the death of their mate, but right now, I'm not willing to take that chance."

"Good call. I don't think your brother would take your death too well." Which was the understatement of the century. Kade looked down at the limp little body. "And you wouldn't have been alone in hesitating."

It wasn't much, but it at least made me feel a little better. "Thanks."

He looked up and smiled. "Guardians need to do more than just shoot first and ask questions later. No matter what Jack or that dick you call a mate preaches, there will always be circumstances that cause hesitation." He hesitated himself, then added, "I guess this means we're going to have to track down his maker."

"I hope like hell someone else gets that task." If only because I didn't think I'd be able to control my anger if I found the vampire responsible for making—and then abandoning—the youngster.

"There are laws in place that should prevent these things occurring," Kade said, voice grim. "I don't think his maker is going to side-step the consequences."

"Good." It was vehemently said. I took a deep breath and blew it out slowly. Though it didn't help the anger, I felt a little less rattled. But no less sad for the little vampire who never got a chance.

I glanced at my watch, then said, "I've really got to go view those tapes. Can you call the clean up team in?"

He raised his eyebrows. "I was under the impression you wanted help with that."

"I did, but it might take a while to get a clean up team here, and Jack will not be a happy man if I haven't viewed the tapes by midnight." I hesitated, then added, "When you get the chance, could you glance through all the reports for the beheading case? It'll get you up to speed, and you might just catch something I've missed."

He nodded. "As long as Jack doesn't hand me another case as soon as I get back."

Given the backlog of cases we had, that was likely, but I knew Kade well enough to know that he'd still look through my case files.

Which would be good. I had a bad feeling I'd need the help if I was to have any hope of solving this one.