God, please, let Liander be okay.
I took another sip of coffee, then leaned against Quinn a little more, resting my head lightly on his shoulder. He didn't say anything, simply wrapped his arm around my shoulder and hugged me.
It was good that he was here, and not just because his mere presence had an oddly soothing effect. Quinn was convinced Liander would pull through, and that conviction rolled off him like a blanket, smothering the flames of panic that might otherwise be present.
But I was also glad that he was there for me. Glad I had someone that I could lean against when I needed to. There hadn't been a whole lot of people I could say that about in my life, and the fact that I was feeling it now, with Quinn, made me realize that no matter what the difficulties were between us, we had to give this a fair go.
I might be an independent, stupid bitch at times - okay, most of the time - but even I needed someone to turn to occasionally. Someone who wasn't my brother or his lover.
My phone rang into the silence. I took a breath and blew it out slowly. I knew without looking that it would be Jack.
"I need you on the job," he said when I answered.
"Jack, we're still at the hospital - "
"And we've still got a killer running around loose," he cut in. "I'm sorry, Riley. I know you want to be with Rhoan, but I need one of you here. Kade's good, but he hasn't got a wolf's tracking skills."
"What about Iktar?"
The spirit lizard had come through training the same time as Kade, but had been floating between day shift and night. He apparently had a few qualms about working with vampires - and the night shift was all vampires - but at the same time, day shift had proven something of a hassle for him. Humans might be used to the presence of shifters and vampires, but the sight of a spirit lizard, with their featureless faces and tendency to run around naked, had caused more than a few shocked reactions. Besides, Iktar's skills were most useful in the in-between times of dawn and dusk. If there was a hint of a shadow around, a spirit lizard could simply disappear - and more completely than a vampire could shadow at such times. Which was a very useful skill to have when you were tracking down psychos.
"I had him rounding up the remaining Trollops last night," Jack said.
"So they're all safe?"
"There's a Jenny Franklin and a Joan Hawkins who are currently unaccounted for, but there's no sign of violence at either of their homes. Relatives have been un-helpful."
Not so great. I hesitated. Stopping the bakeneko was a priority, I knew that. But so was my brother. So was stopping him if anything went wrong. "Jack - "
"It's not a request, Riley. It's an order. Don't make me come and get you."
I blew out a breath. I knew when I was defeated - and I definitely didn't want a scene at the hospital. Not when my brother was so fragile, mentally.
"I have to go home and change before I can do anything."
"Do it, then meet Kade in Toorak Road."
He gave me the full address, and I frowned. "Isn't that a parking lot?"
"Yeah. Another naked male has turned up, this one found on his car on the top level."
On? That didn't sound good. "I gather he's in the same state as the others?"
"Worse."
I wanted to ask what could possibly be worse than what we'd already seen, but I had a bad feeling I'd know the answer soon enough. Besides, I had seen worse. Many times. It seemed bad men and women didn't have a whole lot of respect for the human - and nonhuman - condition. "Crap."
"Yeah." He paused. "I talked to some of the other women last night. All the murdered men were Cherry Barnes's former partners. And all the murdered women were the next lovers of those men."
Which is basically what I'd guessed after talking to Dia. "So, unable to reach her mistress's actual killer, the bakeneko is exacting revenge for what she sees as betrayals of her mistress's trust. And she's killing the women first so she can take their form and then kill the men?"
"It would appear so."
And if it hadn't been for the bakeneko's catlike sense of self-superiority, we might never have realized who was behind all the murders. "Did the cuts on Cherry's body match those found on Ivan and Denny?"
"Yes. She appears to have been Young's first victim."
"Meaning it was Young who set the bakeneko off in the first place?"
"Yes," Jack said grimly. "Keep your com-link open, Riley. I want to know where you are at all times."
"Will do." I hung up and looked at Rhoan. "I have to go."
He didn't even look at me. "I'll be fine."
I didn't believe it. Not one little bit.
Quinn squeezed my shoulder lightly, then removed his arm. My world seemed colder without it. Just for an instant I wondered if he was using his vampire wiles again, then wanted to smack myself mentally. Besides the fact that my shields had grown substantially since he'd last tried that, I honestly didn't think he'd do such a thing when we were still sorting out what was going to happen between us. He might be a very old vampire and set in his ways, but he wasn't stupid.
"There's been a murder?" he asked softly.
I nodded, then opened the link between us and said softly, Will you look after Rhoan for me? I know it's a huge favor, but -
He leaned forward and stopped my words with a kiss. And oh, what a kiss.
It's not such a huge favor, he said after a while, his breath warm and soft against my lips. Rhoan was a friend long before we got together. I'll keep him safe for you, have no doubt about that. Out loud, he added, "Be careful."
It felt like a weight had been lifted from my soul. I smiled and touched his face lightly. "I will."
He kissed me again, then added, "Ring me when you finish. We've things to discuss."
Things to discuss, decisions to make. But there was one decision that didn't need to be made. Quinn was back in my life and I was more than happy about that. But in what capacity he stayed there remained to be seen.
I let my fingers slip down his cheeks and across his lips. He kissed my fingertips lightly, sending a tingle right down to my toes. I sighed, but forced myself upright. I wanted to stay, not just for my brother but to soak up the warmth and strength that was Quinn, but I was a guardian, and there were people out there dying.
"Take care when dealing with the bakeneko," he added, dark eyes filled with concern. "Remember, she's consumed a number of souls now, and that will make her both fast and deadly."
"Hey, I took out a god of death - how bad can a bakeneko be after that?"
He didn't say anything. I touched my brother's shoulder lightly, then left. And the feeling that I'd just tempted fate sat like a weight in my stomach.
The top floor of the parking lot had been cordoned off with yellow tape and watchful cops. Blood rode the wind, thick and fresh, and somewhere ahead Kade was speaking, his rich tones bringing a smile to my lips.
A smile that wasn't likely to stay there given the apparent extent of the blood. This was going to be nasty.
I flashed my badge at the officer guarding the top-floor entrance, then ducked under the tape and walked up the ramp. One of Cole's men - the bird-shifter - was bagging something that looked suspiciously like a chunk of meat, and I paused.
"Is that what I think it is?"
He glanced up, his expression neutral but his brown eyes afire with anger. "Yeah."
So it was an arm. Or what remained of it, anyway. The bakeneko was definitely getting more violent with every kill.
"Stop this thing, will you?" he continued, zipping the bag up with more force than necessary. "I don't want to see what it does next."
"Neither do I." My voice was grim. I glanced up the ramp as Cole's voice rode the air, then glanced back at the bird-shifter. "Do you actually have a name?"
"People call me Dobbs."
"First name, or last name?"
"Friends don't use my first name."
And neither would his enemies, if that tone was anything to go by. "Thanks, Dobbs."
He nodded and got back to the gruesome task of collecting the smaller bits of flesh and fat globules that were still scattered about.
The wind hit me full force as I entered the top floor, blowing me back a step before I realized it. I shivered and collected the flyaway ends of my coat, quickly zipping it up. Thank God I'd had the chance to change - my blood-soaked dress would have left me frozen.
Kade and Cole were squatting near the rear of a blue Toyota four-wheel drive. Even from this distance, it was evident that neither man was happy.
I walked across, my boot heels clicking briefly against the concrete before the sound was rushed away by the wind. Neither man looked around, though both would have been aware of my presence.
"What's up?" I stopped behind Cole and bent to peer under the car. Something that resembled a bloody mess of flesh lay about halfway down.
Not the torso that matched the arm. That arm had been male. This mess was female.
Although I could really only tell that by the pretty gold charm bracelet that was somehow still attached to her visible arm.
"Two victims?" I said, hoping to God I was wrong.
"Two victims," Cole confirmed, rising and stripping off bloody gloves. "We think this one is unrelated."
I straightened and met the icy blue of his gaze. "As in wrong place, wrong time?"
"Unfortunately, yes."
"That's uncharacteristic, isn't it? I mean, she had witnesses when she did the shoe seller in the window, and she made no move against them."
"Given we are not dealing with anything remotely human, who's to say what is, and isn't, characteristic?" Cole motioned me to follow him.
I glanced at Kade, who was still studying the body intently, then spun and followed the wolf-shifter. I saw the second body long before we reached it. His torso was sprawled across the trunk of the sports car and there was a look of pure terror frozen on his face. Or what remained of it.
That expression said that this was a man who'd experienced the depths of hell in the midst of one of life's greatest pleasures.
I stopped and silently cataloged his injuries. The blood loss from the scratches alone would have been deadly enough, but she'd also ripped him apart limb by limb, leaving only his torso and head on top of the car's trunk.
I closed my eyes and fought the bile that rose up my throat. It wasn't as if I'd never seen bodies pulled apart like this before. I had, but that didn't mean seeing it again now made it any easier. I doubted it ever would.
"God," I said, voice thick.
"Yeah," Cole said. "I think she must have taken cat form to get out of here, because she would have been covered in blood after all this."
I dragged my gaze away from the body and looked around. "There would have to have been screams from both the victims. Surely someone heard them?"
Cole's expression was grim. "The local boys are interviewing the shopkeepers and the patrons. I doubt we're going to get anything."
"Then how was the body discovered?"
"A bit of the woman was flung over the side of the building. It hit a kitchen hand from the restaurant next door as he was dumping bags into the trash."
"Anyone talked to him yet?"
"I think he's been sedated." Cole grimaced. "He'll probably have nightmares for weeks, poor kid."
"He's not the only one." I rubbed my arms lightly, then stopped as power began to caress the air and an odd tingle raced across my skin.
Excitement surged. It wasn't just the escalation of the violence that was different with this crime scene.
"What?" Cole said softly.
"There's a soul here." My gaze darted around the parking lot, but I couldn't see anything that resembled the wispy smoke of a soul. Of course, the wind might be tearing any manifestation apart before it was fully formed.
"Whose soul?"
"I don't know." I spun around and took several steps toward the rear wall. The wind was less frantic here, and just for an instant, a wisp of smoke stirred in the shadows holding court in the corner.
Who are you? I asked. I'd learned not so long ago that my ability to sense and hear souls had stretched into being able to converse with them telepathically, as well. Not that there was ever anything resembling whole conversations between us. The ability to talk from beyond the grave seemed to take a lot of strength, and many souls did little more than speak a word or two before their presence disintegrated and they moved on.
But maybe this time, one word might be all we needed to stop other innocents getting mauled by the bakeneko.
I took another step forward, and the chill in the air suddenly increased. Whoever it was, they were close by. Had to be. The presence of a soul in this world always seemed to drag me too close to the fierce cold of the underworld.
Again, smoke stirred in the shadows. Just a wisp, a bare outline - nothing that would even be defined as ghostlike. But it was there. The power of it spun all around me.
Who are you? I asked again.
For a moment, there was no response, but the energy in the air increased, until it felt like fireflies dancing across my skin.
Why? came the reply. So soft. So confused. And very definitely female.
No one knows why this creature is so destructive, I said, hating that I had to talk to her, hating that I had to feel her pain like this. Yet in some odd way, it was probably helping her. She'd have no answers at all if I wasn't here. You weren't its intended victim. You were just in the way.
