"Someone in your department is scared shitless because he…or she…knows there's a sick f**k 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 f**king 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.