Chapter Four
At the crime scene, Marcus watched as the uniformed officer lifted the police tape for her. Raven nodded her appreciation, slipped on her gloves as she ducked under the tape, and moved toward the little man who walked over to meet her. She tucked her long, black hair behind her ear, the one he’d nibbled on last night. The way she’d moaned every time he kissed it, sucked it, he knew it was one of her pleasure points.
When her eyes met the coroner’s, his middle-aged face seemed younger, more full of life, his genuine smile became one of a man desiring the woman in front of him. Marcus could see the man’s eyes linger on her for a moment longer, then he glanced at the body lying on the paved parking lot of an abandoned warehouse.
After last night, Marcus could understand men doing anything she asked, but he wouldn’t fall under her magical spell again. He had a job to do.
Feeling the vibration in his suit jacket, he grabbed his phone. “Yeah.”
“You found her yet?”
“I don’t appreciate you calling me all the time. I know how to do my job. Let me do it.” Marcus hit the end button and put his phone back into his pocket. When he’d taken the contract, he knew what it entailed.
Walking over to the officer, he flashed his badge, lifted the tape, and approached Raven and the coroner.
Raven looked over at him. “Marcus, this is the coroner, Doctor Hill. Doc, this is my new partner, Detective Marcus Dionysius.”
Marcus extended his hand to the doctor, but he just paced back and forth, ignoring the proffered handshake. “Oh, my dear, you shouldn’t see this.”
“Doc, I’m a detective. There isn’t much I haven’t seen.” Raven’s no-nonsense tone had no effect on the doctor.
“No, dear, not this time.” He took her by the elbow and led her a few feet away from the body. Shaking his head, he continued, “This time it’s too personal. You don’t need to see this.” He pointed at the body on the ground. “It’s Stephen, my dear.”
Marcus watched shock flash across her face for a moment before she got control again. She wasn’t expecting to see her late partner. She hadn’t done this, but that didn’t clear her of the other attacks.
The captain was sleazy. Everyone in heaven and hell knew it. And everyone thought that because Raven worked so closely with him, she was part of his plan. Marcus’ dick hoped the sexy succubus wasn’t connected with hell’s mess. His head wasn’t so sure. He moved closer to the body.
Doctor Hill glanced at him and stopped talking.
Clearing his throat, Marcus said softly to Raven, “I’ll handle this if you’re not up to it. The captain can assign another detective to work the case with me.”
Raven looked up at him, anger flaring in her eyes as she answered, “What do you think I am? Some fragile female who can’t do her job?” Turning to the doctor, she dismissed Marcus. “What happened?”
“My dear, it looks as if he suffocated. See this bluish tint here?” He pointed to the victim’s mouth. “Of course, I’ll know more after the autopsy, but it seems he died the same way the others did.”
Marcus saw fear flare in Raven’s dark eyes and watched her fists clench. This woman was frightened, but she was a fighter. She rammed her fingers through her long black hair, as if to rake her thoughts together, then she turned and walked away.
He smiled at the doctor, but he never took his eyes off her ass as it swayed enticingly away from him. His desire for her kicked up a notch. “She’s got a lot on her mind.”
Nodding, the doctor replied, “Yes, indeed.”
****
Raven fought the urge to run as far away from Marcus as possible. Her world was crumbling down around her, and all she could think about was screwing his brains out. Slowly she walked to the car, putting some distance between her and the humans. She let her thoughts gel. The captain did this. He’s the only other of our kind in the area who could have. Damn, only an incubus or a succubus could make this type of kill, and she hadn’t done it, so it had to be him. Or was there another succubus? No, that didn’t make sense. Hell’s rules indicated only one succubus per area.
It was the captain’s responsibility to keep the status quo between the immortals and the humans. A peaceful existence that kept the world in balance. How could this happen with all the safety measures in place? Did hell know what he was doing? Leaning against Marcus’ car, she pulled out her cell and punched in the numbers.
“Speak.” The captain’s voice didn’t carry its usual calmness.
“Who killed Stephen and left the evidence?”
The long silence told her the captain was as surprised by the information as she had been. “Impossible. He wasn’t on the list.”
“He’s dead. His soul was taken, and we both know only the two of us could do that. I didn’t. That leaves you.”
“Could there be another explanation?”
“Not according to the coroner. He thinks this murder is connected to the other deaths, but I didn’t do this. If not you, then who?”
“I didn’t.” Raven heard the phony bravado in his voice and knew he was as scared shitless as she was. Again the long pause told her he was weighing his options. “Did you see anything?”
“Yeah, I did,” she snapped. She took a deep breath, controlling her anger and calmly added, “Stephen’s soul was taken by one of us, so don’t tell me I’m wrong.”
“What did Marcus see?”
“A dead detective. Look, Doctor Hill saw him too. Whoever made the kill was sloppy.” She paused, but when he didn’t answer, she added, “Do we have someone new in our neighborhood?”
Raven wanted to rage at her boss as he paused again but held her tongue. “I’ll check.” The line went dead. A new incubus or succubus working the area meant only one thing. The captain had pissed off the Devil.
Tingles ran down her spine as Marcus approached. Her body filled with the heat of sexual desire.
“You okay?”
The powers of darkness were mad at the captain. I’m in the direct line of fire, and all I want to do is rip off your clothes and satisfy my burning hunger. “Fine,” she answered sarcastically.
“I’ll take you home,” said Marcus, ignoring her sarcasm.
Home would be the first place any demon assigned to find her would look. No matter what the captain had done, the Devil wouldn’t allow any harm to come to her in front of the human. There were strict protocols and no one, not even the captain, survived by breaking them. “No.”
“Look, you’ve had a shock. You should go home.” The tenderness in his voice caused everything to swirl in her head. She needed to calm down, and only sex worked to calm a succubus. Right now she couldn’t look Marcus in the eyes without jumping him, so she looked at the ground.
Fear mingled with desire and snaked down her spine. Marcus thought he knew what was going on, but he would never understand the powers in play. Right now, she didn’t either. “Do you have uniforms canvassing the area to see if anyone saw what happened?”
“Don’t worry. I’ll find whoever caused this, and put them down so they never do it again.”
Raven looked into Marcus’ cold eyes, fear constricted her lungs, and her breath caught. He meant more than just what happened to Stephen. There was obviously more to this human than she realized. His determination could prove to be dangerous for both of them.
A car screeched to a halt in front of them, and the captain got out. When he looked at her, his eyes burned through her. “I need to talk to you.” He nodded at Marcus, grabbed her by the elbow, and dragged her a safe distance away from the human so their conversation wouldn’t be overheard.
She knew better than to trust her boss. He could control the color of his eyes so humans couldn’t see the true demon he was, but he’d suck the life out of her if he deemed it necessary. “What the hell is going on with you?” he snapped.
“Me? I didn’t take Stephen’s soul.”
“But you were supposed to take the senator’s soul. You didn’t.”
She pulled away from his grasp and squared her stance to face him. He hadn’t mentioned the senator before at the station. She had hoped to find him after work today and finish the job before the captain found out. “I was stopped.”
“Stopped? You? Impossible.”
“You accusing me of lying?” She watched for the red hue to bloom in his eyes, but refused to back down. “Marcus showed up and kept me from taking the senator.” Raven didn’t feel the need to tell the captain what happened between them after that.
“Marcus? It’s your job to control these situations,” he reminded her snidely.
“So you want to tell me how he knew what I was doing with the senator?” When the captain didn’t answer, Raven continued, “And while you’re explaining things, if I didn’t kill Stephen and you didn’t do it, then who did?”
The captain’s eyes pulsed crimson, and she knew she’d pushed him too far, but she needed answers. “Look, Marcus didn’t recognize me with the senator.”
The captain glared at her for a moment, and she thought she was doomed. Then he calmed down. “I asked the arch-demon if he knew anything about this, and he said there were no new immortals in the area. Besides, it’s your job to collect the souls. You didn’t. Period. So get the senator’s soul, and don’t make any more excuses.” He took a step away from her and then glanced over at Marcus and lightly touched her arm. “I’ll find out about Stephen.”
His face glowed red, and she punched him in the arm. “Stop that. The humans can see you.”
He turned away from her, clenched his fists, and tensed his shoulders. She watched him struggle to control his anger. Over his shoulder, he growled, “Get your quota, or you’ll be the next to die.” He walked past her, climbed into his car, and left in the same abrupt manner he’d arrived.