11. ELEVEN

elevenBefore anyone could react, the man folded to the ground. Whimpers crawled up his throat as he rocked back and forth, muttering incomprehensibly.

Shock set in.

His skin was pale, making his freckles stand out in stark relief. The orange of his hair looked unnatural, a bright splash of color among the chalky white.

No one moved.

He kept rocking, repeating the same words over and over again. “He’s dead. He’s dead. He’s dead.”

I sniffed. “It’s faint, but I smell blood on him.”

The stench of fear nearly overrode it, but it was there. Subtle but unmistakable.

Caroline lifted her nose and took a sniff before nodding. “I smell it too.”

The crowd shifted, murmurs running through it as those with a superior sense of smell picked up on what we had.

I frowned, scanning his body and finding no wounds. “It’s not his.”

Unless he was injured somewhere I couldn’t see, the smell had to have gotten on him some other way. From its faint scent, I was guessing he’d been standing near someone who’d lost quite a lot of it.

Callie’s shoulders brushed mine. “Little niece, you always have the most intriguing things happen around you.”

Not because of anything I did. I swear.

I looked over my shoulder, searching for the djinn.

Dahlia waved a hand at me. “I’ve got your sister. Go check out the situation.”

I didn’t need to be told twice as I followed the crowd. Callie and Connor joining me.

The scent of death smacked me in the face as soon as I stepped outside. My fangs dropped; Connor snarled.

“No wonder you smelled blood on him.” Callie whistled at the scene that greeted us. “It looks like a slaughter took place.”

Yeah, right before the barbecue the killer started afterward.

The dead person sat in the middle of the lot, a pool of red liquid spreading from the body. His hands were bound behind his back and there was a silver stake protruding from his heart.

That wasn’t the most eye-catching part.

It was the column of fire consuming the corpse. It roared at least ten feet into the sky. Far higher and hotter than I would have thought possible given there’d been no smell of smoke or ash on the man who’d run inside. For that reason, I assumed the fire had to have been started in the limited span of time since he’d fled.

For the blaze to be this fierce, I could think of only one reason—magic.

There was a gasp from the crowd as the bones supporting the corpse’s head snapped. The skull fell, hitting the ground before rolling to a stop in front of me.

The sound of retching came from a bystander.

“This is awful,” someone whispered.

It really was.

The flesh on the skull was charred and peeling, destroying the soft tissue and rendering the features unrecognizable. In places, the fire had burned all the way down to the bone.

Caroline looked sick.

“You okay?” I raised my eyebrows at her, noting the amber bleeding into her blue eyes. A sure sign that her wolf was too close to the surface.

Her nod was jerky.

“Really, Aileen,” she assured me, picking up on my skepticism. “If my control slips, I’ll excuse myself.”

An out-of-control werewolf was a serious matter. Beyond the possible rampage, there was also the fact that such an action could lead to a death sentence for her.

As a demon tainted wolf, she existed under a more stringent set of rules. The pack tolerated her because she had control of her other self. If she jeopardized that, there was a chance their forbearance might vanish.

Despite my worry, I didn’t challenge her claim. Sometimes it was easier to maintain control when you pretended to have your shit together.

Fake it until you make it didn’t just apply as a confidence booster. Normal had always been a state of mind rather than a reality.

“I’ll hold you to that,” I said.

If I sensed her heading in a bad direction, I’d intervene. Hopefully, it wouldn’t come to that.

Connor squatted by the head, drawing a grimace from Caroline and an interested look from Callie. He poked it. The skull rolled onto its occipital bone, if I remembered my high school biology class correctly. The fire had burned away the lips and skin around the mouth, giving us a good view of the teeth.

Wouldn’t you know it—two were noticeably longer than the rest. The same two that would have been called fangs on a vampire.

I rubbed my forehead. “Shit.”

“I didn’t think the situation could get any more fascinating,” Callie said in amusement. Her features held the clinical detachment that was understandable in an assassin. She’d probably seen things much worse than this. Though this was pretty bad.

Probably in my top three most gruesome sights.

If the sun’s arrival didn’t leave me comatose, I was pretty sure it’d be a while before I got a good night’s sleep again.

A curl slithered over Callie’s shoulder, questing over the charred bones of the skull. A forked tongue flicked out to taste the air before a hiss left her hair snake.

Connor rose, wiping the finger he’d poked the skull with on his pants. “Someone will need to inform Liam.”

Would it be too immature to scream “not it”?

Maybe a little. But did that really bother me?

I thought long and hard—the answer was no. Particularly since I had a good idea what Liam’s reaction was going to be after telling me to keep a low profile.

In a word—furious.

“This is a disaster,” I muttered, already feeling a headache coming on.

The opposite of how I’d wanted my night to go. A dead body that was probably a vampire. If that didn’t scream “look at me”, I didn’t know what would.

Connor’s face was sympathetic, but that was only because he wasn’t the one in the hot seat. He didn’t have to face an upset Liam. I did.

“Maybe we could tell Thomas instead,” I suggested, feeling a bit of hope.

I didn’t care if it made me seem cowardly. An unhappy Liam was no one’s idea of a good time.

Yes, I could tune out his fussing, but that always led to more nagging.

“Liam will only be angrier when he finds out later,” Connor said. “And he will find out.”

I slumped at the knowledge that nothing ever got by that man. Not when it pertained to the safety of his city or me. He was like a Venus flytrap. All information eventually made its way into his maw.

“Thomas would call him in as soon as he got off the phone with you,” Connor continued, crushing the last vestige of my hope.

Of course, he would. Liam was his right hand, after all.

All paths led to my ass being cooked. No pun intended.

“That looks painful,” Natalia said with a whistle as she exited the bar.

Her presence reminded me of something very important. I turned to stare up at the roof. “Natalia—your harpies.”

They’d been there earlier but weren’t there now. I didn’t know if that was because they’d wandered off or if they were a victim of a different, more bloody reason.

A bird-like hiss erupted from her throat. Her glamour shredded, peeling back to reveal features that looked a lot more avian than before.

A gasp from the bar’s entrance alerted me to Jenna’s presence.

I looked over to find her gaze locked on Natalia’s wings right as the harpy shot into the sky, whipping Jenna’s hair into her face.

“Go back inside, Jenna,” I ordered, knowing it was already too late. The damage was done.

I might as well not have spoken. Jenna remained frozen in place, her eyes wide and horrified.

“Jenna!” I barked before softening my tone. “Inside, please.”

The words jogged her out of her fugue, leaving her gaze free to wander the parking lot. I knew the instant she spotted the body.

“We need to call the cops.” Jenna’s gaze jumped to mine, a thread of hysteria trying to take over before she controlled it.

Of all the times she had to be brave.

My expression went blank. Connor’s too.

We both knew what had to be done next. Jenna had seen too much. There was only one solution.

Memory wipe.

“I should be the one to do it,” Connor said. “She’s your sister. It’ll be harder on you.”

“That’s exactly why I have to be the one.”

She was my responsibility. Not his.

If someone was going to tamper with her mind and take the memory of this night, it would be me. I owed her that.

“You’re not moving. Why aren’t you moving?” Jenna asked.

Dahlia appeared behind her.

“You were supposed to keep her inside,” I said in a flat voice that didn’t sound like me at all.

“Circumstances have changed. I judged her safer outside.”

I made a harsh sound that had Dahlia’s chin lifting in challenge.

Jenna’s gaze darted between the two of us. “Wait a minute.” An ugly, raw laugh tore at her throat. “Don’t tell me—you’re a monster too.”

Ice enveloped me.

“What if I was?” I asked in a soft voice, not certain I was ready for the answer.

Jenna’s flinch opened a pit in my stomach. But it was the step she took away from me that felt like a dagger in my heart. The sharp punch of a wound you knew would be mortal once the numbness wore off.

Connor’s form blurred. He appeared directly in front of her. “Sleep.”

The power he sunk into that command made my teeth ache.

Jenna never had a chance to resist. Her body went limp as she collapsed like a puppet whose strings had been severed.

Connor caught her before she fell.

“Personally, I think you should have let her answer.” Callie shook out her hair. Her glamour shredded to reveal a tangled mass of snakes where her curls had been. They hissed and nudged each other, sliding along her shoulders in a never-ending dance. “You might have been surprised.”

“There’s no need. I’m quite clear on what she planned to say,” I said with a calm that hid the turbulence I felt.

Or at least I thought it did until Callie and her snakes gazes landed on me with far more understanding than I was comfortable with.

“You shouldn’t let this bother you,” she advised.

“Why would I? She would only have spoken the truth—I am a monster.”

By any definition.

I drank blood. To survive, I fed off humans.

“Don’t hate yourself for what you are, darling. Only humans are stupid enough to do that,” Callie murmured. “Us monsters are too evolved to fall for that trap.”

Leaving those words of wisdom behind, Callie disappeared into the night as mysteriously as she’d come.

“I don’t know if your aunt is awesome or terrifying,” Caroline said quietly.

“It’s safe to assume a little of both.” I redirected my attention to the roof. “Natalia, how are things looking up there?”

She leaned over its edge. “It’s clear. I found no signs of a battle either.”

That was a relief.

“I’m going to search the surrounding area,” Natalia informed me.

I nodded. “Let me know if you find anything.”

If the harpies were still alive, they were witnesses and needed to be debriefed.

Vampires were protective of their own. This death wouldn’t go unanswered. That was for sure.

Whatever Clan this man belonged to would want answers. I was just afraid of who they would hurt to get them.

If Liam and his enforcers were the ones conducting the interview, I wouldn’t be too concerned. It was Dominick’s presence, and his right to sit in on any interrogations, that I was worried about. If he got involved, there was no telling who would get hurt in the end.

“There’s something you need to see inside,” Dahlia informed me. “That human is strange. I don’t trust him.”

Dahlia pushed open the door and froze.

“What’s wrong?”

The smell hit me a second later. The sharp tang of blood. This time without the addition of smoke and ash. The scent of something familiar was woven throughout. Like old, fertile earth that had been buried for eons.

Under it, the odor of death. And oddly, life.

A whine came from Caroline. She hunched over, cowering from whatever waited in the bar.

There was a sharp inhale of denial from Connor as he shook his head. His eyes blazed with power as he snarled.

“You dare!” Dahlia’s voice carried the toll of a bell, the sound a low reverberation that warned intruders to stay away. Dahlia’s mask slipped, leaving a being of incomparable beauty and terror standing in her place. A goddess of death and destruction who also happened to be my friend.

It was instinct to slip into my other sight.

Smoke snaked around Dahlia’s body, a haze that blurred her figure from eyesight. Whispers invaded my ears. The rustle of feathers against stone. They grew louder, nearly shouting.

My ears popped. Liquid oozed down my neck.

“Enough!” Dahlia snapped. “Aileen, if you are not ready to see, then you should not look.”

Her voice was the push I needed to escape the whispers. I dismissed my other sight, feeling shaky and a little scared. If she hadn’t intervened, things could have gone very badly for me.

When my vision returned, I opened my eyes to find myself surrounded by smoke. I held carefully still, waiting until Dahlia dismissed the ribbons.

“Aileen,” Caroline whispered.

Her hesitation and fear made me hold my questions about what had just happened with Dahlia. Something much worse than a murdered human waited in the bar. Whatever was in there terrified Caroline’s wolf.

“Wait here and watch Jenna. If things sound like they’re going south, get Jenna and yourself out of here,” I ordered.

Some of Caroline’s uncertainty faded. “I will.”

This was why we were friends. Terrified as she was, she’d still put her life on the line to see Jenna safe.

Forget someone who’d bury a body with you. I’d take a friend who’d protect your nearest and dearest any day.

I left Connor to hand Jenna over to Caroline and stepped into a scene out of a nightmare. If I’d thought the charcoal briquette vampire was bad, this was worse.

The red headed man was skewered in the abdomen to the ceiling with a broken chair leg. The other pieces of the chair had been used to pin his hands and legs in a spreadeagled position. The skeletal creature from last night clung to the ceiling next to him, his face buried in the man’s neck.

Any doubt I had that my stalker was a vampire vanished with the squelching sounds he made as he fed.

Terror showed in the human’s face as his lips moved. The groaning moan close to a death rattle as his pleading gaze locked on us.

Death crouched over him—and he knew it.

Connor entered the bar, going still at the scene in front of him.

Sensing our presence, the vampire lifted his face. He flashed fangs the length of my forefinger, longer than I’d ever seen, at us. Blood coated his chin and mouth. Drips of it fell to the floor with loud splats.

Now that he’d moved, I could see the human’s neck. The raw edges of the wound looked like they had been savaged by a wild animal.

I gulped, feeling a little nauseous.

My nausea changed to fear as red eyes fixed on me. Power clamped around me like a vise. My breath shortened as it squeezed my ribs.

“Grand sire,” Connor hissed, attracting its attention.

There was an immediate sensation of relief as his power released me. I nearly fell forward, keeping my feet at the last second as I gulped down air.

There was something awkward in the way the vampire moved as he spun to face Connor. A jerkiness that reminded me of someone relearning how to control their body after a major event like a stroke or coma.

“Thomas will not be pleased if you continue this behavior,” Connor said carefully as he inched toward the other.

How he managed to move at all under the primal fear the vampire inspired was beyond me.

Base terror locked my muscles. An instinctive dread that stemmed from my hind brain. It was a fear so old it could be considered a genetic memory created at the dawn of time when man was crawling out of the primordial muck.

A warm weight settled against my leg. Its presence a bastion against the overwhelming dread. Alches let out a silent woof.

I must have made some sound of relief because the vampire’s attention snapped in my direction. He stared at Alches.

“You dare do this in my territory!” Dahlia’s hair lifted off her shoulders to float around her head.

Smoke streamed from the ceiling to circle her.

I didn’t need my other sight to feel power gathering.

There was a pop of air as the vampire abandoned his victim. I barely had time to process his retreat when a second pop came.

In dismay, I watched Connor streak after the vampire before I could stop him.

“Son of a—” I broke off to glare at the empty spot where my brother had just been. “What happened to acting as a team? So much for the concept of battle buddies.”

The redhead’s gurgles reminded me he was still alive and needed attention.

“Hold on, buddy.” I started toward him. “I’ll get you down from there as soon as possible. Everything is going to be okay.”

My promise tasted like a falsehood. No human could survive wounds like his. Not with that amount of blood loss. He didn’t smell supernatural either. The life contained in his blood was a good indicator, drawing out my dormant hunger.

Thanks to the blood I’d taken from Liam, it was easy to ignore the temptation of his vein as I grabbed a chair and dragged it under him.

I climbed onto it and reached up to remove the first piece of wood. Before I could touch him, flames roared to life. I got a face full of fire as heat seared my skin. Hot but not agonizing. I jerked back, the chair wobbling under me. With a yelp, I lost my balance and fell on my ass.

Caroline froze in the doorway to gape at the burning body nailed to the ceiling, Jenna’s arm slung over her neck. “Did that man spontaneously combust?”

“What happened to staying outside?”

“And leave you on your own against a possible monster? What kind of friend do you take me for?”

“The kind with common sense.” I crawled out from directly beneath the flames, finding my feet when I judged the distance safe enough.

Caroline was gentle as she lowered Jenna into a chair, even going so far as to lean my sister’s head against the table so there was less chance that she would fall. “I guess it’s a good thing Dahlia made you that drink.”

Yes, it was. Otherwise, the human wouldn’t have been the only crispy critter tonight.

“I like how your idea of help is to bring my unconscious and defenseless sister into a possibly dangerous situation.” I said, not wanting to think about the closeness of my brush with death or possible maiming.

“Would you prefer I leave her outside? By herself. Like you said, she’s defenseless.”

“You could have taken her and fled.”

That felt like a much more logical solution than carrying Jenna in here.

“Your vampire brother just left, chasing a skeleton. Call me crazy, but I think it’s safer inside than outside.” Caroline set her hands on her hip to squint at the burning corpse. “Should someone put that out?”

Dahlia spoke a word that made the pressure in the air drop. A wall of smoke smothered the flames. The fire extinguished instantly.

What remained was a charred, unrecognizable husk.

Dahlia’s hands trembled with anger before she clasped them in front of her. “Aileen, do you remember that favor I said you would one day owe me?”

“I do.”

Dahlia’s rigid back faced us, her posture that of someone who was holding themselves in check by the thinnest of margins. “I wish to call it in.”

“What are you asking?”

Favors in our world were funny things. It was always best not to owe them. Even to friends. Because to refuse them was to court magical repercussions. To many species in our world, Djinn included, favors were magic wrapped in a vow.

I couldn’t say no to Dahlia even if I wanted to. And I didn’t want to.

I knew what the Blue Pepper meant to her. Dahlia’s magic had infiltrated every inch of this place. From the foundations to the roof. To have a murder happen when she’d done so much to make a safe haven where spooks of all kinds could coexist must feel like a violation. To say nothing of the added insult of the arson.

“I want you to find that vampire, and I want you to bring him to me,” Dahlia ground out with a force that hinted at her gathering rage.

She certainly didn’t ask much. I guess I should be happy she didn’t ask me to bring her Ahrun’s head.

“I’ll do my best.”

It would be difficult to promise more than that when up against a vampire of Ahrun’s power. Any doubt that it was Liam and Thomas’s sire following me had disappeared along with Connor. I could also confirm the vampire was definitely not in his right mind.

Killing him would probably be impossible, but I may be able to lure him here. Somehow.

Dahlia’s gaze snapped to mine; her eyes pitch black. In their deepest recesses, there were pinpricks of light. Like tiny stars. “Not good enough.”

My mind buckled. Distantly, I was aware of liquid dripping from my nose and eyes.

Dahlia blinked, releasing me from her hold. Brown bled into the black as she looked away, seeming tired all of a sudden. She pressed a hand to her forehead. “I apologize. That shouldn’t have happened. My control isn’t what it should be right now.”

“It’s okay.”

“There’s no excuse,” Dahlia corrected, angry with herself.

I held silent, wanting to agree, but caution made me hesitant.

Dahlia’s face held regret. “I consider you my friend, and despite what just happened, would never see harm come to you. As penance, I rescind my request. You owe me no favors from this point forward.”

My surprise at her gesture lasted only a second before I was shaking my head. “You’re not the only one who considers the other a friend. I do too. If there’s a way that won’t leave me dead, I’ll deliver him to you.”

That was all I was willing to promise.

Her smile was faint as she dipped her head. “Thank you, Aileen.”

I waved a hand to dismiss her words. Gratitude wasn’t necessary for something like this.

“Given the state of my emotions, I think it best I have some time alone so another accident doesn’t happen. If you could ensure I’m not disturbed, I’d appreciate it.”

“Of course,” I murmured.

Dahlia glided toward the back door that led to the employee section. I waited until she was gone before slumping over the bar top. “What a clusterfuck.”

“No shit,” Caroline agreed.

I rubbed my face, exhausted. “Can you sniff around and see what you can find out?”

Alches thumped the ground with his tail.

“You realize I’m not a blood hound, right?” Caroline asked, assuming I was talking to her.

“Is that a no?”

Caroline reached for the bottom of her shirt. “Of course not. You know I’d do anything for you.”

“Except, apparently, flee to safety.”

“We all have our faults.” Caroline stripped out of her clothes and folded them on the table next to Jenna before straightening. She stood with her palms by her sides, eyes closed like she was meditating.

Alches leaned harder into my side as we watched with interest.

In my other sight, streams of umber tinged with black coalesced around her. Fur sprouted along her body. Her bones cracked as they realigned themselves.

Caroline dropped to all fours. A beautiful wolf replaced my friend, her head containing a regal cant as she observed the room with amber eyes for a moment before padding toward the man’s body. The wolf’s claws clicked against the wood floor as she snuffled the area, trying to pick up scents.

While she was busy, I called Liam. The phone rang several times before his voicemail picked up.

I frowned, hanging up and then calling again. “Pick up, Liam.”

My second and third attempt proved as unsuccessful as the first. Each time resulting in me being sent to voice mail.

Caroline circled the bar before heading outside while I remained next to Jenna. With no other choice, I hung up on Liam for the last time before navigating to my contact lists and the entry titled “Pain in my ass”.

“The things I’m required to do,” I muttered to myself as I hit call.

Thomas answered almost immediately. “Aileen, it’s not like you to call me.”

And if the situation wasn’t what it was, I wouldn’t have needed to.

“Is something wrong?” Thomas asked with that cool calm that sometimes drove me crazy.

“You could say that,” I answered with a sigh. “Look, Thomas—something happened and I can’t get ahold of Liam.”

There was a silence that left me a little fidgety.

“Go ahead,” Thomas said, sounding like he was giving me his full attention.

“A vampire and human were murdered tonight at the Blue Pepper. Both spontaneously combusted before anyone could examine the bodies.” I fell silent, really wishing I didn’t have to confess this next part. “The person responsible is an ancient vampire we caught stalking me last night.”

That brought the reaction I was expecting. Thomas’s anger reached down the line as a low growl filtered through the phone’s speaker. “And you neglected to inform me of this matter?”

I stuck a hand in my pocket as I waited for him to finish.

“Expect to address this with me later,” Thomas snapped. “I’m your sire, Aileen. These are the kinds of things I need to know to ensure your safety. Now, is Connor with you?”

“About that—” I trailed off, feeling awkward. How did I tell Thomas that I had lost his son? “He’s not here.”

I sensed Thomas’s frown. “Then where is he?”

“He took off after the vampire.” And boy were we going to have a talk about that. “Right after calling him grand sire.”

“I’m coming to you.”

The call clicked off, leaving me holding a dead line.

“Gee thanks, Aileen,” I mocked, lowering the phone. “So nice of you to apprise me of the situation. No problem, Thomas. I live to serve.”

I tucked the phone into my back pocket, before stalking over to the chair I’d previously placed under the human pinned to the ceiling. It lay on its side from where I’d fallen off. I placed it upright and climbed on top.

With Thomas inbound, I needed to collect as much information as possible before his arrival since there was a good chance he would try to put me on house arrest after this. Being cut out of the investigation would make fulfilling my promise to Dahlia difficult. Not to mention, I was the one being stalked by his sire.

I wanted to know why. Maybe the dead would be so kind as to provide me with a clue.

Extensive damage had been done to the human’s torso, face and limbs by the fire. It was weird that the improvised stakes had been left untouched by the flames. The ceiling as well; except for a charred ring a centimeter thick outlining the body.

A profiler would have a lot to say about the gruesomeness of this man’s death and the pageantry involved. He had to be at least one hundred and eighty pounds. He would have struggled, so it would have taken work to lift him up here. Even for a vampire.

Then there was the way he’d caught fire after death.

It was so very showy. Not at all in keeping with an ancient in the late stages of devolution.

Devolved vampires were creatures of instinct. The vampire should have drained him before massacring everyone else in the bar. He shouldn’t have been able to control himself around that many potential blood sources.

Instead, he’d targeted this human. Even waiting until the bar was clear before striking. Then upon confrontation, he’d run away rather than attacking.

Though that last part could have been due to Dahlia’s influence. She was scary—and powerful enough that he might not have been certain of victory.

I breathed lightly through my mouth, trying to ignore the nauseating scent of charred flesh. There was nothing else quite like it. The keratin in a person’s hair produced a sulfurous odor that when combined with their burning skin and organs was sweet and putrid. Because of the lipids in fat, it also made the smell thick and cloying. Almost to the point you could taste it.

It was an experience you never forgot. One that lingered in your nostrils for months afterward.

To be honest, the fire hadn’t left a lot to study.

It was impressive how hot it had burned in such a limited time.

A smudge on the man’s hand caught my attention. It was one of the few patches where the flesh was still relatively intact.

Despite my curiosity, I was careful not to touch his hand. A burn victim’s skin is incredibly fragile and has a tendency of sloughing off at the faintest touch.

Not wanting to risk accidentally destroying evidence, I lifted onto my tippy toes for a closer look.

I was right. It was a tattoo. A familiar one at that.

Located in the web of skin between the thumb and pointer finger, it was that of a drawn bow with arrow nocked.

“A hunter.” I lowered onto flat feet. “What were you doing here?”

At a well-known spook bar in the city. Possibly conspiring with the vampire outside.

Was it reconnaissance? Curiosity?

If not for his death, I’d be tempted to attribute the vampire’s murder to him.

Except I knew the vampire was the ancient’s victim as well. The method was too similar to be anything but.

Alches’s chuff brought my attention to him.

I looked down to see a black tentacle set something on the ground before vanishing back into his jowls.

“What’s that?” I climbed off my chair, bending for a closer look. “Is that a wallet? Where did you get that?”

Alches yawned nice and wide, giving me a good look at a row of sharp teeth as his tentacles fanned around his head like some alien movie monster.

“Very nice, Alches. Is this your way of telling me to figure it out myself?”

Alches smacked his lips noisily before blinking at me sleepily.

“I guess so,” I muttered, swiping the wallet off the ground and finding it covered in slobber. I gagged a little as I tossed it on the bar before grabbing a wad of napkins to wipe my hands off.

Slobber was the one thing I couldn’t stand. Hate was too light a word. I loathed it. Abhorred it with every fiber of my being.

It was a sensory issue. Something about the consistency tripped my ick factor.

My hands as clean as I could make them, I tossed the napkins toward a trash can.

Grabbing a set of toothpicks, I lifted the wallet’s flap to open it. A folded piece of paper slipped out and fell to the floor.

I bent to grab it, catching a glimpse of Caroline slinking toward her folded clothes in my peripheral vision.

Giving her privacy, I picked up the paper and rose, turning to place it on the bar. The sounds of her shift started in the background as I tried to decipher the note only to find it blank. Setting it aside for now, I rummaged through the rest of the wallet.

There wasn’t much to find. No driver’s license or credit cards that would reveal his identity. Though I did find indents of where those cards might have once been. It led me to think he’d removed them prior to embarking on his fatal night out.

That wasn’t suspicious or anything.

“I was right earlier,” I told the dead man as the rustle of Caroline putting on her clothes came from behind me. “You really were up to no good.”

This was a dead end.

“Find anything?” I asked Caroline, searching the wallet for anything else.

“The smell of smoke obscured any useful scents,” Caroline admitted, coming to stand next to me. She squinted. “Wait. Is that his wallet?”

“Seems so.”

My fingers brushed against something hidden in one of the folds.

“Where did you find it?” Caroline leaned over my shoulder as I slide the paper free.

Alches barked.

Caroline twisted to look at him. “When did a dog arrive? He wasn’t here when I came in.”

I cleared my throat uncomfortably. “He was actually. You just didn’t notice him.”

“Is there a reason why didn’t I notice him?”

“Let’s just say he’s a bit special. If he doesn’t want to be seen, you’ll never see him.”

“Oh.” Caroline dragged a hand down her face, shooting the shadow hound a troubled look before shaking her head slightly.

“What makes you so certain the wallet belongs to the human?” Caroline asked, choosing to return to the topic of conversation. “It could be the vampire’s.”

The folded square of paper came free. Carefully, I unwrapped it, finding another smaller paper inside. From the glossy feel, I could tell it was a photo.

I set the larger paper on the bar before flipping over the photo and freezing.

Caroline’s forehead furrowed as she looked at the paper I’d set on the bar earlier. “I could be wrong, but isn’t that your schedule?”

A ringing filled my ears as my face stared up at me from the photograph. There, printed in full color ink, was proof someone in my circle had betrayed me.