Chapter 15
FIFTEEN
Max
My hands feel too tight on the steering wheel as we drive to the location a supernatural body has been found, and I hate that I can’t seem to shake the tension singing through my body. All night I tossed and turned. All night, despite how hard I fought it, I watched Asha and Braxton sleep. They seemed so damn content. But then, I think I’d be content too if I was curled around the beautiful woman.
A shudder rolls through my body and my wolf bristles inside of me. I know he’s pissed too. Not just pissed, maybe jealous. And, I’m not the kind of person who would ever be jealous, especially not of my own brother. With him, all I want is good things. To find reasons to smile. To find a place in this new world outside of uniforms and fighting.
But not with Asha. Never with her.
Fuck. This is so stupid. She’s not mine. Never has been. Logically I know that she barely tolerates me. That she’s made it clear that being an Enforcer makes me her enemy.
But Braxton is an Enforcer. I guess it doesn’t matter so much for him. A bitter taste fills my mouth. We’ve shared motel room after motel room. Drive after drive. And she’s made it very clear that she doesn’t want anyone in her space, so I’ve respected that. I’ve tried not to touch her. I’ve tried not to joke too much, flirt, or cross any lines.
And now I fucking regret it. Maybe. I think some small part of me thought if I respected what she said and her triggers, enough that eventually she’d come around. I never admitted that to myself, maybe even never realized what I was doing, but now I know, and I feel like I’ve been punched in the gut.
Even if it doesn’t matter. I’m a professional. I have a job to do, and if my team is going to include my brother sleeping with the woman I feel such an overwhelming connection with, I better accept it, or I’ll ruin everything. Ruin both of their chances to work together, and my own chance to not get stuck at a desk.
My wolf just needs to fucking accept that too. Not that he seems to be willing to.
“So.” Braxton clears his throat. “How do they know this body is a supernatural and that what happened is our responsibility to investigate? I mean, this is a big city, I bet there are a lot of murders.”
“They don’t call us in unless they’re sure,” I say, and I hate that my tone is curter than I planned on it being.
Glancing back, I see my brother’s pale blue eyes locked onto mine. I look away as fast as I can. Right now, he’s going to see my emotions like he’s reading a book. I just need a couple of minutes to calm down and put everything back behind my mask without him realizing just how upset I am about Asha.
“Where’s the body?” Asha asks from the seat beside me, her tone suggesting she has no idea the turmoil I’m going through.
“A warehouse. Apparently, the body’s been torn apart pretty badly, but there’s enough left for them to get some basic details.”
She says nothing more, but then Braxton speaks up. “So, we get to see real Enforcer work here? The investigating process?”
“Yes,” I tell him, and I definitely sound angry. But then, he slept all night cuddled around a goddess and I spent all night watching him, so I think my bad mood is justified.
There’s silence for another minute as we draw closer to the water and the warehouses, and then Braxton speaks up, “You know, I’m serious about wanting to be an Enforcer. I want to learn what to do and what not to do.”
Not to do? Like getting involved with a coworker? But I keep that to myself. Because as stupid as it would be, I’d get involved with Asha too… if she didn’t have the hots for my brother.
Damn it. I’m being a petty child. I know she laid with him to calm him during his nightmare, which I’m appreciative of, but it changed after that. They looked more like romantic partners than anything else, and the image is haunting me. I thought I was so damn good at locking my emotions down, but the joke’s on me because I’m not.
I pull down a street, and I see a police car and several dark vehicles on the side of the road. Pulling up behind them, I cut the engine and we all get out. Including the dog. Fuck. Having a dog with us is just the epitome of professionalism.
Biting down on any snarky comments that would serve zero purpose, I go to a door with police tape across it and duck under. “Stay close. Say nothing. Touch nothing.”
Neither of them responds, which I hope means they’re going to listen.
Inside, there is police tape all around the center of the room. There, blood and gore decorate nearly every inch of the floor. More pieces of flesh are flung onto the boxes around the opening, and I see three Enforcers, all vampires, and a demon detective speaking quietly together. As we draw closer, all their heads go up. One man separates himself from the group. A man I recognize.
“The famous Max Blackwell,” he says, a smile tilting the corners of his mouth as he lifts a hand.
“Hacan Dunkin, it’s good to see you.” I grab his small hand and shake it. The thinner man has dark hair and brown eyes. His face is well constructed, like almost every actor in Hollywood. When he first joined the Enforcers, few people took him seriously, but I answered all of his questions and saw a spark of intelligence within him. What was more, he was hard-working, detail-oriented, and seemed to have a good heart. I’d liked him, even if I’d refused his application when he’d wanted to work with me.
He turns to the guys behind him. “This is Max Blackwell. The best Enforcer on the force.”
I shake my head. “I’m not.”
He looks back at me and smiles at Asha and Braxton. “He absolutely is. This guy took down the Rainbow Leprechaun Ring.”
“Rainbow Leprechaun Ring?” Asha repeats with a snort.
Hacan’s smile disappears. “The Leprechaun League was using rainbows to enter people’s homes, cut out their body parts, and sell them on the black market, although we didn’t know it at the time. No one could figure out how the culprits were getting in or out of all these homes without leaving a trace. People were investigating demons, vampires, and even the shifters… Max was the one that figured out what was going on and caught fifty guys, saving countless lives. And that’s only one case. His file… he’s a goddamn superstar. Anyone he gets his sights on, he catches.”
I try to hide my embarrassment. After my last few cases, I started getting more and more attention, which is part of the reason my bosses want me to work with a team. They say I’m the best and should be training more Enforcers so they can, “make an army like me.” But I don’t like any of it. Not the attention and not the idea that I can magically train a bunch of people to be just like me.
“Rainbows to enter homes?” Braxton sounds intrigued. “Bro, is this the stuff you’ve been dealing with?”
I’m prepared for him to tease me as I look back at him, noticing the fact that Asha is at his side. “Yeah, so what?”
“That’s just… awesome,” he tells me, eyes sparkling, and some of the fight goes out of me.
My gaze goes to Asha. She’s tilted her head, and she’s studying me in that way she does sometimes when she thinks I don’t notice. But the second she realizes I’m looking at her, she jerks her gaze away. So, I have no idea what’s going on in her head, but it’s probably too much to hope that she’s impressed.
I honestly think she might be the first person I’ve met in a long time who I want to impress, which is pathetic.
Turning away from them, I nod at Hacan. “Want to show me what’s going on?” And then I say over my shoulder, “Trouble stays here.” The last thing we need is a dog prancing through our crime scene.
Hacan launches into action, explaining everything as he leads me under the yellow tape. “Honestly, we haven’t figured out a damn thing, other than that claws mostly tore this guy apart. And that he’s not human.”
“How do you know that?” I ask, then inhale slowly, trying not to wrinkle my nose at the strong scents of blood and gore, to push past them to see what else only my nose can pick up on. And then, it’s there. The scent of dark magic. It’s smoky, rancid, and impossible to mistake with any other scent.
“Drake, our demon Enforcer, picked up the signs of dark magic being done here. There was a circle drawn in blood, then concealed, but he was able to show it to us, along with the remnants of herbs and burn marks from magic.”
We come to the largest pile of flesh and blood on the floor. A few bills have spilled onto the ground, sticking to the blood, and more are in the bag resting on a table. In fact, the entire bag is filled with money, suggesting this was our culprit. The one marking his victims and forcing them to give him their money.
But something feels off.
Kneeling down, I take slow, even breaths, letting my senses stretch out.
Behind me, I hear the demon named Drake say, “That’s really Max Blackwell? For some reason, I pictured him bigger.”
“Everyone does, but I think he might be big in the places that count,” Hacan says softly, but not too softly for me to hear. My brother laughs, and I glance at them out of the corner of my eye.
Hacan is leaning too closely to Drake, and the demon is leaning right back. As I inhale their scents, I find them intertwined in a way that makes them more than partners. Even Hacan’s blue shirt is the exact shade of Drake’s eyes, which might mean nothing, but I’m sure he chose it because on a subconscious level the shirt reminded him of his lover’s eyes.
But diving into their love life isn’t what I’m here for, so I focus back on the scene. In some of the gore, I spot traces of boot prints. Someone worked to erase them, or maybe the blood was just so fresh that it helped to conceal the marks. And the claw marks are obviously from a shifter. Most are too hard to make out much from, but I know they belong to a smaller shifter. A wolf. But, maybe, a female or one small in stature.
I inhale again slowly and the scent of dark magic is there, but also a… wrongness. The same wrongness I scented when we met the other Blood Mages. The smell isn’t like Asha. Asha doesn’t smell like a full wolf. She smells almost like the wolves of legend, her scent mixed with magic and pureness. It isn’t wrong, just different, unique, interesting. But this isn’t like her. It’s a Blood Mage. Whether one of her people or one of the original Blood Mages, I’m not sure, but this isn’t just demon magic or the result of witches.
As I close my eyes, I pick up other scents. Fuck. I almost get the sense that there was more than one Blood Mage here. The scents are similarly tainted by dark magic, but also different. One… feels more innocent. One feels… evil. I can’t be sure, but I think I’m right.
I stand, frowning, and move carefully around the room, breathing in as I study the scene. Whoever attacked this Blood Mage, they got close, caught them by surprise, or there would be evidence of a battle using magic, not just the remains of magic that had been done. A lover perhaps? That would explain the fact that the other person was smaller. But the idea of a shifter willingly choosing a Blood Mage as a lover doesn’t sit right with me.
This Blood Mage was a male, given the testicles hanging from the corner of a box. And to assume that no one would fall for a Blood Mage when I myself am struggling with my feelings for Asha isn’t the correct assumption. So, was this a lover’s quarrel? Two partners fighting over money?
And then I freeze and inhale again. Kneeling down, I scent something, something familiar, and slowly untangle the scent from the others.
Damn it. Damn it. Fucking damn it! There’s no mistaking Asha’s scent weaved in with the others. No one except someone who knows her well would likely pick up her smell amongst the others, but unfortunately for me, I do know her smell well.
So, there were… two Blood Mages and Asha here? And one of the Blood Mages ended up being torn to pieces by a smaller shifter? Fucking hell, Asha killed him?
I don’t know. Or I do and wish I didn’t.
“What do you think?” Hacan asks curiously.
I haven’t worked it all out yet, so I act quickly. “This was a Blood Mage, but I’m not sure it was the one we’re looking for.”
“You think there’s more than one in town?” Braxton asks with curiosity.
“No way in hell,” Hacan says, and he sounds concerned.
Slowly, I nod. “Yeah, I think we have more than one here. And with the violence of this killing, I’m not sure that the other one would have left town.” I look at Asha, whose expression is carefully neutral, because, of course it would be. “Whatever’s going on here, I have more questions than answers.” Then, I make a decision that’s likely terrible. “Asha and Braxton, I want you to carefully move around the crime scene and see what you can put together.”
They do, and I hate that deep down I’m just trying to make sure there’s an excuse for her scent to be here if anyone else picks up on it. At least until I figure out what’s going on here. Because if this is really her mind snapping, I’ll have to turn her in, whether I want to or not.
My phone rings, and I tear my gaze away from the guilty party and answer. It’s Carl. “Get your ass to Main Street and Ashwood Avenue. The Blood Mage is in the middle of town and things are bad.”
“Yes, sir,” I say, but he’s already hung up, so I stand. “The other Blood Mage is at Main Street and Ashwood Avenue, and things are bad.”
The other team of Enforcers all stiffen, and then we’re heading for our cars. I barely let Trouble, Braxton, and Asha in the car before I’m squealing off, racing down the street, hoping like hell we won’t be too late.
“Asha.” My voice is a growl. “What are we going to see when we get there?”
I glance at her as she stiffens beside me. “I don’t know what–”
“Fuck!” My fists pound the steering wheel making them both jump. “Start talking!”
“Max, calm down. She probably doesn’t know anything,” Braxton says calmly in the backseat.
“Shut up,” I tell him, and jerk my gaze back to her. “We both know that I figured out what happened there, so you’re going to start talking. Got me? I can live with you killing one of those fuckers, but if innocents die because of this game you’re playing, I’ll haul you off to prison and lock you up myself.”
She looks shocked but then stutters out, “His name is Clinton. He’s young, not even eighteen. He’s just a kid. He was lost and confused. I thought he was just being manipulated by the Blood Mage… so I helped him, and he swore he’d leave town and never hurt anyone again.”
“The other Blood Mage was one of the ones who… hurt you?” I ask, my voice a little softer.
She nods.
Relief rushes through me. “Then I’m glad he’s dead.”
A little of the tension eases from my shoulders. So, she killed one of the people who tortured and imprisoned her. I can live with that. And she didn’t just let this kid go, she actually thought he was on a straight and narrow path. It was a mistake, but one I can understand.
“Let’s just hope we reach him before Grim.”
“He’s here?” she asks, and now she sounds really worried.
“Grim?” Braxton sounds confused.
“Another Enforcer. A good one. I heard he was in town, and his goal is to kill all the Blood Mages. In fact, he has more casualties than any Enforcer ever, but also gets jobs done that no one else can, so administration mostly looks the other way with his… ruthless way of handling things.” That’s all I’m going to say because saying more wouldn’t be good for Asha right now. Except, “Braxton, you are to stay at her side from now on. Don’t let her out of your sight. I don’t trust Grim with her.”
And he’ll be there. We just need to get there first.
We screech around a corner and find a ring of police cars surrounding a building. Outside of the building… bodies litter the ground. Men, women, even children, and it’s obvious that they’ve been drained of blood. There’s at least half a dozen of them, and my head spins as I stare at the scene.
Old images slam into me. Of coming home to find my parents’ bodies on the living room floor. Blood had splattered the walls. There were two chairs, chairs they’d been tied to, tortured on. Their faces were beaten to the point that I could barely recognize them.
Braxton had gone to a friend’s house that day. And as much as I might have desperately needed him there, I was glad he wasn’t. No one should ever have to see their parents like that. So, I’d called the authorities. And after the scene had been cleaned up, I’d spent hours cleaning the blood off the tile, off the walls, and off of the furniture. I’d cried the entire time, cried my heart out, but I couldn’t imagine Braxton coming home to that.
Now, all of these families would know that same heartbreak. Mothers, fathers, brothers, and sisters would get a call. They would lose someone they loved today.
And as I climb out of the car, I’m aware of that to my very soul. It’s almost as if all of their ghosts are haunting me as I rush to the lead Enforcer, a man who is easy to recognize. I ignore Braxton, Trouble, and Asha, but I sense them behind me.
“Max Blackwell,” I tell the man in front of me.
The huge demon’s head swings to me with a frown. “Your boss said you’re the man for the job, but I don’t know how you’re going to get past that wall of dark magic any more than the rest of us.”
I look at the apartment building with a frown, then inhale slowly. This time, the dark magic isn’t overwhelming, but it’s there, buzzing in the air in a way I’ve never experienced before.
“He’s put up a wall around the building,” Asha says near me, and her voice is filled with awe. “No one will be able to get close.”
The huge demon gives her a curious look, but before he can say more the devil himself steps around the car, followed by his three lackeys. Grim. Grim is not a big man by any means. In fact, he’s half-leprechaun, which means the top of his head doesn’t even reach the top of my shoulder, but he’s the kind of man whose presence fills a room. He wears a white tank top and dark jeans. Tattoos cover his arms and his neck, and his dark brown hair is slicked down hard on his head. Behind him, his demon crew dwarfs him in height, but they follow a step behind for a reason.
“Get me past that barrier,” he barks at me. “And I’ll turn that fucker into sludge.”
“Max.” Asha sounds upset behind me.
“Actually, Grim, we’d prefer to handle this ourselves.”
Grim flashes a row of perfect teeth. “Max, you’re good, but you’re too soft for handling this shit. That fucking Blood Freak has a building full of people to feed on. If we give him any time, any kindness, he’ll kill them all because, like all freaks, he has no soul.”
“Are more people in danger right now?” I direct my question to the big demon.
“As of now, he’s holed up in an empty apartment, but the people can’t leave. The shield prevents it. A few tried, and we told them to lock themselves in the apartments, for now. So, we have a little time, but not much.”
I nod. “Then, let my team handle this. We have… unique abilities. We’ll get in. With the least amount of damage.”
After a minute, the demon gives a sharp nod. “But, Blackwell, don’t make me regret this.”
Grim looks… pissed, but I turn away from him and hurry my group around the back of my SUV. My gaze locks onto Asha, and I hope I made the right choice here. “Can you get us past his barrier?”
Her big eyes are even bigger, but she slowly nods. “I think so.”
I turn to the apartment building, trying to assess this barrier that I can’t see. Unfortunately, it’s just as hard as it sounds to assess something you can’t see. Something that only has the slightest odor.
“How will you get through?” I ask, seeing curtains fluttering in a window on the second floor and wondering if that’s the location of our culprit or an innocent.
“I’m not sure right now.” She sounds upset. “But I think I can do it… with enough blood.”
With. Enough. Blood.
Right.
Fuck.
I turn to Asha and her hands are folded together, like she doesn’t want to say what needs to be said next. “We can go in the SUV, and I’ll let you feed,” I say, trying to ignore the rise of desire that I hate flows through me at the thought of her feeding off of me again.
She releases a slow breath. “He’s fed on a lot of people… I don’t know if one of you will be enough without leaving you… weak.”
Fuck. I don’t want my brother to be her feeder, even though that’s a huge part of the reason he’s here. It’s just when I agreed to have a team to serve as her blood sources, I had no idea how intimate it would be, or how much I’d enjoy it.
“Okay,” Braxton says, surprising us both.
I look at my brother. “Are you sure? Because I know how you feel about…?”
“This is part of why I’m here,” he says, lifting a brow. “Right?”
And it feels like a challenge. “Right.”
We head into the SUV, but my head is spinning. I keep thinking about what it was like last time, how aroused it made me, and I’m trying to picture how this will work with the three of us. And hoping like hell I don’t give myself away.
This needs to be professional. A requirement to access her powerful magic.
Nothing more. But no matter how much I tell myself that, when the SUV door closes and Asha sits nervously in the middle of us, I don’t know what to say. Nothing about this feels professional.
It feels like the start of pure trouble.