The very idea of seeing Thorn again, of hearing his voice, of the merechancehe could snare me in his inescapable thrall a second time… I stifle a shudder. In Hell, I endured centuries of torture. By the end, madness had consumed me. And yet, my time in the Underworld was nothing compared to what Thorn did to me.
“Sin?” Zoe whispers. “Are you all right?”
I shoot her a look warning her to keep quiet, and she rolls her eyes. I deserved that.
“Agent Dawes and Agent Sinclair,” Jinx says as she drops lightly into her chair and taps a few keys on her keyboard. “Dion says you need to review our security footage.”
I blow out a slow breath. “When I was leaving last night, I heard a woman convincing one of your patrons to go with her. I believe this woman is a person of interest in our case. Perhaps even the murderer’s accomplice.”
Jinx presses her hand to her chest. “You think this same woman took Jacinda?”
Glancing over at Zoe, I see the accusation in her green eyes. She’s learning just how much of an ass I am. Particularly when drunk. “I do. We cannot go into detail—not with an open investigation—but what happened to Jacinda has happened before. If this woman is using your club as a poaching ground, we might be able to set a trap for her and put an end to this for good.”
With a curt nod, Jinx brings up a screen showing six different video images. “If your suspect is usingmyclub to hunt, she will regret ever being born. We protect our own, Sinclair. Not that we won’t accept the Bureau’s help, but if this woman shows up on video and weeversee her again, I will intervene and stop her.”
“Jinx, I’m new to the Bureau.” Zoe sits up a little straighter in her chair, an earnest look on her face. “But I was with the SFPD for six years. I promise you...if you let us handle this, wewillfind this woman—and anyone else she’s working with—and we’ll stop them.”
“Dion likes you, human.” Jinx inclines her head as if she’s doubting her manager’s word. “But I do not know you, and there is something about you that’s—“
“Jinx,” I say sharply. “The only one allowed to insult my partner in my presence isme. And we require privacy. Give us the room, and you can view the feeds later at your leisure.”
Zoe shoots me a look that could flay my skin from my body, but as that particular torture is one I’ve survived multiple times, I shake it off. It is better if she does not know anything about herOtherside—whatever it may be. If she were to discover it, or use any talents she might have, she could be even more of a target than she is already. Thorn would hunt her down and invade her mind until he wrung every last drop of power from her soul. And then, he would drive her slowly, painfully insane.
I do not know how to tell her that her mere association with me puts her in danger. I did not see Regina the previous night, and I do not believe she saw me. But if I am wrong?
Fuck. I should never have gone to Zoe’s apartment. I could have been followed. Commander Eve needs to assign Zoe a security detail.
“Get your head in the game, Sin,” Zoe snaps as she starts the video playback. “I don’t know where you keep going, but it isn’t here with me.”
I draw in a sharp breath. There are times that the woman at my side seems so familiar. And very much…mine, that she takes my breath away. The look on her face now? It stirs emotions in me I have never felt before. I cannot let myself give in. Emotion—anyemotion—is a danger to both of us.
It takes me only seconds to get myself under control. After all, I have had years of practice feeling…nothing. “Apologies. It will not happen again.”
“I hope not.”
The images on the screen pass by at double speed, starting half an hour before midnight. I cringe as one of the feeds captures me stumbling through the crowd on my way to the door. My footsteps are uneven, my shoulders slump, and I am clearly belligerent.
“No more investigating on your own,” Zoe snaps. “I can’t believe you. Even when I was at my lowest, I never—never—drank on the job, and I don’t care what time it was. You were clearly on the job.”
“No one knows my faults better than me. I do not need you to remind me of them at every turn.” My anger is so bright and hot, I almost miss the glimpse of long, black hair against deathly pale skin. Or the flash of orange in her eyes. “There. That is Regina.” Jabbing the keyboard, I slow the video to normal speed and rewind to play it a second time.
“Look at the girl next to her,” Zoe says, pointing to a small, frizzy-haired shifter. “I saw her on the video earlier. She’s been at the club for at least an hour, and she’s following Regina around like a little lost puppy dog.”
“Donotlet any of the shifters hear you compare them to puppies.” That is the last thing we need.
“Pay attention.” Zoe grabs the mouse and starts zooming in on Regina and her target. The demon traces her finger down the shifter’s cheek, and the girl smiles, her eyes blank, and nods. “Dammit. I wish we had sound.”
“We do not need it. Regina is Fae, and with her particular power, she can cast a charm with an effect similar to Rohypnal using only her words. There is no fighting it. Not even the strongest mind can break free. Her victim will be compliant, dazed, and do whatever Regina asks. When the charm wears off, she will likely remember nothing.”
“Shit.”
I can feel Zoe’s horror, but it is nothing compared to my own. For Regina’s charms did not work as well on me as she’d thought. I was too strong, and though I could not fight her, I was often semi-aware of what she was making me do. The longer we spend working this case, the more I remember how shepreparedme for Thorn's torture. And how he stole everything I was, slowly, painfully, until I finally broke completely.
We watch together as the shifter follows Regina out the club’s front door without saying a word, passing within ten feet of me. I’d fallen, facing away from them. Minutes later, I believe I vomited in the gutter. Had I been sober, I would have found her, and perhaps, the pretty young shifter with the frizzy hair and bright, blue eyes would still be free today.
* * *
Zoe
