“What is it? Every cop I know has one of those. The detective in charge of the case would have drilled the lock.”
My partner peers up at me, discomfort tightening his features. “Incubi are predators by nature. We evolved to scent fear and arousal, the two emotions we can feed on most easily. The area around this safe carries both in equal measure.”
“Are you trying to tell me Temple had...agun fetish?”
With an exasperated sigh, he shakes his head. “No. I am trying to tell you that Regina was here with your former partner and forced him to dosomethingwith the contents of the safe. Either retrieve an item or leave one behind. Check your tablet. The inventory from your former precinct should be in there.”
Shit. The idea that Temple was in his apartment with that woman—that Fae bitch—gives me the creeps, and I shudder as I pull up the case files.
“Two boxes of ammunition, unopened. A copy of his will—the scanned document is attached—the title to his vehicle, and a hunting knife.”
“He used his service weapon in the attack,” Sin says as he pushes to his feet. “If he was taken when he was off duty, perhaps it was in the safe, and Regina forced him to retrieve it.”
“Why?”
“Power.” With one last glance around the small, spartan bedroom, Sin motions for me to precede him back into the living room. “Most in the Bureau do not carry guns. Our talents are our weapons. The mages use athames on occasion, but that is it. You—as our lone human—will likely be the only agent in the building most days with a firearm.”
“Well, that makes me feel...inadequate,” I mutter.
“It is not meant to.” He eases the tablet from my hand and sets it on the counter, where he taps the screen to bring up the scanned copy of Temple’s will. “Thorn and Regina are experts in psychological torture. Tell me this, Zoe. How would you feel if you were forced to use your gun to take an innocent life?”
My voice drops to a whisper. “It would destroy me.”
“Exactly. This was part of their plan to torture him. Human minds are strong.” Sin’s expression softens, and he offers me a sad smile. “Perhaps stronger than any other creature. They do not quietly or easily submit. Not for long. Regina’s touch and voice can compel anyone for short periods of time. A few hours at most. Long enough to get them somewhere...private. Somewhere she and Thorn can secure them and delve deep into their thoughts to find the one or two things their victims hold most dear. That is what they then use to...break them.”
The threat of tears burns my eyes, and I swallow hard. “So they kidnapped Temple, then decided that forcing him to kill me with his own gun would be enough to break him completely?”
A shadow passes over Sin’s features. “Or, that being used to take you, to capture you, torture you, and ready you for...usewould be even better.”
Fuck.Even when I realized I fit the basic profile of Thorn's victims, I didn’t put the pieces together. Maybe I didn’t want to. I have to sit down. Right now.
My legs buckle, and Sin scoops me up and deposits me on a barstool. “Take a deep breath, Zoe.”
“I’m...I’m fine. I don’t...it was just a shock, that’s all.” I wave him off, and he takes a seat next to me. “But Sin? I need you to tell me everything you remember about your time with them.”
“No.” He reaches for my tablet and brings up the SPD report, but I’m not going to let him off the hook that easily.
“You’ve been giving me half answers the entire time we’ve been on this case, and I’m sick of it. You don’t think this is hard for me? Being here? My partnershotme. He was like a brother to me. One of the only people in the world I trusted implicitly, and he held a gun to my side and pulled the trigger.”
“And that is supposed to compare to what they did to me?” he shouts, standing and starting to pace the room. “Being forced to go against everything I haveeverbelieved in?”
“Oh for fuck’s sake. No. But it’s supposed to make you realize that this case isn’t all aboutyou!It’s about the missing women. And men. The ones who are going through hell right now. A hell onlyyoucan understand.” I’m shouting now too, and he stares at me like I’ve lost my shit. And maybe I have, but I don’t care. “I need you to explain it to me. Because maybe—just maybe—you’ll remember something you think is completely inconsequential, but really…is the missing piece of the puzzle that could help us figure out where they’ll strike next.”
Sin’s knuckles crack as he balls his hands into fists, and his skin takes on a bronzed glow—almost like there’s some internal fire brewing inside him itching to escape.
“We don’t have to like each other,Sinclair. But we’re partners, and partners don’t keep secrets.”
He flinches, as if my words have finally gotten through whatever shield he’s using to keep his pain deep inside. The glow surrounding him fades away, and he walks over to the window in the far corner of the living space and looks out over a small slice of the city half-obscured by the building next to us.
“Are you certain you wish to do this here?” he asks.
No. I’m not. But if he’s willing to talk, I’m not taking a chance leaving will change his mind. “Yes. I am.”
* * *
Sin
I cannot look at Zoe. Not when I tell her about what I’ve done. I fully expect her to go straight to Commander Eve and request reassignment. She will not quit the Bureau. She is too strong for that. But she will never be able to look me in the eyes again. Of that I am certain.
