Fuck. His gaze packs a punch I’m not prepared for. The shifter…she was empty. Gone. A hollow shell. But Sin?
His eyes are full of heat. And pain. Regret. Longing. Curiosity. Resignation. So much more. Irises the color of a perfect sapphire, the outsides glowing a sky blue. And staring at him settles my stomach almost immediately.
Why?
“Zoe? Agent Dawes?” He holds out his hand, and my gaze pings between his strong fingers and his eyes. That’s when I understand. Why the shifter affects me so deeply.
With Sin, everything I associate with a person, their soul, the very essence of their being is present. He’s so much more complicated than the humans I’m used to dealing with, but he’s definitely…here.
The shifter’s body? It’s missing all of that. Even after death, a person’s soul remains for a time. I used to swear I couldseeit. Until Temple warned me repeatedly not to admit that to anyone.
But with the shifter? She’s not even a ghost. There’s just…nothing there.
Frowning, I shake my head. “I’m fine.”
After a beat, he nods. “Very well.”
I can’t help but ask. “What are you?”
“Something that should have never been born.” Sadness laces his deep, lightly accented voice, but as I pin him with a hard stare, he sighs. “Incubus. Mostly.”
“Do you have…talents?” He isn’t telling me the whole truth, but though I’ve always been able to read people, to know whether they’re lying, I have no idea what he’s keeping from me.
“Talents?” His lips curve into a frown, and that strong, perfectly sculpted brow furrows, making me want to smooth the lines away.
“Incubus. You feed off of arousal, yes?”
He nods. “I can also feed off of fear, though I choose not to.”
“What else? Can you read minds? Shit like that?”
Sin shoves his hands into his pockets. “I require arousal—and a name—to feed. I can, when connected to a person, see their memories in limited fashion. But only if they are willing or unawares—two states I can induce if necessary.”
“How?” I need to know what I’m dealing with. What mypartnercan do. For me. With me. To me.
“Through vision and touch. I require both to compel someone—along with a pliant mind. I can give a person a ‘nudge’ if you will, towantto touch me. Something to tip them over the edge if they are wavering. And when I am hungry, I will automatically appear more…appealingto any humans around me. You have my word, however, that I never take from a human against their will.”
“Is that because you can’t or is it some moral code you live by?”
He’s wary, but inclines his head. “My own moral code. Incubi are some of the world’s most powerful demons. And the most dangerous. What is wrong, Zoe?”
I don’t trust him enough to explain. Yet. Or to tell him just how green I am. “Nothing.”
My curt response sets him off, and the low sound he makes could almost be described as a growl. “Fine. You know where the morgue is?”
“I’m assuming you’re not referring to the San Francisco Medical Examiner’s office.”
Sin flashes me a wry smile. “Hardly. Follow me, then. I’m in the A3.”
Like I hadn’t noticed. But I keep my reaction to myself lest he leave me to find the morgue on my own. After all, heisa demon. I don’t expect him toevergive me a straight answer.
How did I end up here? The only human working for an agency that calls itself BOO and following an incubus to a place no human knows about where I could disappear and never be heard from again.
Oh. That’s right. I got shot by a man I should have been able to trust more than anyone else in the world. And then, I had the gall to investigate it.
Four
Sin
