Who does that? Wipes memories?
Me, apparently. Or at least the organization I’m now a part of.
Bursting out into the brightness of late morning, I find a bench next to a planter of rose bushes. Something normal. Human. Even…pretty. I tip my head back and let the sunlight warm my cheeks, my eyes closed. Until a chilling image flashes behind my lids. A cage. In the dark. And I swear I can smell damp earth, moldy stone.
Get a hold of yourself, Zoe.
Forcing my eyes open, I scoot closer to the rose bushes and inhale deeply. I shouldnothave read the BOO handbook whileInterview with a Vampireplayed in the background. Big mistake.
A few moments later, Sin drops down onto the warm wood next to me. “That tattoo…the design is ancient. And I have seen it before.”
“Where?” I tilt my head to find him staring up at the hills surrounding the city.
“Nowhere I can speak of. Trust me, Zoe.”
His voice carries the weight of a long life—not that I have any idea how old he is—and when he says my name, a lump swells in my throat.
I don’t know this man—this demon—but he’s my partner, and I haven’t been entirely straight with him either. If I want him to trust me, I have to trust him.
“It was her eyes.”
“What?” he says.
“You asked me what was wrong earlier. At the crime scene.” I glance up at him, only to find him staring across the street. A sliver of the bay’s visible, and the blue-gray waters are calming. “I’ve seen bodies mutilated before. After weeks of decomp. You never forget that smell. It’s awful, but it’s part of the job.”
“And her eyes still affected you that dramatically?”
“Yes.” Running a hand through my curls, I search for some logic, some reason why, but come up with nothing. “It was like everything that made that shifter who shewas...everything that made her a person...was gone. Like someone destroyed her from the inside out. And I’ve never seen a body that made me feel that way before.”
Shock, anger, and understanding weave together, forming a deep rumble in Sin’s chest, and I fall silent as I try to understand his reaction.
After what feels like an hour, he sighs. “There is more to this murder than meets the eye.” At my cringe, he offers up a strained laugh. “Apologies. A most unintentional pun. Commander Eve should have warned us—warned me—about this before she sent us out there. Before she assigned you—“
“Hey.”
Sin holds up his hand, “Youanda demon whose past is forever linked to what we just saw in there.“ Rubbing the back of his neck, he ruffles his dark hair, and for the first time, I notice his fingers. They’re burned in spots, the smooth, almost shiny skin at odds with the rest of him that appears to be perfection wrapped in a cocksure swagger. He shakes his head and turns his gaze to the parking lot once more.
His dark blue sports car stands out like a bird of paradise amid a flock of pigeons. Particularly next to my old coupe. I’m assuming from now on,he’sgoing to want to drive.
After another few moments, he turns to me, his stare so deep, it’s like he’s searching my soul. Unlike inside, his irises are a glittering sky blue now, and I wish I felt comfortable asking him why they change colors. The section on incubi and succubi in the handbook was woefully short.
“I will not lie to you, Zoe. This case will be dangerous beyond all measure. Are you certain you can handle it?” he asks.
The question grates, but I can’t blame him it. Not with how I acted at the crime scene. And in the morgue.Rookiespuke at crime scenes.Rookiesrun out of the coroner’s office and want to burn their nostrils with a blow torch.
“I’ve been in Homicide for eighteen months. Before that, I walked a beat. I was at the massacre down at the Pier back in January, and I’ve found my fair share of vagrants and junkies well after their expiration dates. I’m here now because…” I clench my hands hard enough for my short nails to dig painfully into my palms. “Because my partner tried to kill me, and I shot him.” I don’t look away, and though inside, I want to fall apart, I’ll never let Sin see that happen.
With a curt nod, he says, “Very well. I hope neither of us regret this.”
Five
Sin
Sitting next to Zoe, I try to make sense of her. Her file listed her as human, but the power behind her eyes? It is very real and very much…other.
Twice now, she has caused me to wonder if I have fed from her in the past. There is a familiarity to her mannerisms I cannot place, but yet, she is so unique, I know I would have remembered her.
As for why the body disturbed her so? There is more to that mystery as well. More than her discomfort with the shifter’s missing eyes.
