The Darkest Kiss

Chapter 11

Twenty-four hours later, I was sitting in a waiting room in a Melbourne hospital, holding my brother’s hand and hoping for the best.

Liander had lost a lot of blood and was now in emergency surgery to fix cuts to both his bowel and small intestines. He might be a werewolf, but there were some wounds that even a werewolf needed help to heal.

Rhoan hadn’t said a word since we’d arrived. Other than acknowledging Liander’s parents as they’d come in, he simply held my hand and stared at the wall, a blank expression on his face.

Not allowing himself to think.

Not allowing himself to feel.

In some ways, the very lack of emotion scared me, simply because I knew it was all there, bottled up, ready to explode should the worst happen. And I wasn’t entirely sure the four of us would be able to contain his wrath and grief if Liander did slip away.

I hoped Ben was right. Hoped that he wasn’t an exception to the rule, and that losing a soul mate didn’t necessarily mean death. I didn’t want to lose my brother—and especially not like this.

I swallowed the bitter taste of fear and pushed the negative thoughts away. Liander would live. He’d promised, and he wasn’t a man to make such promises lightly.

Quinn came back into the waiting room, a tray of coffees in his hands. He placed it down on the small table in front of us, then offered one to Liander’s parents. Yann, a heavier-set version of Liander himself, shook his head, but Raina—another silver wolf—accepted a cup gratefully, a small smile of thanks breaking the worry etched into her lined features.

Quinn held a cup out to me and I took it gratefully, sipping at the hot liquid and wincing a little at its bitter taste. Hospital coffee was on par with the muck we got at work.

“Rhoan?” Quinn said, offering him one of the remaining plastic mugs.

“No, thanks.”

“Rhoan—” I said, but he cut in sharply.

“No!”

His voice cracked with a mix of worry and barely repressed fury—everything that wasn’t showing on his face. I squeezed his hand. I could only imagine what he was going through, and as frustrating as his reactions were at the moment, they were also totally understandable. Hell, there was no way known I would have been as calm as he currently was if it had been my soul mate out there in the operating room.

Quinn sat back down beside me, pressing his warmth against my side and helping to battle the chill threatening to overwhelm me. He, like me, smelled of old blood, but my scent was also mixed with the aroma of fear and dried sweat, and it was decidedly unpleasant. As was my dress, which had become stiff and uncomfortable with all the dried blood on it. I plucked at the material lightly with my fingers. It was yet another dress that would end up in the trash. This job was playing havoc with my wardrobe. And my life.

God, please, let Liander be okay.

I took another sip of coffee, then leaned against Quinn a little more, resting my head lightly on his shoulder. He didn’t say anything, simply wrapped his arm around my shoulder and hugged me.

It was good that he was here, and not just because his mere presence had an oddly soothing effect. Quinn was convinced Liander would pull through, and that conviction rolled off him like a blanket, smothering the flames of panic that might otherwise be present.

But I was also glad that he was there for me. Glad I had someone that I could lean against when I needed to. There hadn’t been a whole lot of people I could say that about in my life, and the fact that I was feeling it now, with Quinn, made me realize that no matter what the difficulties were between us, we had to give this a fair go.

I might be an independent, stupid bitch at times—okay, most of the time—but even I needed someone to turn to occasionally. Someone who wasn’t my brother or his lover.

My phone rang into the silence. I took a breath and blew it out slowly. I knew without looking that it would be Jack.

“I need you on the job,” he said when I answered.

“Jack, we’re still at the hospital—”

“And we’ve still got a killer running around loose,” he cut in. “I’m sorry, Riley. I know you want to be with Rhoan, but I need one of you here. Kade’s good, but he hasn’t got a wolf’s tracking skills.”

“What about Iktar?”

The spirit lizard had come through training the same time as Kade, but had been floating between day shift and night. He apparently had a few qualms about working with vampires—and the night shift was all vampires—but at the same time, day shift had proven something of a hassle for him. Humans might be used to the presence of shifters and vampires, but the sight of a spirit lizard, with their featureless faces and tendency to run around naked, had caused more than a few shocked reactions. Besides, Iktar’s skills were most useful in the in-between times of dawn and dusk. If there was a hint of a shadow around, a spirit lizard could simply disappear—and more completely than a vampire could shadow at such times. Which was a very useful skill to have when you were tracking down psychos.

“I had him rounding up the remaining Trollops last night,” Jack said.

“So they’re all safe?”

“There’s a Jenny Franklin and a Joan Hawkins who are currently unaccounted for, but there’s no sign of violence at either of their homes. Relatives have been un-helpful.”

Not so great. I hesitated. Stopping the bakeneko was a priority, I knew that. But so was my brother. So was stopping him if anything went wrong. “Jack—”

“It’s not a request, Riley. It’s an order. Don’t make me come and get you.”

I blew out a breath. I knew when I was defeated—and I definitely didn’t want a scene at the hospital. Not when my brother was so fragile, mentally.

“I have to go home and change before I can do anything.”

“Do it, then meet Kade in Toorak Road.”

He gave me the full address, and I frowned. “Isn’t that a parking lot?”

“Yeah. Another naked male has turned up, this one found on his car on the top level.”

On? That didn’t sound good. “I gather he’s in the same state as the others?”

“Worse.”

I wanted to ask what could possibly be worse than what we’d already seen, but I had a bad feeling I’d know the answer soon enough. Besides, I had seen worse. Many times. It seemed bad men and women didn’t have a whole lot of respect for the human—and nonhuman—condition. “Crap.”

“Yeah.” He paused. “I talked to some of the other women last night. All the murdered men were Cherry Barnes’s former partners. And all the murdered women were the next lovers of those men.”

Which is basically what I’d guessed after talking to Dia. “So, unable to reach her mistress’s actual killer, the bakeneko is exacting revenge for what she sees as betrayals of her mistress’s trust. And she’s killing the women first so she can take their form and then kill the men?”

“It would appear so.”

And if it hadn’t been for the bakeneko’s catlike sense of self-superiority, we might never have realized who was behind all the murders. “Did the cuts on Cherry’s body match those found on Ivan and Denny?”

“Yes. She appears to have been Young’s first victim.”

“Meaning it was Young who set the bakeneko off in the first place?”

“Yes,” Jack said grimly. “Keep your com-link open, Riley. I want to know where you are at all times.”

“Will do.” I hung up and looked at Rhoan. “I have to go.”

He didn’t even look at me. “I’ll be fine.”

I didn’t believe it. Not one little bit.

Quinn squeezed my shoulder lightly, then removed his arm. My world seemed colder without it. Just for an instant I wondered if he was using his vampire wiles again, then wanted to smack myself mentally. Besides the fact that my shields had grown substantially since he’d last tried that, I honestly didn’t think he’d do such a thing when we were still sorting out what was going to happen between us. He might be a very old vampire and set in his ways, but he wasn’t stupid.

“There’s been a murder?” he asked softly.

I nodded, then opened the link between us and said softly, Will you look after Rhoan for me? I know it’s a huge favor, but—

He leaned forward and stopped my words with a kiss. And oh, what a kiss.

It’s not such a huge favor, he said after a while, his breath warm and soft against my lips. Rhoan was a friend long before we got together. I’ll keep him safe for you, have no doubt about that. Out loud, he added, “Be careful.”

It felt like a weight had been lifted from my soul. I smiled and touched his face lightly. “I will.”

He kissed me again, then added, “Ring me when you finish. We’ve things to discuss.”

Things to discuss, decisions to make. But there was one decision that didn’t need to be made. Quinn was back in my life and I was more than happy about that. But in what capacity he stayed there remained to be seen.

I let my fingers slip down his cheeks and across his lips. He kissed my fingertips lightly, sending a tingle right down to my toes. I sighed, but forced myself upright. I wanted to stay, not just for my brother but to soak up the warmth and strength that was Quinn, but I was a guardian, and there were people out there dying.

“Take care when dealing with the bakeneko,” he added, dark eyes filled with concern. “Remember, she’s consumed a number of souls now, and that will make her both fast and deadly.”

“Hey, I took out a god of death—how bad can a bakeneko be after that?”

He didn’t say anything. I touched my brother’s shoulder lightly, then left. And the feeling that I’d just tempted fate sat like a weight in my stomach.

The top floor of the parking lot had been cordoned off with yellow tape and watchful cops. Blood rode the wind, thick and fresh, and somewhere ahead Kade was speaking, his rich tones bringing a smile to my lips.

A smile that wasn’t likely to stay there given the apparent extent of the blood. This was going to be nasty.

I flashed my badge at the officer guarding the top-floor entrance, then ducked under the tape and walked up the ramp. One of Cole’s men—the bird-shifter—was bagging something that looked suspiciously like a chunk of meat, and I paused.

“Is that what I think it is?”

He glanced up, his expression neutral but his brown eyes afire with anger. “Yeah.”

So it was an arm. Or what remained of it, anyway. The bakeneko was definitely getting more violent with every kill.

“Stop this thing, will you?” he continued, zipping the bag up with more force than necessary. “I don’t want to see what it does next.”

“Neither do I.” My voice was grim. I glanced up the ramp as Cole’s voice rode the air, then glanced back at the bird-shifter. “Do you actually have a name?”

“People call me Dobbs.”

“First name, or last name?”

“Friends don’t use my first name.”

And neither would his enemies, if that tone was anything to go by. “Thanks, Dobbs.”

He nodded and got back to the gruesome task of collecting the smaller bits of flesh and fat globules that were still scattered about.

The wind hit me full force as I entered the top floor, blowing me back a step before I realized it. I shivered and collected the flyaway ends of my coat, quickly zipping it up. Thank God I’d had the chance to change—my blood-soaked dress would have left me frozen.

Kade and Cole were squatting near the rear of a blue Toyota four-wheel drive. Even from this distance, it was evident that neither man was happy.

I walked across, my boot heels clicking briefly against the concrete before the sound was rushed away by the wind. Neither man looked around, though both would have been aware of my presence.

“What’s up?” I stopped behind Cole and bent to peer under the car. Something that resembled a bloody mess of flesh lay about halfway down.

Not the torso that matched the arm. That arm had been male. This mess was female.

Although I could really only tell that by the pretty gold charm bracelet that was somehow still attached to her visible arm.

“Two victims?” I said, hoping to God I was wrong.

“Two victims,” Cole confirmed, rising and stripping off bloody gloves. “We think this one is unrelated.”

I straightened and met the icy blue of his gaze. “As in wrong place, wrong time?”

“Unfortunately, yes.”

“That’s uncharacteristic, isn’t it? I mean, she had witnesses when she did the shoe seller in the window, and she made no move against them.”

“Given we are not dealing with anything remotely human, who’s to say what is, and isn’t, characteristic?” Cole motioned me to follow him.

I glanced at Kade, who was still studying the body intently, then spun and followed the wolf-shifter. I saw the second body long before we reached it. His torso was sprawled across the trunk of the sports car and there was a look of pure terror frozen on his face. Or what remained of it.

That expression said that this was a man who’d experienced the depths of hell in the midst of one of life’s greatest pleasures.

I stopped and silently cataloged his injuries. The blood loss from the scratches alone would have been deadly enough, but she’d also ripped him apart limb by limb, leaving only his torso and head on top of the car’s trunk.

I closed my eyes and fought the bile that rose up my throat. It wasn’t as if I’d never seen bodies pulled apart like this before. I had, but that didn’t mean seeing it again now made it any easier. I doubted it ever would.

“God,” I said, voice thick.

“Yeah,” Cole said. “I think she must have taken cat form to get out of here, because she would have been covered in blood after all this.”

I dragged my gaze away from the body and looked around. “There would have to have been screams from both the victims. Surely someone heard them?”

Cole’s expression was grim. “The local boys are interviewing the shopkeepers and the patrons. I doubt we’re going to get anything.”

“Then how was the body discovered?”

“A bit of the woman was flung over the side of the building. It hit a kitchen hand from the restaurant next door as he was dumping bags into the trash.”

“Anyone talked to him yet?”

“I think he’s been sedated.” Cole grimaced. “He’ll probably have nightmares for weeks, poor kid.”

“He’s not the only one.” I rubbed my arms lightly, then stopped as power began to caress the air and an odd tingle raced across my skin.

Excitement surged. It wasn’t just the escalation of the violence that was different with this crime scene.

“What?” Cole said softly.

“There’s a soul here.” My gaze darted around the parking lot, but I couldn’t see anything that resembled the wispy smoke of a soul. Of course, the wind might be tearing any manifestation apart before it was fully formed.

“Whose soul?”

“I don’t know.” I spun around and took several steps toward the rear wall. The wind was less frantic here, and just for an instant, a wisp of smoke stirred in the shadows holding court in the corner.

Who are you? I asked. I’d learned not so long ago that my ability to sense and hear souls had stretched into being able to converse with them telepathically, as well. Not that there was ever anything resembling whole conversations between us. The ability to talk from beyond the grave seemed to take a lot of strength, and many souls did little more than speak a word or two before their presence disintegrated and they moved on.

But maybe this time, one word might be all we needed to stop other innocents getting mauled by the bakeneko.

I took another step forward, and the chill in the air suddenly increased. Whoever it was, they were close by. Had to be. The presence of a soul in this world always seemed to drag me too close to the fierce cold of the underworld.

Again, smoke stirred in the shadows. Just a wisp, a bare outline—nothing that would even be defined as ghostlike. But it was there. The power of it spun all around me.

Who are you? I asked again.

For a moment, there was no response, but the energy in the air increased, until it felt like fireflies dancing across my skin.

Why? came the reply. So soft. So confused. And very definitely female.

No one knows why this creature is so destructive, I said, hating that I had to talk to her, hating that I had to feel her pain like this. Yet in some odd way, it was probably helping her. She’d have no answers at all if I wasn’t here. You weren’t its intended victim. You were just in the way.

The chill in the air increased, and with it came a sense of anger. It was not my time.

She mightn’t have thought so, but fate always had other ideas on such things. Can you tell me anything about the creature?

She was fast. The sense of energy increased, until the tingling on my skin felt like fire. Very briefly, a wispy face formed in the shadows—a thin pretty face with wide lost eyes. She took my bag. My phone. My car keys.

She took your life, too, but I kept that thought to myself. I had no idea if souls could feel shock, but this one showed every sign of going through that right now. I didn’t need to make it any worse for her.

What is your name?

Maria. Maria Kennedy-Smith.

Is there anything you can tell me about the person who did this to you?

I knew her. But it didn’t seem like her.

The chill in the air was beginning to fade, and the shadows once again swallowed her wispy features.

What was her name?

Jenny Franklin.

One of the missing women. So if her body wasn’t in her apartment, where the hell had the bakeneko killed her?

Why would she do this?

The thought was almost a wail. I shivered and rubbed my arms. It wasn’t her. It was a look-alike. Jenny’s dead, too.

The energy was almost gone, the fire on my skin little more than a caress of warmth.

Get whoever it is, came the thought. Stop her.

Then she was gone, heading back into whatever realm her soul was destined for.

I blew out a breath and turned around. Cole was watching me with a concerned expression. “You know, I didn’t notice it before, but you almost seem to fade when you do that. It’s as if they’re sucking the life from you.”

I rubbed my arms. “I can feel the chill of the other side through them. So maybe it is sucking something out of me.” Who really knew? It might be a talent Jack intended to use to its full capacity, but it certainly wasn’t one that the Directorate had seen much of. My teachers were magi, not other people who shared the same skill.

“If it is, then be damn careful. You might reach a point where returning becomes difficult.”

I repressed a shiver at the thought, and forced a grin. “What’s this? Caring about a guardian? Is the world about to end?”

He snorted softly. “Did I say I cared one way or another? Woman, you’re reading me all wrong.” His blue eyes held a twinkle that took away the harshness of his words. “Now, what did the damn soul say?”

I smiled. The guardian-hating, werewolf-despising shifter actually cared what happened to me. He mightn’t lift a finger to help me, but he did care. It was nice to know, because even if I teased him endlessly and gave him hell, I did actually like him.

“Her name was Maria Kennedy-Smith. Her killer was Jenny Franklin, who’s one of the Trollops we haven’t yet gotten into protective custody.”

“And now won’t. Past evidence would have to say she’s well and truly dead by now.”

“Yeah.” I dug my phone out of my pocket. If we could trace Jenny’s car, we might just find the bakeneko’s trail. I glanced around as Kade walked up. “You found something?”

“The bakeneko is mad.”

I snorted softly as I pressed the button for the Directorate. “You don’t need empathy to know that.”

He gave me an annoyed look. “No, I mean she’s going mad. There was no taste of insanity in what she did to Gerard James. There wasn’t even insanity in what she did to the shoe man. But there was an insane amount of anger in that last woman’s apartment and here—” He hesitated. “Here there is just violence for the sheer pleasure of it. She might have had a motive to begin with, but that has long since gone.”

“So she’s just killing for the sake of killing now?”

“I would say so.”

“Fuck.” I blew out a breath, then added, “Jenny Franklin was one of the women you were supposed to take to the safe house, wasn’t she?”

“Yeah, but we checked her house and there was no sign of her. She hasn’t reported in for work, either. Last I heard, the liaisons were chasing up the location of a couple of exes, to see if they could shed any light on her whereabouts.” He studied me for a minute, then said, “Don’t tell me the remains under the car are her.”

“No, the remains belong to Maria Kennedy-Smith. Her soul wasn’t sucked up by the bakeneko, which is why I know the cat had Jenny’s form.”

Kade looked at Cole. “Why would she waste a perfectly good soul like that?”

“Maybe it was a last-minute killing. Maybe she needed to get out before she was discovered.” Cole shrugged, then looked at me. “Yell if you have any further questions.”

He spun and walked away, picking up a set of fresh gloves before moving back to the body under the car. I looked away. I didn’t want to see him retrieve what was left of Maria. Not when her anguish and pain were still fresh in my mind.

“What can I do for you, wolf girl?” a familiar voice said into my ear.

“Kade said a trace was being put on Jenny Franklin’s car. Do you know if that’s come through yet?”

“Hang on and I’ll check.” She paused. “Okay, she owns a white Porsche, and it’s currently parked in Lygon Street.”

Which was a long street with lots of clubs and restaurants. It could take forever to find the bakeneko there. “Is there anything in Jenny’s history that could give a clue as to why the bakeneko has gone there?”

“One of her exes owns the Lygon Towers, and lives on the top floor. We’ve tried contacting him, but there’s no answer.”

If he also happened to be one of Cherry’s exes, then there was probably very good reason for him not answering. Like, death at the hands of a bloodthirsty, sex-crazed cat. “Send me the address.”

“Will do. Oh, and Jack just said to make sure tracking and sound are on.”

“Jack’s a nag.” I hung up and flicked the small button in my ear, turning on the tracker and the sound. They’d hear me if I yelled for help, but I couldn’t actually hear them unless I flicked the button again.

Kade was frowning. “Why would the bakeneko go straight from one kill to another? From what I’ve seen of cats, they tend to sleep off a kill.”

“Maybe that’s what she’s doing. Maybe she figures it’ll be safe to hide out in the apartment of one of Jenny’s exes.” I shrugged. This thing was a cat, so who really knew how its thought processes worked? “But the Porsche is parked there, so that’s where we go.”

He grinned and flung an arm around my shoulder, his fingers casually brushing one breast. Even through the thickness of my coat and sweater, I felt the heat of that caress. But then, I knew just what those clever fingers could do. Unfortunately, they wouldn’t be doing anything clever to me any time soon, and not just because we had an insane killer to catch.

“You know I’ll follow you anywhere,” he said, amusement enriching his warm tone. “I’ll also do you anywhere, but you won’t let me.”

“Once you’ve seen Jack really angry, you’ll understand why,” I said wryly. “In the meantime, you have to drive. At least that’ll keep your hands busy.”

“I drive an automatic. There’s plenty of scope for my hands to play.”

I snorted softly and stepped out from under his arm. “You’re incorrigible.”

“I’m a horse-shifter. We have sex on the brain.”

“Let’s try to concentrate on catching our killer, huh?”

He shook his head sorrowfully. “You’re just no fun anymore.”

“Oh, I’m still party central, it’s just that you’re not on the invite list anymore.” I pushed him lightly toward the ramp. “Lead the way, horse man. We have a killer to stop.”

The apartment building belonging to Jenny’s ex was set right in the heart of busy Lygon Street, and close to the Blue Moon. The heavy thump of old rock-and-roll music ran across the incessant hum of traffic and brought a smile to my lips as I climbed out of the car.

I hadn’t been back to the Rocker since they’d switched to more modern music to attract the younger crowd on the weekends, but it was nice to know they hadn’t totally abandoned the old-style music that had made them one of the more popular wolf clubs. Maybe I could start visiting them again, now that my version of celibacy was basically over.

But even as that thought crossed my mind, doubt stirred. Was I really ready to dive headfirst into being a free and easy wolf again? Part of me whispered yes, but another part—the part that still ached—said no. I had Quinn and, right now, that was enough.

Especially considering Quinn himself was more than able to break my heart again.

I turned and studied the building in front of me. It was modern in style—all glass, metal, and sharp angles—and, to my eye at least, there was nothing appealing about it. Not even its closeness to the wolf clubs would have enticed me to live here. Even from the outside, it just didn’t feel “open” enough.

Kade led the way into the building, and an elevator swept us up to the top floor. There was only one door on this floor, but ringing the doorbell got no response.

“You want me to break in?” Kade asked, a “dare me” smile teasing his lips.

I raised an eyebrow. “I thought your wild youth was spent breaking in to old cars, not homes and apartments.”

“No, I said I’d done some things that would make your hair curl.” The teasing smile stretched, becoming sexy enough to curl my toes. “Why do you think I ended up in the military? It was either that or jail.”

“So those wild ways caught up with you?”

“Actually, my dad caught up with me. He was a cop. Bad move, having a cop for a dad, I can tell you.”

“I can imagine.” I waved a hand at the door. “You sure you can get this open? Electronic locks have gotten a whole lot tougher since your wild days.”

“Yeah, but I’ve always kept my hand in. Just in case.” He got what looked like a small black box out of his pocket and pressed it against the key-reader. A second later, there was a beep and the door clicked open.

I gave him a deadpan look. “You carry an electronic lock picker in your pocket?”

“Saves breaking down doors and getting a sore shoulder.”

“You do know they’re illegal, don’t you?”

He grinned. “Doesn’t stop the bad guys, and it won’t stop me.”

I shook my head and pulled my laser from its holster. “You ready?”

He raised his eyebrows as he pulled free his own weapon. “Sweetheart, I’m always ready.”

“Heard that about you stallions.” I pushed the door open and stepped quickly into the room. The living room was large, white, and pristine, with modern furniture that matched the modern feel of the building.

And it wasn’t empty, I realized, as the smell of cat and death hit.

The bakeneko was here.