Синтия Иден - Midnight Sins

He pointed his finger at Cara. “You.”

Her brows lifted. She’d seen the captain a few times, but never actually spoken with the guy.

“You just put on one hell of a show in my precinct, demon.”

Not human. Not completely, anyway. The understanding dawned instantly. As she’d told Todd, the human males would have all forgotten.

Hmm. So just what was the tough captain? She took a step away from Todd, more than ready to defend herself. “What I did,” she said, voice fierce, “was save lives and fix the screw-up one of your officers caused!”

A grunt. Then his hands flew up. “Don’t come any closer!” She saw his nostrils twitch. “I’m taken.”

“Since when?” The words were a bare thread of sound as they slipped past Gyth’s lips.

“So is she,” Todd said.

Gunmetal eyes widened. “Ah, you poor bastard.” McNeal sighed. “Don’t you know demons can’t be trusted?”

Now the guy was pissing her off. The air began to thicken around her.

“ She can be.” Her lover’s voice sounded absolutely confident.

The captain’s eyes weighed him. Her. “You willing to risk your life on that assumption?”

“Yes.” No hesitation.

“Then bring your demon into my office. It’s time to clear the air and catch this damn killer before I have another stiff on my hands.”

McNeal’s office was too quiet. The old phrase as silent as a tomb whispered through Cara’s mind as she waited in the cramped quarters.

Cara stood near the captain’s obviously fake plant, arms crossed over her chest. Todd was beside her. Gyth leaned against the edge of McNeal’s desk. And McNeal, well, he was sitting behind his desk, glowering at the ME.

After what had to be at least five minutes, Smith finally cleared her throat and shifted a bit in the rather uncomfortable-looking leather chair she occupied. “Are you, um, sure I can talk about the case in front of her?”

Her. The ME hadn’t made eye contact with Cara the entire time they’d been trapped in the silence of the office.

“This is off the record, Smith.”

The ME opened her mouth to protest.

“ Off the record. ” McNeal ran a hand over his face. Exhaled hard enough to shake the room, then said, “We need her help, okay? She’s got to know the facts of the case because she’s the only damn one who can really tell us what the killer is like.”

Because I’m just like the killer.

Smith’s back was ramrod straight. Her shoulders far too stiff.

McNeal stabbed his finger toward Gyth. “All right—let’s start with the knife. Forensics said—”

“No prints were on the knife,” Gyth finished. “But the hair we found belonged to Susan Dobbs.”

Todd glanced at her. “You sure you didn’t know the woman?”

He’d shown her Susan’s picture, and yeah, the woman looked freakily like her, but—“I don’t know her.”

“Yeah, but you didn’t know Walters, either,” Gyth pointed out, “and that guy had been going to Paradise for the last month to watch you.”

She saw Todd stiffen. “I think we need to take a step back here.” He motioned toward the captain. “Susan Dobbs was human. How’d she hook up with a demon?”

“Demons are everywhere,” McNeal said. “Shouldn’t have been too hard—”

“It would have been a hell of a lot easier for her if she’d been inside Demon Central.”

Gyth began to nod, obviously understanding where Todd was going.

“Niol’s place is a meeting point for the Other , and Cara told me once that some humans like to play in Paradise.”

McNeal’s head cocked to the right. “And you think Susan was the playing kind?”

The woman had been the killing kind, so, yeah, Cara thought she was definitely the type of human who would have enjoyed playing with the Other.

“Niol will know.” Todd gave a quick nod. “No one gets in that place without his knowledge.”

“And you think the guy will be in the mood to cooperate with the cops?” Gyth asked, looking damn doubtful.

“He’ll cooperate,” Cara said, voice clear. He would do it, for her.

“Who is this…Nee-ole?” Smith asked slowly, pronouncing the demon’s name with care.

McNeal’s fingers splayed over the desk. “You really don’t want to know about him.”

“Yes, I do.” The ME’s voice hardened. “I’m in this game now, and I want to know everything. ”

“Niol is the most powerful demon I know,” Cara said, and Smith’s head jerked toward her. Her eyes were wide, stark.

“And he’s a serious ass,” Gyth added.

Smith didn’t glance back at him. Her gaze stayed on Cara. “Is he evil?”

Hard question. “I’ve never known him to hurt an innocent.” The not-so-innocent, well, that was a different story.

“Niol knows every damn thing that happens in this town,” McNeal rumbled. “With the humans and with the supernaturals.”

“He can tell us if there are any incubi hunting on the streets.” Gyth’s features were tense with predatory anticipation. “He was the one who originally tipped me off about the Night Butcher.”

Cara bit her lip. She knew of a few incubi in the area. One of the guys—well, she’d known him for years, and the thought of him killing—of any of them killing— no , she just couldn’t see it.

But she couldn’t lie to Todd about the men. Not with so much at stake. “You really think the killer is an incubus, don’t you?”

Todd turned to face her. His eyes were cop sharp. “I do. A succubus wouldn’t have needed a lure—not with the scent you can put out—and sure as hell not if all succubi are as sexy as you.”

No two succubi looked alike—not even twins. Her kind came in all shapes and sizes, but they were all created with one purpose—to seduce.

A succubus would never need another woman to act as bait to capture the attention of human men.

If there was a chance that the killer was an incubus—and from where she was sitting, it looked like there was one bigass chance Todd was right about that—then she had to tell him what she knew. Protecting the private lives of demons would have to come second to saving the humans and finding out who was setting her up.

She held Todd’s stare and quietly told him, “I can give you the names of three incubi right now.” The men might all be proved innocent—they were good men, two in high positions in the city—but she had to tell Todd their names.

Yet even after she told them, Cara knew that the cops would follow up with Niol and find out if any other incubi were hunting sexual prey.

Niol always knew exactly who was hunting in the city. That was the reason she’d gone to him after leaving Todd’s bed. She’d asked him if there was another succubus on the streets.

He’d told her, simply, “No.”

She believed him. Because while he might make a habit of lying to others, he’d never lied to her.

Cara realized that all eyes were on her now. She licked her lips. “I only know three, but there could be more.”

Gyth stood up, fast.

Todd swore. “You could have mentioned their names sooner.”

“I just learned that you were looking for an incubus and not a succubus less than half an hour ago!” Jeez, she had been the suspect, and she hadn’t thought that a man was involved.

Until now.

“Trey Barker.” She said his name clearly.

Smith’s mouth dropped. “The newsman from Channel Twelve?”

“No wonder my mom likes to watch him so much,” McNeal mumbled.

“Jody Rain.”

Todd’s eyes widened. “The assistant district attorney?”

A nod. There was a reason why the guy was so well liked by the women on his juries.