Hex and the Single Witch (Vehicle City Vampires) (13 page)

“Gram, I’m all
grown up and you can’t dictate who I speak to. Especially when it’s my job to
deal with the Others in this area. You know I’m not only a member of the P.I.T.
Crew now but I was promoted to being the Preternatural Liaison for the area as
well.”

“I heard.”

“Gram, you
should be proud of me. I wish you and mom could be proud of me.”

“Oh, Anwyn. I
am. We are. I’m sorry for acting like a lunatic about it, but it’s just
vampires drive me nuts. I know they aggravate your mom and just the mention of
them has her retreating deeper into her shell. And I worry about her. I worry
about you out there on the streets and being in contact with them.” She paused
and I heard a big sigh. “Anwyn, the vampire you were seen with at WizeGuys, are
you dating him?”

Crap. Crap.
Crap. I could either come clean, get it out in the open and have her totally
freak on me or I could keep the peace by lying through my teeth. I didn’t even
know if Galen and I were going to work out. There was no need in getting
everyone all upset about nothing. I would tell her later, if Galen and I got
more serious.

“No, Gram, of
course not. It was work related. I have been questioning all the vampires in
the area about the murders.”

“You had to
question him over dinner?” she asked with a hint of disbelief in her voice.

“I was hungry. He
was next door at VAMP. We decided to meet at the restaurant. It was convenient,
that’s all.” I hated lying to her, I really did, but what else was I supposed
to do?

“If you say so,
Wyn.” She switched topics. “You should drop by again soon and see us. Maybe
have dinner with us one night. Just be sure you don’t reek of vampire when you
come over, okay darling?”

“Sure Gram, I’ll
let know when I can come by.”

“Love you.”

“Love you too,
give mom a kiss for me and tell her I love her, all right?”

“Of course dear.”
She hung up.

My heart was
about to pound its way right out of my chest. The old vampire hating
conversation always found its way into a discussion if I so much as looked at a
vampire. I couldn’t imagine how bad it would get if she found out I was dating
Galen.

Chapter 16

I nervously
prepared for dinner with Mom and Gram. I shouldn’t be so freaked out about a
normal family dinner, but had a feeling Gram would grill me about Galen. Not in
the mood for the old vampire hate spiel tonight.

My cell blared The
Devinyl’s “I Touch Myself” just as I walked out the door. Seriously? How the
hell…

I answered, “Detective
Rose.”

Malone’s deep,
masculine voice came across the line, “Hey, Annie. I need you downtown. We got
another dead woman.”

“Vampire?”

“I don’t think
so. This one has no bite marks and something feels odd. I need your input.”

“Alright, I’ll
be there in fifteen. Where exactly are you?”

“Behind The
Torch.”

“Okay.” I hung
up and dialed Grams.

She answered on
the first ring. “You’re not coming are you?” she asked.

“Sorry, Gram. I
just got called downtown. Work. If I get a chance I’ll stop by later for
leftovers. Tell mom I love her.”

“Okay dear. I
won’t count on you coming by, but I’ll be happy if you do. Just please make
sure you drop by soon. We need to talk about some things.”

“Sure. Thanks,
Gram. Love ya.”

“Love you too
sweetie.”

I briefly
wondered what she thought we needed to talk about. Probably the whole Galen
vampire thing. I pretty much forgot about it as I rushed for the car and on to
the crime scene.

Five o’clock
rush was over so the highway wasn’t jammed up. The streets of downtown Flint
were filled with college kids and folks milling around the restaurants either
heading to dinner or just leaving. I turned off Saginaw onto a side street and
pulled up behind Malone’s truck. I walked down the alley behind the Torch, a
trendy little bar and grill which was one of Flint’s hidden little treasures,
where the college kids and trendy artist types hung out.

I spotted the
yellow tape and Malone standing just beyond it. He turned as I ducked under.

“Hey Annie. This
one’s a puzzler. There’s not a mark on her. No bites, no bruises, no signs of
foul play. Nothing. The ME says there are signs of sexual activity but it
doesn’t appear to be forced. The sex could have happened before whatever killed
her.”

I walked around
the body. She looked young and pretty in a dark artsy way. Her hair was very
dark, almost black with streaks of purple in it. She wore her makeup very dark
also. Goth, maybe Emo or whatever they were calling it these days. I smelled
the pungent aroma of sex mixed with death. It hung in the air like an invisible
cloud.

I couldn’t sense
any magick or feel any traces of vampire pheromones. This certainly wasn’t the
work of our serial killer, not the work of any vampire. I knelt down and
touched her body. Cold to my fingers, but that was all I felt.

Odd. Usually as
soon as I touched a body I got images or flashes. This one didn’t give me
anything. I put my other hand on her. One over her heart and one on her head to
make a solid connection with her. Still nothing.

Crap.

I closed my eyes
and pushed my power into her, imagining my seeking tendrils penetrating her
memories. Finally, hazy images flashed in my mind, but they were just flashes.
I had a hard time putting them together to get anything useful. Then I saw him.
Finally, things made sense.

A young,
gorgeous guy, very well endowed. He had finally asked her out on a date. She
had been thrilled. They couldn’t keep their hands off each other. They went into
the alley to make out, one thing led to another. Then he sucked the life right
out of her.

I stood up. “It
was an incubus. A young one. Just a teenager. He lost control, it was an
accident.”

Malone looked at
me surprised. “A young incubus? I thought the incubi were all centuries old.”

“Most are. Many
preternatural creatures have breeding issues. Reproduction is rare these days,
but it does happen. I know of several couples who have successfully birthed
children.”

“What about this
guy? You know anyone with a horny teenage incubus?” Malone asked.

“No, but I know
someone who probably does.”

“Satinka Tala?”

“Yeah.”

“What are we
going to do with a teenage incubus who accidentally killed his human
girlfriend?”

“I don’t know,
Malone. Probably let The Guardians take care of it.”

He looked a
little irritated. “And what about this poor girl’s parents?”

“We’ll have to
spin-doctor it magically so they get closure as well. Malone you know this is a
tough situation. It would be even if he had been human.”

“A human wouldn’t
have sucked the life out of her.”

“You are
absolutely right, Malone, but we both know human boys have accidentally killed
their girlfriends in plenty of non-supernatural ways too. Shit can happen to
anyone.”

“Yeah, but it
happens to the monsters more often,” he snarled.

I wasn’t going
to argue with him. I could quote statistics and facts, but it wouldn’t change
his mind. To him, we’re all monsters.

****

When I arrived
at VAMP Satinka had the family of the teenage incubi waiting to speak to me.
The mom was a beautiful red haired succubus and dad was a drop dead gorgeous
incubus who could suck my…life force any day. Muscles rippling, cheekbones that
could cut, and lips…that could make you scream in ecstasy…

Hmmm…guess I
wasn’t immune to incubi charms or he was simply too damn beautiful. Either way
it took everything I had to drag my eyes away from him.

“We are very
sorry about the girl, Detective Rose. We had no idea Charlie was dating a
human. Since puberty we have provided him with a steady stream of women, a
constant feeding source he could not drain. We didn’t know he’d go elsewhere.”
His mother was in tears fearing for the life of her son.

“A constant food
source? You mean women to have sex with?”

“Yes,” the dad
replied. I tried not to look at him. I wasn’t successful. “He’s still learning
control so we supplied him with witches, vampires, and other supernatural women
he could not drain. In the years to come he’ll be able to have sex with humans
without draining them. If his control is great enough he’ll be able to feed off
sexual energy from afar—just a visit to a club, a closeness to someone aroused.”
He arched his eyebrow and looked at me. I swear he winked. Maybe I just
imagined it. “But for now he is so very young…”

“He’s never had
sexual contact with a human before this?” I asked carefully.

“No,” the father
replied. “He had no idea how much control it would take. He drained her before
he knew what happened, and then ran home immediately to tell me, completely
devastated by it. He really cared for her.”

“Where is he
now?”

Satinka replied,
“The Guardians have him downstairs.”

“What do you
plan to do with him?”

“He has to be
taken out of school and his contact with humans must stop. Slowly human contact
will be re-introduced under strict supervision,” she said carefully, watching
for my reaction.

“Yes, I will
teach my son how to make love to a human without draining her,” the father
stated like it was no big deal.

Hmm… I guess to
an incubus it wasn’t, like a human teaching their boy baseball. Baseball didn’t
involve sex though. Incubus feeding tactics were something completely
different. Kinky, I thought to myself.

“So what do we
do about her parents?” I asked the hard question everyone else seemed to avoid.

The room went
quiet. No easy answer.

Satinka finally
said, “I will have the Guardians supply a suitable killer to be framed for her
death. It will be a man who has killed but has not yet been caught by the human
police, no worries an innocent will be blamed.”

“And the cause
of death?” I asked as I scanned the faces of everyone in the room, all tried to
remain blank yet some had pinched brows and tight jaws.

“Strangulation.”
Satinka replied calmly though I could see the turmoil in her eyes.

“There are no
marks.” I responded instantly. I could see why Malone got so upset about the
supernatural cover-ups.

“There will be.
We’ll cover it on this end. You sell it to your human cops,” she said matter of
factly.

“Of course. I’ll
do my job as liaison.” I replied with a touch of sarcasm. I tried to be as
distant as she appeared to be, but I couldn’t help feeling this situation just
wasn’t right. Too bad I couldn’t see a better answer.

“Thank you for
being so understanding,” the sobbing succubus stood up and took my hand. “He’s
my son, my only child. I waited centuries for him. Thank you for not taking him
away.” She sniffled.

I nodded and
extricated my hand from hers. I nodded at Satinka and steered clear of papa
incubus on my way out. I couldn’t take the chance of making a fool out of
myself if daddy incubus got his hands on me.

Even though I
was sure I’d enjoy it.

Chapter 17

The next day The
Guardians hauled in a killer as promised. He wore the poor dead girl’s DNA all
over him. His fingerprints were also found on her throat. Seems he made a pass
at her, she shot him down, and he raped and strangled her.

A few of The
Guardian’s witches spelled most of the crew into believing the story. Malone
was a hard sell. Seemed he didn’t spell well, at least not when it came to mind
mojo. Had something to do with the natural mental blocks he had up. The same
reason I never got a read from him.

“So poof, the
case is all wrapped up. Too bad the real killer goes free.” He paced around his
office.

“Malone, he’s
just a kid. He’s not a killer. He’s being punished and the problem will get
worked out. It won’t happen again.”

He stopped
pacing and turned to me. “What if it does?”

“It won’t.”

“Anwyn, you
don’t know that. Monsters are unpredictable.”

“He’s not a
monster; he’s a teenage boy who is wrecked because he accidentally killed the
girl he loved.”

Mike’s glare was
cold. “A teenage boy. That’s all? I’m sorry, Anwyn, that’s not how I see it.”

I had to get
away from him. I couldn’t reason with him when he was all worked up about the “monsters.”

“I have to go,
Mike. I’ll see you later.” I turned to walk out the door, my hand on the knob.
I expected him to say something else or ask me to stay. But he didn’t. So I
left. I heard him sigh as his door clicked shut behind me.