Page 11 of Crossing Between

What in the world was I looking at? I had my right arm raised above my head as I looked in the mirror trying to figure out what was on my skin on my right ribcage.

I hadn't noticed it last night because I'd been too wound up from dealing with Ryan that I had just gone straight to bed without a shower.

I'd been blow-drying my hair when I'd glanced at a black line right under my breast. When I removed my towel, I found a strange black swirling mark along my right side that tapered off right under my right boob.

It looked like a tattoo. The center was a strange circle with lines that reminded me of tentacles that wound outward. If I wasn't freaking out about it appearing out of nowhere, I'd think it was a beautiful piece of art.

My cell phone's alarm went off, letting me know I needed to get going if I was going to make my bus to work.

I cursed under my breath, hastily throwing my still-wet hair into a messy bun, brushed my teeth in under twenty seconds, and pulled on the clothes that I had set out on the bed earlier.

I'd decided on a bright pair of neon purple jeans that I had to hop up and down a few times to get into and a dark green blouse with short sleeves.

I loved my colorful clothes. I'd worn a professional neutral color for my interview, but now that I'd gotten the job, I decided to wear my normal clothes that were still HR-appropriate.

My dress yesterday had been tame in color compared to the jeans I had on now.

I couldn't wait to see if I could get a reaction out of Varon.

My phone gave a short beep. I looked down and noticed a text message from a number I didn't recognize.

Unknown Number: Hurry up. We're outside.

Me: Who is this?

Unknown Number: Elias. We were told to pick you up this morning by the boss. Hurry up, the coffee is getting cold.

Elias and Kenji were here? I knew we'd be working together, but hadn't thought they'd pick me up for work.

I shook my head as I hurried down the steps, grabbed my bag, and locked the door behind me.

Ryan was still out somewhere doing who knows what, but I wasn't going to bother worrying about him at this point.

He knew my feelings now, I just hoped he cared enough to act on my request.

Elias and Kenji were outside of their standard police-issue sedan, leaning against the hood and talking quietly to each other.

They both looked over at me as soon as I stepped outside the house.

I was like a deer in headlights moment for me.

I went rigid as a shot of pleasure pulsed from the mysterious mark through my body.

As fast as it came on, it was gone in seconds.

I had to take a deep breath in before I forced myself to walk forward with a smile.

"Hi, guys. I wasn't expecting a ride this morning." I stopped in front of them, pulling on my book bag strap nervously. "What's the occasion?"

Kenji stepped forward, took my book bag off my shoulder gently, and opened the back door.

"We need to go see another body that came in last night.

We figured it would be faster, and more comfortable for you if we just swung by to take you with us.

" He gave me a bright smile, his long fangs looked extremely sharp but I just had an urge to run my tongue down them.

Down Zoey. Horny idiot.

I cleared my throat. "Thanks. That's really kind of you. I hope you didn't go out of the way to get here." I got into the back seat, buckled up, and watched as they got into the car with Elias driving.

"Actually, we aren't too far from your place.

" Kenji glanced back at me as he handed back a thermos.

"We heard from Varon that you gave the coffee pot a nasty look yesterday and he smelled tea leaves on you.

We thought you'd rather not have coffee so I hope this is alright. I have sugar if you need any."

My heart skipped a beat at the kindness of his and Varon's thoughtfulness.

Opening the top, the scent of peppermint wafted in the air.

Just the smell gave me a pick me up. "Thank you.

I love tea. You're right about coffee. If I can avoid the bean juice, I will.

" A sip of the tea let me know that it was brewed to directions and the leaves weren't over-steeped.

Elias snorted out a laugh. "Bean juice? Coffee is life-giving. How can you say it's juice?"

"Did you know that some coffee beans are picked out of civet droppings?" I took another sip as I snickered when Elias jerked the wheel of the car making Kenji curse at him.

"You almost spilled the coffee!" Kenji grumbled at him roughly before looking at me again. "What the hell is a civet and is it really made from their shit?" He held up his cup and eyed it warily.

"Yup!" I enjoyed myself at their grimaces. "It's a small mammal that is called a civet cat here, although they're found in Asia. They partially digest the coffee beans and those are what are picked up to brew." Of course, they cleaned it but that had to be obvious.

"That's not all coffee though." Elias looked in the rearview mirror at me, our eyes meeting briefly before he looked away quickly.

I had an urge to keep looking into his eyes so I had to swallow before talking again. "No, just the world's most expensive coffee. I'll stick to my tea."

Kenji took a tiny drink from his cup. "I'm not sure I trust the bean juice any longer." His lips jerked in amusement as he eyed his partner's reaction.

Elias turned to glare at him before returning his attention to the road. "I KNEW I shouldn't have sparred with you last night. You're back to being insufferable." He gulped down his coffee as if in defiance of us and the conversation. "Let's catch Zoey up on what we know."

"Right." Kenji pulled out a folder and he opened it. "We don't have much information. The night shift sent this to us even though it doesn't fit our murders but they have a rookie who is slightly psychic and saw that we needed to look at the body based on the killer’s aura."

"What do they mean that it doesn't fit?" I leaned forward to look over Kenji's shoulder.

"Aura?" Kenji held up the folder so I could get a glance at the crime scene photos.

It was good I hadn't had time to eat breakfast because they made my stomach churn.

"That's a body?" All I could see was blood, limbs, and organs spattered over a bright white tiled floor. "There's no head."

"No. That's the only thing that was missing from the scene.

We think that's what the killer took as their souvenir this time if it is our guy.

" Kenji closed the folder, putting it in the space between his chair and the center console.

"Every time a victim is killed, their murderer's aura sticks to their body for several hours to a day.

It's nothing that the killer can hide. It's how we're able to tell when victims are related even though we haven't had many clues.

" His hand reached out and pushed back a few strands of my hair that had come out of my bun and was against his shoulder.

His fingers rubbed the strands together for a few seconds before placing the strands behind my right ear.

The tips of his claws brushed the top of my ear and a pleasurable shock raced through my spine.

I had to hold in a tiny gasp that threatened to come out.

His bright blue eyes darkened while we stared at each other, it was like time paused until the car abruptly came to a halt, jerking me forward against my seat belt.

"Oops. Sorry about that." Elias did not sound sorry.

What was his problem? Was he still annoyed with me about not letting him help me with my face?

What a jerk, even if he was panty dropping-licious.

An image of him pounding me into the floor with his braids hanging around my face flashed through my mind.

I had to take a drink of my tea and look out the window to disguise my blush.

I went a year without a relationship or sex and I was doing alright with it but now I was lusting after three men that I just met and worked with. I really needed to get my body in check.

"Okay. What we need from you, Zoey is to see if you can get the soul to come to you so we can identify them and any significant information they can provide to us.

" Elias parked in the back of the morgue where it was labeled for law enforcement.

"After we're done here, we have some leads to follow up on.

I know it's early, but would you mind hanging out with Quilith until we're done?

It's earlier than lunch but I'm sure they'll be thrilled to have you to themselves for a few hours. "

My hand froze on the door handle. A few hours with the person who seemed to know my secret by just looking at me?

This was either going to go well or I was screwed and I was potentially dead.

It wasn't like I could say no either without raising their suspicions as to why I wanted to refuse meeting with Quilith for longer than lunch.

I swallowed, squared my shoulders, and stepped out of the car. "Sounds good to me."

Quilith was in the room we had been in yesterday. They were wearing even more colorful clothes than I was. They just had the perfect sense of style that I wanted to like them so badly. I hoped our conversation wouldn't end that hope.

They spun in a circle when we walked into the room.

"Ah! Detectives and my new friend! You made good time.

" They sauntered toward us, their impossibly high heels making sharp clacks on the concrete floor.

"Your victim is right here." They gestured toward a steel embalming table.

"At least what is left of them. I've determined sex is female. She wasn't more than twenty-five."