Page 30 of Mystic Justice (The Other Detective #2)

Remembering how much Krieg had eaten at the McDonalds drive-thru, I made us a veritable vat of porridge. I sliced in some bananas and added a swirl of Biscoff; I needed the sweetness to go with my black coffee.

I tried hard to get my brain back into work mode but Krieg didn’t take long in the shower. When he emerged dressed once again in leather trousers, white T-shirt and a black leather jacket, my mind went blank again. ‘I think we’re going to have to kiss,’ I blurted out.

His eyes warmed. ‘And why is that?’

‘I can’t stop thinking about it. If we kiss, it’ll clear my mind and there won’t be any more wondering. Maybe there’ll be no chemistry. Maybe you’ll be a terrible kisser.’

He laughed, confidence in every line of him, then prowled closer. ‘Is that what you want, Inspector? A kiss?’

I nodded and he closed the distance, his hips anchoring me to one of the kitchen cabinets. I spent most of my life giving commands, calling the shots, so I should have hated the way he took control. I expected a reaction to being pinned like that and I got one – just not the one I was expecting.

Krieg must have brought his own shower gel with him because his scent – leather, black pepper and sandalwood – hung heavily in the air. Who knew that any smell could be so mouth-wateringly sexy? Or maybe it wasn’t the scent of him but his presence that was turning my knees to jelly.

His hands rested on my waist and then, without warning, he lifted me effortlessly and set me on the kitchen counter, putting my eyes level with his neck. It was only a slight lift to reach his lips now. He pushed my knees apart and moved closer into my body.

I gulped. ‘Fuck.’

He smiled. ‘Not yet. The kiss though … the kiss we can do.’ His eyes searched mine once more, checking for my consent.

I nodded and closed my eyes. His breath brushed against my skin and then his thick lips pressed against mine.

I may have moaned. I opened my lips in invitation and he accepted; his right hand slid up my body until it reached my neck and pressed against it, drawing me even deeper into him.

His tongue touched my own in a lazy, gentle caress that made me gasp.

Desire roared through me with such heat that it was a wonder I didn’t spontaneously combust.

He groaned too as the kiss deepened and continued for a long minute. When he made to draw back, I mewed and clung to him, pulling him back. His lips curved against mine. ‘What do you think?’ he asked, amused. ‘Is there any chemistry between us, Inspector?’

The way he spoke my title made it sound downright indecent. ‘If there was any more chemistry, we’d start a nuclear war,’ I admitted.

He laughed again. ‘I agree.’ He sobered.

At some point in the kiss, he’d forced his hands away from me; now they were on the kitchen counter, one on either side of me.

‘I want you to admire my restraint. I am aware how little you’re wearing under that goddamn robe.

All it would take is one little tug.’ He breathed the words into my ear, sending shudders through me. ‘Aren’t I being good?’

‘So good,’ I agreed. ‘Too good.’

‘I promise I can be very bad too – and the temptation to be so is unbelievably strong.’ He bit his bottom lip, his mercurial eyes darker than I’d ever seen them, then he reached out and lifted me down from the kitchen counter. ‘Get dressed,’ he ordered hoarsely. ‘Preferably in a nun’s habit.’

‘Don’t burn the porridge,’ I blurted and ran to my bedroom.

I think we’re going to have to kiss. What a stupid bloody plan that had been. What a monumental mistake. What an idiotic idea.

Before we’d kissed I could imagine that he’d be a terrible washing-machine kisser, tongue swirling round and round, but now I knew otherwise. Now that I knew the taste of him I was so screwed. All I could think about was that tongue, all of that deliciously hard muscle focused on me.

I had a second shower – a cold one this time – but the icy water had little effect on my roaring libido. After 684 days celibate, I was so hard up that if my phone vibrated in my pocket, I was starting to consider it foreplay.

Frustrated, I dried and got dressed. When I walked back to the kitchen, Krieg had ladled me a bowl of porridge and made me a fresh cup of coffee. He’d found a huge salad bowl and put the remaining porridge in it but he was sitting at the table waiting for me.

Loki had woken up. Krieg had found him some ham and torn it into little pieces for him.

‘Thanks,’ I murmured as I pulled out the chair and sat opposite him.

He looked up. ‘Did it help?’

‘The kiss?’

‘Yeah.’

‘No, it damn well didn’t!’

He grinned. ‘I’m glad.’

‘The cold shower afterwards helped a little.’

He shook his head. ‘Please don’t put thoughts of you naked in the shower into my brain. I’m struggling as it is.’

‘You don’t look as though you’re struggling,’ I observed. ‘You look relaxed.’

‘I’m not,’ he promised.

Loki looked up. ‘Krieg and Wise, sitting in tree—’

‘Do not finish that, bird,’ Krieg growled. ‘And keep our business private. No squawking it about.’

Loki used his wing to mime zipping his beak shut, which was hilarious. I snickered into my porridge bowl. He flew over, landed on my shoulder and nuzzled me. ‘Are you okay Loki?’ I asked. ‘You sleep okay?’

‘Good,’ he said. ‘No darkness.’

‘No darkness,’ I agreed. Krieg had slept with all the lights blazing so as not to upset my bird. And didn’t that just melt me? Fuck, I was so a goner.

We talked as we ate, carefully avoiding discussing the case. The easy conversation gradually turned my brain away from lust and I slid back into work mode. ‘It must be hard to get a helicopter pilot without morals, right?’ I said in a non sequitur.

He shrugged nonchalantly. ‘I have a guy.’

‘Do you know any others?’

‘I can make enquiries, if you want me to.’

‘Please. I need to know how Bogan fell. My money is on an Other method, but I need to rule out Common ones. I can’t help feeling that is key information, information I need.’

As Krieg tapped a message on his phone, I looked at mine. I checked the time: 7am. Late enough, I decided, and rang the dragon from Sefton Park, Peter Glenn. ‘Inspector,’ he said sounding unimpressed. ‘It’s early.’

‘Murder and mayhem wait for no woman,’ I said primly. ‘Did you happen to drop a centaur from the sky recently?’

Across from me, Krieg spat out his coffee; it didn’t quite reach my fresh white shirt but it was a close-run thing.

Dragons could only speak the truth; Glenn just needed to say no and he was in the clear. Peter didn’t say no. ‘Define recently,’ he said cagily.

‘In the last week.’

‘No, Inspector, I have not dropped a centaur from the sky in the last week.’

‘From a building? From any great height?’

He sounded amused. ‘No. I haven’t killed any centaurs in the last week.’

I sighed. ‘Do you know any other dragons in the area that might have done so?’

‘If he were here, I wouldn’t have put it past Emory Elite if a centaur had threatened Jinx, but Emory is in Caernarfon at present.’

Emory was the Prime Elite – the King of the Dragons – and he was just about the deadliest dragon around. ‘If he’s not around, what about anyone else?’

‘There are no other dragons in the Liverpool and Chester area that I know of at the moment,’ he said carefully. ‘I don’t believe a dragon is responsible for the centaur’s death, but I’d bet good money on it being a griffin.’

‘Thanks,’ I said flatly. ‘In other news, the vampyr that was responsible for attacking Snicklesnack has been found and dealt with. Good day.’ I hung up before he could question what I meant by ‘dealt with’.

‘Sometimes, Inspector, your tact is a little lacking,’ Krieg remarked.

‘I wasn’t aiming for tact.’

He grinned. ‘I noticed. Nice misdirection with the dragon there – “dealt with”. Has anyone ever told you you’d make a good politician?’

‘There’s no need to be rude.’ I mock-glared at him.

As my phone was still in my hand, I decided to call Bastion. Peter was pointing fingers at the griffins; maybe he knew something I didn’t.

Bastion answered right away, not with a greeting but by stating firmly, ‘It’s not a griffin.

’ His baritone voice rumbled in my ear. ‘I’ve checked with every single griffin in the UK.

Not one was in the vicinity at the time of either murders, except me, and I’ve already taken an oath to confirm I had nothing to do with it. ’

I swore darkly. Griffins were creatures of death and their very being demanded that they kill to survive.

They weren’t shy about the fact that they delivered death.

If a griffin was behind the murders, all they needed was a contract and they’d be in the clear as far as the law was concerned, so they had no reason to lie.

Unless there wasn’t a contract in place.

‘You’re looking at someone using a helicopter, plane or a dragon,’ Bastion continued then rang off without saying goodbye. Some people had no manners. I hadn’t managed to speak a single word.

‘The dragon says it’s a griffin, the griffin said it’s a dragon,’ I commented wryly.

‘Situation normal, then. If the creatures actually got along, the Anti-Crea wouldn’t stand a chance.’

The Anti-Crea was a foul organisation that espoused human-first ideals. They were a movement that worked insidiously, blackmailing politicians to promote and implement their agenda. They’d recently taken a giant spanking from Emory Elite and they were still licking their wounds.

Though we had two dead creatures on our hands – a dryad and centaur – I’d seen nothing to suggest that race had been a factor in their deaths so the Anti-Crea were low on the suspect list, though they were there.

‘Voltaire said that the runes were charging the dead,’ I mused. ‘I need to look at Botany’s employees and see who’s lost someone recently.’

‘Someone close to them,’ Krieg added. ‘Someone they’d kill for so they could resurrect them. A mother, a lover, a brother.’

He was right. Excitement buzzed through me as I realised I had a new angle to pursue. I called Ji-ho.

‘Shirlylock!’ he answered happily, K-pop already blaring in the background.

‘You already in?’ I asked in surprise.

‘Sure, gotta beat the traffic. Besides, Mei had an early shift and she had to kick me out.’

I thought she could have left him snoozing, but still.

‘I need you to look at all the Botany employees and the regulars at Botany that Elvira and Bland identified. Make me a list of anyone who’s lost a friend, family member or lover recently, say within the last six months.

Dig into their social media accounts as well as official records.

If we don’t get anything, we can look back further. ’

‘You got it. I’ll dig into it now.’

‘Thanks. Let’s look at their heritage, too. I need to know if anyone has a parent or sibling who’s a witch.’

‘What do you want me to prioritise?’

‘The dead relative angle first. I’ll get the team to start re-interviewing the Botany staff today and we’ll ask the same question. You dig into the data.’

‘My favourite thing.’ I could almost see the grin that I knew was on his face.

‘Thanks, Ji-ho. Keep me informed.’

‘You got it.’

I hung up and drummed my fingers on my small dining-room table as I thought. ‘Food and rest have done you good,’ Krieg murmured. ‘You’re on it now. You’ve got a scent.’

‘Not yet … but I’ll find one,’ I said confidently.

My radio blared to life from its charging station. ‘Dispatch to Wise.’ I recognised Louise’s voice.

I grabbed it. ‘Wise. Go ahead Louise.’

‘We’ve got a sudden death reported outside Chester Grove.’

Shit! A dull weight settled in my belly. ‘On my way. Send an alert to Channing and request his presence.’

‘You got it.’

‘Louise, are there any known details?’

‘Just that he’s real crispy.’

Fire. God damn it! We hadn’t deterred the killers at all.