Page 15 of New Nebraska Home (New Nebraska)

Liz

DEATH OF A HALFLING

“E lizabeth,” Cal’s deep voice purred in my ear as he kissed my neck again.

I waited, knowing his fangs were about to slide into my skin and give me the most euphoric feeling. My skin tingled with anticipation, my blood raced through my veins, and the breath I held burned in my lungs. His hot breath on my sensitive skin sent a shot of electricity through my body, straight to my core.

His touch, his bite, everything about him made me feel full of life and power. I wanted more.

“Elizabeth,” he whispered again. “Open up, police.”

What?

Confusion clouded my mind, and I felt my consciousness float out of my dream back to reality. I fought it with everything I had. Just five more minutes! Then I heard the banging on the front door and sat up in bed. No one with good news or intentions ever banged on a front door like that.

It was early. The sun was shining through my windows, and I could hear the birds singing outside. My room was still cool, and the heat of the day hadn’t really started yet.

The banging came from downstairs again, followed by a demanding voice, “Open up.”

I had no idea who was at my door, but they’d interrupted a really good dream.

“Coming!” I called, trying to hide the disappointment in my voice. If whoever was at my door had come ten minutes later, maybe I would’ve been coming in the way I really needed. I pushed the thought out of my head and got dressed as quickly as possible.

When I got downstairs, a cop was standing in front of my door, arms propped up on his hips impatiently and his uniform stretched over his enormous belly. The buttons looked like they were holding on for dear life. His salt and pepper hair was slicked back and his mustache made him look like the stereotype of every corrupt cop from TV sitcoms.

I didn’t recognize him, which was odd. I knew almost every cop in the area. Or at least I had before New Nebraska was formed. Party because it was a small town and most of the crime happened in Omaha, not in its suburbs. But mostly because before he gave his life to alcohol, my father was a cop. Even after he was forced to retire, every single one of his cop buddies would come over in uniform and help my father drink himself to death.

It really wasn’t their fault, but I was still going to blame them.

This man, however, I had never seen. He must have been one of the supernatural cops. That explained why I didn’t know him, and I would have betted the uniform he was wearing belonged to someone else or was a spare until one in his size came in.

“Good morning, officer,” I said, offering him a bright smile. “How can I help you?”

“It always takes you this long to answer the door?” I hated the way his eye scrutinized my body, almost as much as I hated the way they stopped on my throat where Cal had left tiny puncture marks the night before. That’s when I noticed the red. On Cal, that little red ring around his irises was sexy. It gave him an air of mystery and danger. On this cop, it made him look just plain mean.

“No, Sir. I apologize. I was having a lazy morning, and I was still in bed.”

“Alone?”

“Excuse me?” I was taken aback by his rudeness. That was none of his business.

“I asked if you live in the house alone, girl.”

“No, sir. I own the home, but I am renting out a few rooms, and my brother lives here as well.” Even if I was there alone, I would never tell this man that. There was just something about him that was off.

“Are they home now?” he asked, looking over my head into the house. The door opened behind me. Malik rested his hand on my hip. I didn’t know if it was a casual show of affection, or if he was sending a message to the officer that I was under his protection. I hoped it was the latter.

“What’s going on?” Cal asked from behind us, as I felt him press near my side, near Malik.

The officer let out a dismissive snort, and his lip curled in a sneer.

“Right, well, I need to ask everyone living in this house a few questions about a missing kid. We can do it here, or I can drag everyone down to the station.”

“I am so sorry, officer. Come in. I’ll get you a glass of iced tea, and we will happily answer your questions.” I moved back, but Malik and Cal stayed still for a moment, blocking the cop’s path.

“Malik, can you help me with the tea?” I asked, linking my arm with his. I needed to get them both away from the cop before they started something that was just going to cause more headaches for me. “You too, Cal.” There was no way I was about to allow Cal to get into a fang measuring contest—or whatever it was vampires did—in my living room with a power-hungry cop looking for an excuse to abuse his authority.

That was when I noticed Brock standing on the other side of the door, waiting.

For what? I had no idea.

I pulled Malik into the kitchen, ignoring how his skin felt against mine. I motioned for the officer to sit and started a pot of coffee for my boys. As I was pouring the tea, the men sat at the kitchen table. The tension in the air was palatable, making the already thick, humid air almost impossible to breathe.

“Here you go,” I smiled at the officer, handing him the tea. It was so sweet that I hoped it gave him diabetes. Brock and Malik both shot me a confused look. I knew Brock would prefer to be a smartass, and Malik would probably try to intimidate the cop. Brock was a fantastic smartass, and Malik could be very intimidating, but all that would do with this cop was make the situation worse.

He would try to throw his authority around if I gave him any reason to think I was anything more than a sweet, na?ve, or even a simple little girl not worth his time. I wanted this man to think I wasn’t worth the effort and have no reason to return. I just prayed the men followed my lead.

The cop made a grunting noise that I took as appreciation as I sat in the last seat at the table. Cal on one side and Malik on the other. I couldn’t help but think the seat they’d left open for me was not an accident.

Having them on either side of me made me feel stronger, like I could face anything.

“So, how can I help you, officer? You said something about a missing child?”

“No, not missin’.” His Texan accent was thick while he looked the other men up and down, assessing the threat. Cal looked annoyed, but open, Brock was causally sitting back in his seat, an open book, definitely not a threat. Malik, however, glared at the cop. I kicked him under the table and made a point to have my hands folded in my lap and wear a serene and somewhat vacant expression.

Pretending you were a few crayons short of a rainbow disarmed angry men the world over, especially ignorant ones.

Malik grumbled but uncrossed his arms and relaxed his position, putting his palms on the table.

“Well, the kid isn’t missing. We know where he is, what’s left of him,” the officer said, carefully reading our expressions. “His body was found beaten up pretty good.”

“Oh my god,” I gasped, my fingers pressing into my lips. That poor boy.

“And why are you here?” Malik asked.

“Because he was an elemental, sort of. Seems he was part human too but had been taking drugs to enhance his paranormal side. And as I hear it, you lot were harassing an elemental here last night. Scaring him, burning him. Your neighbors seem to think you’re the wrong sort and probably had something to do with it.”

“That’s not exactly how that went down,” Brock scoffed, then jumped a little. I was pretty sure Cal had kicked him under the table.

“Then why don’t you tell me how it went down, boy?” The officer glared daggers at Brock, hostility radiating from his rotund body.

Brock glared right back, his chest puffing out a little. I didn’t know if elementals had the same power structure as say vamps and their masters or wolves and their alpha’s but in that moment I knew Brock was a born leader and would not tolerate the officer’s disrespect. “That punk ass mother—”

“—I’m afraid last night we were the victims of a little prank that got out of hand.” I interrupted, praying I could diffuse the situation.

“A little prank?” Malik scoffed.

“What kind of prank?” The officer asked.

“You see this kid, I didn’t get his name but I do have—” I got up and retrieved my phone from the counter and pulled up a photo I took. I gave it to the officer while I continued. “He threw a brick through the front window.”

“The one boarded up?” he asked, taking my phone.

“Yes, sir.” I answered before Brock could say something smart. “There was a message on it, and I guess the kid didn’t realize that I had my lodgers staying here and he thought it was just me and my brother.”

“Where is this, brother?”

“Leif’s asleep in his room. He had a late night with candy and movies after all the excitement. He’s only seven.” I smiled so wide my cheeks ached. “Anyway. I think this poor misguided kid was just bored and causing a bit of mischief.”

“Why didn’t you call us?”

“Well, I didn’t want to be a bother. I am sure you all have much more important things to do. Later this afternoon, I was going to stop by the station and make a report.”

“You want to press charges?” The officer clarified.

“Oh, lord no. I just wanted there to be a report in case it wasn’t a one-off bit of childish foolishness.”

The way he glared at me, with a mix of disdain and flat-out hostility, made sweat drip down my spine. When he pulled a pen and pad of paper from his breast pocket, I noticed a pin. It looked like a new age take on the Freemason compass. Under the compass were the words “The Temple.”

Now I understood the hostility. He hated me for what I was, what my brother was. No amount of playing stupid would have saved me, and I was so grateful all three men decided to stay.

I shot Cal a look, and he raised an eyebrow as if to ask if I understood yet. I gave him a subtle nod.

“Well, the kid you say threw a brick through your window is accusing one of you of being a fire elemental who burned him. Is that you?” The cop looked at Brock.

“No, sir. I’m a water elemental.” As if to demonstrate, Brock waved his hand, and the little puddle of condensation that had gathered under the cop’s glass floated up into the air and deposited itself into the sink.

“How about you?” He looked at Cal, who rolled his eyes as if it wasn’t obvious and showed his fangs. A shock of pleasure raced through my body as I remembered how it felt to have those fangs biting me.

The cop cleared his throat and looked at me with his palms outspread. “And you?”

“Oh, I’m just a plain old human. There’s nothing special about me at all.”

He grunted again and looked at Malik.

“Shifter,” Malik answered, matching the cop’s gruff energy.

“So none of y’all know how that kid got a burn on his chest?” He eyed us all one by one.

“No, sir,” I said.

“He’s a fire elemental,” Brock said, not bothering to hide his annoyance. “Most fire elements can’t be burned without their permission. Maybe he did it to himself so he could play victim, or maybe he has some kink he didn’t want to tell you about, and it went bad. Now he’s embarrassed.”

“What does any of this have to do with the dead elemental?” Cal asked.

“Whatever I say it does, son.” The cop glared, the red around his eyes becoming more prominent. “Seems awfully suspicious. A loner shifter, a covenless vampire, and some half-baked water elemental, all living with some human hussy.”

The second he insulted me, all three men were on their feet, towering over the officer.

Cal took the lead and leaned over the table, glaring at the officer. I had no idea what was happening, but sweat beaded on the officer’s forehead and ran down his face in rivers.

“Listen to me carefully,” Cal said, his voice taking on a different tone. It was smooth, melodic, almost soothing, but cut with rage. “I’m a master vampire, the strongest in my generation. I’ve forgotten more about the arcane arts than grunts like you will ever know. You will show the deference to my station. My friends here are as strong as I am, and this house, this girl, and her brother are under my protection.”

“Your protection does not make them above the law.” The cop’s face started turning red.

“No laws were broken.” The red around Cal’s eyes darkened as he held the cop’s gaze captive.

The fat around the cop’s jowls trembled.I got the distinct impression he couldn’t have looked away even if he wanted to. But he finally managed to blurt out, “Then where were you at 5:30 pm last night?”

“Oh, we were all here,” I said, trying to break the tension. “I have proof.”

Cal looked away first, and the cop slumped back in the chair, looking exhausted.

“What proof?”

“I recorded a video of the kid after we caught him. It was so I could give it to the officer and maybe his mother.” I picked up my phone and flipped to the video section.

The video was clear as day. Cal and Brock held the kid against the kitchen wall, asking him why he was there, why he threw the brick, did he realize there was a child in the house, things like that.

Then, the video showed the kid panicking and dousing the back door, and Malik in flames. You could hear me scream, and the video cut out. I showed the cop the timestamp at 5:34 pm.

“How did you survive that?” He looked at Malik.

“I saw what the kid was going to do and created a water shield,” Brock answered before Malik could think of some lie.

I remembered Malik made a point to tell the officer he was a shifter, but not what kind. Was there a reason that he didn’t want the cop to know what he was?

“Is there anything else?” Cal asked, the threat clear in his voice.

The cop paled a little before standing and saying no.

As my grandmother taught me, I walked him to the front door like I would any other guest.

“You should move,” the cop said, speaking to me under his breath. “Nothing good is going to come from you living with a bunch of godless sinners. The second one of them puts an abomination in your belly, they won’t be able to protect you. You’re going to end up just like that halfling, dead and broken in the streets.”

And just like that, I knew there would be no justice for that poor kid.