Page 26 of New Nebraska Home (New Nebraska)

Liz

THERE IS INCOMPETENCE, THEN THERE IS CORRUPTION

B rock came upstairs after making his call. He looked five years older and so weighed down. I supposed we were all feeling that way, though. It had been a long day, and there was so much to unpack, I didn’t know where to start.

“Mind if I sit with you?” Brock asked. I moved the pillow beside me on the couch and made room for him. He sat down for only a second before wiggling around and putting his head firmly in my lap.

“That’s better,” he said.

I ran my fingers through his hair as he slid his eyes closed and just breathed.

“How was the call?” I asked.

“Hard,” he admitted, keeping his eyes closed. “Osric is working with his family to see what they can do for the halflings in New Nebraska and the Fae who choose to live here in general. He mentioned they had already had talks about some kind of formal education, but that’s a few years off. We need help now.”

“Any ideas?” I asked, running my fingers through his hair. He arched into my touch, and a small, serene smile spread across his lips.

“On how to stop a cult that seemed to crop up out of nowhere and is taking over the minds of what should be rational people? Not a one. All I know is that we’ll keep you and the kid safe until it’s dealt with.”

There was some comfort in that. Between Brock, Cal, and Malik, no one would be able to hurt Leif.

“So about earlier—” I started, and Brock groaned.

“No, don’t say you regret what happened. That was amazing, and I want to do it again… a lot.” The whine in his voice was almost adorable, just like his nose scrunching up as his eyes stayed closed.

“I want it to happen again, too. I just don’t know what it meant.”

“This is a conversation we need to have with everyone, preferably naked.” Brock’s hand massaged my arm, upwards until he got to my neck. He cupped the nape and pulled down as he sat up, making our lips meet in the middle. His kiss wasn’t like it was earlier. This wasn’t about sex or desire. It was affection, pure and simple. “I want to take you out on a date, get dressed up and eat fancy, overpriced food, and then grab a pizza because the restaurant’s portions were tiny. I know Cal wants that, too.”

“Are you and Cal…” My cheeks burned as I tried to figure out how to ask what I was trying to ask.

“Figuring it out just like the four of us are,” he answered, saving me from having to find the right words.

He pulled me into his body and turned us so I was lying on the couch, and he was on top of me. His body was so warm, and being under him, caged in by his firm, lean body and his broad shoulders, made me feel so safe.

“I might not know what’s going to happen, but I know I’m drawn to you, and so is Cal. I also know that dragon can’t take his eyes off of you, and when I am with you and with all of us, I feel stronger. You’re like a drug I just can’t get enough of.”

“Then don’t stop,” I whispered, my body melting into the sofa and my leg wrapping around his.

His lips were pressed against mine again when someone banged on the front door.

I groaned.

“Don’t take this personally, sweetheart, but I fucking hate that goddamned door,” Brock whispered in my ear before getting off of me, leaving me feeling cold and exposed even though I was fully dressed.

“Open up,” a far too familiar voice demanded from the other side of the door.

Brock rolled his eyes as he offered me a hand to help me get to my feet. I went to the door with dread in my gut and opened it to Detective Corkburn and Mr. Zmei.

“Gentleman, how can I help you this evening?” I said with absolutely zero enthusiasm or grace. My grandmother would have been appalled. But if she didn’t like it, she could rise from the grave and deal with these people herself.

“Ma’am, we have a few more questions,” the detective said as he stepped forward. Like I was about to let them in my home.

I was done being courteous and sweet. It wouldn’t work with this detective anyway, and I just didn’t want them in my home. So I moved out onto the front porch, trying not to stare at the blood stain still on the whitewashed wood.

That was another cleanup project I was not looking forward to, but I also didn’t want to be reminded of the death that happened on my property, either.

“What questions can I answer for you?”

“Can you get your… roommates out here as well?” The way the detective spat the word roommates like it left a foul taste in his mouth made my stomach tighten with rage.

I didn’t have to say anything; Brock and Cal walked up behind me. They stood on either side of me, Cal touching the small of my back.

“What’s this about?” I tried again.

“Where were you at the time of the murder?” the detective replied.

For some reason, I couldn’t take my eyes off of Mr. Zmei. The way he watched me made me uncomfortable, as if I were being hunted. “We were home.”

“Where is your other roommate?” Zmei interrupted.

“He went to pick up my brother from a playdate.”

“What were you all doing when the murder occurred?” the detective asked, interrupting whatever Zmei was going to ask next. Cal was not the only authority Detective Corkburn didn’t appreciate. It made me wonder if Corkburn had agreed to have the Zmei ride along or if he was told to by someone else.

Still, I was not about to tell either of these judgmental assholes that I was having the best sex I’d ever had, with three men.

“How is that relevant?” Cal asked.

“I decide what is relevant, boy,” Corkburn snarled.

Cal’s hand on my back stiffened, and I knew he was trying to hold himself back. I didn’t know much about the vampire pecking order, but I knew Cal was far more powerful than this detective. It was also easy to see the detective abusing his badge and lording it over Cal. I had no idea if that mattered in the vampire world, but I could feel Cal’s aggravation, and the grasp he had on his anger fraying.

“We were all in the house, hanging out in the basement, arguing over what movie to watch,” Brock easily lied. “The four of us.”

“Well, that’s interesting,” Zmei hissed. “We have several eyewitnesses who place the shifter in town stalking the halfling.”

“I don’t know who they saw,” Brock said calmly. “He was here with us.”

“You know what I think?” The detective put his hands on his waist, tucking his thumbs into his belt. “I think you three don’t want to admit to being nothing more than this loner vampire’s blood whores. I think you are covering for the shifter to hide your shameful secrets.”

Fuck. This. Guy.

Cal took a big step into the detective’s space, hovering over the cop.

“Oh shit,” Brock said under his breath as he pulled me back a step.

“You might not know who I am.” Cal’s voice was almost casual, somehow making him more intimidating. “But you know what I am. You can feel my power, and you know exactly where you stand. That little golden star on your chest does not change a damn thing. Neither does that cross above it. Learn your place, or it will be taught to you by force. If you have questions in an official capacity, ask them. You will not insult either of my friends again. Is that clear?”

The blood in the detective’s face drained, but he said nothing. His jaw clenched as he stared up into Cal’s eyes and eventually looked down at the ground. Whatever that vampire standoff dick-measuring contest had been, Cal had won. He stepped back and took his place at my side, his hand returning to my back.

“Is it true that the victim was here earlier in the day?” the detective asked, looking straight at me, his tone more professional.

“It is.”

“And she was here to visit one of your… lodgers?”

“No, she was here to help my brother figure out what gifts he has, if any.”

“And what gifts does the little abomination have?” Zmei asked.

Brock bristled beside me. I could feel his emotions prickling the skin on the back of my neck. That was unusual, but I ignored the so-called leader of this new Temple organization.

“And what time did she leave?”

“Around four p.m. I think,” I said.

“And the shifter followed her out?”

“No,” Brock answered. “When Amelia left, Malik and I were in the forest making sure there was no one there that shouldn’t be there. As you know, we’ve had a problem with vandals lately.”

“Did you see the victim walk to her car?” the detective asked.

“No,” I answered. “After I closed the door, the phone rang, and I went to answer it.”

“Where is the shifter now?”

“With my younger brother, like I said, he went to pick him up from a playdate. Look, I feel like we’ve been over everything. What are you trying to get at?”

“Get at?” The detective looked me up and down, disgust still curling on his lips. Cal let out a low warning growl, and immediately, the detective’s face snapped back into a mask of professional detachment. “What I’m trying to figure out is why you would let the suspect of a halfling murder be alone with your little halfling brother.”

“Malik did not commit that murder. He was with us in the basement trying to figure out what movie to watch when Amelia’s body was thrown onto the porch,” Brock answered. “All four of us being home together was in our original statements. He volunteered to walk Leif home since Temple members have been harassing the child.”

“My organization would never—” Zmei started.

“Your organization has tried to run me out of my own home because I’m human and because my brother is part Fae. They openly attacked me in a grocery store.” Red, fiery anger that didn’t quite feel like mine settled in my stomach. It was so odd that I could feel Cal’s irritation, and I was pretty sure the rage I felt in my gut belonged to Brock.

“Can you tell us what kind of shifter this Malik is?” Zmei asked.

I could, but I wouldn’t. For some reason, Malik seemed to want to keep that to himself.

“I’m not sure. And I was afraid to ask, fearing it might be impolite,” I said, plastering a fake smile on my lips.

“Well, that’s a good thing, ma’am,” Zmei said. “We believe he’s a basilisk, and he’s been drugging you and your household, so you didn’t know what he was really up to.”

“I seriously doubt—” Cal’s words were interrupted when Malik appeared at the bottom of the stairs with Leif by his side.

The detective pulled his gun, and Leif screamed.

Malik pushed Leif behind him, shielding my baby brother with his body.

“What is the meaning of this?” he asked.

“Put your hands up where I can see them,” the detective yelled, like we weren’t all standing within ten feet of each other.

Malik looked at us as he raised his hands.

The detective ordered him to lie on the ground and put his hands on the back of his head. Malik followed orders, and I knew he did it not because he was afraid, not for himself, but of the gun going off and somehow hitting Leif.

When Corkburn lowered his weapon, Leif ran past him into my arms, and I didn’t miss the look Zmei shot him like he was a bug that needed to be squished.

I held Leif in my arms as Malik was cuffed and put in the back of a squad car.

“I’m calling a lawyer now,” Brock yelled. “We’ll figure this out and get you home.”

“I wouldn’t count on it,” Zmei said, moving to block our path. “The streets of this town are going to be cleaned up, of all vermin. We will make it a safe home for the pure. I suggest you leave your murderous friend in the hands of the authorities and start packing your bags. Your kind is not welcome here.”

“This is my home,” I said, pulling away from Cal and Brock. I could feel Brock’s apprehension and Cal’s annoyance at the situation. A white-hot rage burned from my forehead to my fingertips and toes. “My family’s owned this land for generations, and I’ll be damned if I let one trumped-up narcissistic conman scare me and mine from our home. This is my land, and you have no business here. Leave.”

“I believe you heard the lady,” Cal said, stepping up to my side, Brock coming up on my other. Zmei gave us a look, then spat at my feet before turning and leaving my property.

“What do we do now?” I asked Cal as I watched the car with Malik disappear down the road.

“Whatever we have to do to get him back.”