Page 12 of Unhallowed Murder (A Paranormal Halloween #2)

Chapter Ten

Josef heard her in his head before he saw her.

I’m close. Are you here?

I am. Pull around back, go through the alley, and I’ll instruct my security guys to let you park in the employee lot.

Thanks.

Always.

As promised, a young werewolf directed her to a parking space. “Lieutenant. Josef asked me to bring you to him. If you’ll follow me, I can walk you in the back, away from the customers.”

“I have her, Jeremy. Thank you.”

She looked up to see Josef in a black suit with a charcoal shirt and no tie, on a small balcony. “You’ve had a long day, Lieutenant. We have a rooftop courtyard. Food will be brought to you up there momentarily.”

“Food would be good, thank you.” She’d assumed she’d be able to place an order, but she didn’t mind that he’d already done so for her.

“I brought a bottle of wine that I believe will go well with your steaks.”

The building was only three stories tall, but was on a hilltop above the city proper, and was one of the taller buildings on this block.

Ronnie stopped short when she reached the rooftop courtyard, lit by dozens of candles and torches.

A huge two-person chaise lounge was nestled between greenery, giving plenty of privacy and a view of the night sky.

“Surely that isn’t up here all the time? ”

“Only when we wish to use it. It’s taken inside otherwise, so the upholstery isn’t ruined.”

He motioned her to the table. “Please have a seat, a server is—” He nodded to the female server who stepped into view.

“Six steaks, medium rare. Two loaded baked potatoes, and a platter of fried mushrooms.” The server settled the plates as she told what they were, and reached for the wine. “Would you like me to open and pour, Josef?”

“Please, Cindy. If you can bring a pitcher of ice water and some more sour cream, I believe we’ll be good. I’ll let you know telepathically if we need anything else — no need to check on us.”

She gave a small bow and left.

“You heard my thoughts and knew what I wanted. ”

“This bothers you?”

Immensely . She met his gaze. “As soon as you ask the question, you know the answer without me verbalizing it.”

“You’re a good cop, and a good person, with honor and valor. You hold yourself to a standard of high morals and ethics, even more than your Sheriff’s Department asks of you. I can’t imagine you’d have thoughts you wouldn’t want me to know.”

“I have secrets. Private shit that’s no one’s business.”

“And you’re strong enough mentally to say that without thinking the actual secrets. I know vampires over a century old who can’t do this. I can’t help but hear your thoughts; however, I shall refrain from digging through your memories.”

She ate unselfconsciously, which relieved him.

So many felt guilty eating when he didn’t eat, but the tiger didn’t much care.

Like him, she was an apex predator. Like him, she hunted humans — she put them in prison, he drank their blood.

Still, they both hunted humans. Most shapeshifters didn’t.

Did he feel an affinity for her because of this?

No. Or at least, not entirely. He liked the entire package — woman, detective, Lieutenant, tiger. Or rather, tigress , he thought with a silent chuckle.

He took a sip of wine and sat back, relaxed. He enjoyed watching her eat — he could see the tiger helping to make decisions about the cut, the choice of the next bite.

“You use this location for your office?” she asked .

“There’s one here I can use, when needed. My office is at our coterie house. I own a home in the same neighborhood, which allows me to keep a close eye on our people, but it gives me some privacy.”

“Why do I get the feeling most people aren’t privy to this information?”

“Because they aren’t. I keep a room at the coterie house, and it’s my official address. Only a select few know of my personal residence.” He reached out, caressed her cheek. “You’re tired, Ronnie. Physically and emotionally. You feel responsible for your victim?”

“Yes. She’s mine now. It’s my job to get justice for her and her loved ones.”

“You have a soldier working for you. Deputy Myers?”

She nodded. “Marine. Excellent at following orders unless he thinks I’m putting myself in danger. Actually, that can be said of most of my team. They’re human and don’t know I’m a shapeshifter. They feel protective because I’m a woman, but they don’t treat me as less than them.”

“You’ve earned their respect.” He chuckled.

“Two of them had their finger on the trigger, ready to shoot your suspect. If you hadn’t neutralized him, they were prepared to do so.

” He lifted a brow. “They’re disciplined.

Solid. They were worried for you, but no more than they would’ve been for a male officer.

They trusted you to handle yourself, but had your back. It was fascinating to watch.”

“I have a great team, but you didn’t invite me here to talk about them. Why am I here? ”

“Because you feel obligated to come since I helped you. I’m okay with this until we’ve spent some time together, but I hope your reason changes.”

Ronnie shook her head. “That wasn’t what I wanted to know, and you know it.”

He smiled. “Another reason I like you. Straight to the point. I’ve considered this question a good bit.

Not why you’re here, but why I wish you to be.

Why I need to spend time with you. I find the answer a simple one — I like you.

I respect you. I’ve lived a long time, and I’ve learned matters of the heart cannot always be spoken of in terms of logic. ”

“Matters of the heart? Seriously?”

He shrugged. “The spark is there. It’s up to us whether we nurture it or ignore it. Is it such a crazy thought?”

“Yeah. You’re a vampire. You’ll live until someone kills you. I’ll likely die long before then. You can’t go out during the day.” She sighed. “You can hear my thoughts. Could direct my mind, if you chose.”

“You aren’t a coward, but I can understand some of your fear.” He settled his phone on the table, his recording app active, and hit record. “Let me help. I’m going to put a suggestion in your head that your nails are a different color. Look at them and tell me what color they are now.”

“Pearl.”

Josef found the place her thoughts originated. He planted a memory of her painting them red, and then suggested a thought of her nails being a nice deep shade of red .

“No. They aren’t red, they’re pearl! I felt you doing it!”

He nodded and turned the recording app off.

“It seems we didn’t need the recording after all.

A small percentage of shifters aren’t easily suggestible.

This doesn’t mean it’s impossible, but it means any who try run the risk of being caught at it.

The chance of it working is greater when you’re emotionally tired, which you are now, or when the suggestion isn’t far off the mark.

It’s possible I could’ve made you think white, but you rebelled at the thought of them being red. ”

“Also, I knew to watch for it.”

“Yes, but I have a feeling you’ll always know your thoughts versus the ones planted by someone else.”

“So, you’re saying it’s hard to ignore my thoughts, and you could snoop through my memories if you chose, but you can’t change my mind?”

“I can teach you to shield your mind. I’m surprised Martin or Nathan hasn’t already done so. You may not be able to keep a Strigorii out, but you’ll likely know when one comes in, at least.”

She looked sheepish. “One of the adult female tigers was supposed to teach me as a teen. We didn’t much like each other, so she just taught me enough to pass the test. I remember I’m supposed to put a wall up, but it seemed stupid, so…” She shrugged embarrassed.

“Imagine a mylar balloon big enough for you to put your whole body inside, except it isn’t made of mylar, but the material of your bulletproof body armor. Put yourself in it. Think about how strong it is. How nothing can get past it.”

He heard her thoughts as she processed the order, and then her thoughts went quiet. He hated the distance, but she needed to be able to do this.

“Good job. I can’t hear your thoughts anymore.

” Honesty was important to both of them, so he added, “No doubt, I could get around it with ease at this point, because it’s new, but I won’t.

If you put the shield up, I’ll respect your privacy.

You understand I can’t just not hear what you’re thinking when your shield isn’t up, right? ”

She nodded. “I remember her saying that holding it is like going to the bathroom. As adults, we hold it all the time and have to make an effort to relax those muscles. As babies, we have to learn to do that. She said it’s the same, and I’ll eventually hold my shielding without thinking about it, but I never really understood what she was trying to get me to do.

This seems too easy. I mean, I did it and passed Martin’s test, but then forgot it. ”

“It’s quite easy while you’re thinking of it, but as you said, remembering to hold it is the trick.”

She ate another couple of bites, and Josef missed the running commentary of her mind, but it was important she felt comfortable around him, so it had to be done.

“How often do you change ? How much time do you give to your other nature?”

“It’s hard sometimes, because if a high-profile crime happens, I can be called at any time, and they might understand it taking me ten minutes to get back with them if I was in the shower, but the brass expects me to answer the phone when they need me.

For the longest, I’d have to take my phone with me and she couldn’t get too far from it.

If it went off, I’d have to change back to see who called. ”

“And now?”

“Nathan lets me prowl on his Pride’s land, and I trust a few of the women with my phone. They have a particular song they play if I need to change back to human and take a phone call.”

He smiled. “You don’t want to tell me the song?”

She rolled her eyes. “Eye of the Tiger. It’s silly, but it gets her attention.”

“I look forward to seeing her. Do you let her out to play much?”

“There isn’t a set schedule. Maybe two or three nights one week, all night, and then not again for a week or two. Some people drink to relieve tension, I let the cat out to play.”

“How much does she help you on cases?”

“She helps keep me safe. You were in my head, so you know, right?”

“Somewhat. I could sense when you got information from her, but I couldn’t sense her thoughts.”

“She doesn’t think in words.”

“No, most animals don’t, but I can usually sense their feelings, warnings, and intentions. I knew when you got information from her only because of your thoughts. She’s shielding from me. ”

Ronnie’s grin told him she liked this idea, and Josef couldn’t wait to kiss those delectable lips.

Would his little tiger want to metaphorically bite back? He kind of hoped so.

“Now that you can shield your thoughts, will you tell me about who bit you, and why?”

She looked down, and he felt the distance between them increase. “Did you just wrap another balloon around the first?”

Cop eyes again. Icy cold and calculating. “Brick wall, how did you know?”

“You got farther away. Nothing more. I can’t see your thoughts, I only felt the distance.”

She nodded, blew out a breath, and forced herself to relax. Josef was fascinated by her control.

“Martin owed a Strigorii a meal and they wanted a female. I was his only option without having to bring someone else in. He knows better than to offer me for sex, and I guess he’d warned the vampire not to try, because he didn’t do anything other than bite me physically, but…

” She took a deep breath and finally looked up, her gaze one of pain and confusion.

“I expected to hate it, but he made me feel . I didn’t like it, and yet… ”

Josef didn’t say anything. He wanted her to finish the thought.

A good thirty seconds later, she finally ended her sentence.

“I’d gone to South Carolina with Martin, once the old Swan King was deposed and we were all trying to take the state back.

A vampire helped us in battle, and Martin made a promise, thinking he’d offer himself.

He didn’t mean to offer me. He’s an asshole, but he wouldn’t have…

” She trailed off and looked down, her shields firmly in place.

Someone had hurt his little tiger once. That much was clear, but she’d have to tell him when she was ready. He wasn’t going to poke at it, and he wouldn’t dig so he could see for himself.

“Okay, Ronnie. When you want to tell me more, you will. I won’t look.”

“Could you?”

“Most likely, but I won’t try.”

“I believe you. Maybe I shouldn’t, but I do.”

She took the last bite of the final steak, and put her fork down. “That was an exceptional dinner. Thank you.”

“You’re most welcome. Do you wish for dessert?”