A Midsummer Night's Demon(12)

He almost wished she could be here now to help take out this rogue. But she was still on the special assignment, so he would have to go this one alone. His fingers itched at the thought of having another go at the vampire.

“Awww, you been worrying your handsome little head about me, Ky?” He had, but she wasn’t the kind of woman who would appreciate hearing the mushy sentiment. “How’s it hanging?”

“Not much, these days,” he muttered. Thanks to Lyn. His mind flashed the image of her in bed and his body tingled with longing.

“Captain said you’re working a tough case.”

“Yeah, it’s a puzzler.”

“How so?” Tarina asked. “Talk it out. Maybe I can help.”

“Speaking of which, you coming back any time soon?”

A pregnant pause filled the line. Okay, that answered that question. Ky didn’t wait for Tarina to respond before he filled her in on the events that happened at the bar.

“What I can’t figure out, Tarina, is why the debauchee drugged her.”

“He should have been able to use mind control.”

“Exactly.” Ky took a swig of the beer.

“Maybe the guy’s lost it,” his partner suggested. “Like gone crazy from a traumatic event.”

Over the centuries, Ky had taken out his share of males who had gone insane from the grief of losing their mates. In fact, it was not unusual for a vampire to lose his mate then his own abilities as he allowed himself to deteriorate. Certainly a valid theory worth consideration.

“You mentioned earlier, Ky, that the vampire used a drug instead of the mind control. Perhaps he is insane and losing the use of his mental powers”

“Maybe the male is a serial killer, gets his jollies off playing with then draining his female victims. He is evil incarnate.”

“And will most likely be obsessed with finding the one who got away,” Tarina chimed in.

Yeah, no shit. “That already occurred to me. Especially when we went to Lyn’s house to get some of her things.”

“Really, what did you find?”

“When I took Lyn to her apartment I smelled the rogue.” Of course he had pushed Lyn behind him and scanned the home immediately, but the debauchee had already gone. “In her bedroom, I found proof he had been there.”

“What proof?” his partner asked.

“The bedroom was a complete mess. Her clothes lay thrown about in piles. The drawers of her dresser hung open, her…delicates dangling out of them.”

Images of her room flooded his mind’s eye, raising his ire. The room had been a disaster. Lyn’s foot tangled in the bedspread, and when she used the mattress to right herself, her hand slipped into one of the deep cuts made there. Ky rushed to her and took her in his arms to quiet her scream. He’d cradled her head against his shoulder keeping her eyes from the mutilated bed.

“You sound pissed,” Tarina observed.

“You’d be too if someone threatened your heartmate.” He was angry at the monster for defiling her things, angry that the male had been in her home. And though he hated admitting it, he’d also been a little relieved, because finding her bedroom in such disarray had convinced Lyn that she could not return to her life until they caught her attacker. That night she had readily agreed to stay at Ky’s home until the criminal could be caught.

“Yeah, you’re right. I almost feel sorry for the bastard.”

“Don’t. He’s going to get what’s coming.”

“I don’t have any doubt about that.”

Ky knew he had a reputation for being threatening, intimidating. Tarina called him a masochistic hard-ass on more than one occasion. But he wasn’t the only one. He and Tarina made a great team for good reason. They were both powerful and cunning, a force to be reckoned with.

“Do you have a plan?”

“I need to find out more about the rogue so I can find and destroy him. Until he is dead, my mate will be in danger and that is unacceptable.”

“Have you told her what you are?” Tarina asked.

“You mean that I’m a vampire?”

“Yes.”

“Not yet.” He couldn’t. She wasn’t ready to know about the breed yet. He would have to broach the subject subtly, after he disposed of her attacker.

“You planning on telling her soon? You shouldn’t keep things from your heartmate. It doesn’t work out well.”