Read Online Banshee Charmer (Files from the Otherworlder Enforcement Agency, #1) by Tiffany Allee - Free Book Online Page A

of where I’d thrown the files. I took a sip of my coffee before I spoke, considering how much to tell him. Since I was officially off the case and he might be my only chance of getting in on the latest information, I decided to spill.
    “Yes. Same M.O.” I hesitated, and then forced out the rest between gritted teeth. “Vic was my partner, Amanda Franklin.” I concentrated very hard on my coffee cup. If I glimpsed pity in his eyes, I’d go over the edge into either tears or a fit of rage. Neither would help me find her killer.
    Silence filled the air for a long moment. Finally he said, “We’re going to get this asshole, Kiera. We’ll get him and nail him to the wall.”
    I risked a glance up from my coffee cup. No pity adorned his face, but the half smile he always wore was gone. His calm expression belied a hardness in his eyes that I hadn’t seen in him before. For a split second they looked almost inhuman, but then the crazy edge disappeared and only the cold rage remained.
    It suddenly struck me that Aidan Byrne might be more than just a pretty face.
    “I’ve been tossed from the investigation.”
    His hint of a smile reappeared. “And I’m technically not on this case at all. Sounds like we make quite the pair.”
    Investigating a case I was emotionally involved in with a man who was more than attractive sounded like a bad idea. Unfortunately, it was my best shot at finding Amanda’s killer—maybe my only shot now that I’d pissed off Lieutenant Vasquez.
    “Fine. We’ll work together on this one. But that doesn’t make us friends, and it doesn’t mean I trust you as far as I can throw you.” I leaned across the table and gave him my best cop face. “And no funny business.”
    His grin turned into a full-on smile, revealing a set of sparkling white, perfect teeth. “Oh, I can keep my hands to myself if you can.”
    I snapped my mouth shut when I realized I was gaping at him while he disappeared into the kitchen with his coffee cup. When he reappeared in the dining room, I’d managed to put my blank face back on.
    When you’re without a good comeback, ignore, ignore, ignore. “So we’re looking for an incubus. Possibly a succubus impersonating one, but I think that’s less likely.”
    “Incubi have been extinct for over one hundred years.”
    “I’m aware of that. But, it’s the only explanation that works. Not only does it fit, it fits like a freaking puzzle piece.”
    “Except for the fact that not only are they extinct, they’ve also never been known for killing their food.”
    “Killers come in all shapes and sizes, Aidan. There’s nothing about incubi that I’ve ever heard of that prevents them from killing. Our sensitive confirmed at least one of our victims was drained of her psychic energy. The method fits, the sex fits, the fact they all died without a struggle fits. It all fits.”
    “And you don’t think it’s more likely to be a succubus because?” he asked, his voice annoyingly calm and reasonable.
    “Call it a gut instinct. Call it experience. Call it statistics. How many sex crime–related female serial killers have we seen in the last few decades?”
    “Okay. Let’s say it is an incubus. Why would he bother to kill his victims when he could feed on them—probably forever—without them complaining about it?”
    “Using otherworlder powers to influence a person to do something is a felony. It’s treated just like forcing someone with a gun.” Why was I lecturing another cop on the justice system? I couldn’t help myself. “That, on top of feeding from them, would net this guy some serious jail time.”
    “Yes, but the chances of women actually filing a complaint are almost nil…if incubi are like their succubi cousins, that is.”
    He was right. From what we knew of them, incubi were just as welcome by women as their cousins were welcome by men, which may have led to their extinction. Jealous husbands and all. A forced seduction charge didn’t fit,