tired hand over his eyes. He was truly beginning to hate the modern
world. They'd spent a long time hiding in plain sight, but the last couple of
decades of technological advancements had made that nearly impossible. It was
disturbing to think about where society was heading.
"You okay?" Brody asked. Closing
his eyes for a moment, Adrian inhaled deeply, trying to get his mind back where
it should be—investigating a crime scene.
"I'm fine," he said absently. He
could still smell the killer's mixture of excitement and fear, the acrid scent
burning his nostrils as Adrian stepped closer to the bed. The killer was
definitely male and probably overweight. The smell of sweat was stale, as if
the guy hadn't bothered to shower in the past week or that maybe the stench was
imprinted permanently in his clothes. For Adrian's heightened wolf senses it
was quite unpleasant.
"Same wounds, same time of day, same
method of entry—jimmied the back door open, used the code to get in, took his
time slicing and dicing, packed up, locked up behind him, and left," Brody
said in a casual voice. Adrian knew his brother well enough to know that he was
trying very hard not to think of the victims as actual people. If they got
emotionally involved in every murder, or attempted murder, they wouldn't be
able to do their jobs properly. Humans called it "professional distance."
Adrian and his family considered it a survival instinct. There was no way they
could have done this job so long otherwise.
Yet he'd broken all of his own rules when he'd
invited Tyler and Logan into his home. Hell, no wonder his brothers and sister
kept asking him if he was all right.
He shook his head, trying to erase the sexy
images of Tyler and the arousal just thinking about him had caused. He had it
bad, for a human no less. Hell, the kindest thing would be to walk away. No, he'd
agreed to train Tyler as his submissive. Adrian would train him, find him a
suitable Dom, and then he'd walk away. He discreetly adjusted his jeans around
the hard-on that wouldn't quit and tried desperately to get his mind back on
work.
Five unsolved murders, but at least he had a
pattern now. They were all using the same method and apparently had some very
accurate information on vampires—how their metabolisms worked, where they slept
and the security systems they used, and what they needed to recover from such
horrific wounds.
"I think we need to put out an alert to
all known vampire donors in the area. They need to check on their vampires at
least an hour before the sun goes down."
"You'll likely cause a panic," Brody
said thoughtfully, "but it might save lives. I'm getting sick of seeing
good people die."
Adrian nodded in agreement.
Chapter Eight
"The Vampire Council will shit a brick,"
Gavin said as Adrian let himself back into his apartment.
"Can't be helped," he mumbled,
nodding in agreement. The whole function of the "Vampire Council"—a
self-elected group of three vampires who thought way too much of their own
importance—was to inform the other vampires if, although lately it seemed to be
when, there was the potential for a problem with humans. Their e-books were
actually pretty clever, and it sure as hell was faster than the word of mouth
they used to use, but Adrian often worried they were making a few too many
details public. Thankfully, though Adrian would never say it out loud, the
e-books were also rather overpriced and poorly written so it was usually only
the people who knew what they actually contained who were willing to buy them.
The stories were presented in the form of fictional tales but every new member
was advised what coded information to look for.
Adrian didn't really agree with the way they
seemed determined to perpetuate the idea that vampires were fast, mean, and
deadly. Considering the reality, it seemed self-defeating to play up the
mythical stereotype. "How's Logan doing?"
Gavin gave him a cocky grin and winked. If
Adrian knew his brother at
world. They'd spent a long time hiding in plain sight, but the last couple of
decades of technological advancements had made that nearly impossible. It was
disturbing to think about where society was heading.
"You okay?" Brody asked. Closing
his eyes for a moment, Adrian inhaled deeply, trying to get his mind back where
it should be—investigating a crime scene.
"I'm fine," he said absently. He
could still smell the killer's mixture of excitement and fear, the acrid scent
burning his nostrils as Adrian stepped closer to the bed. The killer was
definitely male and probably overweight. The smell of sweat was stale, as if
the guy hadn't bothered to shower in the past week or that maybe the stench was
imprinted permanently in his clothes. For Adrian's heightened wolf senses it
was quite unpleasant.
"Same wounds, same time of day, same
method of entry—jimmied the back door open, used the code to get in, took his
time slicing and dicing, packed up, locked up behind him, and left," Brody
said in a casual voice. Adrian knew his brother well enough to know that he was
trying very hard not to think of the victims as actual people. If they got
emotionally involved in every murder, or attempted murder, they wouldn't be
able to do their jobs properly. Humans called it "professional distance."
Adrian and his family considered it a survival instinct. There was no way they
could have done this job so long otherwise.
Yet he'd broken all of his own rules when he'd
invited Tyler and Logan into his home. Hell, no wonder his brothers and sister
kept asking him if he was all right.
He shook his head, trying to erase the sexy
images of Tyler and the arousal just thinking about him had caused. He had it
bad, for a human no less. Hell, the kindest thing would be to walk away. No, he'd
agreed to train Tyler as his submissive. Adrian would train him, find him a
suitable Dom, and then he'd walk away. He discreetly adjusted his jeans around
the hard-on that wouldn't quit and tried desperately to get his mind back on
work.
Five unsolved murders, but at least he had a
pattern now. They were all using the same method and apparently had some very
accurate information on vampires—how their metabolisms worked, where they slept
and the security systems they used, and what they needed to recover from such
horrific wounds.
"I think we need to put out an alert to
all known vampire donors in the area. They need to check on their vampires at
least an hour before the sun goes down."
"You'll likely cause a panic," Brody
said thoughtfully, "but it might save lives. I'm getting sick of seeing
good people die."
Adrian nodded in agreement.
Chapter Eight
"The Vampire Council will shit a brick,"
Gavin said as Adrian let himself back into his apartment.
"Can't be helped," he mumbled,
nodding in agreement. The whole function of the "Vampire Council"—a
self-elected group of three vampires who thought way too much of their own
importance—was to inform the other vampires if, although lately it seemed to be
when, there was the potential for a problem with humans. Their e-books were
actually pretty clever, and it sure as hell was faster than the word of mouth
they used to use, but Adrian often worried they were making a few too many
details public. Thankfully, though Adrian would never say it out loud, the
e-books were also rather overpriced and poorly written so it was usually only
the people who knew what they actually contained who were willing to buy them.
The stories were presented in the form of fictional tales but every new member
was advised what coded information to look for.
Adrian didn't really agree with the way they
seemed determined to perpetuate the idea that vampires were fast, mean, and
deadly. Considering the reality, it seemed self-defeating to play up the
mythical stereotype. "How's Logan doing?"
Gavin gave him a cocky grin and winked. If
Adrian knew his brother at
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