Edge of Night Read online

  “I can practically smell the Normal on him. It takes a while to get rid of that.” Luca flicked the lawyer a dismissive look and the man’s eyes narrowed to dangerous slits. No doubt, Luca had not made a friend with that comment. Too bad. He leaned in toward Hammond, lowering his voice a bit. “Though, I have to admit, I was stunned to learn your wife is still a Normal. If I’d have married one, she wouldn’t have made it through the wedding night as a human.”

  Robert squinted. “I thought you had a soft spot for Normals.”

  “Oh, I do. They have their uses. But you don’t see me claiming one as family, do you?” Luca made a small face and sat back. “And your son was one too. What an…interesting twist of fate that must have been.”

  The slight pause in his words made Hammond’s jaw clench. “Yes, well. These things happen.”

  “Why didn’t you turn her, if you don’t mind me asking?” Luca tilted his head as if baffled. “I wouldn’t think your mother was pleased about having a human in the family fold. And how do you have a blood-bond feeding with a Normal? They can’t exactly complete the exchange. I doubt they really understand the significance of it in our culture either.”

  “No, they don’t.” Robert’s lips turned down. “But I tried to explain it to them.”

  “So you feed from them?” Luca shrugged. “Well, I guess they are family.”

  Robert straightened his tie. “Yes, and family is everything in our culture. Blood exchange is important.”

  “With other vampires who can actually complete the exchange, yes, but with humans? To me, the only reason to keep one of those around long-term is if they’re your sheep.” Luca leveled his gaze on Hammond. “Is Cecily your sheep, Robert?”

  He swallowed. “Of course not. Keeping sheep is illegal.”

  “Is there a reason for these questions?” The lawyer spoke up for the first time, as if he’d finally realized that his client had admitted to feeding from his wife, and the fact that she was Normal could make a very big legal difference.

  “Because keeping sheep is illegal, as Mr. Hammond pointed out.” Luca smiled, slow and easy. “And we found evidence that Dillon was fed on. So, if Cecily is a sheep…” He switched his gaze to Robert. “Then that would make Dillon your little lamb.”

  “Shut up.” Rage flashed in Hammond’s gaze, and if the room hadn’t been warded against magic, Luca was fairly certain he’d be looking at the pointy ends of Hammond’s fangs.

  “Why? He was Normal. That makes him—what did you call it? A snack?”

  The flat of Robert’s hand came down on the table. “He wasn’t supposed to be Normal!”

  “I think we’re done here.” The lawyer moved as if to rise.

  Luca ignored him, kept his gaze locked on Hammond. “But you kept your wife Normal, so his shot was fifty-fifty. You had the power to make that not the case by turning your wife.” He arched his eyebrows. “So if she’s not your sheep, why didn’t you turn her?”

  “Because she didn’t want to be turned,” Hammond growled. His lawyer’s hand came down on his shoulder and he shook it off. “What would you know about it, Cavalli?”

  “Not much. That’s just not what your mother told me when I talked to her. She said every Normal would love to be a vampire, including Cecily. Is she mistaken then?” Luca tapped his fingertips on the metal table in a rhythm designed to be irritating. “Your wife didn’t like the idea of being Magickal? She rejected your offer to turn her? What was it about being a vampire she didn’t like?”

  The lawyer tried to step in again. “Mr. Hammond, as you legal representative, I’m telling you it’s time to leave. Now.”

  “Yes, run along, Robert,” Luca mocked. “My agent is probably done with your sheep now.”

  That hit a nerve, because Hammond’s eyes popped wide. “She’s not my sheep, and she wouldn’t reject me.”

  Making his expression as pitying as possible, Luca asked, “Then you never offered to make her a vampire?”

  The other man jerked to his feet. “She would never go against me on anything.”

  Luca stayed sprawled in his chair as if he hadn’t a care in the world. “Because she’s your obedient little sheep?” He smirked. “Do you have to mesmerize her before you feed so she can put up with your demands?”

  “Fuck you! You have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  “Robert, stop talking.” The lawyer grabbed his arm and tried to haul him toward the door.

  “No, he’s wrong about this,” Hammond snapped. “I won’t have him telling members of the Vampire Conclave otherwise. No Normal tells me what to do or not do, especially not my wife. If I had wanted to make her a vampire, she would have done exactly as I wanted. She would never reject me—she’s mine.”

  Luca flipped open a folder that Jack and Peyton had left on the table. “We did an inventory of your house and we didn’t find any elixir there. Not even empty containers. Can you explain that to me?”

  The look Hammond gave him was sulfuric. “We took the trash out.”

  “We checked the trash too. The garbage men hadn’t been by yet. Nothing. An adult vampire usually needs to feed several times a day, so you’ll forgive me if I’m confused.”

  Robert finally allowed his lawyer to start dragging him out. “My wife enjoys providing for my needs.”

  “So she’s volunteering to be your sheep?”

  Hammond turned back as he exited the room, his fangs fully extended now that he’d passed beyond the warding spells. “I don’t like to use that word, and I’d like to see you prove anything in court.”

  “Did your son enjoy providing for your needs too, Robert?”

  Red flashed at the corners of his eyes. “He belonged to me as much as his mother does.”

  After standing, Luca sauntered over to the door, propped his shoulder against the jamb, and folded his arms. “Hmm, but maybe he was less willing…less obedient…when it came to being eaten alive?”

  The way Hammond flinched told Luca he’d hit the mark. His legal counsel stepped between them. “We’re done speaking to you, Agent Cavalli. If you have something to charge my client with, do so. We won’t be coming back in for more questioning.”

  “My mother will hear about this.” Robert vibrated with fury.

  “Ah, Mommy.” Luca tsked. “Or should I say Step-mommy, Brother?”

  Robert hissed at him.

  The door to the other interrogation room opened, and Cecily stepped out with her lawyer, Delta right on their heels. Cecily’s eyes were red-rimmed and watery, a tissue clutched in her hand.

  Jerking his head to summon his wife, Robert spared Luca a lethal glance. “When can we go home?”

  “We’ve finished processing the scene. You’re free to return home whenever you like.”

  Cecily swallowed hard as she approached her husband, her face paler than ever. From shock or from being fed on?

  “Mrs. Hammond.” Luca nodded to her and she cringed from the simple greeting.

  Her gaze locked on her husband. “Home?”

  “Yes, we’re leaving. We’re going home.”

  “I—I don’t know…”

  Robert’s fists clenched at his sides, and for a moment Luca thought the man might strike his wife for the tiny glimmer of resistance to his will. He straightened, ready to spring forward if Robert even twitched in her direction. He didn’t, just spun on his heel and walked away. “Now, Cecily.”

  Her lips trembled, firmed, something close to hate flaring in her gaze for a moment, but then her shoulders sagged. Obedient as her husband claimed, she scurried along after him. The lawyers brought up the rear.

  Delta shook her head at the departing group. “If I were her, I’d have snapped and be ready for some quiet time in a padded cell.”

  Shooting her a glance, Luca tilted his head. “You gave her information on how to get help if she wants to leave him.”

  “Yes. I did.” Her chin jutted. “I couldn’t get anything out of her, so why not?”

&nbs
p; He nodded. “Do you think he’s mesmerized her?”

  “Maybe at first, but now?” Her lips pursed and her gaze filled with pained resignation. “No. She’s with him of her own free will, such as it is.”

  “If it weren’t for his lawyer, you’d have gotten him to confess to keeping her as a sheep,” Jack said, filing out of the observation room along with Merek and Peyton. “Maybe even to killing his kid.”

  “Nothing worse than a shark with vampire fangs,” Merek quipped, and the others snorted, but Luca didn’t feel like laughing. This case, everything about it, just got to him in a way he normally didn’t allow.

  Peyton grunted. “You got more than we did. Is it enough to arrest him?”

  Rolling his shoulders to ease some of the stress, Luca replied. “It’s the evidence Tess found that really clinches it. Merek’s testimony as an expert seer will help. Today’s questioning was just pro forma, though it was worth a try to get something out of either one of them. The problem is finding a Magickal judge who’s willing to sign the arrest warrant on Elinor Hammond’s son.”

  “You asked your uncle yet?” Delta folded her arms over her impressive bosom. “I know owing a vampire a favor isn’t fun, especially a family member.”

  Yeah, they tended to hold it over your head for about a century, but it couldn’t be helped. “I have a call in to his assistant. She says she’ll make sure it gets done as soon as he’s out of court tonight, then she’ll call me.” He scrubbed a hand down his face.

  Jack shoved his hands in his pockets. “So, you’ll owe your uncle your firstborn and his assistant a few vital organs.”

  “If that’s what it takes to get that asshole off the streets, then so be it. I want him behind bars before he does something to silence the only witness—who happens to be his sheep and his wife. Fuck.” Luca balled his hands into fists, wondering if anyone else had thought of this ingenious way to sidestep any suspicion of keeping humans to feed on. It sickened him. And it made him pity Cecily, whose version of freedom was everyone else’s idea of prison. He’d seen abusive relationships before, but a vampire male taking advantage of a Normal female hit him like a sledgehammer to the chest. That could be Erin. Or Tess or any other human woman he’d ever cared about. What had happened to Cecily that no one noticed the life was being drained out of her? Did she have no family, no friends? No one who gave a shit? Apparently not. “I need a drink.”

  “I’m game.” Delta blew out a breath while she waved a hand at the other men. “You guys coming?”

  All three nodded their agreement. Merek went to grab his jacket from his office, and Peyton fetched the files from the interrogation room and locked them up for the night.

  Slapping Luca on the back, Jack offered a tired smile. “You’re buying the first round for making us deal with Mr. Dickweed.”

  “I owe you one.” Luca tried to shake off the shit mood, but there was little use to it.

  “Yes. You do.” The Normal man nodded sharply. “I got called a tasty snack, and I didn’t even get to shoot him.”

  “You never know what will happen when you try to arrest him. You might still get a chance.”

  It was, without a doubt, the longest and most exhausting day of Erin’s career. They’d survived the chaos of having the wrong specials. Holly had worked her marketing genius all evening, sending out a blast promotion to tell people about their one-day-only dishes. It had actually worked, and the restaurant had been busy. Holly had helped the waitresses sell the sardine menu and generally earned her paycheck as co-owner.

  Erin had run her kitchen like a boot camp, marshalling her troops through the unexpected and unfamiliar recipes while moving at a dead run most of the night. They’d closed up shop, Erin had sent Holly home an hour before, and the last of the dishwashing crew had just left. She was ready to drop. Time for a nice long nap in a nice big bed. She almost moaned, the thought was so appealing.

  After dragging herself out the backdoor, she locked up and trudged to her car. Her footsteps echoed loudly in the parking lot, and a thick fog hung low in the air, obscuring the view. She paused for a moment to try to remember which side of the lot she’d parked on.

  A step sounded a half-beat after she stopped moving, and a chill ran down her spine. She whipped around to see who was following her, but there was no one there. At least, not that she could spot through the heavy mist. She stumbled back, her gaze darting around, her heart slamming against her ribcage. Suddenly it felt like danger lurked behind every wisp of shadow that moved through the fog.

  It was paranoia. It had to be. There was no one there.

  But the placating thoughts didn’t help and fear closed in around her chest, threatening to choke her. Cold sweat broke across her skin. She had to get out of here. She had to go somewhere safe. Home. She needed to go home. Spinning back around, she still couldn’t spot her vehicle. But she couldn’t just stand there, so she took a blind step. And that echo sounded again.

  Oh God. Oh God. OhGod.

  It was all she could do not to scream. The fog parted for just a moment and she saw her car. Standing on the hood was Balthasar, his orange stripes a sharp contrast to the dark blue paint. She bolted forward, arms and legs pumping, clammy sweat slicking down her skin. The familiar hissed and went airborne, landing against her chest. She caught him with one arm, and his claws latched onto her skin through her clothes. She staggered into the side of her car, groping with her free hand for her keys to unlock the door.

  Her flesh prickled as the feel of magic wrapped around her, and then it was like a warm blanket had been draped over her. A protective spell, she realized, because the sudden feeling of utter safety was enough to make her cry. She tightened her grip on the familiar as if he were the only thing standing between her and whatever wanted to hurt her, which might actually be true. Or it might all be in her head. She hadn’t seen anyone. Maybe there’d been no one there.

  Tremors wracked her as she finally managed to retrieve her keys and slide into the front seat. She immediately locked the doors, but couldn’t seem to stop shaking enough to even consider driving. No one approached—no human-shaped shadows emerged from the mist, and she really had to wonder if she was so tired and stressed from the hellish day that she’d just imagined the echoing steps.

  She swallowed, forcing herself to ease her hold on Balthasar, even though she wanted to take the cat home, wrap herself in his magic protection and sleep for a year. That wasn’t an option. He didn’t belong to her and she shouldn’t pretend he did, especially since she’d decided some distance from Luca was a good idea. Though at the moment, the thought of being near a huge, gun-toting vampire was appealing for reasons that had nothing to do with sex. She dragged in a slow, deep breath and tried to pull herself together.

  Her hands were still trembling when she pulled her cell phone out of her purse, but there was no way she’d be able to hit the right buttons to dial. She managed to press the one that would allow her to give it verbal commands and said, “Call Luca.”

  “Calling Luca,” the disjointed electronic voice replied.

  He picked up on the first ring. “Erin.”

  The intense rush of relief she experienced the second she heard his voice shook her further. She had to clear her throat to make sure she could speak in a steady tone. “Your cat is here. What do you want me to do with him?”

  A long pause followed that question, but then he said, “I’ll come and get him. Are you at work or at home?”

  “In my car, about to leave work. I can drop him off at your place, if you’d like.” Since that might be construed as her wanting to come over to his house for a booty call, she hastened to add, “Then I want to get home and sleep. It was a very long and super shitty day.”

  “Understood,” he returned quietly. “I’m at home now. I’ll meet you out front so you don’t even have to get out of your car.”

  Her chest squeezed painfully, but she nodded even though he couldn’t see it. “Thanks. Be there soon. End call.�
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  The phone beeped to let her know it had disconnected. Tears glutted her eyes and a quick sob rattled her throat, but she wasn’t sure why she was crying. From stress, from residual fear, from losing Luca? She shook her head, the movement sharp, and scrubbed the back of her hand across her eyes. Now wasn’t the time to sort through her jumbled emotions about Luca. She just needed to take his cat to him and get home to bed the way she’d been planning all along.

  “All right, familiars in the passenger seat.” She gave Balthasar a pointed look and the cat obeyed—after he’d rubbed his sinuous body across her black T-shirt, leaving a million hairs behind. Well, that told her what he thought about being kicked off her lap, didn’t it? She sighed and swiped at the fur, but gave it up as a lost cause.

  The adrenaline rush from her maybe-follower scare had dwindled, so her hands only shook a little when she slid the key into the ignition. Backing out of her parking space, she gave one last glance around. The fog was thicker than mud, but she still didn’t catch a glimpse of anyone.

  She wasn’t sure if she should be relieved or worried about her sanity. “Never locking up and leaving alone again, Balthasar. Someone’s just going to have deal with waiting around for a second for me to be done.”

  It had never been a problem before. The restaurant was in a safe area of town, but she didn’t care about crime statistics—she just didn’t want to have to cringe whenever she left work and pray she didn’t feel creeped out. Maybe it was Asher tonight, but maybe it wasn’t. She still had no real way of knowing who had been prank calling her, or if anyone was really hanging around the parking lot at night.

  “Seriously. Never again. Holly or Jordie or Tina will be walking me out. It’s safer for everyone. Luca would think so too. And Jack.”

  “Rrowr.” Balthasar’s meow sounded agreeable, so she decided to take it that he agreed with her. Smart kitty.

  He pressed his front paws to the side of her leg and rested his head on her thigh, looking as innocent as possible about the fact that he wasn’t quite on the passenger side. She rolled her eyes and snorted. Familiars—couldn’t live with them, couldn’t kill them, always impossible to deal with. Jack said that Selina’s German shepherd familiar was the biggest attitude on four legs, but for sheer swagger, Erin suspected Balthasar had him beat. Not that she could say so, because then she’d have to explain why she knew so much about Luca Cavalli’s familiar. Yeah, so not going down that road.