But her terrified brain was screaming hysterically and the sound was drowning out her other thoughts.
Daniel moved over the bed and Lily was struggling again, unable to stop herself. With a skilled and practiced ease that made her head spin, Daniel grabbed her other wrist and cuffed it securely to the opposite bed post so that her arms were stretched out to either side. He didn’t even give her the option of kicking him, as he straddled her, effectively pinning her legs to the bed.
She watched with eyes that were blurring with tears and dizziness as he pulled a wicked blade out of the pocket knife and held up his left hand. Quickly, he drew the blade across his palm, slicing deep and clean. Dark blood welled up around the wound.
Then he turned his gaze on her once more and she was caught up in it like a deer in headlights. Her breathing was so harsh and ragged that it filled the otherwise silent space between them. She could only watch helplessly as he stared down at her.
He’s so gorgeous, her crazed mind thought. How can he be so handsome when he’s doing this to me? He’s going to kill me.
As if he could read her mind, he shook his head once. “Christ, Lily. I’m not gonna kill you, cher.” His voice was barely above a whisper. His expression was still guilt-ridden, but his pupils had expanded, engulfing most of the blue in his irises. He looked like her cat used to look right before he would pounce on something. “Not in a million years.”
Then his hands were moving and she barely managed to rip her gaze away from his as he placed the blade against her right forearm.
“No! Daniel, please-” With renewed vigor, she fought against the cuffs, writhing beneath him. The movement caused the cuffs to bite into her skin and bruise against her bones. She barely noticed the pain, but Daniel swore softly and quickly pulled the blade away from her arm. He set it beside her on the bed and sat back, his jaw set, his eyes flashing.
“Lily, look at me.”
Lily felt her chest tightening. Stars swam in her eyes. She was hyperventilating. But she did manage to look at him.
“You have to trust me, cher. I don’t have the time to explain this to you, but I swear on all that is holy that I’m trying to protect you. This has to be done.”
“D-Daniel….” She tried to breathe, suck in air for another word or two. “I’m scared! What’s going on?”
Daniel considered her in silence for several more heartbeats. And then he reached out like lightning and grabbed her by the nape of the neck with his un-injured hand. He pulled her head back and covered her lips with his own in a harsh, demanding kiss.
Lily bucked against him as she was at once overcome with a flood of warring sensations. Fear and confusion wailed at her senses, but as Daniel opened her up beneath him, his tongue delving deep, the fear began to recede and a deep, inescapable pleasure slaked through her like fire. Heat spread across her chest, coiled in her belly, and snaked lower. It was wholly unnatural.
But she couldn’t break free.
Lily was weakening. She could feel the strength being sapped from her limbs as if by magic. Daniel deepened the kiss and a growl rose from somewhere within him, wrapping around her like thunder. She felt like he was drinking her in, slaking a thirst he’d had for too long, and she began to feel well and truly drained.
Eventually she stopped fighting. There was simply no strength left in her body. She gave in to Daniel, offering no resistance as his grip lessened in her hair and his fingers dropped to gently brush against the back of her neck. He seemed to tremble against her and, somewhere in the back of her mind, she registered a change in the way he felt on her tongue. It was his teeth…. The canines seemed longer. Sharper.
But she barely cared. She felt drunk. She wondered if she’d been drugged.
So this is what it’s like, her inebriated mind whispered. This is what it’s like to kiss Daniel Kane.
It was a full minute more before he broke the kiss. When he finally did, Lily’s breathing had become shallow and slow. Her body yearned for his in a way she never could have imagined. Especially not now, under these circumstances.
She watched through half-closed lids as he slowly pulled away. There was no blue left in his gaze; his pupils had expanded entirely, mirroring the black of his hair, and she now knew what hunger looked like up close and personal.
He gazed at her for what seemed like a short eternity before he picked up the knife once again and this time, he did not pause before he placed it to her forearm and quickly drew it down across the taut, pale flesh.
Lily winced against the quick flash of pain and let out a small gasp. But there was no real fear. His kiss had drained it away.
Daniel’s pitch black eyes found hers again as he then dropped the knife and wrapped his bleeding hand around her arm, covering her wound with his own.
Lily let her head fall back onto the steel frame of his bed as the pain in her forearm almost instantly melted into a strange sort of heat. That heat snaked up her arm and across her body like fingers of flame. It licked at her breasts and she felt her nipples harden against her thin dress. Then it trailed across her stomach to that moist place between her legs and she moaned and closed her eyes. It was like being kissed all over again.
She could feel Daniel lean into her, could feel his lips lower to her ear.
“You have no idea how much I want you right now, cher. Your need is nothing compared to mine.” His voice had changed completely. It was now much, much deeper and it resonated through her body, caressing her from the inside as if it were a living, breathing thing.
Daniel’s grip tightened around her arm as he once more claimed her lips in a kiss. Lily moaned into his mouth as her body convulsed in an orgasm and her mind went reeling into forbidden bliss. Darkness wrapped itself around her, warm and tight, drawing her in like a pulling tide. She rode the last wave of her orgasm into that waiting blackness and slipped into unconsciousness.
*****
Daniel Kane very slowly pulled out of the kiss and opened his eyes to gaze down at the young woman cuffed to his bed.
Need was riding him like a demon. It was a pain unlike any he’d ever known. It was merciless and cruel beyond measure, nearly bringing tears to his eyes.
With a strength he hadn’t known he possessed, he released his grip on her arm and sat back, putting a few precious inches of distance between them. His breathing was ragged and uneven. He fought to get it, and his body, under control. His head dropped back and with tremendous effort; he forced his fangs to recede. When they were gone, he looked at Lily again. His gaze slid from her sleeping face to the mark he’d left on her arm. Where there had been a knife cut only moments before, there now rested a symbol. It was blue and intricately knotted and it entranced him to see it there, on his chosen mate.
Out of curiosity, he glanced down at his own hand. The same mark etched across his palm where he had sliced it. Both wounds were gone, as if they had never been.
It’s done, he thought. She’s marked. With fingers that trembled, he gently brushed a long lock of her golden hair from her neck and traced the outline of her collarbone. She’s mine.
It was the best he could do for now. It would protect her, at least a little.
He let his hand drop to his lap and took a deep, shaky breath. He had to go. The Mayor and his family had been killed. He knew who the killer was; he didn’t even have to visit the crime scene. He knew he would smell the other wolf the second he entered the Mayor’s home. Malcolm Cole had done this. He was a smart man. He knew it was the only way Daniel would ever leave Lily alone. The murder had to be drastic; televised enough.
Daniel had no choice but to put in an appearance. He was the new Police Chief. The media would be there. And Lily would be alone. And Cole was waiting for just that.
This was a fucking nightmare.
He’d had to steal Lily’s strength and put her to sleep with his kiss and that was not what he’d wanted to do the first time he kissed her. She would be confused when she awoke. Then she would be pissed
. She would almost certainly try to run.
He would put a blue-and-white out front and make sure Tabitha was here. There was nothing more he could do.
Slowly, he pushed off of the bed and unlocked each of the cuffs around Lily’s wrists. Then he lifted her and repositioned her sleeping body so that she lay in the center of his bed. He gently covered her with the sheets and stepped away. Her golden hair spilled all around her, stark against the black of his covers.
He was still hurting. God, he was hurting. But he could get it under control in time. With another shaky breath, he pulled his cell from his front pocket and dialed it. Tabitha picked up on the first ring.
“Get to my place, Tabitha. She’s sleeping. I want you here with her when she wakes up…. Tell her I’m sorry.”
He hung up, not waiting for a response. Then he strode to the door, taking one last glance at the thin blue line that graced Lily’s right arm before he left the room.
Chapter Five: CSI – Baton Rouge
“I’m a little surprised by your methods, Jennings, but I must admit that I can see the benefit of your actions.”
Jennings was quiet for a good, long while before his voice cracked in answer as he spoke into his cell phone. “Yes sir. It seemed to make sense, sir. He’ll be confused now and you’ve taught us to weaken them however possible.”
Another long pause, but this from the other side.
“Yes. I see.” The voice was calm, the tone low. And though it filled Jennings with a sense of respect, it also gave him the creeps. In the background, he could swear he heard what sounded like the pinging of elevators, the distant chink of glasses…. Bells on slot machines?
“Jennings, you have a chance to make a real difference here. To do something good for the world. To rid it of real evil. Make the most of it and don’t fail me. You’ve done well so far and you’ve been given an in that others in your position are not given. You can set these demons against each other.”
“Yes sir,” Jennings replied. “The thought had occurred to me, sir.”
The voice on the other end continued. “Now, I happen to know that you have a personal interest in this matter, and I can understand that.”
A brief pause.
“However, I need you to keep a clear head. In the end, it is our objective that matters. Not our personal desires. Don’t let them interfere with your job. Do you understand?”
Jennings swallowed and he knew that the man on the other end of the line most likely heard it, it was so loud. The lump in his throat was too big and too dry. “Yes, sir. I understand.”
“Good. I won’t be contacting you again. I don’t want to hear from you until you’ve completed this task.”
“Understood.” Jennings heard the line disconnect and he closed his phone, pocketing it with shaking fingers.
* * * *
Yellow tape had been draped across both ends of the neighborhood street, so Daniel parked at the end of the road and another officer lifted the tape for him as he ducked beneath it.
Already, Daniel could smell the blood, and the Mayor’s house was still several hundred yards away. From behind the mask of a pair of mirrored sunglasses, Daniel cocked his head to the side and lifted his nose ever so slightly. He’d expected to catch Cole’s scent right away. After all, if he’d been able to detect him on a busy city street such as the one beside the cantina where Lily and her friends had been dining, then surely he’d be able to pick it up outside of the scene of a bloody crime that Cole had committed.
But his scent wasn’t there. At least, it wasn’t discernible yet, anyway.
Daniel’s teeth clenched and a cold sensation settled at the base of his spine. Surreptitiously, he scanned the area around the crime scene. The coroner’s van was parked near the curb; behind it was an ambulance, its lights flashing but its sirens silent. A fire truck effectively blocked entrance and exit from the other side of the street, its long shining red body nose to bumper from sidewalk to sidewalk.
Civilians had gathered all along the perimeter of the scene; frightened and curious neighbors, some of them pillars of high society. Daniel would have to deal with them himself. When it came to those whose money was the life blood of Baton Rouge, public relations required a certain amount of personal finesse.
A news crew had already arrived. Daniel could hear them with their rapid-fire chirping of questions, directed toward any officer who was careless enough to meander within ten feet of the woman with the microphone.
Several more news crews were undoubtedly on their way. Daniel sighed and his gut clenched. It was bad news when the media arrived at the scene of a crime before the Police Chief did. He would have to come up with some kind of excuse. He seriously doubted that, “Sorry, I had to mark my intended mate” was going to fly with Channel Nine or the six-o-clock viewing public.
A medical team was just exiting the Mayor’s mansion. As they stepped out the double front doors, they peeled off latex gloves and the small blue-white booties that they’d had pulled over their shoes. Daniel approached them and the coroner looked up. “Chief,” he said. Daniel nodded once in greeting. It was a somber greeting for a somber occasion.
The coroner’s gray-white hair was slightly frizzy in the post-storm humidity and his contacts were easily discernible against the bloodshot, yellow-white of his tired eyes. His face looked like a road map of forced, sympathetic smiles and deep, sincere frowns. His name was Jeffrey Hershel and he’d been the coroner for twenty-nine years.
Daniel had noticed, over the years, that people tended to start to look a lot like whatever it was they did for a living. Pastry chefs always got fat and smelled like chocolate. Rock stars began to dress and dye their hair until they were as colorful as their lyrics. Plumbers always started to look like shit, eventually. And after being around enough dead bodies, Jeffrey Hershel had begun to take on the appearance of a corpse. Not an easy job. It made Daniel wonder whether, as a peace keeper, he himself walked around looking like living, breathing crime.
Detective Aiden Knight sidled up to stand next to the coroner. He was a ruggedly handsome, tall, well-built man, nearly the same height as Daniel. His shoulder-length, brown hair was carelessly trimmed. He had stark amber eyes, but there was a darkness around them and the stubble on his chin lent him the air of one who hadn’t enjoyed the luxury of sleep or a shave in quite some time. He had a small black notebook in his hand. “Chief,” he greeted Daniel.
Again Daniel nodded. He sighed, glancing once toward the front door behind them and the horror that waited inside. “What have we got, gentlemen?”
“Housekeeper and piano teacher found the body this morning at around eleven thirty a.m. Housekeeper arrived to find the piano teacher sitting on the porch, waiting to be let in. Apparently, she’d had lessons scheduled for eleven. Housekeeper has a key.” Detective Knight gestured to a pair of women who stood off to one side, next to the yellow tape, their shivering forms wrapped in blankets, despite the midday warmth. They were clearly in a state of mild shock.
“Have you had a medic tend to them?” Daniel asked.
“Yes, sir. They were each given a sedative, but we’ve asked them to remain on site for questioning.”
Daniel nodded again. He could sense, at this point, that he was delaying the inevitable. He didn’t want to go inside. The Mayor hadn’t been the closest friend Daniel had ever had – but he was close enough. Daniel had enjoyed dinner with his family on more than one occasion, and every holiday season they exchanged gifts in the warm and friendly environment of the Mayor’s home.
It wouldn’t be a warm and friendly environment now.
As if sensing his boss’s hesitation, Detective Knight leaned over and spoke softly near Daniel’s ear. “Everything has been photographed and tagged, Chief. All we need is your eye and your statement.”
Daniel nodded. He took a deep, steadying breath and nodded again, as if to reassure himself. The detective handed him a pair of gloves and booties and Daniel slipped them on. Both men th
en stepped to the side and Chief Daniel Kane entered the Mayor’s home.
From the first sound of his muffled boot on the marble tiles of the foyer, Daniel sensed the immense difference that death brings into a home. It isn’t just the silence where there should be music and the clanging of pots and pans, a television or stereo playing, a child’s laughter. It was not just the smell, which for him was particularly telling. Instead of cinnamon potpourri or the lingering cloy of honeysuckle stuck to the bottom of someone’s shoe, it smelled like flash bulbs and silicone and the graphite of pencil leads. It smelled like blood and urine and fear and gunpowder.
But it wasn’t just the smell, either.
No. It was something else. There was almost a new vibration in the air. Or, a lack thereof. It was as if life itself had resided in the home, an entity reminiscent of waves of light and sound – and now it was gone. And the air was bare. Empty. Stale.
It was almost unbeatable. Daniel found himself holding his breath as he marched, like a man on the green mile, down the hallway to where the stench of death became strongest.
It was the little girl he saw first, and Daniel froze in his tracks, instantly recalling the feel of her weight on the tops of his boots as he’d danced with her last Christmas. He instantly heard her laughter. And he was almost undone.
“Chief?” Knight was beside him; the two were alone, but for the bodies of the fallen in the living room around them. “You okay?”
Daniel shook his head. Once. But he said nothing. His gaze skirted from the sleeping child to her mother and then to her father, the Mayor.
He could smell them all here. Not just their blood, but them. The people that they once were. He could smell the Mayor’s aftershave and his wife’s perfume and his daughter’s bubble gum.