Hotter After Midnight

Colin spun around. He’d forgotten the other man. For one blind, reckless moment, he’d completely forgotten the guy.

They were on the ground now. Emily was sprawled on top of him, and Colin could see the faint glimmer of a knife next to the fallen man’s hand.

Well, damn.

The doc had just saved his life.

“Bitch!”

Colin’s eyes narrowed. He took a step forward just as Emily drove her knee into the asshole’s crotch. He jerked, yelling in pain and twisting away from her.

Colin grabbed Emily, pulled her to her feet. The perp on the ground was curled into a fetal position, squealing.

He whistled softly and glanced at Emily. “And here I thought you were the delicate type.” She’d lost her glasses, and her hair fell loosely around her face. His hand lifted toward her cheek. He wanted to push back her hair, to touch her, to—

“What in the hell?” Emily grabbed his wrist. Her eyes widened. “Gyth, you’ve got claws!”

His body tensed. He’d forgotten about his partial shift. He could only be grateful for the darkness, otherwise Emily would see the blood on his hands, embedded in his claws.

“What kind of shifter are you?” There was a note of hesitation in her voice, a note of almost…fear.

Damn. That was the last thing he needed. He didn’t want the doc to fear him. Not now.

“Colin?”

He couldn’t tell her. Couldn’t risk it.

Colin spun away from her, glanced back down at the guys on the ground. “Who are you bastards and why the fuck did you attack us?” Okay, not the standard police interviewing technique, but he wasn’t exactly feeling all nice and professional.

His ribs were hurting like hell thanks to Mr. Kick Happy. Colin swiped his hand against his lip, feeling the wet warmth of blood. His lip had probably gotten busted when they tackled him to the ground.

The guys were rousing, sending narrow-eyed, glittering stares his way. What in the hell? He’d taken them down, hard. They shouldn’t be getting up this soon, no damn way, not unless—

“They’re demons,” Emily told him, confirming the suspicion that had been filling his mind.

Well, shit.

Things were suddenly much, much more dangerous. He wasn’t an Other expert like the doc, but he knew demons healed fast.

“They’re low level.” She stood beside him. Their backs were near the wall of the alley. “Maybe a one or a two.”

He didn’t really know what that meant, and he made a mental note to quiz the doc on Other lore sometime later. Once they’d gotten out of the alley and far away from the jerks who were trying to kill them.

“Stay behind me,” he ordered, now eyeing the perps with deep suspicion. They could attack again at any moment.

The guy who’d made the mistake of going after Emily climbed to his feet. A deep gash swept across his forehead, and blood trickled down his face. “Catching on now, cop?”

The others pushed to their feet. Crept up behind the one ballsy enough to talk. Colin figured him for the leader.

“He cut me, Scott.” The snarled words came from the guy bleeding out a river in the back.

Colin held up his hands, let them see the claws springing from his fingertips. “And I’ll do it again.” He’d cut the demons apart if they came at him or if they tried to attack Emily. He’d been pissed enough before when they’d first jumped him, but now that he knew they weren’t human, all bets were off. He’d use every bit of his shifter strength to make them wish they’d never stepped into the alley.

“Let’s kill ’em!” Same demon talking. The bastard who was currently bleeding out in the alley. He was a tall guy, lean but muscled.

“You can try,” Colin said. “But I don’t think you’ll succeed. Especially considering the fact that I just kicked your asses.” And he’d be more than happy to do it again.

Emily’s nails dug into his back. “Someone else is here. Someone a hell of a lot more powerful than these guys.”

The night just kept getting better. “I don’t see anyone,” he muttered, and it was true. The night was dark, but with his enhanced vision, he could see perfectly in the alley. He could even see the snake tattoo swirling around the left wrist of the bastard he’d clawed. That’ll help identify you later, asshole.

“He’s here,” she repeated softly. “And—”

“Stay the fuck out of our business, cop!” This snarl came from the leader, the guy who’d been called Scott. “Tonight was a warning. You and the doctor won’t get another.”

Our business?

“Stick to your own kind!” Now snake tattoo was shouting his own warning. “Leave the demons alone.”

Oh yeah, like that was going to happen. If anything, these idiots had just made him all the more determined to plunge straight into their world.

“Who sent you?” Emily asked, and she sure as hell didn’t sound like she was frightened. She sounded royally pissed. “Who told you to jump us in the alley?”

Scott stiffened.

“Was it Niol?” She pushed. “Is he the reason you’re threatening us? Did he tell you—”

A siren sounded nearby.

The men cursed, then turned, fleeing down the alley just as the swirl of blue and white lights lit up the scene.

Two uniformed cops jumped out of the vehicle, guns drawn. “Hands up, now!”

“Shit.” Colin lifted his hands and watched in disgust as the demons disappeared into the shadows. He’d find those bastards again, he’d make certain of it. “Listen, I’m a cop. Detective Colin Gyth, badge number 2517.” He made no move to reach for his ID. The cops looked more than a little nervous to be confronting him in the alley, and he wasn’t about to give these green guys a reason to become trigger happy.

Emily had her hands lifted up too. One of the patrolmen approached her, pulling her away from Gyth.

“Come with me, ma’am.”

Hot rage still coursed through Colin’s body. He took a deep breath, inhaled the stench of the alley, the sweat from the cops. He needed to regain his control, needed to cage the beast.

His claws began to recede. Slowly, slowly.

“Show me your ID, Detective.” The patrolman still held his gun on Colin.

Carefully, Colin reached inside his jacket and pulled out his ID. The cop took it, stepped back. “Don’t move.” He crept toward the car, and Colin heard him radio in his information.

“We were attacked! The guys who jumped us are getting away!” Emily still sounded pissed as she raged at the cop.

He glanced toward the end of the alley. Correction: they’d already gotten away.

“Okay, Detective, you check out.”

Colin lowered his hands. “I need you to start a search in the area. Four men just attacked us.” And warned us to stay the hell out of demon business.

Not gonna happen.

“They were wearing black ski masks, shirts, pants.” Which would make identifying them damn hard. “But one guy had a snake tattoo on his left wrist. And the leader was a man named Scott.” Not much to go on, but it was all they had.

“Four men attacked you?” This from the cop who’d taken Emily away.

“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you,” she snapped.

The patrolman dutifully radioed in the information Colin had given him. “Are either of you hurt?” he asked.

Emily shook her head.

Colin remembered the icy flash of pain he’d felt in his hand when one of the bastards had cut him. The wound had already stopped bleeding, and his ribs only ached in a brief echo of pain. “No.” He’d be completely healed long before any EMT could arrive to help him.

“Why’d they jump you?” The cop who’d radioed in their information cast a level stare Colin’s way.

Because I’m getting too close. Colin shrugged. He had to be careful now. He couldn’t very well reveal that the demons didn’t like him sniffing around their territory.

Ah, but his presence had sure made someone nervous.

And that was good. Very good.

Emily crossed to his side. She’d picked up her glasses, and she was rubbing the lenses against her shirt.

“Is he still here?” he asked her, pitching his voice low so that the patrolmen wouldn’t hear him. She’d said the watcher was a strong Other, and Colin wondered if the guy had stayed around to catch the rest of the show.

She shook her head. “No. He left right after the patrol got here.”

Colin grunted. Figures. “Well, Doc, looks like we’ve managed to catch someone’s attention.” He flexed his fingers, feeling the newly healed flesh stretch lightly.

“Yes, I guess we did.” She gazed at the dark end of the alley. “Are we going to heed their warning?”

She’d put a nice, subtle emphasis on the we. “What do you think?”

She pushed her glasses onto her nose. “I think I don’t like it when jerks in black ski masks jump me in an alley.”

He fought the curve of his lips. “Yeah, I don’t like that too much either.”

“I also think it’s good that someone’s nervous out there.” She lifted her chin, still gazing into the darkness. “It means we’re on the right track.”

His lips tightened. “It’s a dangerous track, Doc.” And he didn’t like her being in danger. When that bastard had put his hands around her throat—

“Despite what you think, Gyth, I’m not some delicate flower.” She finally looked at him. There was determination in her eyes—

determination and, unless he was mistaken, excitement.

He realized the doc liked the thrill of danger. She enjoyed the hook of adrenaline that came from staring straight into fear.

Oh, but he could really like this woman.

“No, you aren’t delicate,” he agreed, remembering the way she’d attacked the guy who’d tried to jump him from behind. The bastard was probably still tasting his balls.

The doc was a hell of a lot stronger than he’d originally thought, but the fact remained that she was human. And the guys who attacked him, the demons, they could easily kill her.

As for the shifter, the “Night Butcher,” well, he’d be even worse. A human would never stand a chance against a guy like that.

Emily would never stand a chance.

“You’re not going to shut me out,” Emily said, and he wondered for an instant if she’d used her powers to read his mind. “Threats from two-bit demons aren’t going to make me run.”

Threats might not, but what if those demons got ahold of her? What if they caught her when he wasn’t around, when he couldn’t protect her?

But she burned out a demon once, he reminded himself. She burned out the guy who’d tried to attack her—

And nearly wound up in a coma.

No, the doc wasn’t cut out for fighting demons or shifters.

But she was in this thing now. The demons knew about her involvement.

“It’s only going to get rougher from now on,” he warned. The closer they got to the killer, the more dangerous the situation would become.

“I know.” Simple, clear words. No hint of fear.

He held out his hand to her, palm up. She glanced down at his offered hand for a moment, her brows wrinkling. Then slowly, very slowly, she placed her palm against his.

His fingers instantly curled around hers. “You ready for everything that’s going to happen?” And he wasn’t just talking about the case. About the danger. He was talking about them. About the hot tension he felt every second he was with her.

Emily gave a brief nod. “You’re going to need me, every step of the way.”

Oh, he didn’t doubt that. His body was already hard with need for her. The leftover battle-ready tension still coursed through him.

But she was right about the case too. Whether he liked it or not—and he most definitely did not—he needed her special gift to unmask the killer.

Together, they’d keep hunting the Night Butcher. Be partners, of a sort.

He’d make absolutely certain he watched her back. At all times.

The uniforms were talking quietly behind them. The siren no longer blared into the night, but the blue and white lights still lit the alley with a swirl of color.

He wanted to get the doc alone. Wanted to get her out of that damn smelly alley. Wanted to get her home, where she’d be safe.

Where he could hold her, strip her. Take her.

He’d leashed the beast when the uniforms arrived. Managed to stop the shift. But the adrenaline in his body was running thick and hard through his veins, and it was feeding the monster. Making it stronger. Making it want, making it need…

Emily.

His fingers tightened around hers. It was definitely time to call it a night. While he still could. “Come on,” he muttered, “let’s get the hell out of here.” They could talk to the cops more later.

Emily glanced back along the alley. A small shiver worked its way over her body. Colin fought the urge to pull her against him, to warm her, to hold her.

Don’t want the uniforms to see me do that. Gossip spreads in the PD like wildfire.

“The other person I sensed—” Emily bit her lip for a moment. “He was strong, Colin. Very strong.”

“Was he a demon?” She’d mentioned Niol before. Had it been him? Had he been angry that they’d invaded his precious club? Had he sent his errand boys to try and give them a scare?

“Yes. A level ten, at least.”

Again with the levels. He still wasn’t sure what that meant, but he figured there was no way being a level-ten demon could be a good thing.