Midnight Sins (Midnight #2)(53)
Author: Cynthia Eden

She’s rotten inside. Just like they all are.”

The force of his rage caused his fingers to shake. His hand tightened around the phone. “I want to know just who—”

The call ended with a soft click. Then the buzz of a dial tone had him swearing.

Sonofabitch.

As quickly as he could, he used his call return. One ring. Two. The beeping filled his ears, and he counted up to fifteen rings.

The lady wasn’t gonna answer his call.

Shit. Not a big surprise. He glanced over at the Caller ID light on his phone. Made a mental note of the number. He’d be pulling a few strings come daylight, and he’d track down the mystery lady.

Light trickled through the window, spilling onto the bed and Cara. She sat up, pulling the covers over her br**sts. “Todd?”

He ran a hand over his face. This damn case was really pissing him off.

“She was lying, Todd. I never left Paradise Found those nights, and I sure as hell didn’t get anyone to lie for me.”

But had Niol? The bastard was as deceitful as a snake.

“Tell me that you believe me.” She touched his cheek. “I don’t know who that woman was on the phone, but she’s the one lying, not me. ” Her voice was vibrating with intensity.

He caught her hand. Kissed her palm. “It’s all right.” He’d get to the bottom of this shit. If the woman had been lying in an effort to set up Cara, he’d find out why, and he’d find her. “Go back to sleep.” Though he doubted he’d be able to follow suit. Possibilities and worries filled his head.

If Cara was innocent—and he’d bet his badge that his lady was—then someone was working damn hard to make her look guilty.

Something like that—it was personal. Always.

So who would hate his succubus enough to want her life destroyed? Enough to kill to see her punished?

He’d find out.

And he knew just where he was going to start his hunt.

With Niol.

Cara lay back against the pillows and closed her eyes. The words Todd had spoken rang in her ears.

And the words he had not drove into her heart.

She’d bared her soul to him when they made love, let him touch the deepest part of her spirit, and the man still didn’t trust her.

Perhaps it was time for her to back off. To let the cop have his space.

Or perhaps it was time for her to start showing the world just how powerful a succubus could be.

Because there was only one conclusion she could draw from that phone call.

Some bitch was setting her up for murder.

And she wasn’t about to take that shit from anyone.

Cara could play the nice girl. She’d done it for years. But nice went skin deep, and true power, demon power, it cut to the bone.

She was going to find the person out there who was screwing with her life, and she’d make the woman pay.

For poor Michael’s death.

For the other men.

For making Todd doubt her.

And for ruining one of the best nights she’d had in years.

The bitch was about to find out just what happened to people who angered a succubus.

The woman had better run, fast. Because once a succubus started seeking prey, she didn’t stop until the hunt was over.

“You’re really a stupid whore, you know that?” The deep voice came out of the darkness and had Susan spinning around. Her back slammed into the phone.

Oh, shit. He was there. “Wh-what are you—”

He smiled at her, and the sight chilled her. She wasn’t afraid of much in this world, but this demon terrified her.

Because she knew he was evil. All the way to the core.

But so was she.

Carefully, slowly, she began to kneel down. Before she’d shot out of town, she’d stopped at the pawnshop and picked up a new knife—one that was strapped on her ankle and sharpened to kill. Susan liked knives—liked having them close. She had since she was seventeen, when she’d used the sweet, sharp blade of her mother’s steak knife to stab her stepfather right in his heart.

Right after the bastard had made the mistake of touching her again.

Just a few more inches, and she’d have the knife. She knew the demon’s weak spots, and even if she couldn’t take him down, she could hurt him enough to get away and—

He lunged for her. Grabbed her right hand. Broke her wrist with a twist of his fingers.

She didn’t cry out. She’d stopped doing that years ago. Susan stared up into his black eyes and choked down the pain.

He yanked her up against him. “You’ve been playing without me, sweetheart.” He leaned in close, pressed a kiss to her cheek, and inhaled her scent. “I can still smell the blood on your skin.”

She’d washed for hours. Scrubbed until her flesh was sore. But those damn demons, they could smell a speck of blood from a mile away.

Or so the stories said.

Susan thought the stories were half bull, but one thing was undeniable—the demon knew what she’d been up to while he’d been watching other prey. “Tommy deserved to die.” He’d turned his back on her. Her. Tried to walk away and leave her behind.

No one did that. Not anymore.

And Tommy had sure changed his tune once she’d started using her knife on him. He’d been begging for her forgiveness then.

But she hadn’t been in a forgiving mood.

“Thomas Monroe wasn’t on my list, Susan.” His touch was ice cold.

She’d liked that in the beginning. Liked the chill and the rush that he gave her.

When they’d started killing, she’d liked him even better. It was only lately that she’d begun to worry about him, and to wonder—

What did the good-looking demon who carried the scent of sex and death have planned for her?

“He wasn’t supposed to die.”

“Yeah, well, he was on my list.” She should probably be playing this differently. Acting cowed. Scared.

Not her style, even though fear squeezed her heart.

The demon smiled down at her, and his scent thickened in the air around them. Helplessly, she felt her body begin to respond. Her ni**les tightened. Her sex creamed.

“You were such a surprise to me, sweetheart.” He leaned his head toward her. Kissed her lips. Pushed her back even harder against the plastic phone. “So beautiful.”

His words were a lie. She knew it. Yeah, she was pretty. She’d used that physical appeal more times than she could count in the past, but he hadn’t wanted her because she was pretty.

He’d wanted her because she looked like the other woman, Cara.