Midnight Sins (Midnight #2)(76)
Author: Cynthia Eden

“Damn it, answer my question!” A demand as fierce as his.

Niol flinched. “I went to his place, is that what you want? I knew what had happened between the two of you—”

He always knew. Everything.

“I went to stop him before the little bastard could hurt anyone else that I—” His jaw clenched, then he growled, “The fool stood in front of me—looked me in the eyes—and told me that he was going to hunt you down and kill you. Just as he’d killed Nina.” A pause. “He had to die.”

Her shoulders fell. That was as close to a confession as Niol was ever going to give, and she knew that he spoke the truth.

After her confrontation with Lance, she’d known that the man would come after her. As soon as he’d gotten his control back, yeah, she’d figured he would come gunning for her. There’d been so much fury in his eyes.

As much fury as she’d had.

In her heart, when she’d heard the news of his death, she’d always suspected Niol. She knew that he cared for Nina—knew that the bond he felt hadn’t disappeared when the two had parted ways.

And Niol was a man long used to the power of vengeance.

She’d suspected, but she’d never spoken of the crime to him.

Now, she knew everything. Well, almost. Niol had killed to make certain she was safe, and Cameron…“I-I thought—” She cleared her throat. “When Cameron said that he’d been there and caught my scent, I didn’t understand. Didn’t know what to think.” The certainty she’d felt before about Lance’s death had become a confused blur. “I never knew that Cameron was at Lance’s place that night, and if he’d been there—well, I thought maybe he’d been the one to kill Lance.”

Slowly, she uncurled her fists. “I guess—I guess Cam was there—trying to protect me, too, huh? But he just arrived too late—”

“I think he arrived too late, all right.” Niol’s eyes blazed with a dark fire.

Cara felt the power swell in the air around them. Her breath caught. “Niol?”

“Did he think it was you, Cara? Did Cameron think you killed Lance?”

She could only nod.

“Fuck. ”

The chill she’d felt back at her home iced her veins again. “Niol—what is it?” What was she missing? What—

He pushed her to the side, yanked open the door. “Brooks! Brooks!”

But her cop didn’t answer.

And that numbing cold spread within her.

The alley was empty. Impossible. Todd tracked his gaze to the left, then the right.

The incubus had to be there. Cameron had exited barely ten seconds before him—and no way was he buying that the guy was powerful enough to just vanish.

A whisper of sound. Fabric. Clothes? From up ahead, near the Dumpster.

Instinct had him reaching for his gun even as he called out, “Cameron Komak, is that you?”

Silence.

The gun was heavy in his hands, a weight he’d grown used to years before. The weapon was up, pointed into the darkness. Just in case the guy hiding wasn’t the incubus he was after, he said, “Listen up! I’m an officer with the Atlanta PD. I want you to come out now, where I can see you.” Shit, but it was dark. He caught the fast scuttle of bugs as he advanced. “I said, come out. ” Where were the two officers who’d been trailing Cara? He sure could have used some back up right then.

Every nerve in his body revved up, and with his instincts screaming danger, Todd was definitely on full alert.

So when Cameron stepped from the shadows, a smile on his face and his hands up, the gun never wavered.

“What do you want now, cop? Your partner’s already cleared me.”

Not really. Gyth had told him that he was suspicious as hell of the three incubi he’d interviewed, but since the guys didn’t have any wounds to match the injuries Susan had given her attacker…

“Can’t a guy just take a piss anymore without the cops getting called in?” Cameron drawled and began to lower his hands.

“Don’t move.”

The smile widened. “I saw your lady earlier. Cara sure looks good when she’s barely dressed, doesn’t she?”

A flash of fire heated his veins. Cara had been frightened. He’d seen the fear in her eyes.

Had she been afraid of Cameron?

“What did you do to her?” he demanded.

“Not a thing.” He rocked back on his heels. Shadows fell over his body, concealing too much. “Where is Cara? Shouldn’t she be with you, right by her lover’s side?”

Todd’s hold on the gun tightened.

Cameron laughed. “Ah, I see. She didn’t run to you, did she? After our talk, she went to…him. I always wondered about them, you know. Was Niol really in love with Nina? Or was it Cara all the time?”

The bastard was trying to push his buttons. “I want you to step out of the shadows and come fully into the light.” The guy’s hands were clearly visible, and he wasn’t holding a weapon, but Todd knew a threat when he saw one.

“How does it feel to know that when the chips are down, Cara turns to him instead of you?”

The bastard’s shitty mind games weren’t going to work with him. “Step into the light.”

“If that’s what you want…”

Cameron stepped forward.

The back door of Paradise Found shot open and slammed against the side of the building.

“Todd!”

His head jerked at Cara’s cry.

“Get away from him!” Niol’s order blasted through the night.

Cameron turned to run.

What the hell? Todd’s gaze snapped back to him as he sprang forward. “Freeze! Damn it, don’t you—”

A woman stepped into the mouth of the alley. For a moment, the streetlight fell over the fire of her hair.

Todd’s lips parted to shout a warning.

Cameron barreled into her and knocked her onto the ground. Their bodies tangled, twisted.

Todd rushed toward them, Cara and Niol on his heels and—

The incubus rose with a sneer on his lips and his arms tight around Holly Storm. One hand locked around her neck, the other rose around her waist, so that his fingers pressed right against the middle of her chest. “Don’t take another step,” he snarled.

In that moment, Todd knew that things had just taken a serious shit turn. He froze, but didn’t lower his weapon so much as an inch.

“Cameron, I don’t know what’s gotten you so upset, but you just need to calm down. I only want to talk to you. Let go of the woman and let’s go back inside.” He pitched his voice low, tried to sound soothing. A hard task with alarms shrieking in his head.