Forbidden Passion (15 page)

If so, maybe his mother had been right to send him away.

“My destiny is to do as I damn well please.” Dante raised his clenched fist, ready to battle.

Father Gio threw up a warning hand, his eyes filled with wrath. “I wouldn’t start a war with me.”

Dante’s gaze fell to the topaz angel amulet against Gio’s neck, and fury sizzled through his blood. With one hand, he jerked the amulet off the old man he’d once considered his father and held it in his palm.

Instantly the topaz stone burst to life, an overwhelming heat radiating from the stone as it shot off crystalline red and yellow sparks. Dante felt stronger, empowered, as ii he had finally regained something he’d lost long ago.

“You stole this because it gives me power and strength and protects me.” He threw a fireball, but Father Gio caught it in his hand with a snarl and tossed it back. It exploded at Dante’s feet, heat searing the soles of his boots.

“You don’t want to battle with me,” Father Gio roared. “I have an army of demons, Dante, many Who don’t give a damn if they raise Zion’s ire by vanquishing you. If you start this war, you’ll lose.”

Dante gritted his teeth. Father Gio was right. He could defeat a single demon, even two or three, but not Father Gio’s army.

 
And not Zion.

Together our powers are magnified
, Vincent and Quinton Valtrez had said. He might need them to defeat Father Gio and Zion.

But he wasn’t ready to trust them yet. And he’d wait to find out the results of the blood test before he truly believed they were related.

 
“Are you behind the two bloodletting murders in town?” Dante asked.

 
Father Gio barked a long hideous laugh. “Bloodletting is not my style. But this new demon, he is quite entertaining.”

 
Dante barely resisted the impulse to attack.

“Get out now,” Father Gio growled. “I don’t intend to help you defy your father. He is our leader and will rule the world. And I will help him.”

 
Dante cursed. Not if he destroyed this demon and Zion first.

Marlena left Dante’s blood with the tech at the lab to run the tests, then headed back to her office. She was still contemplating the fact that he might be related to the Valtrez men.

Another storm was rolling in, and she flipped on the radio to listen to while she worked.

“This is Jebb Bates coming to you with some sad news. Sam Larson, former sheriff of Mysteria, is dead. The coroner stated that it looked as if he suffered a massive heart attack, but there will be an autopsy to confirm the results.

“Sheriff Larson served as our sheriff for over fifteen years..

Marlena flipped off the radio, her chest constricting. She had just spoken with Sam Larson. And she’d upset him.

Guilt washed over her.

Oh, God.
. .
had she caused his heart attack?

After his confrontation with Father Gio, Dante stopped by the morgue to confer with the ME.

Dr. Underwood limped toward him, claimed his desk chair, swept aside a stack of files, then spread open the one he’d been carrying and examined it.

“What do you have on victim number two?”, Dante asked.

The doctor consulted the papers with a deep frown. “Her name is Brenda Mulligan. We identified her from her medical records. She had a pin in her hip from a car accident. She worked at BloodCore.”

Dante gripped the arms of the chair to keep from reacting. If she worked at BloodCore, Marlena must have known her.

Dante straightened. “Did she bleed out like Jordie?”

‘Absolutely. He carved an S into her chest, then bit into her carotid artery.” He shifted the papers to reveal several

photos he’d taken of the bite marks. “Obviously she was killed someplace else and carried to the property near your house.”

“Did the blood in the cave match Brenda’s?” The ME nodded.

“Did you find any other blood?”

“I’m afraid not.”

This killer was definitely clever.

“Anything else you can tell me?” Dante asked. “Just that this is one sick, sadistic son of a bitch.” Dr.

Underwood rubbed at his leg as if it was aching, then pushed up the sleeves to his lab coat and folded his arms. “I haven’t seen anything like it in years, not since Larson was sheriff.”

Dante started to speak, but Underwood cut him off. “By the way, Larson is dead. EMT said it presented like a heart attack, but he’s on my table now for an autopsy.”

Dante’s mind raced. “Larson is dead?”

Underwood nodded. “The timing seems odd to me,” he said. “Perhaps you should call in the Feds. The people of Mysteria won’t sleep again until this maniac is caught. And any more deaths are on your head.”

Anger raced through Dante. The damn ME didn’t have to tell him that. But this killer, this series of murders, was far more disturbing than the humans in Mysteria thought.

 
Knowing the truth would only create widespread panic. Better they, believe one of their own, a human in town, was killing women than learn that demons roamed the underground.

 
Demons more ruthless and vile and committed to spreading evil than anyone could ever imagine.

Zion gestured for the Seer to relay her report.

“Vincent and Quinton found Dante,” she said with a wave of her black hand. “They have spoken.”

“And?”

“Having your minion burn his victims worked perfectly and raised distrust between the men.”

“Dante rejected his brothers?”

“Yes. He wants no partnership with them.” The Seer hesitated. “He makes his own laws and ways.”

“Good. We must destroy their bond,” Zion said. “As long as be carries the seed of evil within him, he can be turned.”

He simply had to play Dante right. Keep his son from mating with the woman. Turn her against him.

But he’d choose the timing.

The rumbling of footsteps and voices reverberated in the cave, then the first team of soldiers filed in. The demon he’d appointed to the new chair as the Death Angel led the group, and they gathered around the fire.

“The Hunters Moon is upon us. We must prepare our soldiers for war. I’ve enlisted the elements to dole out their worst.” He gestured toward Hypnos. “Your job will be to plant paranoia in the minds of the humans so they turn on each other in anger and fury.”

He gestured to the demon on his right. “You will rob people of dreams. Without dreams, the humans can’t work out their frustrations, and their tempers and anger will rise.” A smile curved his demonic mouth as he gestured to the werecreatures he’d chosen to serve him. “You will begin the pack wars. Kill the leader of the opposing packs so they blame one another, then they’ll destroy each other.”

The Soul Collectors bowed before him. “Master, we are prepared.”

Hypnos bowed his head in supplication. “And this plan begins when?”

“The night of the Hunters Moon. The dead will rise and haunt the humans. And hopefully, my son Dante will join me. Then the anarchy and the end of
 
humanity will begin.”

Marlena phoned Dante. She had to talk to him about Sam Larson. “Dante, it’s Marlena.”

“You sound upset. What’s wrong?”

 
Tears choked her throat. “I just heard that Sheriff Larson is dead.”

A tense moment passed. “I know. I talked to the ME and he’s going to perform an autopsy.”

 
“It’s my fault, isn’t it?” Marlena whispered. “My fault he’s dead because I upset him asking questions.”

 
“You don’t know that, Marlena.”

 
“Don’t I?” she asked angrily.

 
“No,” be said. “He was a sick man.”

 
She swiped at her eyes. “But you told me it was dangerous to ask questions, and my being there upset him.”

 
“Stop blaming yourself, Marlena,” Dante said. “This is bigger than you.”

“What do you mean?”

 
“I can’t talk about it right now.”

 
“Why? Did you find Gerald Daumer?”

 
“No. But the ME identified the second body.”

His gruff tone made her tense. “Who was it?”

 
“A woman named Brenda Mulligan. The ME said that she worked at BloodCore.”

 
Marlena sank into her desk chair with a groan. “Brenda? Are you sure?”

 
“Yes. Dr. Underwood verified her ID from her medical and dental records.”

 
Marlena leaned her head into her hands. Why was all this happening? First Jordie, now Brenda.

 
So sad. So unfair. So tragic. She was in the prime of her life, and to have it snuffed out so cruelly…

 
“Do you know if Miss Mulligan has any family?” Dante asked.

 
Marlena struggled to think through the grief and shock eating at her. “No, she was an only child. Her parents died in a car crash a few years ago.”

 
“I’m going to her apartment to check it out,” Dante said. “Maybe I’ll find a lead. Marlena, did Brenda have a boyfriend or lover?”

 
“No, she only moved here a few months ago. She was fresh out of college, attended UT-Chattanooga. She told me that her boyfriend left her at the altar, so she was reluctant to date again.”

 
“How about other close friends? Someone she might hang out with socially?”

 
“No one that I know of. She kept to herself. I think she liked to read, and once she mentioned that she kept a journal.”

 
“Okay, if you think of anything else, let me know. Wait at work, and I’ll come by and follow you home.”

 
“That’s not necessary, Dante. If something happens, I’ll call you. Just focus your energy on finding out who killed Brenda and Jordie.”

 
A heartbeat lapsed before he agreed. “Just be careful. And if you think someone is following you or. if, when you arrive home, anything looks suspicious, don’t go inside this time. Call me.”

 
“I will.” Marlena sighed wearily. It had been so long since anyone had worried about her that his concern touched her.

 
But she had to protect herself from him.

 
Still, his dark intensity drew her. And he had saved her life.

 
But she couldn’t allow herself to get too deeply involved with him. The pain of loving her family and losing them had been too much.

 
Her work was her life.

 
She snapped her phone closed, then walked down the hail toward Dr. Raysen’s and Dr. Sneed’s lab to break the news about Brenda’s death.

 
Edmund’s already pale skin turned chalky white. “My God, who would want to hurt Brenda? She was one of the sweetest girls in the world.”

 
“That is terrible.” Dr. Sneed’s face grew pinched. “When the sheriff finds this killer, I hope we can draw samples of his blood and test it. I’d like to examine his serotonin and dopamine levels.”

 
Marlena frowned at his impersonal reaction, although the genius doctor had only been working at BloodCore a month, and hadn’t known Brenda very well. Science was his life.

 
Edmund removed his glasses and wiped his face with his hand. “Does the sheriff have any clues?”

 
“He’s still looking for Gerald Daumer.”

 
Dr. Sneed pulled a hand down his chin. “Daumer’s blood did have abnormalities. Let’s look at it again and compare it to that of other serial killers on file.”

“Good idea.” Marlena pressed her fingers to her temple, trying to soothe away the tension. “Maybe tomorrow. I’m beat right now.”

Exhaustion and guilt weighed on her. She hadn’t slept well the night before, not with Dante downstairs, so she headed home. She wanted to mourn Brenda alone. And think about Sam Larson’s death and Dante’s comment that this situation was bigger than her.

Storm clouds thickened, thunder rumbling, the moon barely discernible in the black sky as she walked outside, jumped into her car, and drove from the parking lot. Rain began to sprinkle as she wound up the mountain, fog making visibility limited. She amped up the defroster and heater, glancing over her shoulder for headlights, but the road was deserted, the endless sea of trees groaning from the weight of the wind.

An eerie sensation flooded her nerve endings, and once again, she imagined she saw eyes watching her from the forest as she parked in her drive. The house appeared to be just as she’d left it. Doors and windows closed. A sole light burning in the kitchen.