Tempting the Enemy (7 page)

It was enough to begin.

“The first victim was found eight days ago under a bus stop bench, most of her remains stacked like a woodpile, which is why the media started calling this guy the Woodsman.”

Jade swallowed, stifling the urge to scrunch her nose in distaste. “Most?”

His disconcertingly steady stare met hers. Palen Rysen didn’t have her sense of queasiness about the not-so-departed, it seemed. One probably didn’t last long in a violent crimes unit if one couldn’t handle a simple rundown. Then again, she was pretty sure no one in his unit had been through many encounters with their murder victims.

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“All we’ve recovered at any of the sites are arms and legs. No heads, hands, feet or torsos have turned up yet.

It’s why we haven’t identified any of them.” He paused, offering her space to question, but she was still processing the grisly information. “All we know about the victims is that each of them was frozen for some amount of time and they each had a triangle of skin sliced off their right biceps prior to their deaths. Incidentally, that is always the limb on the top of the stack. The triangle is equilateral, two inches to each side.”

Right biceps?

Pale’s gaze sharpened. “Does that mean something to you?”

That you’re paying too close attention.
She shook her head. “Do you know the sexes?”

“Female, all of them. The second body was found behind a liquor store on Shaw, two days later. Same stack, same triangle cut. The third was found in front of a fountain in Graham’s Park by a groundsman coming on duty, just after sunrise this morning. All the victims have been found after two-day intervals.”

Sunrise. Was that significant? “These are all such public places.” That could make it harder to find the killer’s signature.

“Yeah, ballsy, isn’t he?” Rysen shook his shaggy head.

“You know the killer is a man?”

“It’s most likely, given the nature of the dismembering. According to the coroner, the cuts on the bodies are clean, single slices from a large single-sided blade. No hesitation marks, no sawing. Either the bodies Dee Tenorio

53

are cut by a machine, by a large man with an axe, or by a gold-medal female bodybuilder.”

“If there’s one thing you should understand better than the humans, it’s that females should never be ruled out by virtue of strength. Some of us have ways to equalize the equation.” She watched his handsome but stoic face for changes in expression. What would he look like if he truly smiled? Baring his teeth had been oddly arousing. A smile might just make her melt right off her chair. At least she sensed him relaxing. Murder apparently cleared even a Wolf’s mind of mating.

“Since the body parts were frozen, there was no excessive blood at the drop sites to mask a scent. I can follow one farther than most wolves, but even I can only track this guy a few feet. Then he just disappears.”

Which explained his surety of the sex, if nothing else. The thought perked her interest. “So you’ve isolated his scent.”

“Not exactly. Where this guy has been, there’s almost nothing. No sweat, no cologne, no soaps, not even from other people. You’ll think I’m crazy, but it’s almost as if the air was singed and it removes the scent of everyone who’d been there before him. There’s just a smoky smell that’s gone almost as soon as I pick it up.

But there’s never anything burned nearby. The only explanation I can come up with is that the guy is wearing ashes to cover his trail. I just can’t figure out how he vanishes.”

Neither could she. “Maybe he knows there’s a Wolf in the police department. He might do something to mask his scent on purpose.”

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He nodded, as if he’d thought of that before. “Which makes me wonder how much you’ll be able to help if all you can do is track.”

She had the sudden wish she’d dug her claws in a little harder. “I already told you. I can pick up trails you couldn’t grab on your best day.” Bright as life, too, not that she needed to brag. Tracking was merely a side effect of her gift.

“Explain.”

“Every scarlet has a specific gift, most with a few related offshoot skills. Things we’ve learned to train it to do. For the most part, they all access them the same way.

And don’t ask, I won’t tell you how they do it.”

His beard shifted as he responded with a grunt.

“I’m different. Just like the rest of me, my abilities are an amalgamation. I don’t have your kind of strength or sense of smell. I can’t change into a Wolf, not even in the full moon. Likewise, my gift is not what the Order anticipated. I’m unique.

“I see emotions as a type of light or aura. I call them emotional signatures. I can follow them for miles, days after a normal scent has gone cold. A person can erase their scent. They can’t erase their signatures.”

His faint swear word whispered in the small space between them. Finally, she’d managed to impress him.

Not that Rysen had a clue what this hunt might cost her.

“That’s the only ability I’ll need to find your killer.

So the sooner we get started, the sooner you’ll be able to arrest him.”

“Not so fast.”

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55

She couldn’t quite keep herself from rolling her eyes.

How many reasons could he possibly have to keep her shackled in an interrogation room?

“We need to work out a few rules first.”

Of course. Those reasons. “Rules about what?”

“It’s obvious you know jack shit about Wolves. If I bring you out with me, you’re going to have to do exactly what I tell you.
When
I tell you. Without question.”

She laughed, which didn’t seem to amuse him.

“You’re out of your mind.”

“I’m also the only one you’ll find who’s willing to keep you alive without raping you.”

Mirth died. From the look on his face, she could tell this was her only option. “I won’t surrender my autonomy.”

He stayed silent, waiting, for endless moments. She had a feeling he could outwait a glacier. This was definitely going down as her least favorite of his traits.

“When it comes to the case or to interaction with any other Wolves, fine. I’ll defer.”

Another grunt. It had to be assent, because he moved on to the next point. “No robe.”

“I don’t have anything else to protect me from the cold.”

“I’ll find you something. I don’t want to see that thing. Ever.”

If it would help him differentiate her from the scarlet who’d betrayed him, she could live without it. “Unless there’s an emergency.”

“
Ever.
The Woodsman could be watching. I don’t want him to know there’s a scarlet on the case. We don’t know how he’s choosing his victims, and a scarlet is a 56

Tempting the Enemy

definite threat. Keeping it off gives
you
the best chance for retaining all your limbs.”

He probably enjoyed driving that point home. “Have you
heard
of subtlety?”

“No. We stay together at all times. I don’t want you out of my reach.”

She almost snarled now. “I don’t like leashes any more than you do, Detective.”

“As long as you carry my scent, it’ll confuse the other males. It won’t fool them for long, but it’ll make them think twice.”

Wariness filled her. This man was no good for her temper. “How exactly am I supposed to acquire your scent?”

The smile she’d wondered about broke across his face. So much more than just an expression to establish dominance—seductive and dangerous on every level she could think of—it turned her insides to jelly.

“That’s not going to happen.” She hoped. Sort of.

He tilted his head, taking her measure the way one would size up a juicy steak. “I’m almost positive it will.

Your Heat will get worse. At the least, I can provide a certain…relief.”

Jade’s breath slipped unsteadily through her lips.

Unbidden, the memories of that relief made her belly clench. How much more
relieving
would it be if he did it on purpose?

But one thing she knew well, no one offered anything for free. “And what would I have to do for you in return?”

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“Nothing difficult.” His voice rumbled with a growl that didn’t help her returning awareness. “Just stay close.

Don’t test me and, if anyone asks…”

She watched his lips, the parts she could see anyway.

“Tell them what?”

Sleepy eyes, brilliant and ghostly blue, caught her gaze. “Tell them you belong to me.”

Chapter Five

“You want I should roll down the window or something?”

Jade turned her gaze from the fascinating sights outside the car to the too fascinating one driving.

“You look like a puppy aching to get her face in the wind.”

She was. Probably because she hadn’t been in a car since her parents were alive. Vehicles had changed a lot since then, and though the speed had been startling at first, she’d quickly remembered how much she enjoyed the rush of wind and the bouncing on bumpy roads. Silly memories, she knew, but she had so few of her parents. It had been nice, for just a second, to find another one.

She pulled in a breath, her cheeks heating under his sarcasm. He seemed to find amusement in everything she didn’t know or understand. It wasn’t her fault the Order had sheltered her to the point of caging her. Even if they hadn’t, none but the scarlets or the Rouges ever left the enclave. What did he expect? Still, she half wished she had her robe while she straightened her back against the seat. There was nothing to hide her embarrassment behind. She couldn’t even flex her hands to unknot them or he’d notice.

“You’ve never been in the city either?” Rysen kept his eyes on the road. He drove the way he seemed to do everything else—patiently, with bursts of aggression that had her hanging on to the handle built into the door, Dee Tenorio

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praying she was in safe hands. As soon as they’d left the interrogation room, he’d hustled her through the station without another word, leaving his chair spinning in his wake and his colleagues calling after him.

“No.” She looked out again, watching the different buildings and lights go by in a blur. Reds, greens, stone, brick, concrete. Christmas decorations lit random buildings, probably homes, while snow of various shades piled near them. Cars filled the lanes and lined the sidewalks, but she didn’t see a lot of people out. “It’s very different out here.”

“I bet.” He slanted her a glance that felt like a caress on her cheek. “Probably a lot less shit on the ground in there.”

She hoped he’d never get the itch to find out for himself. His casual coarseness would get him skewered two feet from the gates. “Farm animals get out from time to time. You’d be surprised what ends up on the ground, even in the enclave.”

A deep rumble filled her ears and the corners of her own lips rose in response. It was a nice feeling to make him laugh, especially not at her own expense. “How big is this city?” she asked. “Are we going far?”

“Not far. The first drop site is another half mile east.

The city makes a crescent shape around the southern end of the lake and spreads out through the valley. It’s a good-size chunk of land, but nothing like what it used to be.

Here on the west side, it’s pretty seedy. Where we’re headed, it’s better. You won’t have to worry so much.”

She’d read about Baldwin Lake, how it had grown because of the manmade dams. Between the mountains, the snow and the lake, Moonridge should have been a booming city of tourism, and it was. To a degree. “What 60

Tempting the Enemy

do you mean, what it used to be?” Her books hadn’t said anything about Moonridge losing any land or value, even with the crime that plagued it.

He hitched a shoulder. “This used to be Bear country.

The humans even called it Big Bear for a while. Until the Cataclysm and they figured out that all the Bears were shifters.”

She didn’t need to ask what had happened. “Are there any left?”

“A few, here and there. Not many though. None dumb enough to expose themselves. That’s a lesson you Sibile should have learned a long time ago.”

“What? Why?” The Sibile were needed. Powerful.

Feared. Why should they be concerned about exposure?

“Don’t you ever wonder what humans will do when they’re finished killing shifters? Where they’ll turn their attention next?”

No, she hadn’t once wondered about that. She doubted anyone else had, either. “Making us their enemies would be suicide.”

“The Sibile might be more powerful but there’s a hell of a lot to be said for having your enemy surrounded.

Humans outnumber you, and sooner or later they’re going to use that fact against you. Sooner, I’m betting, if they’re keeping track of the scarlets coming and going every time they call. For all you know, they’re getting tagged left, right and center.”

That might not have occurred to her, but it would have to the Tribunal. They would never have left themselves so exposed to danger otherwise. Even they weren’t so arrogant. “I’ll take that under advisement.”

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“Sure you will.” He pulled the car to a stop, parking along a well-lit street. She’d been so busy looking at him, she hadn’t noticed the sudden change in the area. Here, the decorations glittered brilliantly, flashing on nearly every building, all perfect structures, not a trace of sagging or age. Music even filtered through speakers hidden in trees draped with nets of tiny white lights. It looked like a postcard of holiday delight and wiped her mind of his dire predictions in a heartbeat. No one could think of evil while looking at this. Jade knew her eyes had to be nearly as big as her face, but it was beautiful. She’d never seen anything like it.

Rysen shook his head at her. “You need to get out more.”

Let him sigh. “You’re just confused by joy.”

His brow rose, but Jade decided not to give him the benefit of responding to the unspoken reply. She pulled the latch on the car door, allowing it to pull her outward as it swung. It took her a second to feel stable again as she climbed out. The air, icy and still, stung her cheeks. She eyed her pack sitting on the floor of her seat, longing for the robe rolled tight inside. The pouch of focusing stones tempted her as well, but neither could be used. She’d have to rely on her abilities alone.