The Lion's Den (9 page)

Darian caught the subtle hint and wondered if Xander was aware that a human knew about Warren and quite possibly Matthew’s nature.

“
Yeah, but I have to keep up appearances anyway,” Warren replied as he called the number back. It was the same conversation Marshall had, only he was instructed to get there ASAP.

“
My team is already on their way to the scene. I’ll be here still going over this one. Seems like the two patterns that’s tying all of these corpses together are their lack of clothing and loss of blood,” Marshall pointed out.

Both Darian and Warren nodded.

“
Okay, I’m going now, I’ll be back later.” Warren tapped Darian on his arm, gesturing for him to follow.

Once outside of the precinct, Darian looked at Warren. “He knows about you?”

“
You caught that, eh? Yeah, he does. I just found out earlier today that he knew.”

Darian arched one jet-black eyebrow. “Is Xander aware that this human knows your secret?”

Warren froze.

“
I’ll go on ahead and assume that your sudden silence means that he doesn’t know.” Darian shook his head with a sigh.

“
I’m going to tell him.”

“
When?”

“
Tonight.”

“
Now
.”

“
No, not now. I want to be face to face with my Alpha before I drop a bombshell like that,” Warren said, convinced it was the best thing to do.

“
Do you think this human is trustworthy?” Darian studied the young shifter closely.

Warren nodded. “I don’t have any reason to think otherwise. He said he’s known for some years now. I was none the wiser. Besides, he saw Matt in the throws of bloodlust and he hasn’t ratted us out yet.”

“
Matthew lost control?”

“
Yeah, the first corpse you saw brought it out of him. Supernatural crime has been down since we took out those three bitches and their clans. Matthew hasn’t really had to deal with a bunch of blood and guts, until now. Richard knows all about that.”

“
Ah, so Richard knows about this human knowing your secret, but your own Alpha does not. For your sake, I hope he doesn’t get the information second hand.” Darian gave Warren a wicked smile and took off into the air, heading towards the location of the second crime scene where the young boy was found.

“
Damn vampires,” Warren muttered. He understood where Darian was coming from, especially since the soon to be sixteen-hundred and fifty-three year old bloodsucker was one of the most fierce leaders he had ever met. Darian was right, he should have told Xander right away about Marshall knowing what he was. He wasn’t sure why he hadn’t. There were many reasons he’d thought of. Xander would want to kill the pathologist, or Xander would have Darian erase his memory … but he knew the truth. Xander would be disappointed that Warren had lost enough control to get discovered. He hadn’t been as careful as he thought he was and it was the main concern his Alpha had when he agreed to allow him to join the S.U.I.T..

Be careful, don’t get discovered or it’ll all be over for your career
. Xander’s words echoed inside his head as he drove to the third crime scene. Perhaps Darian was right. He should call Xander right away. Any delay would only increase his Alpha’s irritation, especially if he found out that Richard knew hours before he did. Even more so if he found out from Richard instead of him. Reaching into his pocket, he retrieved his cellular and dialed Xander’s.

“
Hello Warren?” Xander greeted.

“
Hey Xander. I’ve got a couple of updates for you, some good news, some bad, or it could all be bad depending on how you want to look at it.”

“
I’m listening?”

Warren took a deep breath, releasing it in a sudden rush. “Okay. I’m just going to come out and say it. Marshall Galen, our resident M.E., knows our secret, and by ‘our’ I mean, Matt andme.”

“
Go on,” Xander’s tone was reserved. Warren didn’t know if that was a good sign or not. He figured he’d gain a better understanding once he told him the rest.

“
Earlier today, Matt had an episode. The bloodlust got to him really bad and he lunged for the remains of last night’s corpse. Marshall was there, saw him, saw me contain and calm him.”

“
Earlier
today?” Xander’s tone was a little less reserved.

Oh boy, here it comes,
Warren thought, but he decided he’d take his medicine. “Yeah … um … I was going to tell you face-to-face. I was on my way out there to see you when Darian called me.”

“
Warren, I must say that I am disappointed by the fact that you’ve waited hours to tell me something so very important. What if he wanted to expose you, you would have needed my protection. Why did you wait so long to tell me?”

Xander didn’t raise his voice, but that didn’t mean the anger wasn’t palpable, even over the phone.

Warren winced. A scolding from his Alpha always affected him, making him feel as if he were a small child being chided by a parent. He wanted to say;
because I was scared you’d be mad at me
. But what came out was; “I don’t know.”

“
To quote my wife, ‘I wasn’t born yesterday’.” Xander knew that his young Pack member was fully aware of his reasons. He wanted the truth, he felt he deserved that much.

Warren sighed. “Because I was afraid that you’d be disappointed in me for failing to cloak my nature.”

Xander thought about chastising the young wolf even more, then decided against it. Admitting his faults was punishment enough. “Tell me about this human who knows?”

Surprised that his Alpha changed the subject, Warren answered him, hoping he would also agree with him that Marshall wasn’t a threat. “He’s known about me for years and he’s known about Matthew since his change. He’s trustworthy.”

“
That may be, Warren. I know that you have a lot of respect for this human. I’ve heard you speak of him favorably, allow me to give you advice in this matter. Do not trust him as you would trust your own.”

“
He hasn’t betrayed us, Xander.”

“
Not yet and he may never, but that’s no reason to let your guard down.” Xander couldn’t resist. “Once was more than enough.”

Warren winced again at Xander’s clever jibe at his failure to keep his guard up enough to fool the inquisitive M.E., he agreed. “I understand. I’m sorry.”

“
Very well. What are the other updates?”

Warren told Xander about the second corpse. “… And right now, I’m on my way to the scene of another. I’ll be able to tell you more about this later.”

“
Three bodies in less than twenty-four hours. One was a shifter. I’m wondering if this is the morbid idea of a vampire coven’s hi-jinks or something much more sinister?”

“
A flayed shifter points to sinister for me. I just want to catch these bloodsucking sons-of-bitches and roast their asses!”

“
Agreed. Keep me informed.”

The two men ended their conversation just as Warren pulled into the parking lot where the third victim lay. He killed the engine and climbed out. Walking towards the S.U.I.T.’s red and white tape, he was approached by a member from Marshall’s coroner’s team.

“
Did you get a chance to talk to Marshall?” Janet asked, her dark hair bounced with each step she took struggling to keep up with Warren’s long strides.

“
Yeah, the second victim is linked to the first.”

“
I’m glad I’m not you and Matt, I’d hate to be you two when Johnson and Weinstein get the news.”

Shit Matt! I forgot to call him!
Warren remembered he’d been so busy with his Pack Alpha, he hadn’t told Matthew about the third murder. He was reaching for his cell phone when he caught a familiar scent.

“
About time you made it. I’ve been here a full minute before you,” Matthew said, walking up to him.

“
Had something to take care of first, that’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it. So … ,” he looked at Janet. “… What do we have here?”

“
Some very sick shit. Female DB, about twelve years old, multiple puncture wounds on her wrists, breast, throat over the jugular and over the artery near her groin. That’s what we have for the preliminary report. Once we get her to Galen, we’ll know more. Cause of death looks to be massive loss of blood which lead to a cardiac arrest.” Janet swiped at her bang with the back of her gloved hand, freeing her vision.

“
Twelve years old. Jesus!” Matthew whispered.

They stood looking down at the little girl laying naked, cold and dead on the crude pavement. She appeared as though she’d been posed. One hand was positioned by her head, the other rested on her stomach. One leg was propped up, slightly bent, the other lay flat. Her breast, barely developed were marred by two sets of puncture wounds on each small mound. Her pale blue eyes, which were once bright and full of life lay opened, blank and staring off into nothingness.

“
I think I actually feel sick to my stomach right now,” Warren spoke his innermost thoughts vocally without meaning to.

“
I’m right there with you. I have a daughter around her age. We’ve got to catch these sick fucks and make them pay for stealing the lives of three people.” Janet hated this part of her job the most, viewing the discarded victims where they lay. She, however, loved discovering the clues that led the trail to their killers.

Warren and Matthew slipped on a pair of latex gloves.

“
Are you done with her?” Matthew asked.

Janet nodded. “I’ve gotten everything I can get at this point. CSI will be here soon to do the rest. When you’re all done, Roberts and Marks will remove the body.”

“
All right,” Warren said. “Take care.”

“
See you back at the precinct.” She walked away towards her SUV.

“
We don’t have any witnesses, no one who may have seen who put her here. That was my first question when I got here,” Matthew said, walking around the body, memorizing every detail.

The two detectives performed their investigation, speaking to the confused and horrified person who had the unfortunate luck of discovering the body beside his car. Both men eliminated him from being a suspect because he wasn’t a vampire, and his scent wasn’t on the body. Of course, that wasn’t the reasons they listed for eliminating him. After a few hours of investigating, they drove back to the precinct, expecting the body to have beaten them by at least an hour. They entered the morgue, wondering if Marshall would have anything new to tell them.

“
Hey Marshall, what can you tell us?” Warren asked.

Marshall lifted his head from the desk. “I know I’ve complained in the past about being overworked, but today, I really mean it. I don’t think I’ve been this busy since a horde of bodies were discovered in that building almost two years ago. Not to mention the two dead bodies that were found in that apartment,” he said, expressing his exhaustion.

“
Yeah, I remember that. A real fucking mess that was.” Warren was a part of that ‘real fucking mess’ when his Pack, Elise’s Pride and Darian’s coven had been attacked by three different supernatural factions using humans to do their dirty work in efforts to gain their territory. It started in Illinois and they had ended it in Florida.

“
Did you guys ever catch the killers in that case?” Marshall asked, one eyebrow raised.

“
You know we didn’t, but we will.” Warren wondered if Marshall suspected he had anything to do with it.

The expression on the coroner’s face proved that he did. It also said that he wasn’t going to press the issue. “That’s the past, this here is the very present, therefore, priority.” He rose from the stool he’d been sitting on and walked towards the newest corpse on his table. “I haven’t had much time to go over this one thoroughly, but I can tell you what I do know now, then finish my report later.”

“
Whatever you have will help,” Warren said as he and Matthew joined Marshall. The three men looked down at the body.

Marshall eyed Matthew’s expression. “Are you going to be able to handle this?”

Surprised, Matthew looked up. “Yeah, I’m going to be just fine.”

“
Why so surprised?” Marshall asked.

“
I’m still trying to get used to the fact that you knowing about us.”

“
Fir enough.”

“
You don’t have to worry about me right now,” Matthew began. “I was able to control myself at the other scene, I think I can handle this. Besides, I ate dinner on the way here.

Marshall nodded. “Good.” He gestured to the body. “Okay, gentlemen. This body has multiple bite wounds …” He went on to point out the areas Janet had listed before, plus a new one. “… And one more right here.” He pried apart the little girl’s legs, exposing her hairless pelvis.

“
No! Hell no! Please don’t fucking tell me these motherfuckers did that,” Warren placed his hand over his mouth, visibly horrified.

“
My God,” Matthew was aghast.

“
My sentiments exactly.” Marshall pointed over the adolescent’s labia where the two puncture wounds were, one on each side. “I don’t think I need to tell you what happened here.”

Warren shook his head, both hands now at his sides. “No, you don’t. Same coven?”