his exotic cologne floated around her face. A momentary distraction, until she remembered the fangs. Much too close to her throat.
“Is there some reason for this?” she asked, sounding more breathless than she liked. Her palm, now sweaty, closed on the hilt of the dagger.
“You are frightened. I can smell your fear.” Andreas sounded surprised. He sighed, eased back, and studied her face, as if seeking the answer to some unasked question. “You do not need the dagger. I shall bid you good night and go before my poor manners betray me again. Perhaps, but no… Until our next meeting, little witch.” He gave that brief, courtly bow again. “Another time,” he said with a slow smile.
And then he was gone. As swift and untraceable as the wind.
Hot air exploded from Ari’s throat. She hadn’t realized she was holding her breath. Not afraid? Who was she kidding. Andreas De Luca was dangerous, in more ways than one. The leashed power around him was almost a tangible thing. Wild energy still pulsed in the space where he stood moments before. She moved away, unwilling to remain so close to the remnants of a primitive power she didn’t comprehend.
Thinking back, Ari could have kicked herself for all the things she should have said and didn’t. She’d been outmaneuvered. The quick mood changes, charm to menace and back again, had kept her off balance. Why had he affected her so much? She’d dealt with vampires before. What was different? The magic, or something indefinable?
Ari had to admit, he was definitely a hottie. Not a thought she wanted to dwell on. He was a vampire. Nothing hot about that.
Shoving him from her thoughts, Ari took a quick survey of the clearing. He’d been right about one thing. She might have overdone the witch fire. The woods had taken significant damage. Broken limbs, scorched trunks. The smell of singed wood and fur still clung to the night air. She grimaced, wondering what the park custodian would make of it in the unforgiving light of day.
Ari’s frown deepened as she thought about the wolf, the vampire. A fleeting image of the future crossed her mind, drawing a shiver. She would see them both again. And that might not be a good thing.
Chapter Three
Emergency lights marred the night sky. Red, blue, yellow. Four days of quiet had passed since the wolf incident, but ten minutes ago Riverdale dispatch had notified Ari of a suspicious fatality in residential Olde Town, just five blocks from her apartment. The area was high on the bluffs, above the vampire entertainment clubs and the tourist district, and canopied by tall trees.
Human law enforcement officers and emergency vehicles already blocked the roadway. Two cops in blue uniforms guarded the front steps of the three-story, yellow-brick apartment building, built in the 1920s. Her ID got her an immediate pass.
She bypassed the elevator and climbed the stairs. She might have done so out of habit, a natural avoidance of enclosed spaces with no escape route, but she was also into predator thinking. They would choose a less public route to their prey. She was looking for signs of dark magic or any other Otherworld energy that would explain why she’d been called. Ari sniffed the air. The enclosed stairway was dim, not particularly clean, and reeked of stale cigarettes. She kept her hands clear of the grubby railing. Discarded gum and candy wrappers, an empty beer bottle, and smashed cigarette butts littered the steps. Normal clutter. By the time she passed the second floor exit, her witch senses triggered, sending a light pulse up and down her arms. Still no visible clues of what was ahead.
Ari pushed through the stairwell door and stopped, adjusting to the cloud of gloom that hung over the hallway. A violent death then.
Lieutenant Ryan Foster looked up from his notepad. Blond hair, big blue eyes, hunky build, would-be lover. So far, she wouldn’t. Unlike the patrol officers on the first floor, he wore jeans and a sweatshirt. Off-duty attire.
“Hey, Ryan,” she said, regaining her composure.
Instead of his usual grin, he frowned and pointed to the floor. “Watch your step. That’s my evidence.”
Ryan was Ari’s liaison to the human police force. They’d worked a couple of burglaries since June, and she’d met him several times while apprenticed to Yana, the former Guardian. They’d had drinks after a crime scene or two, and he’d made his interest in her obvious. His curt greeting today was out of character.