Fire Within - By Ally Shields Page 0,86
groin. He went down on one knee, holding himself and moaning. No more fighting for him tonight. She didn’t feel bad; the girlie punch probably saved his life. By this time, Ryan had cuffs on two other human combatants, others were backing away, and Andreas and his people were thinning out the vampire ranks.
“All right, everyone,” Ryan bellowed. “Fun’s over. The next person who takes a swing is going to jail.”
The noise level had diminished enough that his voice carried this time. Heads turned. Ryan glowered at them, a drawn weapon held over his head, pointed up. Human participants froze. Andreas and his recruits closed in on the remaining vampires. Suddenly, it was over.
Three humans went to the hospital—broken bones and a concussion—but none died. The police had three werewolves in custody, who had joined the fight for the fun of it, maybe, and Andreas took five young vampires away to whatever they used for confinement. Ari didn’t ask for details. That was his deal. The rest of the crowd dispersed before they ended up on someone’s detention list.
The Sin& Skin mêlée was the last hurrah for the night. The police kept the barricades up until dawn, and Prince Daron’s lieutenants and recruits continued to patrol the streets. When Ari crossed paths with Andreas during one round of patrol, she asked him about the club. He said the fire inspectors were finished and crews were at work on the restoration. He planned to re-open by Tuesday. Ambitious schedule, but that was Andreas.
* * *
The city’s tension grew during the day on Saturday. The morning TV news carried in-depth coverage of the overnight disturbances, and radio talk shows fueled the dissent. The Clarion stuck to the facts without commentary. Luckily the vampires were asleep during the worst of this. At one point the mayor threatened to call in National Guard units, which appeared to dampen the humans’ enthusiasm. Olde Town bars agreed to stay closed for the evening, and regular patrols by both human and Otherworld authorities gradually brought and maintained order. The night and early morning hours on Sunday passed without incident, and at dawn the vampires were once again out of circulation.
On Sunday afternoon, Ari met with Andreas and Ryan at the club to assess the situation away from the reporters swarming the PD. She came early to tour the restoration, where repairs were on schedule. When Ryan was late, Ari and Andreas sat down to talk, choosing a table near the club stage, far away from the noise of the reconstruction. Seconds later, Ryan stomped across the floor, looking like a thundercloud.
“What’s wrong with you now?” Ari asked. She couldn’t remember a case that had made her human cop partner so out-of-sorts. Of course, they’d never had a demon serial killer before.
Ryan opened a shiny, black leather briefcase and pulled out a folder. Selecting three photos, he threw them on the table face up. Victim pictures. “I don’t know why they died. That’s what’s wrong.” His voice was clipped, angry. He remained standing, his stance almost belligerent, as if he expected someone to disagree with him. “I can’t get a handle on this case. At first, I thought I had a domestic problem and the suspect was in custody. Then, it looked like hate crimes targeted at vampire-human relationships. After that came the shooting attack on Andreas. OK, I could still make the theory fit.” He glanced at Ari. “If someone saw you with Andreas, they might think you were human. You look it.” He stared at the photos again. “But this demon thing destroys that theory, too. Wouldn’t he, she, or it know Ari isn’t human? So the pattern is broken. It’s like he’s screwing with us—turning humans and vampires against each other.”
“I agree with you,” was Andreas’s immediate response. “The creature is making mischief.”
“Making mischief! Three murders, a shooting, and an arson?” Ryan stared at Andreas in disbelief.
“That is how the demon would see it,” Andreas said. “Compared with normal demon behavior, this is mild. Wholesale slaughter would be more in character.”
“Maybe he’s just a modern demon,” Ryan muttered under his breath. “Civilized and all.”
Ari glanced at the photos on the table. Jules, Patricia. Vanessa’s face stared back at her, looking more accusatory than Ari remembered. She took a swallow of the lukewarm coffee that she’d neglected, and responded to Andreas. “Are you thinking the demon wandered into town by accident and is amusing himself?”
“Not by accident. No, but—”
Ryan didn’t wait for him to finish. “Amusing