witnesses by scent. Vampires glamour mortals’ memories. Guardians hunt and destroy the offenders. Witches assist with their magic, including what you’ll see Haven do tonight, to mind reading and magically hiding murder scenes.” Clearly, the confusion had deepened on her face, since he added, “If a mortal walked by the scene now they wouldn’t see us.”
She stared at him, doubtful. “Seriously?”
His lips twitched. “Seriously.”
She looked around at the quiet street, not believing what he had told her. Of course, after a minute she realized it wasn’t any less believable than the other craziness she’d already heard. “Got quite the set up.”
“A system that works,” he said, drawing her focus to him, then he added, “Once we’re notified of a killing by a supernatural cop, a guardian, along with Haven, will arrive and take over the assignment.” He gestured toward Graycyn. “She’ll handle anyone back at the station, including the 911 dispatcher and all involved who weren’t at the scene. It’s the vampires’ responsibility to erase all memories of those on location, and the werewolves will track any witnesses, if need be.”
While all of that seemed so unbelievable, even if incredibly organized, Nexi stuck on the one explanation that topped the list of implausible. “But how can a werewolf track every witness?”
“As the lead detective, I typically know of any witnesses,” Graycyn answered with indifference. “Take tonight, one woman in that apartment building—” She jerked her chin to the right. “—called in the murder after she heard the man’s scream.” Her smile turned wicked, fangs gleaming against the light. “And after a visit with some friendly vampires, she thinks she watched a television show and went to bed.”
Kyden added, “Besides, scents at a scene remain, and the wolves can easily track any witnesses who have left the location.”
Nexi considered what she’d heard, and couldn’t push aside the obvious. “Ah, I get it. That’s how you track the killers, then. The werewolves pick up all the scents and follow them? You narrow down each scent until you find the one responsible, right?”
“Nope,” Haven said. “I help with that.”
Nexi put two and two together. “Let me guess: the weird thing Zia spoke of?” At Haven’s nod, Nexi didn’t press her further. Zia had warned her against it. “So…what happens next?”
Kyden said, “Once the guardians are done with the investigation at the scene and before we go and hunt the killer, we use our swords on the body. The magic contained in the blade will alter the wound to human-inflicted.”
Nexi didn’t like the sounds of this one bit. “Like a gunshot?”
“That or a stab wound,” he said. “Then Graycyn will place an anonymous phone call tipping the cops off, and the humans will come and do their own investigation.”
She hated where her thoughts took her. “But that means the murder won’t ever be solved. The human families won’t know what really happened.”
Kyden gave her a long look. “Does it change the gravity of it? The mortal is gone either way, and our existence is a secret for the humans’ own protection. The less they know about us, the better.”
As much as that bothered her—no wonder there were so many unsolved murders and cold cases—she understood, too. If the Council had to deal with some mob looking to rid the world of supernaturals, forcing them to protect themselves, this would no doubt get worse. Nevertheless, when she looked to the dead man, her heart clenched at the thought of this man’s family never knowing the truth. “It’s sad.”
“It is,” Kyden murmured.
Glancing to the guardian next to her, she did a double take at the pain in Kyden’s eyes. Wasn’t this an odd development? Did the tough guy have a soft side? Sure, for the most part, as annoyingly pushy as male supernaturals could be, they all seemed genuinely kind. She’d just seen more of the annoying pushy part from Kyden since meeting him.
Graycyn sighed, exasperated. “If we’re done with the sad song, I have a lead for you that came from one of the trackers, Alazar.” She picked at her fingernails. “He tracked the only vampire scent here and it led him to the vamp club downtown, Crimson Rose.” To Kyden, her voice took on a seductive edge. “Need an extra set of hands?”
He shook his head. “Nah, we’ve got it.”
Nexi studied him, noting he seemed oblivious to Graycyn’s ogle of him, or he simply didn’t care. She figured with that body packed full of muscles and hot-as-hell face, he had to be used to