Embrace the Night Read Free Page B

not a vision. Chloe.
    He became aware of reality by degrees, the smell of Selina’s perfume, the chill wind blowing in from the window. A storm was coming, despite the brilliant sky. His hand lifted as though to touch the woman in his mind. He snorted and shook the visions away, dragging himself back to the task at hand, shoving away the gut-grinding punch of lust before he embarrassed himself. He didn’t have time for a memory. He didn’t even know her last name. Hadn’t let himself look her up after she’d run out on their night together.
    â€œYou all right?” Selina’s hand clamped over his shoulder, stronger than anyone would guess by looking at her. He sensed she used magic to tighten her grip.
    He swiped a hand down his face. “Yeah. I can’t get a fix on our perps.”
    â€œAnything? Male or female?”
    â€œNothing solid. Here’s how it went down. Dawes answers the door, so someone had to knock. Maybe someone she knows, maybe not, but she opens the door for them. The perps force their way in, and things get ugly. They took their time with Raines—worked him over for hours, threatened his woman to get his cooperation. Raines eventually snaps, there’s a struggle, Raines loses and takes a header out the window for some barbeque time on the way down to the street. That left the woman—”
    â€œMedical examiner says it doesn’t look like sexual assault.” Selina dropped her hand from his shoulder.
    â€œNot that I saw either,” he agreed. His gut tightened before he finished telling his partner what he’d seen. “She was on her knees, begging, when she died.”
    â€œThey wanted something from Raines, but they already knew it wasn’t here.” Her conclusion was obvious even without Merek’s vision of Raines being questioned and tortured. The place was pristine. The only messes were the dead woman and a few pieces of furniture overturned in the struggle. There were none of the usual signs that the apartment had been tossed.
    â€œOr maybe they didn’t want a physical object. Maybe information.” That felt right somehow, fit with his vision. His gaze swept the room again. “Still, do we know if anything was taken?”
    â€œA patrolman is bringing the parents in for questioning. They might be able to identify anything obvious that’s missing.” Selina slid her hands into her pockets.
    He sighed and scrubbed the back of his neck. His nerves jangled from too much caffeine and too little sleep, but that was standard operating procedure for his line of work. “Vampires killed in a Conclave-owned building. I’m guessing a prominent vamp family. This is going to be fun.”
    â€œIs that a premonition?” A rare grin tugged at her mouth.
    â€œCall it a hunch.” He mimicked her pose, shoved his hands in his pockets, and watched the crime scene analysts doing their job. Yeah, this was going to be a bitch of a case. He didn’t even need the visions jockeying in the back of his mind to tell him that simple truth.
    â€œKingston, I don’t know how you deal with that.” She shook her head, her look half pitying and half respectful.
    â€œThe same way we all deal with our premonitions.” Or, at least witches / warlocks, elves, and Fae. Vampires and werewolves had other magical problems to contend with.
    â€œNot all of us have it as bad as you.”
    A smile curved his lips, but it held no amusement. His gift was often more of a curse, but he’d found a way to make it useful. “Aren’t I the lucky one?”
    â€œYeah. Lucky.” She snorted and led the way out of the apartment. “Let’s go talk to the parents.”
    Â 
    Two uniformed officers escorted Chloe into the police department downtown, and though it bustled with people and energy, it felt cold to her. Sterile and ugly.
    She tried not to tremble in reaction as the officers flanking her led