Here Be Monsters [2] Read Free Page A

 
    "Don't you think you're over reacting a little?" Captain Miller leaned forward and rested his elbows on his desk. He looked a bit run-down in Siobhan's opinion. She wondered when was the last time he'd had a good night's sleep. Catching the culprit responsible for killing elves had proven a huge feather in his cap—but convicting the former police Captain of the crime—well—
    Though a bit of a megalomanic, Geld had held things together and he'd been a damn find detective. Siobhan could vouch for that having worked with him several times. The only snag they might have is if Abyssinian changed his mind and decided not to testify against his brother.  
    After the arrest, Aby stated he wouldn't. He would not look upon his brother's face again. The young elf still carried the scar of an iron shackle on his wrist where his own brother had imprisoned him. Iron was poison to Underhill inhabitants. Siobhan could only imagine what sort of pain her partner had endured in Oberon's dungeon—recently uncovered in the basement of his estate.  
    It was Aby's own wicked charm that freed him, after he'd bribed one of his brother's mistresses to release him.  
    The very Elf that had gotten away.
    Siobhan knew how hard it was to resist that charm—though she'd tried on several occasions. Aby always knew how to get her to do things his way. And I'm the vampire with the glamouring gaze. If only it worked on him. Just once .  
    Eventually she had worn Aby down and he'd agreed to testify. But he wasn't happy about it. The court date was in two days. The escape of the last of Oberon's little murder gang was a low blow.  
    The elf in question, known only as Silira, had somehow tricked her way out of custody, though the Precinct had assured everyone the wards to hold her magic had been in place. The guard on duty had no memory of her ever being in the cell. Yet, video records showed she'd been brought in along with the last three of Oberon's team.  
    And now—nothing.  
    "Look, I know you're worried about your boyfriend—"
    "He's not my boyfriend," she interjected. Though—Siobhan wasn't really sure that statement was accurate. Two months ago she'd heard him tell her he loved her, just before he forced her to drink his blood. At the time, with him bleeding to death of what appeared to be a fatal wound, trapped with her in a room open to the rising sun, she'd believed his motive for feeding her elven poison was so that she wouldn't have to suffer being burned to death.  
    She'd expected to die.
    But when she'd drank from Aby—the opposite had happened. It had allowed her move in the sun to catch Oberon in the act of searching her mirror store on the Miracle Mile. And he'd made his confession, in a room full of hidden cameras.  
    What an arrogant idiot.  
    If there was one character flaw Oberon Geld wasn't lacking in, it was hubris.  
    "Whatever," Captain Miller said. "If you'd just tell me what it was that the former captain was trying to do by draining UnSeleighe elves of blood—"  
    She shook her head and held up a hand. "Look, I really don't know. And I don't know if we'll ever understand his motives. I chalked it up to a long-time rivalry between the two courts."  
    "About that," Miller leaned back. "That's something I've never understood. This two courts thing. How can you have two courts with Seleighe and UnSeleighe—and what's the difference? How can Captain Geld be Seleighe and his own brother is UnSeleighe?" He shrugged. "In all the bodies we found so far, how is it that he knew which were which? Is it a mark? Or eye color—though they all have those crazy eyes—or maybe even like hair color? I mean…Abyssinian's hair is a bit—"  
    She nodded. "Anime. Yeah, I know. But its natural for him. To answer your question—I don't know. I've never figured that out myself." And she had asked both brothers—Oberon had been her lover a long time ago—as crazy as that sounded. Being in love with a man whose blood could