Kiss Of Twilight Read Free

kiss. He was more determined than ever not to take advantage of her, but the only way to do that was to stay away. That was easy enough for the Order's second in command to arrange. There was no end to the work that needed to be done, which was how he discovered the latest disaster waiting to blow up in their faces.
    He knelt next to the dead man and muttered every cuss word he knew under his breath. What was Councilor Baas Contee doing in their territory? And why hadn't he been informed? This had cluster fuck written all over it. Across the room Timothy, the region's chief scientist, waited with his arms crossed over his chest. Dupree looked up and motioned him over. Timothy knelt on the opposite side, his brilliant gaze studying the damage to the body.
    "Demon attack?" Dupree asked.
    "Looks like it. I'll know in the lab, but you see these jagged tears? The gouges?" He waited for Dupree to look and nod his head. "Those most likely came from demon claws."
    They were hard to miss. Dupree felt a moment of pity, but squashed it down. He had a job to do. He studied the scene carefully. Formerly the office of the Southern regional commander of the Order, it was spacious and bare of everything except the large metal desk and a couple chairs. Behind him, the wall safe was left open. Dupree had supervised the transfer of its contents weeks ago after the compound had been attacked.
    "Do you know who this poor SOB is?" Timothy asked.
    "He's a councilor."
    Tim's head jerked up. "You sure?"
    Dupree didn't have to be a strong telepath to read the other man's surprised curiosity. He pointed out the distinctive tribal dragon tattoo that stretched from Contee's left shoulder to his elbow. "I'm sure."
    Like Dupree and Timothy, the councilor was a hybrid, a member of the Order of Templar and sworn to protect humanity from their demon enemies. Dupree knew that Contee was extremely powerful. He should have been hard to kill. But the man had been caught unawares. He was in jeans and casual slip on loafers. His wedding band gleamed on his left hand. Dupree refused to try to identify the mess that used to be his torso and face. If it wasn't for the tattoo he would have been unidentifiable. Dupree noticed there were no wounds on his arms or hands. Contee hadn't had the chance to defend himself. The blood was fresh, his body still warm. Dupree's demon half fought for control, intoxicated by the scent.
    "His heart is still here," Timothy said quietly.
    Dupree knew exactly what Timothy was getting at. They knew this wasn't Ben's kill because the heart and brain were still intact. By consuming them the former commander, who was now their most hunted rogue, would have assumed Contee's power, a temptation too big for him to pass up. So the killer wasn't Ben, but more likely a full demon and not one of the half human hybrids.
    Grunting, Dupree rose to his feet, taking care to hide his weakness and fatigue. The last thing he needed was for word to get around he wasn't at his full strength yet. He wasn't complaining. Much. Hell, he should still be laid out from his last injury. That he was up and walking around so soon was a miracle. Timothy thought it was because the poison had been delivered on a blade instead of the tip of the donating demon's tail, but Dupree knew better. It was grit and necessity. The Order couldn't afford for him to be out of commission for any length of time.
    Refocusing on the present, he looked around a last time. No one had been here in weeks, So why was Contee in Ben's old office? It was only by chance that his body had been discovered. Nostalgia had driven Dupree here. Thank God he'd given into the urge to see it one last time. Dupree shuddered to think what would have happened if he hadn't dropped by for a quick inspection before turning it over to the real estate agent, who was unloading several of the Order's properties.
    "He's all yours, Timothy. Call me as soon as you have something. No one else."
    The scientist nodded,