Secret of the Wolf(24)

One of the police dispatchers said, "We've got a real situation at Hades' Hideaway over on Stetson."

"So call Grover," Dante murmured, holding the motherboard in one hand so he could look it over more closely. "I'm off duty."

"Uh-uh. Grover's off with some kind of bug. Breckinridge can come on early in the morning, but you're it for tonight."

Dante sighed and put down the motherboard. He twisted his wrist to check his watch. Seven P.M. "Damn it." He pinched the bridge of his nose. "All right. Hades' Hideaway, huh? That's one of Maldonado's clubs, isn't it?"

"Yep. It's owned by a vampire so it's not surprising something happened there, right? One of the 911 calls said a vamp got staked. Wonder if it's the big bad himself?"

Dante raised an eyebrow. "Was it fatal?"

"Dunno. The person didn't say."

Dante ended the call and went into his bedroom to retrieve his gun from the gun safe. He stared at the small safe in the deep drawer of his dresser and thought back to his conversation with Tori the night before. Even though he didn't want to put Lily in jeopardy, he really thought the device would be more secure with him. But if something happened … He hadn't helped her get back on her feet only to let her be killed by a rogue preternatural.

He shoved his feet into his work shoes and tied the laces, then slipped his belt through the loops of his pants, pausing to attach his holster. He shoved his Glock 22 home and grabbed an extra clip of silver bullets. After he attached his badge next to the gun, he headed toward the front door, scooping up his cell phone as he went through the dining room. Stopping at the doorway into the family room, he told his sister, "I got a call. Be back later."

She twisted around on the sofa to stare at him. "I thought you were off duty."

"Not anymore." He gave a shrug. "I'll see you later."

"Just when you were making progress on that mess in the dining room," she mumbled as he walked away.

"I heard that," he called over his shoulder. Her laugh echoed down the hallway.

Pulling into the parking lot of the club ten minutes later, he stayed in the truck surveying the scene for a few moments. It had rained earlier so the pavement was still wet. There were police cars with flashing lights, and a few other vehicles, including Tori's Mini Cooper. Her presence surprised him because she should have been done for the day, like he had been. He wondered why she got stuck on this call.

People were gathered in groups in front of the club, a few of them with dirty, tattered clothing, looking like they'd rolled around on the ground a bit. He noted two vampires, a handful of guys clutching blankets around themselves, and several humans. Piper was already there, taking notes as she talked to the group of humans. She had a typical cop stance, making sure her firearm was facing away from the men, and was dressed in her usual pant suit and flat-soled shoes. Her pink-trimmed Sig Sauer was secured in a belt holster that also had two additional clips.

A couple of women stood off to one side with a tall, slender man who had his back to Dante. The man turned and Dante realized it was one of the quadrant's fey liaisons. Dante figured the women must be fey of some sort, but hell if he could tell what. He always had a hard time discerning the difference between nymphs, elves, pixies, and the like.

He climbed out of his truck and headed toward the scene. "I see the gang's all here," he said as he reached the crowd.

Piper told the humans to stay put and walked over to Dante, combing her fingers through her dark blonde hair as she came. "It looks like it was the vamps who started things. These guys"-she gestured toward the group of human men-"were just too drunk to back off."

"Anyone hurt?" Dante cast a glance over the various groups, looking for wounds. He stopped when he saw the wooden stake sticking out of the shoulder of one of the vampires.

"Just him," Piper said. "Everyone else has some scrapes and bruises, but nothing serious."

"What the hell happened?" Dante started toward the group of humans, Piper at his side.

"They happened." She pointed toward the two women talking to the fey liaison. "Couple of pixies rattled some cages and got them fighting each other."

"Got who fighting who?"

Piper made a circular gesture to encompass the entire gathering. "All of them. Humans. Vamps. Werewolves."

Ah. That would explain the blankets. The werewolves had shifted in order to fight, and then tur c anes.ned back to their human forms, a process that left them naked.

He glanced at the women. They were very attractive, he admitted that. However, in his opinion, they were not worth going up against vamps and werewolves for. "I take it these bozos are drunk out of their skulls," he said with a nod toward the human men.

"They were. They've sobered up a bit now."

Dante took a moment to review Piper's notes and asked a few questions of his own. The men were tired and anxious, and he couldn't blame them. The vampires were sending glares that promised dire consequences for the night's activities.

The door to the club swung open, catching Dante's attention. Tori walked through the doorway, heading toward them. Now there … there was a woman he'd risk his life for. She waved toward the werewolves. "You can go," she said, her voice hard. "But you'd better not leave town."

Dante raised his eyebrows. Usually she sounded so melodious, sultry. But not now.

"What?" she said as she stopped in front of him. "They screwed up my evening." Her scowl was accompanied by a snarl.

He held up his hands. "I didn't say anything." He stared down into her gorgeous face, fighting the desire to pull her into his arms. He was the one who kept pushing her away, telling her he needed to focus on his career, yet he continually wanted to touch her, kiss her.

He wanted her. More than that, he liked her. A lot.

Dante cleared his throat. "What're you doin' here, anyway? Where's your other liaison?"

"There was a thing between two different clans of werewolves over on Camelback Mountain. He got dispatched to help out over there, so I got stuck with this bunch of yahoos." She shot the departing werewolves a glare. When she looked at Dante again, her gaze softened. "I still have pie left, by the way."

There was the sultry note he'd been listening for. His body tightened and the memory of the heated moment they shared flooded his mind. He could see by her eyes she was remembering, too. Scrubbing a hand over his jaw, he looked at Piper. "So what's the verdict? Do I really need to be here?" Please, God, tell me no so I can get out of here before I do something I'll regret.

She glanced from him to Tori and back again. "I don't think so," she finally said. "The pixies started it, the werewolves continued it, and the vamps finished it. The humans were just kinda caught up in it because they were drunken idiots."

When Tori snagged his gaze by running her tongue across her lips, Piper propped her hands on her hips. "Hey, what's going on with you two?"

"Nothin'," he said at the same time Tori muttered, "I don't know what you mean."

"Right," Piper drawled. "Listen, whatever this is"-she gestured between the two of them-"I don't care as long as it doesn't hinder any investigations we do. I mean, you're both consenting adults and whatever it is you consent to is really none of my business."

"We haven't consented to anything," Tori said with a frown.

"Okay. Whatever you say." Piper clearly didn't believe her. She looked at Dante. "You probably don't need to stay. I'll file dual reports at the council and at your precinct."

"Is that your conclusion, too? That the humans were only peripherally involved?" he asked Tori.

She shoved her fingers into the back pockets of her jeans. Dante tried not to notice how the motion thrust out her breasts. She nodded and said, "They admitted as much. The pixies flirted, got the vampires' blood lust up, then the werewolves horned in and the girls turned their attention to them. The vamps got mad."

think"1em">"And those guys?" he asked with a nod toward the humans.

"Just another bunch of yahoos," Piper said dryly with a glance at Tori. "Those numb nuts got in the way and then were too drunk or too macho, or maybe a little of both, to back down. A couple of them carry stakes with them, and that's how the vamp ended up with one in his shoulder. He was lucky it didn't end up somewhere else."

"Tori, do you think any of the werewolves are viable suspects for the attacks going on in the north?" Dante asked.

She pursed her lips. "I don't think so, but I'd already thought of that. I got their alibis for the nights in question, and I'll follow up on those as soon as I'm done here."

He noticed she was looking at the crowd gathered on the far side of the parking lot. "What's up?" he asked her.

"I see someone I want to talk to." She glanced at him. "Be right back."

As he watched her walk away, those full hips swaying with each step, he was aware of Piper staring at him with her arms folded over her breasts. He looked her way. "What?"

"Nothing." She watched Tori for a minute and then said, "Listen, I want to ask you something."

When she didn't go on right away, Dante said, "You wanna ask me now or later?" He really hoped she didn't want to talk to him about Tori.