Kiss of the Vampire(57)

“With this latest victim I’m positive the killers aren’t human. There would have been evidence at the scene if the suspects are human.” Remembering the scene, he tightened his lips. “A vampire would have gotten a few strikes in, at the very least. There would have been human blood spilled there, and there wasn’t. In my expert opinion, prets are behind these deaths.”

Deoul nodded. “That’s the conclusion we had come to as well. With that said, there’s no reason for us to have a human liaison involved, is there?”

“You want to remove Nix from the case?” Tobias rocked forward and let his hands drop to his sides.

“Do you believe she can still provide value to the investigation?” Caladh asked. His tone suggested he would be amenable to the idea.

“Yes, I do.” As much as Tobias thought his being around Nix wasn’t good for her, he still had a job to do. She seemed to be better at keeping herself under control and he had to trust that she would tell him if she started having trouble.

“Well, then—” Caladh started, only to be interrupted by the vampire member of the Council of Three.

“What about the demon scent that’s been present at the sites?” Braithwaite asked.

Tobias hesitated. There was no way in hell Nix would have told them about that in her report. Not after she’d reamed him a new one over it. “Demon scent?” he asked, stalling for time. Where had they heard about it?

“Word has come to us that there has been a distinct scent of demon at each of the crime scenes.” Braithwaite pinned him with a penetrating stare. Or tried to. It might have worked better if Tobias wasn’t a vampire. “Are you saying the report isn’t true?”

“I wasn’t at the first scene, so I can’t comment on that. And as far as there being a distinct scent…” Here was a fine line. If the right question was asked he would answer truthfully. But Braithwaite hadn’t asked the right question. Tobias said, “There was not a distinct scent of demon, no.”

Unfortunately, Braithwaite was smarter than he looked. “But there was a scent of demon there.”

Tobias wasn’t going to lie. “Yes. But—”

“Then to keep Nix on the case would be irresponsible of us.” Deoul’s smile reminded Tobias of a Cheshire cat’s. “She’s part demon. It could be someone she knows.”

“All the more reason to remove her.” Braithwaite shared a glance with Deoul.

Brown-noser.

“So if we determined that it was a vampire doing these killings, would you also then remove me?” Tobias folded his arms over his chest and waited for their answer.

Of course they had none. Braithwaite sputtered and Deoul narrowed his eyes. Caladh offered, “Perhaps we should wait and see—”

“No!” Deoul stood and planted his hands on the table. “She made no mention of demon scent in her report. She’s obviously covering up the fact that some of her people may be involved.”

“Her people are also human. Besides, there’s no evidence yet that demons are involved.” Tobias scowled. “If she’d come in here and told you she smelled demons yet had no evidence, you would’ve ridden her up one side and down the other.”

Deoul slowly straightened, his face rigid. “Watch yourself, Tobias. You, too, can be replaced.”

Caladh sighed. “Now, gentlemen, let’s get ourselves under control, shall we? I call for a vote. Those in favor of keeping Nix on the case?” He raised his hand.

So did Tobias.

“Those in favor of removing Nix from the case?”

Deoul and Braithwaite raised their hands.

“Unfortunately, Tobias, your vote doesn’t count.” Caladh seemed genuinely dismayed over the turn of events.

“And you will not say anything to Nix about this,” Deoul cautioned Tobias. “We’ll tell her.”

“For the record, I disagree with this decision.” Tobias shoved his hands in his pockets and shot a glance at Caladh, who raised his brawny shoulders in a shrug.

“So noted.” Deoul sat back in his chair. “Now, something else.” He exchanged glances with the other members of the council. Caladh gave a slow nod, and Deoul said to Tobias, “We have our suspicions that there is an underground movement within the pret community, a group that means at the very least to stir up trouble of some sort.” He looked at Caladh and Braithwaite again. “I’m sorry to say we don’t know anything more specific than that. We’d like you to keep your ear to the ground and let us know if you hear anything.” He paused and then lifted his hand to make a shooing motion. “You may go.”