Page 41 of Wake the Dream

“Go. Go!”

Illaria fumed as she clomped up the stairs. She drew the sides of Kieran’s coat closer around her. “You were going to let him talk to me like that.”

“No, I was going to break his nose myself. You never gave me the opportunity. Just hope he doesn’t decide to press charges for assaulting a police officer.”

“It would be worth it,” she admitted.

Kieran stuffed her in the car, slamming the door behind her and taking a moment to breathe in the pine and cool freshness of the forest pressing close. To breathe and to simply stand, allowing the full weight of exhaustion to fall on his shoulders.

What a fucking night.

He’d lost sight of Illaria within minutes of arriving at the underground club. Trusting her to take care of herself—as she’d positively assured him she could—he had circled the room to survey for suspicious activity. Which, with patrons such as a cyclops, a gorgon, werewolves, and other shapeshifters, meant he had to be on his game more than usual.

He remembered how his senses flared out in anticipation, giving him valuable information on a number of creatures surrounding him. Nothing useful. Most of the club patrons were there seeking to lose themselves, to escape from the reality of their lives and capture something they felt was lacking. In much the same way Shula had described Yelena.

He understood then why the Fae had come to the club with no name.

Kieran had flashed her picture to multiple people he thought might have seen her, although none remembered her from the night in question. Those who had been there did not recognize her face, and others had been elsewhere. Some ran the opposite direction because despite his appearance, something about him gave them the impression he could not be trusted.

The instant he saw drugs and money exchange hands, he alerted his team, brain switching from working a missing person case to narcotics in a flash.

It changed when he noticed Illaria missing.

He should have kept his attention on her. What had he been thinking?

With his nipples painfully tight in the chill of the night air, Kieran got in the car and strapped the seatbelt across his chest with care, then checked hers as well, determined not to let her out of his sight again. “What did you find out?”

Illaria turned to him with a small smile. “Is this our debriefing, detective?”

He hated the bruise-like dark circles beneath her eyes. The glow she maintained, her magic, had dimmed slightly. Hell, more than slightly. If he didn’t know any better, he’d say she was nothing more than human, the same as him.

Was he the cause?

“We can call this a friendly debrief if it makes you feel better. Two pals sharing information in an attempt to find a third. Sound better?”

She spoke as he drove, resting her head against the window. “The vampire found me standing at the bar. He approached me and grabbed me. Never gave me a name.” She raised her arm to show Kieran the small circles marring her bicep. Fingerprint marks, fading even as he watched. “I was ready to kick his ass until he asked me if I wanted towake up.”

“The same thing Yelena had spoken about.”

“Exactly. It piqued my interest and I had to follow him. He led me out of the room, performed some kind of hoodoo on the wall—he must have just fed because he tried to throw the full weight of his thrall on me—and suddenly I was strapped down to the chair.”

Kieran indulged in a punch to his steering wheel, the car horn honking accidentally. Illaria jerked at the sound. “I’m sorry. Reflex,” he said lightly. “Please, tell me more.”

“He said he needed to strap me down otherwise it wouldn’t work.” Though her voice trembled, she continued. “At least I think that’s what he said. I asked him about payment and he told me we’d discuss that afterward. Then he took the grape out of his pocket.”

“If I weren’t so fascinated by this whole thing, I would write him off as a sexual predator.”

“Yes, and I get the feeling he’s no stranger to that area either. But he mentioned knowing about my sister. I think he met her. I think he had her in that same chair, and if your people don’t find anything there, I am going to go back myself and unleash whatever holy hell I am capable of unleashing.”

“Are you sure he isn’t a follower of Bacchus? Those guys are crazy for their grapes, and I think there are quite a few in town.”

“No. I have a few maenads who work with me. They aren’t like this, and none of them care for vampires.”

Illaria shivered and drew the coat tighter around her. Kieran kicked the heat up a notch for her benefit, wondering why she didn’t do her little magic trick and draw the warm air around her in a cocoon the way she had before.

“This guy knew something. He knew right away Yelena was my sister. He said we smelled the same.”

Kieran’s gaze hardened on the road in front of him. Sure, they had a lead, but he felt no closer to finding this missing woman than he had when the case first slid across his desk. There was a piece of the puzzle still missing and despite how hard he tried, he couldn’t seem to locate it.

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