Page 14 of Hellhounds and Homicides

"I think the last one should be meaningful, don't you?" The Mage said with a sinister grin.

“What are you thinking?”

“I’m thinking we should choose someone special and connected to the case rather than just easy targets. The incubus needs strength and intelligence to feed from." The Mage was going on and on.

“Are you referring to one of Hadden’s men?” The magic was sounding unsure and a little concerned. “Why rock the boat all we need is one more and an easy target is an easy target I say.”

“I’ll take care of things from here.” He said. “When everything is ready, I'll call to make sure everything is set up at the site. This one will bring him back full force and full strength, and then we will rule this town. Control will be ours." The magic nodded, ready to go along with whatever the Mage had devised. The incubus would provide the power they lacked and the skills they needed. Giving him a few humans to feed on was an easy price to pay.

Dumas patrolled through the lowlands following leads but found nothing noteworthy. The strays were everywhere now that he knew them and recognized them. Being a part of that pack and the Wazir opened Dumas' eyes to the lives of the small shifters. They may be overlooked in many ways, but they were not powerless. The little beasts were fierce and clever.

It was early evening, and he was finding it growing more and more difficult being away from his newly bonded mate. He stopped in a parking lot near the old leather bar that was once a focus in the nightlife of the area but was now abandoned and gave Rowen a call.

"You still at the station, sweetheart?"

“Yeah, just finishing my reports and all the related paperwork.”

“Any blowback on the Grainger situation?”

"All is well. He's admitted to everything, and the case is being closed as we speak."

“Good, very good.”

“How about you? How’s the patrol?”

“Uneventful so far but I have high hopes. The strays are amazing, and they are everywhere. Now that I know them I see them.” Dumas was impressed.

"You're one of us now, babe, so they don't hide from you." Rowen chuckled. "You're the amazing one. I love you, Dumas, and I can't wait to see you."

The declaration hit him by surprise and swamped him with feelings of want and desire. “I love you too Rowen and we’ll be together soon.” The craving to be close was real.

"I'll meet you in the lowlands when I finish here," Rowen suggested.

“No, I don’t want you around here it’s foul. Call me when you get off and I’ll meet you at your place it’s closer than mine.” It gave Dumas something to look forward to.

“I’ll call you.”

"Thanks, sweetheart. I'll see you very soon." With that, he closed the call, and not five minutes later, Josef called.

"The strays are doing their job and doing it well." He declared. "The leader of the group is a mage, just as Rowen had predicted, and their intention is to raise the demon incubus that we destroyed several years ago. He had been operating out of the old leather bar sucking souls and killing people."

“Why would they want to resurrect an incubus?” It sounded insane to Dumas those creatures were pure devils.

“They’re under the belief that they will control him and his abilities and use him to their own ends.” Josef scoffed. “If they manage to bring that guy back, they will be his first victims. There is no controlling a monster like that, and we do not need him back in Pittsburgh."

“Where are they.” Dumas was eager to end this.

"They were in the Two Track but have left and separated. The strays followed, one heading to the tenement and the other going in the direction of the derelict warehouses on River Street. There are more than just the two of them. We're pretty confident that there are four in all, and the leader is the Mage." Josef finished and then added. "Those strays were worth every penny we paid."

“You haven’t paid yet.” Dumas chuckled. “But someday the Wazir will call in his marker.”

“No doubt.” Josef closed the call and Dumas decided to head over to the warehouses and maybe get a lead.

Rowen was getting ready to leave and head over to his apartment when the Sergeant pulled him into his office. "We just got an anonymous tip on the location of one or more of the missing."

“Where?”

“The caller said they were buried on the grounds of the leather club down in the lowlands. It closed several years ago after it partially burned.” He gave him the information and instructed him to go and check it out.

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