Todd’s lips tightened and gaze dropped to her lips. She saw hunger flicker in those eyes, need. Anger. “You’re both.”
“And you’re a damn jerk.” Why did she always have to fall for the wrong man? And, shit—these questions, they weren’t just about her being a suspect, Cara realized with a sinking heart. Todd and Gyth thought the killer was a succubus.
And they knew she was a succubus.
Oh, hell.
“Is it true that succubi are territorial? That only one or two hunt in a city at a time?” Gyth just kept pressing with his questions.
Firing one after the other.
And then she realized what they were doing. Todd was the distraction. Gyth was the real threat. He was hitting her, trying to uncover any secrets she might have.
Fine. If they wanted some secrets, she’d tell them. Nothing too dangerous, of course. But…“Yeah, we’re a bunch of possessive bitches.” A faint shrug. “Usually one, maybe two in a city—”
“How many are in the city now?” Gyth fired.
She paused. Okay, this was gonna look bad, but she’d give them the truth. “As far as I know…I’m the only one.”
The two men shared a dark look.
Hell. Jeez, Cara, why not just ask your lover to lock you up and toss that key away next time?
“As far as you know…” Todd repeated carefully. “Does that mean another succubus could be in the city?”
“Possibly,” she admitted. “Maybe. ”
“You sense each other, don’t you?” Gyth’s question was hard.
“Just like you’d know another shifter.” She pushed back the hair that wanted to tumble over her eyes. “Look, it’s possible another succubus is in Atlanta—if she’s stayed far enough away from me, I wouldn’t have sensed her, so I can’t say with complete certainty—”
“What about the men?” Todd asked quietly.
Cara frowned. “There aren’t any other—”
“Incubi.”
Oh. A shrug. “Yeah, some of ’em are in Atlanta.” The incubi outnumbered the succubi nine to one, so they’d had to learn long ago how to share the prime cities. It had been a real bloodbath at first. Too many men. Too much aggressive hunting instinct bred into the blood.
She smiled at Todd, a deliberate, seductive smile, and let her scent out, full-force.
The shifter swore. “Man, be careful.”
Too late. Her fragrance was in the air, seducing, and she saw the telling twitch of Todd’s nostrils.
Cara put her hand on his chest. Just as she’d done last night, when no clothes separated her from his flesh. His heart thundered beneath her touch. Not just from anger. The desire was there—on his face and in his eyes. “Poor detective. Wanting something that you hate.”
His hand flew up. His fingers locked around her wrist in a hard, steely grip. “I don’t hate you, Cara.”
“But you fear me.” And suspected her of murder, apparently, again. Damn it. Could things not just work out well for her one time?
“No, baby, I don’t fear you.” He leaned in closer to her. “I’m pissed as hell— you should have told me the truth—all of the truth, damn it— about yourself.”
Ah, he meant the little succubus part of her demonhood. “I would have told you—you didn’t give me enough time before you ran out—”
“I didn’t run! Shit! I had a job waiting on me, f**king cases. I was coming back to you tonight—but then I found out a succubus is killing in the city and oh, guess what, my girlfriend just happens to be a succubus—”
His girlfriend? Okay, she pushed that part aside, for now. “Todd—what makes you think the killer’s a succubus? We don’t kill.”
Anymore. “We get along with humans, we don’t hurt—”
“Somebody sure as hell is,” Gyth murmured.
“Tell me it isn’t you,” Todd said, the words fierce, cutting her like a too-sharp knife.
Did he truly think she’d gone on some kind of sex spree and killed those three men?
His skin was warm against hers. The scent of his body reminded her—too much—of the pleasures they’d shared. But his eyes held secrets…and suspicions?
Fuck him.
“So was it a game?” The words burst from her as the anger raged past the pain. “ Coming to Paradise, dancing with me, going home with me—was it all some trick? You still think I’m a killer and—”
“I think you’re a sex demon—”
“Succubus.”
“And you just confirmed that your kind aren’t exactly tripping over each other in the city.”
“I. Didn’t. Kill. Them!” But if they knew a succubus was involved…“And you know what, Detective, it sounds to me like someone has been feeding you information about my kind. What’s the deal? You got your own demon expert somewhere around here?” Her gaze jumped to the mirrored wall. “Maybe right there?”
“Maybe.” The drawl came from Gyth.
Her gaze jerked back to Todd. He stared down at her, too handsome, too fierce.
Too human. Humans and their suspicions. Always so quick to judge.
Her temper snapped. “Arrest me or let me go.”
“I’m not letting you go.” Todd shook his head.
“Well, then you’d damn well better—”
His jaw worked a moment, as if he struggled to find words then, “I-I believe you, Cara.”
“What?” Gyth demanded. “Brooks, are you crazy—”
“She’s not a killer.” He cut across Gyth’s snarl with one of his own. “I f**king told you and McNeal that already—”
Her lips parted. What?
“She’s in here now because procedure demanded it, but Cara’s alibis checked out, she’s cooperated, and she’s not a damn killer!”
Okay, the man was making her head swim. “If you knew I was innocent, why did you put me through this shit?”
He jerked his thumb toward the mirror. “So the ass**le in there would know you were innocent, too.”
She blinked. “Ah…”
He faced the mirror. “Reactions, right, Captain? That’s what you wanted to see. Well, judge her. I say she’s innocent. If you think she’s a murderer, then come in now.”
Don’t come in. The words flew through Cara’s head.
Silence.