Cameron shot back in his chair. “What the hell?” His eyes almost doubled in size as he stared, almost helplessly, at the dead men.
“You hate them, don’t you?” Soft voice, no pressure. Colin just watched the demon, and waited.
“I don’t even know these guys!” Cameron shoved the photos away. “Is this why I’m here? You think I had something to do with those stiffs?”
“Humans,” Colin drawled out the word, deliberately not answering Cameron’s questions. “You hate all of them, don’t you?”
The demon blinked. “Don’t hate ’em,” he said slowly. “Just don’t really care about ’em at all—”
“So you don’t care that these men are dead?”
“I don’t know them!” His fist slammed onto the table.
Ah, so Cameron had a temper.
And an obvious dislike of humans.
But did he hate them enough to kill?
Colin shifted gears, fast, needing to keep his suspect off balance. “What about Cara Maloan? Just how do you feel about her?”
His lips parted. “Cara? What—”
“How do you feel about her?” Colin pressed.
“I’ve known her for years. She’s like—like a sister to me.” Real worry appeared on Cameron’s face. “Is she okay? Has something happened to Cara? Hell, I knew she shouldn’t be dating that cop friend of yours! I knew it would be trouble—”
“Why?” Still soft.
Cameron swallowed. “Because humans and demons don’t mix. Humans can’t know anything but fear when they’re with us. They aren’t strong enough for more.”
Colin thought of his Emily, and one word immediately sprang to mind. Bullshit.
“He’ll hurt her.” A fierce shake of his head. “I’ve seen it happen before. He’ll take everything she has to give, then he’ll destroy her.”
As Cara’s sister had been destroyed?
“Humans are weak, ” Cameron repeated. “They can’t be trusted.”
“So they just need to be killed?”
“No!” Cameron shot to his feet. “Damn it, stop putting words in my mouth! I never said—”
“Why did you think you were brought down here today?” Another rapid-fire question shift.
A blink from the demon. “I-I…don’t know. Thought that Brooks bastard was trying to start trouble for me—”
“Why?”
“Cause he’s always in Paradise, and the guy knows he’s not wanted there. Not by Niol, not by me—”
“But he is wanted by Cara.”
Cameron’s mouth snapped closed. The handsome face turned almost ugly for a moment. “He’s what she wants… now.”
“Ah, so you don’t think that…wanting will last?”
“Not for Cara.” Absolutely certain. Then his gaze sharpened. “Wait, you never said—is Cara okay? Is she? Or has that ass**le cop done something to—”
“She’s fine.”
His shoulders relaxed.
Colin’s gaze raked over the demon’s body. “I need you to lift up your shirt for me, Cameron.” It was the same request he’d made to the last two demons. Right after they’d finished their explanations and alibis.
He wasn’t going to wait for the alibi spin with this guy—he was ready to cut to the chase with old Cameron. No sense listening to false stories from this guy when a simple test would tell the truth about him.
Susan Dobbs had fought like a wildcat. Her knife had found its mark over and over on her killer. And, yeah, demons healed fast, but an incubus wasn’t a level-ten, and it would take time—a hell of a lot longer than twenty-four hours–for the wounds to heal.
If Cameron had killed Susan, the marks would still be on his flesh.
Flesh that was currently hidden by a dark shirt, a shirt buttoned all the way to the demon’s neck, and with long, thick sleeves that covered his arms and fastened at his wrists.
Cameron smirked. “Sorry, man, I don’t swing that way.”
Colin stared back at him until the little bastard lost his grin. Then he said, “Two ways to do this, demon. You can willingly take off your shirt—or I can take it off for you.”
The demon’s eyes darted to the mirror. “You can’t do that! That’s not legal!”
Yeah, the ADA had said pretty much the same thing, but…Colin let a smile shape his lips, one that showed the tips of his lengthening canines. “I don’t really care about legal now. I just wanna stop the killing.” Human laws weren’t going to apply to this…situation.
Cameron’s gaze darted to Colin’s teeth. “Ah, shit, shifter.”
His smile widened.
“Thought you might be a charmer, hadn’t pegged you for one of those animals.” His hands went to the bottom of the shirt, and he jerked the material up, fast.
Revealing a completely unmarred stomach and chest.
Just like the flesh of the other two demons.
Well, damn.
“Satisfied?” Cameron snapped, and Colin saw the faint tremble in his hands.
“No.” The wounds could have been to the killer’s arms. Defensive wounds that were deep, and bled like a stuck pig. “Show me your arms.”
A curse. Muttering. Todd yanked the shirt down, fumbled with the buttons at his wrists and finally managed to push up the sleeves.
Not even a scratch, on either arm.
“Now are you satisfied?”
Colin shook his head. Of the three demons, he sure as hell would have pegged this guy as the killer.
But it looked like there was another incubus out there in the city. Hiding in the dark, and killing at will.
And playing one deadly cat-and-mouse game with his partner’s lover.
“I’ll be satisfied,” Colin said clearly, “when you give me your alibis for the murders.” Then he sat down and pulled out his notebook and a pen.
“What? Shifter, damn it, I don’t even know when those humans died!” He tugged his sleeves into place.
“You will.” Colin tapped his pen against the table. “Now let’s start with the first victim, Simon Battle.”
McNeal looked like he was about to start screaming. His face had flushed beet red, and Emily could actually hear the sound of his teeth grinding together.
“Back to square one,” he gritted. “Damn, but I hope Brooks and his demon have better luck with Niol.”