Then he turned on his heel and stalked from the room.
Emily turned her gaze back to her lover, her brows pulling down into a frown.
Maybe it was just the demon’s distaste for humans that had her stomach clenching. There had been such anger in him when he raged at Colin, and she’d been around Cameron before—actually, she’d known him for years—but she’d never felt that fury from him.
He’d always been seductive. A flirt. She’d known he was an incubus, of course, it would have been impossible for her not to know, but the rage in him—
It was new.
And that scared her.
Jesus, but when had he started to hate with such a consuming fury?
That much hatred, if it wasn’t faced and fought, soon, it could destroy a man…or a demon.
Chapter 16
Time to face the devil.
When night fell, as the shadows stretched over the city and seemed to swallow the light in their hungry grasp, Todd returned to Paradise and to face his own personal demon.
The guards were at the door this time. He tensed when he saw them, more than ready to deal with their shit.
He’d been briefed by the captain. Their top three suspects appeared to be in the clear. That meant, as McNeal had told him,
“We’re back to jackshit with this case.”
He needed a break, and Niol was going to give it to him.
“Don’t mess with me tonight,” he warned, voice cold. Cara wasn’t with him. He’d dropped her off at her place, despite his lady’s vehement and loud protests. But he didn’t want her involved in the danger, superhuman powers or not.
The woman was his, and the way Todd saw it, as a cop, and as a man, he was supposed to do his damnedest to protect her.
Tall and Scary opened the door for him. “Not stopping you this time,” he told Todd. “Boss wants to see you.”
Todd grunted and shouldered past him. It was still early enough that the place wasn’t packed. A few folks had wandered in, and Todd thought he caught the glimpse of fang as one guy turned away from him, but the club appeared mostly empty.
His gaze darted toward the bar.
“He’s not here tonight.” Niol’s voice, coming from right behind him.
Christ. Todd spun around. Met those dark eyes. “Where is he?”
“I was going to ask you the same question, Detective.” Niol cocked his head. “Did your partner decide to arrest my bartender?”
“No.” No sense lying—and where was Cameron, anyway? “He’s clear.” The guy had provided Colin with alibis for the murders.
The bastard said he’d been tending bar, and at least four people had already confirmed his story. Sure, the witnesses were humans, so they could have been hypnotized by the demon, but Colin had also told him that the bartender didn’t have so much as a scratch on his body—and there was no way the guy could have covered the knife wounds.
It looked like the ass**le bartender was off the hook.
“He’s clear? Hmm. Interesting.” But no interest showed in Niol’s shuttered expression. “Cameron didn’t check in for his shift.
Should have been here at least half an hour ago.”
The hair on Todd’s nape rose. “The captain told me he left the precinct just before six.” So where was he? His heart rate kicked up, but Todd drew in a deep breath in an attempt to keep his control.
Cara was okay. While she’d still refused the safe house, she’d finally agreed to accept guards. Grudgingly agreed and just to
“satisfy you,” as she’d said. A patrol car was stationed right in front of her house.
Nothing was going to happen to her.
Besides, Cameron had been cleared. He was an annoyance.
Not a killer.
But something was pushing his body into alert mode.
Was it Niol? Or someone, something else? “What did you find out?” He demanded, wanting to get his information and get the hell out of there. His skin was prickling, and he wanted to see Cara again.
God, but the woman was always in his mind. Awake. Asleep. Her smell was on his skin. Her taste in his mouth.
He swallowed.
Niol shook his head. “You’re addicted, you know.”
Not the answer he needed. “What?”
“It can happen. The lure of a succubus is strong. She won’t just take your heart. She’ll take your soul, and you’ll want her so much, you’ll stop caring about the pain when she takes and takes.”
But Cara didn’t just take from him. She gave—passion, trust, strength, power. “You don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.” And it wasn’t the demon’s business, anyway. “Forget about Cara. She’s not yours to worry about.”
Niol’s face hardened, his lips firming. “Cara is the only thing resembling a family that I have left in this world. Believe me, human, she most definitely is mine to worry about.”
Okay, now he was about to have to get real physical, real fast with the jerk. And to think, he’d promised himself he’d try to be the good cop tonight.
“I don’t know why she chose you,” Niol said, and his brow furrowed. “She could have anyone.”
Yeah, like he didn’t know that fact. But his goddess had chosen him, and he’d thank his lucky stars every day for the rest of his life.
A life he wanted to spend with her.
The realization was as shocking as it was sudden.
“I’ve got word of a few strays in the area.” Niol shrugged. “Nothing too dangerous from the accounts, but—”
Strays? Niol had used that word earlier and—Jesus, what were the demons, some kind of unwanted cats?
“My men will be bringing them soon.” Said with supreme confidence. “Then you can play your cop games with them, or you can just stand back, and I’ll get all the information you need.”
“I’ll question them.”
“If that’s what you want.” One shoulder lifted. “We’ll play it your way.”
Todd’s gaze returned to the empty bar. Cameron’s disappearance bothered him. So he had alibis and he didn’t have wounds, that should have put him in the clear but—
But Todd didn’t like the guy and he’d always felt that cold shiver of awareness when he was near the demon.
“How long have you known Cameron?” Todd asked as he paced toward the bar.
“Almost as long as I’ve known Cara.”
And that told him jackshit. “How long?”
“Why?”