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By the time she finished her third lap, I was already feeling better. Like a heavy garment had been lifted from my body. Rhea stood back and squinted at me. “Well?” I asked.
She nodded. “I think we’re good now. The darkness has dissipated a bit and there are specks of gold around the edges. But you might want to try to avoid any negativity over the next few hours. ”
Since I was headed back to my apartment to work on a murder investigation, I was pretty sure she was asking for the impossible.
When I got back to my apartment, I was hoping to find it empty. After the meeting with Orpheus and my bizarro training session with Rhea, I craved quiet and privacy. What I found instead was even better—Adam.
I stopped inside the door, my eyes scanning the room for Alexis.
“Relax,” he said. “She’s still at Vein. ”
I let the tension drain from my shoulders and continued into the apartment.
“How’d training go?”
I groaned. “Let’s just say my first attempt at interspatial travel was a massive fail. ” At his confused look, I briefly explained what had happened. I toned down the fear part so he wouldn’t worry, and also because I didn’t want to think about it anymore.
When I’d finished, Adam’s eyes were wide. “Good gods, Red. Does Rhea have any idea where the hell you ended up?”
I shook my head. “No idea. She’s going to do some research and get back to me. In the meantime, you’re in charge of flashing us around town. ”
“No problem. I kind of like the way you press against me when we’re zapping around. ” He smiled and pulled me in for a hug. “What did Rhea need to talk to you about?”
I hesitated. The subject of Maisie was even trickier for Adam than it was for me. He and Maisie had been best friends their whole lives. But even the strongest of friendships had a hard time weathering the aftermath of attempted murder. Even if Maisie’s bloodlust wasn’t her fault, I could see the distrust in Adam’s eyes every time he was near her. Like he expected her to attack again at any moment.
“She and Orpheus want me to talk to Maisie about trying a rite Rhea thinks will help her dream again. ” His arms had been around me when I started talking. The minute the words left my mouth, every muscle in his torso tensed. Time to change the subject. “Anyway, how’d you manage to get away without your new shadow?” I said, referring to Alexis.
He shrugged, his posture relaxing a fraction. “I put her in charge of interviewing the nymphs. Figured you and I could use some unchaperoned time to wrap our heads around what’s going on. ”
I smiled and threw myself at him. “Gods bless you. ”
He kissed me hard on the lips but pulled away too quickly. “As much as I’d love to explore the depth of your gratitude, we probably need to talk. ”
“What’s there to talk about? Orpheus commands and we follow, right?”
“Don’t be like that. I know you’re unhappy about this but I think it’s important. ”
“I don’t disagree. ”
“But?”
I crossed my arms. “Why do you think there’s a but?”
“Because I know you. ”
“Look, I’ll admit I was pretty pissed with Orpheus’s approach but I get why he asked us. ” I ran a hand through my hair. “It’s just… I don’t know. Everything has been going pretty well. Almost too well. I can’t help feeling like this whole thing is the other shoe falling. Like maybe we were naive to think we could finally let our guards down and be happy. ”
Adam reached for me and pulled me against his chest. “Red, no matter what happens, we’ll deal with it. Together. ” He lifted my chin with his finger. “Just like we always do. Besides, solving this murder is the best way to ensure that bigger drama doesn’t come along, right?”
“I guess you’re right. ”
He kissed me softly and smiled against my lips. “Of course I’m right. ”
I sighed and surrendered myself to the inevitable. “So what’d Slade say?”
Adam’s face tightened. “Besides the tidal wave of obscenities?”
“I was afraid of that. ” I grimaced.
“Who can blame him? I mean the Black Light District has been his domain for decades. By rights, this should be his investigation. Plus, he’s understandably pissed that someone dared commit this crime under his own roof. ”
“I just hope he doesn’t plan on using his anger to stonewall us. ”
“Quite the opposite, actually. ” Adam rose. “He’s not happy with the Despina or Orpheus, but he seemed pretty cool about you and me taking over. ” He paused. “Especially you. ”
I looked up quickly. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Adam shrugged and made his way to the bar separating the kitchen from the living room. “Oh, nothing. He just had lots of nice things to say about your… abilities. Actually, if I didn’t know any better, I’d think that vampire has a crush on you. ”
I froze. Shit. If there was any time to tell Adam about my past with Slade, now was definitely not it. The murder investigation didn’t need the added complication of the two leads having a lover’s spat. Plus, and I’m just being honest here, the very idea of coming clean to Adam scared the ever-loving crap out of me. So instead of sitting the mage down and having a nice long heart-to-heart, I forced a breathy laugh. “Don’t be ridiculous. Slade probably wants to butter us up so we’ll keep him in the loop. ”
Adam turned slowly, looking unconvinced. “I don’t know, Red. I’ve seen the way he looks at you. ”
I rose quickly and went to him. My heart thumped against my ribs, but I forced a smile. “Adam, I told you. Slade and I were ancient history. Hell, half the time we argue more than anything. ” My laugh sounded forced to my own ears. Shit, was I talking too fast? Was that suspicion in Adam’s eyes? Oh, gods. I reached for Adam’s arms and pulled him toward me. “You have nothing to worry about from Slade. Even if he was interested, I’m not. As for his praise, well, we have worked together before and he asked me to help him before Orpheus took him off the job. He knows I’ll find who did this for him. ”
Adam pulled away. Instead of the accusatory frown I’d been expecting, the corner of his mouth tilted up in his trademark Lazarus smile. “You mean ‘we,’ right?” My mouth fell open. I can’t believe I’d forgotten to give Adam his due. I had tons of experience killing people, but Adam had more experience with investigations. Luckily, he laughed then and pulled me in for a quick hug. “This isn’t all on your shoulders, Red. We’ll find this bastard together. ”
I closed my eyes and tried to ignore the pain where my conscience bore a hole through my chest. “Old habits die hard, I guess. ” We stood there like that for a few minutes. Finally, I relaxed enough to let out a relieved breath. I knew that soon I’d have to come clean to Adam. I just hoped it would happen later rather than sooner.
Adam pulled away first. “Speaking of Slade helping us…” He turned and lifted something from the bar. The item was a large zip-top baggie I hadn’t seen before. “He gave us our first clue. ”
My eyebrows shot to my hairline. From what I could see, the thing in the baggie was nothing more than a black clump. “What is it?”
“See for yourself. ” He offered the bag to me.
When I took it, I realized the black thing was actually a glove. Leather, or a decent imitation. I turned it over to inspect the palm. Thin silver spikes covered the surface. “What are these for?”
“You’ve never seen a glove like that before?”
I shook my head. “No, why?”
He shrugged. “According to Slade, it’s called a vampire glove. I figured you might have run across one once or twice in your former life. ”
I frowned down at it and gently fingered the spikes. “Can’t say that I have. What’s the deal?”
“Slade said they’re commonly used in the S&M community,” Adam explained. “The spikes
mortals use usually aren’t sharp enough to draw blood unless some intense pressure is applied. They’re mostly for skin stimulation, I guess. But apparently, in the vamp S&M scene, they modify them to cause instantaneous bleeding for their blood-sport games. ”
“I had no idea. ” Not that I was a prude or anything, but I never considered such a thing existed. Sexual blood play wasn’t something I’d really explored much. Too many control issues, I guess. In fact, Adam was the only sexual partner I’d ever fed from, and even that was just the once. “Well, this certainly supports my theory that the murderer was a vampire. ”
“Or someone who wanted us to think it was a vampire. ”
I looked up quickly. “You think this is a frame job?”
Adam shrugged. “Honestly, I don’t know what I think. I just don’t want to rule out any possibilities until we have more evidence. ”
“Obviously we need to track down the owner of this glove. ”
Adam shot me his trademark grin. “Already ahead of you. Slade graciously offered me a list of the top vampire sex shops in Manhattan. I figure we’ll start there and see if we get any leads. ”
Rhea’s warning to avoid anything stressful flashed through my head. Probably she wouldn’t include visiting fetish shops as relaxing activity. But now that we had a lead, I could feel my old fire igniting in my belly. The one that loved a challenge. It’d been too long since I’d had one I’d almost forgotten the adrenaline rush. “Sounds like a plan. ”
Just then, the door to the apartment opened. Giguhl strolled in. He had a pair of roller skates hanging over his shoulder. “What up, playas?”
“Where have you been?” I asked.
“The girls and I were having some skating practice in the courtyard. ”
“How’d it go?” I asked.