Midnight's Master. Cynthia Eden

a few days, if they were lucky. “When the media gets wind of this—”

      “They’ll have the whole city scared shitless,” Colin finished.

      Todd rose to his feet. “Not necessarily a bad thing. Not with some asshole out there slicing up his kills.”

      What the hell had happened to his city? In the last few years, the crimes had just become more violent. The killers more sadistic.

      Maybe there were too many Other these days. Too many monsters with too much power.

      Humans had forgotten to fear the creatures in the darkness and that was a mistake.

      Because those monsters…they were in the mood to play and kill.

      “Get Emily in on this,” he ordered. Emily Drake, the psychologist with the power to touch the minds of Other. The only woman who could profile a paranormal killer.

      Oh, yeah, they sure as shit needed Emily on this one.

      “Get her in here, and find this bastard.”

      Before he killed again…and the story made the lead on the evening news.

      Holly wasn’t talking to him. She didn’t speak during the ride back to her house. Didn’t open her mouth when he walked her to the front door of her place.

      Women and the silent treatment—what a deadly weapon.

      Niol sighed and waited for her to unlock the door. The sun was up, getting ready to drift across the sky. He could see the shadows of the bruises on her flesh and anger hummed within him.

      The door swung open and Holly glanced back at him. “Niol…”

      Ah, finally. She spoke. He could tell by her expression that Holly was seconds away from telling him to get lost.

      He’d do just that, after he had his turn to speak. He crowded against her, pretty much forcing Holly to either step back or get real close and intimate with him.

      He wouldn’t have minded the close and intimate part, not at all, but Holly moved back.

      With a shove of his foot, he slammed the door. “We need to get some things settled between us.”

      Her eyes widened. “Us? I didn’t think there was an ‘us.’ I thought there was just you telling me to stay the hell out of demon business.”

      The rules had changed.

      He reached for her.

      She flinched back.

      Oh, hell, no. “I didn’t kill those two men,” he gritted. Those cops—they’d planted the fear in her mind. He’d have to remember to pay them back for that.

      “Why were you—why were you at the scene of Carl’s death?”

      Because Carl had called him and asked him for a meeting. If he’d arrived earlier, he might have been able to save the kid.

      Instead of finding all that blood.

      “I’ve killed, Holly. You know that.” And not just that psychotic incubus who’d attacked her in that alley. “I’ve never claimed to be one of the good guys.” He wasn’t like Gyth or Brooks, out keeping the peace and locking up the bad guys. Not his style of justice. “But I don’t kill innocents.”

      Her lips twisted into a ghost of a smile. No dimple, dammit. “Oh, Niol, I know you’re not good. I’ve known that from the beginning.”

      But she’d walked into his lair anyway. Smelling of fear and sin. Tempting him.

      “I don’t trust you,” she told him.

      Good. “I wasn’t on that street to hurt Carl,” Niol said. Time for some truth. “I was there to help him.”

      “How?”

      “Someone was after him. Carl wanted protection.” He could still hear the kid’s voice. H-he’s following me, Niol. Hunting me.

      “Wait! You knew Carl was in trouble? Did you tell Gyth? If someone was stalking him—”

      “Two demons are dead.” Flat, cold. “This isn’t police business, it’s my business.”

      “Because, what? You’re judge, jury, and executioner for the demons in this city? Come on, you—”

      “Yes, I am.” His voice cut across the tumble of her words.

      And seemed to stop her cold.

      “Niol…” Holly shook her head. “Don’t try to give me any warnings about stepping back from this case, okay? I get it—these are your pissing grounds, but they were my friends. They trusted me. I’m not going to drop this case until I find out who killed them.”

      He knew that. He also knew that it was too late for Holly to back off. “You’re the link, love.” A link he’d use.

      She swallowed, but didn’t reply, and he knew she already understood.

      Two dead sources.

      One hit-and-run.

      He would have needed to be blind not to have made the connection. “The killer’s got you in his sights, Holly.”

      She didn’t deny it.

      “The question is…why?” She wasn’t a demon, but maybe, just maybe, she’d learned something about the demon world that should have remained secret.

      “You’re telling me one of the Other is hunting me now?” Her breath came too fast. “Great. What? Do I have a vampire on my trail? A crazy-ass shifter? A—”

      “Human.”

      Silence.

      Then, “Run that by me again.”

      “Carl told me a human was dogging his steps.” If only he’d gotten the bastard’s name…but Carl had been sliced to pieces before he could give away that information. “This time, the killer is one of yours.”

      “Hell.”

      Hmm…who said monsters were just demons and shifters? Humans had monsters living and breathing in their bodies. Sometimes, the humans were worse than the Other.

      Much, much worse.

      Holly turned away from him and began to pace the length of her den. He could almost hear the wheels turning in her head. Turning, turning—

      She spun around and pinned him with a fierce look.

      And grinding to a halt.

      “I don’t want to be jerked around by you anymore.” The hum of anger vibrated beneath the words. “You should have told me this from the beginning.”

      Maybe, but he wasn’t big on trust, either. “I think the hit-and-run was a warning.” Niol figured there was no other way to look at it. If the killer had wanted Holly to die yesterday, well, she would have been found carved up with Sam.

      His hands fisted and a vase shattered to his left.

      “What? Jesus, Niol, what are you doing?” Holly ran back to his side and bent to pick up the shards of glass. “Nice. This was a gift from—”

      He grabbed her hands, heedless of the glass. Niol pulled her to her feet, kept her close. His nostrils flared as her scent teased him.

      If Holly had been the one in that morgue…

      “Niol?” Her gaze searched his.

      He swallowed back the rage. “You still want to team up on this thing?” Because she couldn’t hunt the killer on her own, not when she would be walking in both worlds.

      Human and Other.

      A grim nod. “You know I do. I don’t have your contacts.”

      But she had some. For a human, she’d done