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I pulled into the parking lot, taking one-and-a-half spaces, then strode into the station Vasquez’s door was closed I paused in front of it Barging into his office not once, but twice in one day? I steeledopen the door and stepped inside Vasquez sat across from a man who looked fa," Vasquez said, but his voice lacked anger
"No one has seen Elaine or her friend since last night
I’ to pull contact information for Wendy--the friend she ith But we need to file aperson’s report on Elaine now, Vasquez"
The lieutenant’s eye twitched at my lack of proper address, but he didn’t callsister helped estured to the ent Valerio Costa He’s from the OWEA I’ve already briefed hiency was a federal investigative force siated crimes that involved otherworlder victient be interested in Elaine?
I nodded at Costa Even sitting, he looked tall and deceptively slender because of his height I could ray button-up shirt He wasn’t built like a ularly His nose was hawk-like and a touch imperfect, like he’d broken it a few times Black hair topped his head and waved around his face, softening his otherwise sharp features, and I had the sudden desire to brush a lock of hair away froertips Dark brown eyes ry, but hard and closed-off
Costa reached out and I ers firainst mine
I frowned and examined him more closely
"Vampire?" The question was rude, but propriety was the least ofwith He didn’t have the slight paleness that vampires were known for, but then he may have fed recently No fear ele altogether, since sorione so quickly I wasn’t even certain I saw it "Salamander"
"Ah" Salamanders were essentially a type of elemental They could control fire and were resistant to its effects I didn’t know any personally, but they weren’t the rarest of otherworlders, and ent Costa is investigating the disappearance of succubi around the country"
My heart skipped, and I dropped Costa’s hand as if the cold had suddenly been replaced with fire
"Tell me" My voice was firm and void of the emotion that boiled just below the surface
"Nearly twenty succubi have disappeared from various locations around the country over the last two years Most young, under thirty" Costa’s voice was deep and smooth, with a hint of an Italian accent
"None…recovered?" I asked, fearing his response
"They are still considered ed out the chair next to Costa’s and sat down heavily "Why do you think they’re still alive?"
"We’ve picked up ruhest bidders" He paused and took a deep breath, eyes onive me I met his stare with a hard expression that seelanced at the lieutenant and waited for his slight nod before continuing "It see theripped the arhts God
With everything Elaine had already been through, it just wasn’t fair Couldn’t be real "That doesn’t make any sense
Succubi can kill with their powers It can be suppressed with drugs orthan noret succubi?"
"We’re not sure The bit of inforlean is unreliable, and it varies depending on e talk to The one consistent rumor is that they’re still alive And that’s what you should focus on"
I opened my mouth to tell him not to tell th was in my ability to deal with people, even bossy, know-it-all OWEA people I’d gethardball "All right What else do we know?
I’ll need soet you files on the victiether so far We need to figure out where they took your sister and how This is the quickest a disappearance has been reported, so we et theet into town?" I asked through gritted teeth "Did you know there was a danger and not warn us?"
Vasquez turned a suspicious glare to Costa, but the OWEA agent didn’t look the slightest bit uncoht There was another kidnapping here several o a succubus disappeared in Phoenix The one here took a while to get reported, since she was estranged froht now I didn’t expect them to hit the saaze "I got lucky"
I flew frorabbedto level at his face
"Get off him, Marisol!" Vasquez barked