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I only knew one other vaainst Luc--and I knew that Claude had his own reasons for staying in Chicago and serving the Magister But I wondered why Isaiah didn’t run his own little va was gained through politicking, but th

And Isaiah had plenty of it

I took a deep breath and wiped ainst the arm of my jacket Sweat coated my forehead and built betweenmy body’s order to run from Isaiah’s aura of fear

Could Isaiah be the owner of the coin that had gonefrom evidence? He certainly possessed the power to so fully coat the coin, but then, most va enough Nothing about his aura was particularly familiar, but that didn’t mean much Despite what I’d told Mason, I couldn’t identify the killer fronature It hadn’t really felt any more specific than a vampire who carried a hefty fear aura

I wanted to yell in frustration I’d hoped for his signature to be fa to tell Mason, so to ht, Mason was going to know I’d lied

"I’ve heard that you’ve had a bit of trouble holding on to your evidence," Isaiah was saying as I picked back up on the conversation He smiled at me, and my sto I had not to back out into the hall and run away from the vampire in front of me The smile was like that of a shark, and it disappeared quickly

Mason stiffened and took a single short step to his side, placing hihtly between Isaiah andabout," Mason said, a warning in his voice

Isaiah continued, as if he hadn’t noticed the tension the lycan now emanated "An unfortunate loss, that coin"

"What do you know about it?" Mason asked

I forced my expression to stay even, but I al the coin didn’t exist wouldn’t get us anywhere The vampire obviously had sources of information, either with the police or aze flashed to s--ruotten hurt" A slight grin touched his lips "Then again, your investigation is still young And I suppose accidents are inevitable in your line of work" Again, his gaze slid to me It was subtle, but the threat was as clear as if he’d slid his finger across his throat, in a ainst the wall, his forearm under the vampire’s neck, and their faces only inches apart I blinked at theun I’d known that lycans were fast--even in their fully human form--but I hadn’t known they were that fast

"Was that so threat, you undead piece of shit?" Mason’s hard voice was low and controlled, despite his words "Because you look at her again with a threat on your tongue and I will rip your fucking head off"

I gaped at his words, andShit I didn’t have a sidearm Great All I could do was stand and stare and pretend that I had a holster only unaffected and ready to pull my weapon at any second

But neither man seemed to remember I was in the room, and as the seconds ticked by, the tension was so thick it chokedwith the violence to create a room set to explode

I couldn’t think about what Mason had said and what it ht mean, but the possibilities kickedat the dead, deep eyes of the vampire, the professional killer who had murdered his own kind for years, I wasn’t entirely sure which side would come out on top if it caer, before the balance tipped "Thank you for answering our questions, Isaiah," I said in the e "We’ll be in touch It would be best if you didn’t leave town for a few days"

Like the fuse fizzling out on a bomb, the tension dissipated, and Mason released the vampire

Chapter Six

"Well?" Mason asked ere safely in his SUV

"Can we talk e get to my place, please?" I rubbedin order to postpone the inevitable, but the power and , especially with Mason’s energy jockeying forto push it away to actually pay attention to the conversation and then ju Isaiah to the coin had givenheadache

"Sure," Mason said

"And I’oing to bring up the close call we’d just had, neither was I But I’d be dao in to question a suspect like Isaiah without a gun again Legality be dareement

I pulled a small bottle of Advil from my purse and tossed a couple in my mouth I chewed them, an old trick to rimace Part of me wanted to ask if his reaction to what he perceived as a threat againstBut how did I start the conversation? And what if he would have done the sa inmade my head pound harder

"There’s a bottle of water in there" Mason nodded toward the glove box "It’s old, but unopened, so it should still be okay"

I flipped down the glove box door and grabbed the water I sed the reulp, thankful I didn’t have to choke theed the crushed pieces of the pills from my throat