EdgeofEcstasy (12 page)

Hayden nodded and grimaced.

“I don’t have to like it,” he replied, “but I understand.
Hopefully when you let us take over, you can tell us what you need. I’m not
above collaboration. If you have insights into this situation, I’d welcome
hearing them.”

Melissa nodded, then looked at Daniel, silently giving him a
chance to say anything he wished to. He smirked at her and moved his shoulder
infinitesimally in what she understood as a “nope, I’m good” style of shrug.

“Thank you for not barring us from the scene,” Melissa
replied cordially, not wishing to antagonize Hayden when as an individual he
appeared to be somewhat decent.

Hayden ran a hand through his hair, scratching his scalp and
mussing himself even further. “No problems. I guess I’ll see you both around
then.”

Melissa and Daniel cast one last look at Ryder, mentally
saying their goodbyes, each in their own way.
We’ll catch this guy
, Melissa
silently promised Ryder.
No matter how we manage it, he will pay for what he
has done to Falconn and you. I swear.

They walked back toward the door, collected Will—who seemed
to be in the middle of some growling argument with Ben—and headed back out into
the street as the first rays of dawn light crossed the far horizon.

“Sorry I couldn’t keep Hayden from getting to you,” Will
apologized the moment they had a semblance of privacy. “He split off from Ben,
so I kept the wizard busy but couldn’t do two things at once.”

“It’s all right.” Melissa waved her hand. “We’d already
gleaned what we could from the scene and Hayden didn’t appear too bad. He all
but told us we could continue looking into the matter without consequences
until the new team is gathered together. So that gives us practically free rein
for a day—maybe two.”

“We can renegotiate parameters then, which is more than a
lot of Special Operatives would have given to us,” Daniel finished. “For now we
need to figure out who it was Ryder contacted. Did you pick up that bit about
partners Hayden mentioned to us? I find it interesting that’s how they’re
supposed to be kept in check.”

“Partners?” Will repeated, mystified.

“All of the Special Operations agents work in pairs,”
Melissa explained. “Always. It’s to help to keep them balanced and, at least in
theory, answerable to someone. It was curious to see them so involved so
quickly. It makes me wonder if the Tribunal is already at least partially aware
of what’s going on and has been trying to contain it without anyone else
figuring it out.”

“Quite possibly,” Daniel agreed. “The Tribunal does its damnedest
to keep everyone else in the dark whenever possible. Their general rule of
thumb is that regardless of whether something goes wrong, if people don’t know
about it they can’t complain.”

Will snorted and removed his cigar, pocketing the ruined
item, and looked almost naked without it.

“Sounds like a bunch of idiots I know,” he commented.
“Honestly, for all the propaganda I’ve seen lately there’s not that much
difference between the human world and yours.”

“The other thing we need to be careful of is that our killer
appears to be getting more stable and powerful,” Melissa warned.

Will eyed her warily and Daniel simply waited patiently for
her to expand on her comment. “The essence…it was still vilely wrong, but it
was more coherent, more stable. It makes me think he might genuinely have
Assassin talent. What if by expanding his own natural talent he is solidifying
his power base, becoming more stable?”

“Is that even possible?” Daniel asked, a crinkle furrowing
his brow.

Melissa shrugged, genuinely clueless.

“Well, regardless of whether this killer has a lover,
partner or some sort of personal quest keeping him together, while he is out
there and sucking essence and power out of people and killing them, he needs to
be stopped,” Will insisted. “It’s obvious that no matter how he’s managing not to
drive himself mental or splinter into a million pieces, he’s got an agenda and
a definite series of goals he wants to achieve. We have to make sure he doesn’t
get there.”

“So where do we go from here?” Will asked as he shifted impatiently
from foot to foot.

Melissa grinned—she could almost see his desire to get right
back out there and start
doing
something. How the man managed to sit
behind a desk and organize a large team of individuals without pacing and
wearing his carpet down mystified her.

“It has to be someone in the industry,” Daniel said. “But
there’s no way speaking with a few people at a time will help narrow anything
down for us. Time has become critical, so we need a new piece of information—we
have to pick up a different lead and follow that through.”

“But if we’re not careful who we speak to, we might be
tipping off the wrong person,” Melissa pointed out.

“Being cautious will only slow things down,” Daniel
insisted. “I think time is more critical right now. We can handle ourselves.”

Melissa frowned as she thought for a moment, weighing the
situation.

“I keep on coming back to the forbidden manuscript,” Melissa
said. “The ritual contained within it is the key here. We agreed that the
Tribunal must have confiscated the document, but we haven’t talked to our contacts
and tried to find out who else within the industry knows about it. I know a
witch, an Enforcer who works across a number of different divisions and has her
finger really on the pulse of a lot of what goes on over there. I could call
her and see if she knows anything about this manuscript, or even if she knows
someone who would be able to help answer our questions.”

“Do it,” Will ordered.

Melissa bristled instinctively but immediately realized it
was simply Will’s way, not him
actually
ordering her around as if she
were some soldier in his personal army.

“My friend is twitchy, though—even more paranoid than we
usually are,” Melissa answered carefully as she looked at Daniel. “I’ll need to
meet her alone. I can give her a call, set up a meeting before she starts work
for the day. Could you drop me off and wait for me, since we’re both in your
car?”

“Try to stop me,” Daniel snorted. “I have a very bad feeling
about something going on here. It’s almost as if we picked up some sort of
taint from that scene. It’s…following us. At first I thought it would leave us
when we left Ryder’s apartment, but it hasn’t. We’re nearly taking it with
us—or that’s how it comes across to me. I’m not feeling very comfortable.”

Melissa nodded, part of her understanding what he meant.
Having seen two such brutal crime scenes in such a short period of time had
unsettled her too. Even though she didn’t feel as if they were now carrying the
taint of bad luck with them, she did feel dirty from the scene itself. Some remnant
of the murderer clung to the edge of her mind.

Besides, she would never argue with a fellow Assassin’s
instinct. Much like many other law enforcers, they all had gut intuition.
Daniel’s warning reminded her not to take the situation for granted—nothing
else on this mission had gone precisely to plan, so there was no reason to
assume things would get easy from here on in.

“Make sure you keep in touch,” Will insisted. “You both have
my numbers. If there’s anything I can do, let me know.”

They said their goodbyes and split off, Daniel and Melissa
heading back toward his car, Will heading in the other direction.

“We’ll go into the Enforcers’ headquarters,” Daniel
suggested. “It’s not far from here and you can use their phones to arrange to
meet your contact. She’ll be heading in that direction to start her day soon
anyway. It’ll be easier all around.”

Melissa paused and kissed Daniel, lingering for a moment and
breathing deeply of his spicy scent. They touched each other tenderly for a few
stolen minutes, allowing a brief moment of intimacy to help wash away the
hollow feeling the crime scene had left behind in them. Their reprieve was
short-lived, however, and as they broke apart Melissa sigh with regret. The
previous night felt like a millennium ago.

Daniel unlocked his car and they climbed in, pulling away
from the curb to head toward the large buildings in the city center.

* * * * *

The Assassin watched Melissa and Daniel drive away and
hurried to his car to follow them without being spotted. He had not been too
surprised to see them at Ryder’s apartment but he still counted it as a stroke
of luck—as proof that this was his destiny.

He could feel his power solidifying, growing, and with it
his control over his other magical talents grew as well. He had always known he
was meant for great things, but finally he had found his path.

And now he knew the final steps he needed to take to unleash
the new turn his life was meant to take. By taking their essences, by killing Melissa
and Daniel and harnessing and assimilating their magical powers, he would reach
his full potential and could finally begin the next phase of his life.

As he followed them, he realized they were heading toward
the Enforcers’ main headquarters. He smiled with deep satisfaction. No longer
worried about his lack of a firm plan, the Assassin knew things were finally
falling into place. If he could hold on to his patience, bide his time and just
wait for the right opening, he would be utterly invincible. He had no doubt
whatsoever.

After all, it was his destiny.

* * * * *

Melissa tapped her foot and checked her watch for what felt
like the hundredth time. Barely two minutes had passed since she’d last looked.
She had called Kiera and in brief terms explained what she needed help with.
Kiera and she had known each other for years, but both women were focused on
their careers and despite a genuine mutual friendship had never really socialized
outside helping each other when needed.

Pacing a few feet up and down the alleyway, Melissa knew that
Daniel probably couldn’t see her, though he wouldn’t have gone far. She had no
idea how he thought he could keep tabs on her when they weren’t in sight of each
other, but then for all she knew Daniel had secreted himself away somewhere he
could
watch her without being observed himself.

On the phone earlier, Melissa had mentioned to Kiera that she
now had a partner, but her friend had insisted flatly that they meet alone or
not at all. Kiera had been immovable on that point, and Melissa had conceded.
Daniel had not been thrilled by the idea, still feeling that something was very
off and wrong but utterly unable to put his finger on exactly what it was.

Melissa had eventually pointed out logically that they
needed to get information from Kiera more than they needed to be paranoid and
over-careful due to Daniel’s instincts. He had agreed, though reluctantly, and
insisted on walking with her to the alley, which was a few blocks away from
Enforcers’ offices so no one could see Kiera and Melissa meeting each other.

After she reminded him that she had her gun on her as well
as her knives, and she was not exactly a harmless, helpless little witch,
Daniel had grumbled, kissed her passionately and reluctantly walked out of the
alley, leaving her alone. That had been ten minutes ago and Kiera had been due
to arrive five minutes later. Not for the first time, Melissa wished
impatiently that she had thought to buy a disposable cell. She kept meaning to
but always talked herself out of it at the last minute when she recollected
that it would just die on her a day or two after purchasing it.

Footsteps sounded in the alley and, on edge, Melissa turned
around, a hand behind her back ready to dive for her gun if necessary. A short,
curvy, brown-haired woman dressed in black jeans, a black shirt and black boots
walked quickly down the alley toward Melissa. She relaxed and shook her head,
recognizing her friend. They remained silent until Kiera was only a few feet
from Melissa. They grinned happily at each other and hugged tightly, the
difference in their heights more noticeable when they embraced.

“You’re so much taller in those damn boots,” Kiera grumbled
good-naturedly.

“You’re so much skinnier in black,” Melissa teased in
return. They laughed at the familiar complaints with which they usually greeted
each other, and eyed each other, assessing how the other was since they had
last caught up.

“You look tired and worn, honey,” Kiera said. “And sadder
than when I saw you last too, though that I can understand, at least. Are you
all right?”

Melissa nodded as she took her friend in from head to foot.

“I’ve been grieving for Falconn—his death really hurt me. I
lost my best friend and one of the few men I’d ever considered working with
permanently in one hit,” Melissa admitted. “You look edgy—are you just jacked
up on caffeine or is there something you need to talk about?”

When Kiera silently shook her head, Melissa waited, not
wanting to push—they were friends, but not good enough friends to press where
it wasn’t wished for. She hoped a bit of patience might encourage Kiera to
confide in her.

“Just…work and personal bullshit,” Kiera finally said.
“Nothing you need to worry about. It will sort itself out soon. I’ll make sure
of it.”

“If it doesn’t you can call me, K—you know that. Any time,
I’m always happy to solve a problem of yours my way,” Melissa offered. Kiera
threw her head back and laughed, the sound not quite jovial, more a release of
a huge amount of pent-up tension, stress, worry and fear.

“That is the most wonderful offer I’ve heard in weeks,” she
said with genuine cheer. “And who knows—if it gets to that I might take you up
on it, though I doubt I could afford your fees. I might have to do something
about it myself, but the thought is
most
welcome right now.”

“You’re a friend,” Melissa replied, half teasing, half quite
serious. “If it’s causing you to be this tense, twitchy and stressed, I’ll do
it for free. This isn’t some asshole abusing you, is it? I feel sure Joshua is
a good enough partner that he wouldn’t let something like that happen. But if
it
is
some idiot twisting you up inside like this, I’ll skin him first
before cutting him up into pieces.”

Kiera waved a hand dismissively, though a more genuine smile
now resided on her face and some of her tension had seeped away.

“No, no, it’s… Well, it’s complicated. And Joshua might be
my best friend but I don’t think he would skin then cut up some guy I wanted to
break up with, as much as he might talk and boast.”

Melissa raised an eyebrow at that but had to concede the
point. She had met Joshua a handful of times. He had been Kiera’s friend from
childhood and when the two witches had collaborated on various projects and
research, sometimes he’d joined them when he too had been involved in the
assignment. Much like Ryder, Joshua had a reputation as a ladies’ wizard with a
glib, silver tongue and more than enough charm to talk a nun out of her panties
and into his bed.

Even so, Melissa privately thought that underneath that suave,
debonair exterior Joshua had a harder core than most would give him credit for.
He would never be an Assassin, never turn to the darker magics for power and
glory, but under the right conditions Melissa could absolutely see him killing
someone in a blind rage. Should Kiera ever fall under the spell of someone who
mistreated her…well, Melissa could certainly see Joshua going to extremes to
protect his partner and best friend.