EdgeofEcstasy (3 page)

“You can sense the essence of the assailant?” Will repeated,
surprise and what could pass for pleasure on his face. “I thought only
Trackers…I mean, the initial report the Enforcers wrote indicated that their
Trackers couldn’t get a clear reading on the perpetrator. How could you?”

“Death is my business,” Melissa reminded Will gently. “I
might be a brilliant markswoman, and my magic certainly revolves around
discovering inconsistencies in patterns and finding the weaknesses in people’s
lives, but I also know and understand death. What causes it and how it has come
about, not just how to bring it. The murderer appeared to understand that as
well. He—or she—had to, to be good enough to murder Falconn. There are things
every criminal leaves behind that any Assassin worth their salt can pick up on.
This crime scene gave me plenty, but they were conflicted.”

“Conflicted?” Kelly repeated with a slight wobble in her
voice. “You mean the assailant didn’t want to murder Falconn?”

“Not in the least,” Melissa averred with a quick shake of
her head. “He did exactly what he set out to do. I mean the traces of himself
he left behind.”

For a moment Melissa paused, licked her lips as she tried to
bring words to the images, sensations and intangible essences she had picked up
on in that room, surrounded by death.

“I can’t sense essence like a Tracker or a Receiver, nor can
I usually look at someone and read their personal signature. This is more like
picking up on general moods and emotions left behind in a room. It’s not understanding
or reading a person’s individual traces,” she explained. “I can often sense
malicious intent, fear, rage…evil. Think of it like me being able to see a tree
but not the individual leaves. What I felt, though…the killer did not simply
want to murder Falconn. He…he wanted to
obliterate
him. He wanted to suck
Falconn dry until there was nothing left of him. And he succeeded.”

Melissa took a deep breath and tried to gather herself and
get back on track.

“I’ve sent out some feelers on the actual method the killer
used. I have some personal ideas but I don’t want to muddy the waters with
speculation that will do none of us any good. What I can tell you is that the
murderer has an essence unlike anything I’ve ever come across. He is
powerful
.
He leaked energy and magic all over the place like a sieve—I’m sure that was
reported too, as it was like a beacon to anyone who looked. Moreover, he…I
believe he’s multitalented. I felt traces of Tracker, Explosives, Security
talents, as well as Assassin essence. Yet they were…
stitched
together
.
That’s the only way I can express it in words.”

“Stitched?” Will repeated. He let the word hang in the air
between them as Melissa struggled to clarify.

“No single person can have multiple talents like that within
them,” she explained hesitantly. “It’s not natural. Magic, inherently, is
simply a means of heightening one’s talents. General things like sight, smell
and so forth can be accentuated by jacking up one’s power. But just as humans
have natural talents they are better at than the common other person, so it is
with wizards. It’s not normal for someone to be good at
everything
. It
doesn’t happen. This killer, though…he left traces of magically enhanced
talents of such varying degrees that it didn’t make sense.”

“But stitched?” Will reiterated. His tone wasn’t pressing or
disbelieving, he simply didn’t appear to understand what she meant.

“Stitched.” Melissa nodded and waved her hand. “Exactly what
it sounds like. As if he had three or four different types of magic within him
and instead of them being merged, or compatible—
natural
—they had been
glued or stitched together. An abomination. Like Frankenstein’s monster or the
like. When someone has an innate talent for more than one thing, they blend—it’s
seamless. Proper. This was the antithesis of that.”

“Abomination is a strong word,” Will declared as he chewed
meditatively on his cigar.

“Abomination might be kind,” she insisted firmly. “It’s been
over a week since I saw it and my grief and anger have dulled my recollections
somewhat. I might very well be mentally glossing over the horror I felt when I
experienced it. Indeed, I’m not sure there are words strong enough, potent
enough to convey what this monster was.”

They were all silent for a moment as her words seemed almost
to echo around the meeting room.

Matt finally spoke after a few moments of silence during
which they all digested their own thoughts. “I think we should call Ryder in.”

Melissa pressed her lips tightly together but did not say
anything. In her heart she knew that no matter what Will, Matthias or even
Kelly said, she would not rest until she had captured and killed Falconn’s
murderer. It was clear and very simple in her head.

Despite the wealth of information she had shared, she still
retained her own, private thoughts on the killer. While she believed the
Enforcers could and should be able to work the case, as well as Will’s
Enforcer-police crew, she didn’t believe any of them could bring the passion
and dedication to it that she could. Falconn had been
her
best friend.

Had their positions been reversed, she knew Falconn would
not have rested until justice had been handed out. Nor would she have wanted
her killer to rot in a cell where he could quite likely live a life of luxury
and ease—or worse, potentially escape and continue his murder spree. She would
have
wanted
Falconn or Aiden to hunt them down and end their life. Just
as she knew Falconn would want her to do this.

Not for the first time, she cursed Aiden for being away at
this time. She had called him, informed him of Falconn’s death. Aiden had asked
if she wanted him to drop what he was doing and come to her. Melissa had
hesitated at that, torn, but had finally agreed that Aiden should come when he
could, not immediately and ruin his own carefully laid plans.

She planned to tell Aiden fully about her private
mission—when she had created one and knew the identity of the killer—and have
him assist her. Ryder was a good man and an excellent Sharp Shooter, but he
wouldn’t be an adequate partner for what she had in mind.

“Ryder is on a mission,” Will said, and Melissa saw Matt’s
eyebrows lift in surprise. “Daniel is upstairs though, right now.”

“Daniel?” Kelly repeated. “Daniel Cranston? Will, do you
really think he’s a…wise choice?”

Intrigue tugged at the edge of Melissa’s mind. She had heard
a lot about Daniel over the years. They had even worked together once, on a
mission almost five years before. She had been called in by Aiden as a last-minute
addition to a kill that had turned out to be far messier than either he or
Daniel had counted on. Daniel had at first been hesitant about her being added
to the team so late in the game, but after she had gutted a mercenary who had
been about to ram an ice pick into the back of his neck, Daniel’s opinion—and
chilly attitude—had undergone a dramatic change.

Despite the mild attraction between them, after that one,
now notorious battle, they had parted ways and had not been in contact since.
Melissa had not pressed Aiden for information on Daniel, nor had she ever
followed up with the other Assassin. She knew he could be dangerous to her
heart and her body. Steeped in his pursuit of a noble cause, Daniel found
satisfaction in the kill when it served a higher purpose, generally resulting
in him working for King and Country. In many ways Daniel’s rationale and sense
of honor were a throwback to a completely different era.

While Melissa could hold on to her sense of self because of
the knowledge that she dispensed justice, Daniel, she knew, held on to his soul
by being the monster who kept the other monsters at bay. In their brief
conversations before the mission had turned into a bloodbath, he’d told her how
he wanted to protect the innocent, so they would never have to know the true
depths of evil in the world. Their philosophies were similar enough that they’d
found common ground, but there were still many dangerous gray areas where they
disagreed.

“Like everyone else, I’ve heard about the Lourensz
killings,” Will said gently. “Even though Daniel has never talked about it, as
I presume neither you nor Aiden have, the general gist of what occurred is
quite commonly known around these parts.”

“Until I have a plan and we know more about this murderer, I
don’t feel it necessary to have a partner on this,” Melissa said stiffly. “And
even when I do have a plan, I would prefer to work with Aiden.”

“I think this situation is high-risk enough that you need a
partner even for the scouting and information-gathering aspect,” Will insisted.
“I can’t force Daniel on you but I would like to call him in on this. You’ve
worked together before and I have every confidence you can make it work again.
You’ll be able to bounce ideas off each another, share knowledge. There are
many positives here that I don’t think it wise to ignore.”

The more Melissa thought about it, the smarter Will’s idea
appeared—she just was not keen to trust anyone so implicitly so quickly. The
irony of the situation made her smile to herself. Not an hour before she had
decided to open herself more to others, to let someone or something else in to
help to stabilize her and to hold on to. Here was a golden opportunity to do
just that and she was balking. Talk about contrary.

“I’ll talk to him,” she conceded with a slightly stiff nod
at Will, not worried about the clear chill in her words. “But I will not make
guarantees. I don’t work for you and I don’t have the temperament to take
orders from anyone. Thank you for couching your
request
kindly.”

Will gave her a wide, shit-eating grin that made her
understand that the man could probably talk the devil into dancing in the rain
should he choose to do so. He was far cleverer and savvier than she had
previously believed, and she hadn’t exactly thought him stupid or dense in the
first place. Melissa rarely underestimated people but she conceded she may have
done so in Will’s case.

“And you can tell Daniel all those little nuggets you
weren’t ready to discuss with us,” Will prodded a little more strongly.

Melissa gave him her most bland, innocent look, careful to
keep her deep-blue eyes wide and clear as she stared at him.

“Nuggets?” she parroted. “Will, darling, I honestly have no
idea what you could mean.”

Will snorted and pressed a button on the console phone in
the middle of the meeting table. A female voice answered.

“Staci,” Will greeted the receptionist, “send Daniel down
from my office, please. He knows what it’s about.”

Melissa had to struggle a little to keep the smile from her
face but she managed to retain her innocent look as Kelly and Matt stood.
Melissa shook Matt’s hand and hugged her friend, fondly exchanging farewells with
her before the couple left. Will had returned to the window to chew his cigar
and await Daniel’s entrance. The silence between them was not uncomfortable and
Melissa wandered over to the far wall, enjoying the view of downtown Chicago.

A few moments later there was a brief knock on the door and
it swung open before Will or Melissa could say a word. Daniel Cranston entered
the room, his icy-blue eyes glancing first at Will, then more slowly at
Melissa. A tiny smile twitched at the corner of his mouth, stark relief against
the hard planes of his face.

With well-weathered, tanned skin with a few tiny scars that
marred the perfection of his blond good looks, Daniel would be no woman’s idea
of a dreamboat. His eyes were too cold for him to be called handsome but there
was an undeniable attraction to his features that Melissa could not help but
admit made her heart skip a few beats. Thick muscles bunched beneath his shirt,
making him appear slightly stocky. Melissa knew he could move whip-fast and
lethally at a moment’s notice—she had seen it for herself. One moment Daniel
would be standing around, appearing as if he had not a care in the world and was
lost in his own thoughts, the next moment he would be striking out as fast and as
deadly as a scorpion.

As he closed the door behind him, Daniel’s eyes flickered
between Melissa and Will, weighing up the situation in a heartbeat.

“This is about Falconn, isn’t it?” he said dryly. There was
no inflection in his tone, nothing to give away any curiosity he might have.

Will looked from Daniel to Melissa and back again as he
chewed thoughtfully on his cigar.

After a moment he shrugged and nodded to Melissa.

“The two of you should talk about it. Keep me updated,” he said
in a firm tone. Will handed Melissa a business card. “Both of you. I’ll expect
a call later so someone over on this side of the fence knows what’s going on in
case you get into deep water and need extra assistance. Otherwise, I trust you
to do what’s right, Melissa.”

Melissa blinked, surprised. She hadn’t had someone
effectively tell her to follow her conscience since her father had attempted
emotional blackmail on her when she had quit competitive shooting. Heaven knew,
most people understood that paid Assassins didn’t quite work along the normal
lines of socially accepted reasoning about what constituted right and wrong.
Will had left the room before it crossed her mind to laugh, and Daniel had come
to stand beside her along the windows.

A charged silence fell between them, many things that had
remained unsaid since their last meeting rising as if no time at all had
passed, instead of the nearly five years it had been. Part of Melissa wanted to
lean in, close the distance between them and kiss him, as she had come so close
to doing when they’d said their private goodbyes after the bloodbath that had
been their last stand with each other.

Daniel and Aiden had stormed a veritable fortress owned by a
gun runner, well outside the city limits of Chicago. Only at the last moment
before penetrating the complex had they realized that the guards had been
doubled—someone along their line of communication had leaked that an
Assassination was going to be attempted.

With nowhere else to turn and time absolutely critical,
Aiden had called her in. It had been Aiden who had briefed her and she had
supported both men, watching their backs as they’d mowed through the swarm of
guards and security. None of them had counted, but they’d all known that
Melissa, guarding their rears and acting as a one-woman backup team, had made
the most kills, saving both men’s lives multiple times.

It had been a long time since Melissa had been involved in
anything so bloody and on such a large scale, but she had not regretted it in
the least, nor lost any sleep over her actions. Daniel had been impressed with
her, and that knowledge had given her quite a charge now and then when she’d thought
back on it.

Aiden had been giving their client the report and rundown,
demanding double pay for the last few hours. She and Daniel had run their
mouths off to help to release some of the tense energy from their fight as well
as the electrical tension between them. Ribaldry had turned to flirtation, and
only the heavy thumps of Aiden’s boots had returned them to their senses as
they’d clung to each other, about to passionately kiss. Utterly disarmed,
Melissa had told her friend she’d be in contact about her fee and all but fled
the scene, never having experienced anything like Daniel Cranston in her life
before.

And now here they stood once again, in each other’s personal
space and breathing each other’s breath—only this time it was she who needed
the favor and he who could help her. Not for the first time she thought about
calling Aiden in, but she knew it would look strange to her friend.

“I presume you know the basics?” she guessed, feeling
faintly ashamed of the stalling tactic.

“I’ve managed a covert glance at the report and asked
around, yeah,” Daniel agreed with a nod.

Melissa licked her lips and stared down at the busy street
through the window.

“I identified his body,” she said softly. “I saw his
apartment before the Enforcers messed it all up. This wasn’t an ordinary
killing, just so you know up-front.”

“If it were ordinary I’m sure we wouldn’t be having this
conversation,” Daniel replied with a grin. “Ordinary you can chop into pieces
in your sleep, not to mention that you could easily bury the leftovers so
deeply no one would ever find them. I figured there was something…
other
when I saw it was you Will wanted me to aid. Give me the details, Mel.”

“Other sounds about right,” she mumbled.

For a moment she debated the wisdom of sharing her secrets
with Daniel but then reality reared its head. She knew Daniel. They might only have
worked together once but one learned a lot about a man when lives were at
stake, gunfire rapped loudly all around and one second’s hesitation or
distraction could be the difference between living and dying. She could trust
Daniel with her life.

Possibly she couldn’t trust him with her heart or her
intimate emotions but she knew she could trust him with her physical safety.
Besides, she’d have been lying to herself if she’d pretended she didn’t like
him. The attraction between them lay thick and heavy in the air, underscoring
every breath they took.

Hopefully Daniel would understand that her hesitation wasn’t
reflective of him or his honor, but was more an Assassin’s natural reluctance
to share knowledge of great importance. When one killed—regardless of how noble
or righteous the reason—one became a solitary creature, forced to rely solely
on oneself. And Daniel, above most other people, could deal with the less-than-pure
intentions she had toward her friend’s killer.

“Have you ever come across forbidden rituals?” she asked
bluntly. “Not those pansy ‘how to curse your ex-boyfriend into a toad’ rituals—the
really heavy, dark shit that no amount of cleansing will remove from your
soul?”

“Forbidden is a subjective thing, unless we’re planning on
sharing this conversation with the wizarding Tribunal,” Daniel replied. Melissa
felt a tiny smile hover at the edge of her mouth. Daniel had said a number of
words, none of them really answering her question. His ice-blue eyes were
chillier than she thought they had been a moment before. “Explain,” he added
when the silence in the room grew.