Hunter laughed. “You look better, sweet Violet.” As Hunter looked at her face with an increasing frown, Finn put his hand on the small of her back in a possessive gesture. “You look good, in fact.” His eyebrows shot up. “For fuck’s sake, you bonded with Finn, didn’t you?”
“How did you even get that?”
Hunter looked at her like she was a stubborn child. “Come on, Vi. I’ve been around you long enough to see the difference. You look like you’ve just stepped out of a damn magazine, glowing and all. Am I right? Is that what happened?”
It wasn’t the way she wanted to announce it, but as there wasn’t any way around it. “Yes, we bonded last night.”
Before she knew what was happening, Hunter had embraced her in a bear hug. “Congrats! It’s good news, isn’t it?”
Finn didn’t have time to react before he was next in Hunter’s arms. Violet enjoyed the look of confusion and bewilderment on the vampire’s face who clumsily returned the quick hug.
“Are you going to tell the girls? They’ll be so happy for you.”
The general happiness dampened when she shook her head. “Not yet, Hunter. And please, keep the information to yourself. I want to close this thing first, and when we do, I promise I’ll tell them.”
The human cop nodded and was all business once more. “Yeah, that’s the reason I’m here.”
Finn now took a step forward. “Did something happen while we were away?”
“No, no. Not exactly. I went back to the graveyard and took samples of the blood found there and had them analyzed. On the down-low, of course.”
Violet didn’t know how she felt about that, but she couldn’t fault him for being thorough, after all, he was used to doing it as part of his job. “That was a dangerous move. What if a magical being had been mixed with the blood? By now, you know there are subtle differences in our blood composition to yours.”
Hunter lifted his hands. “Yeah, no worries. That was the reason I sent everything to a private lab. In fact, most of the blood there was yours, but not all. We identified a second source, identified as one Irvin Steiner residing in Portland, Maine, and currently missing. His aunt reported him missing a week ago.
“The investigating officer didn’t find anything missing from his apartment, and his car was still parked beside his apartment building. It was as if he had simply vanished, but the three of us know that’s probably not what happened. By the amount of blood over the walls and floor, it’s impossible the man survived.”
“Damn! Irving Steiner was on the list of people I investigated before I was taken.” And with a few skipped details, Violet gave Hunter a summary of what she had learned and what her brain finally remembered.
“You said list. That means you have other people to check?”
Violet nodded at Hunter’s statement. “Only two others. Leroy Bohn and Dennis Weir. They all frequented a sort of coven in New Hampshire, a group of humans worshiping demons of some sort. I linked them with other gatherings in the area and recent books they had purchased online.
“Then accessed their devices. The books were on the dark arts, all necromancy. As they were human books, there was nothing to be too worried about, but it was other research they did on the Internet that confirmed that something else was going on.”
Hunter crossed his arms. “How the fuck did you access their computers? Do you have some sort of a computer hacking spell to give you access to the guy’s browser or chat? If you did, that’s fucking illegal.”
The man didn’t say it in anger, but Finn reacted, and in the blink of an eye, he was on Hunter. She had to admire the cop for keeping his calm with the angry vampire.
“Don’t you ever accuse her of anything, do you hear me?”
For the first time ever, Violet noticed how Hunter didn’t cower but instead faced the dangerous creature eye to eye. “I’m not accusing her of anything, you bloodsucking twat! I need to know so if she’s done something outside the law, I can make sure she’s protected. I’m the one breaking the law, my oath, and putting my ass on the line for you weirdos.”
Violet held her breath until she saw Finn’s tall frame relax inch by inch, the predator calming but still doubtful. Knowing the danger was still very real, she reached out to touch Finn’s back, and he finally let Hunter go.
As if nothing had happened, Hunter straightened his jacket and shook his head. “What kind of research did you find, Violet?”
Violet shrugged. “It started with simple spells, all about dark magic, and then it deepened into sacrifice rituals. There were half-written notes, too, that looked like reminders.”
She stopped for a moment and frowned, searching her memories. “As they went deeper, they accessed a private chat room on the dark arts. I was about to let go of the investigation as it seemed more and more like humans dabbling in what they couldn’t possibly understand when someone approached them about their particular interest.”
Finn’s eyes darkened. “Who contacted them?”
“I wish I knew. He was using the name Jove. What was most disturbing was that this mystery man began to give them pointers. Very real, magical pointers that could be used by mortals. I knew I’d found the leak the High Council was searching for. I let the conversation continue for almost a week, but when they began talking about trying their newfound magical weapons on an innocent, I knew I had to intervene.”
Her heart picked up, her body didn’t remember being taken, but everything that followed. Would she ever overcome that trauma? Maybe not. But she’d risen above the murder of her parents, and knew it would take time, everything of that nature took time. And time was not something she had.
“And then you disappeared? Do
