Pushing through the double doors, I heard a series of curses and thumps, followed by a loud crash. The scent of blood was in the air, but not thick. No one had been seriously injured. It was only a matter of time, considering I found myself staring into the surprisingly intelligent eyes of a hellhound.
“Get out of the fucking way, Em!” Shan shouted from across the room.
His wings were extended to their full span, knocking bottles of alcohol off the bar to litter the floor. Matthias, the club’s owner, was gritting his teeth but focused primarily on the giant dog heading in my direction. Caspian was off to the side, worrying his bottom lip between his teeth and holding a dagger out in front of him. Shan would have banned him from this fight since his abilities weren’t well-matched. Frost and snow would be melted by Zemterra’s overheated flames, and he couldn’t make a hound weak with lust.
Well, there was a chance it would work, but it wasn’t worth risking the attempt.
My quick perusal finished, I locked eyes with the beast in front of me and stared at it. A rumble built in my chest and came out as a feral snarl. The mark of a shifter marking its territory, which was exactly what I was doing. Whether I could make a hellhound submit to my dominance or not was up in the air, but this was wasting time that was better spent chasing down Freya.
At the sound of my snarl, it cocked its head to the side. Its lips curled in what I could only describe as a grin, too human to be from a mindless beast. “I don’t have time for this,” I muttered under my breath, glare hardening further.
Dodging a poorly aimed shot of angelic light from Shan, the beast chuffed. Then snorted and turned on its heel.
The one jump should have taken it through the ceiling and into the belly of the building, causing damage Matthias would be less than thrilled to repair, but it didn’t. Instead, the hellhound vanished through a portal on the ceiling, the circle of swirling light snapping shut behind it.
Just in time, considering our new audience whose scent hit me the second he walked through the doors.
Shan was cursing up a storm across the dance floor, shouting orders at Caspian to search the building for the witch or fae who’d been present to create the portal. Zemterrans, including shifters like me, couldn’t create portals on our own. Much less demon creatures like the hellhound. Though, I wasn’t convinced the beast hadn’t been as intelligent as I was.
“What is going on here?” Director Knoxwell boomed out from behind me.
I turned on my heel and nodded to the man, taking in his personal security of two angels beside him. He looked to me as if I was going to speak an explanation, but I had no plans to. We had Shan for relations with our boss for a reason, and I was still reeling.
Using a single flap of his wings, Shan brought himself to stand in front of us. The security looked at him in awe and a bit of fear, a common response around headquarters. His nickname from centuries ago was Angel of Chaos, and while he didn’t embody it anymore, his reputation remained. “Director Knoxwell,” Shan greeted tersely. “I’m sorry you felt this matter required your direct attention.”
“I’ve been told someone let loose a demon creature in the club your team is investigating. Of course I’m here. This is too close for comfort to revealing us to the Nulls. Null Relations had to come up with an explanation involving an attack of mass violence so the Nulls wouldn’t look too closely at the screaming masses of partiers fleeing the building fifteen minutes ago.”
“I’m glad the explanation was so simple,” Shan said, his tone flat. Only Cas and I saw how tense he was and how much he didn’t want to be having this conversation at the moment. “A witch or fae released the hellhound, and it escaped through a portal back to Zemterra seconds before your arrival. Caspian is searching the premises, but I doubt he’ll find evidence of the person. While plenty of property damage occurred, we sustained no more than scrapes and bruises. There do not appear to be any civilian injuries or casualties.”
Caspian appeared again on the VIP balcony, shaking his head when we looked up at him. No trace. “Do you believe this has anything to do with the case at hand?” Knoxwell asked.
“It would be too much of a coincidence if it didn’t, sir.”
“So you’re saying you don’t know the connection.”
“I believe it was a distraction tactic,” I said, stopping the reaming Shan was about to get before it began.
All eyes swung to me, Shan’s eyebrow cocking as he waited for the explanation. “Distraction from what?” he asked.
“Freya Alverona, Omega in hiding and bartender at Club Chaos,” I said, directing the explanation to Knoxwell.
Shan tensed from head to toe, going so still even those unfamiliar with him could tell he was not right. “Where is she, Em?”
“Shifter grabbed her outside the club and they portalled out of the area a few blocks away.”
He would be furious to know I didn’t stop her capture, but I didn’t want to give Knoxwell the full story. I’d decided the information was more on a need to know basis. I might end up with Shan attempting to kill me for my negligence before I got the chance to tell him the complete story, but I hoped Cas held enough affection for me to keep me alive.
Emotions flickered through his eyes, everything from rage to panic to despair. They didn’t filter through into his orders. “Show me where.”
Knoxwell was on board with the demand, turning on his heel and heading out of the building. I hurried to follow and pulled in front of them all, leading them around the few corners to where the gentle flicker of magic still pulsed in the air. With a clearer head I scented an unfamiliar witch around where the portal had been, which meant the shifter had at least one accomplice.
Why Freya had gone so willingly was something I couldn’t quite piece together, not when she was a force to be reckoned with and a killer.
Shan busied himself examining the portal’s remaining magical signature, cursing and growling under his breath. The Director’s security stayed far away from him, their hero worship diminishing as they realized he wasn’t in the best mood to be chatting. Knoxwell, on the other hand, was very much in Shan’s workspace. I let them do what they needed to, exchanging information back and forth, and watched on. After a minute Caspian’s smaller form pressed against my side, his fingers winding through mine. “You know something else,” he murmured quietly enough for the conversation to be private.
I nodded once.
His grip on me tightened, and I felt the turmoil of emotions going through him in the intensity of his scent. Both my teammates were in love with a killer. I knew them well enough to know that wouldn’t change a thing. Fuck, I had no doubt in my mind that Shan would be more obsessed with her because of it, though he would simultaneously insist he do all the killing in her stead.
