With a grim shake of the head, he pushed forward to break through the line. “No. Okay, watch your back and I do mean that. Literal y.”

As we approached the chanting mob, I glanced at their signs.

STOP THE SUCKERS COLD!

STAKE THE VAMPS!

BLOOD BELONGS TO THE LIVING!

DRIVE THE POINT HOME!

At least that last one was clever, if gruesome. The picture was of a pointy stake aimed at a cartoon vampire.

“Back—get back,” Chase said, pul ing out his badge.

“We have a right to protest!”

“Vampire-lover! The law’s supposed to be on our side—what are you, a vamp wannabe?”

“Look—he’s with the half-Fae, half-vampire!”

“Technical y, gentlemen, I’m al vampire. I was half-Fae, half-human—” But my attempted correction didn’t go over wel and the guy lunged at me, aiming the handle of the sign at my chest.

Chase pul ed out his baton and swung it, catching the sign handle before it came near me.

“Try it and you’l be headed right for jail.”

“Kil ing a vampire isn’t against the law.” The man eyed me, his gaze glittering and dangerous.

“Maybe not, but I’l guarantee you that I wil find enough charges to make you rot in jail for years.

Trust me. ” Chase’s voice was an icicle waiting to crash, and the guy stepped back. Once again, I wondered how our detective had gained such a control factor in his timbre. It had to be the Nectar of Life. Question was: How far would it take Chase in his powers?

We wormed our way through without further incident, though the minute we crossed the line, Chase motioned me in front of him so his back was to the picketers and not mine. He showed his credentials to the doorman and we passed through into the spacious lobby.

The building was lit by soft yel ow lights. A gleaming chandelier hung from the central lobby, and two very tough-looking guards stood near the elevator. The front desk was manned by an equal y formidable-looking woman. If I didn’t know better, I’d think they were werewolves. Chances were good they were Were-something. You just didn’t get muscle like that on your typical Fae. They could be vampire, I supposed, but that meant they’d had to scour for some super-buff dudes.

Although al vampires were strong, few looked it.

We halted by the first elevator and once again, Chase showed his credentials. The man nodded us by and we slipped into the car. Chase pressed the button for floor eleven, and we rode in silence as the elevator chugged smoothly up the shaft.

The doors opened with a whisper of a sigh, and we stepped out into a hal carpeted in burgundy. The wal s were a pale ivory, and the trim was dark cherry. Rich and lustrous, the building screamed old money, silent money, money and comfort and tradition.

As we came to the door marked 1133, I thought that Wade had certainly moved up in the world.

Chase glanced at me, and I nodded. He pressed the doorbel and chimes rang from within.

A moment later, Wade answered. He gave me a smile, but it faded as Chase stepped forward.

“Wade Stevens? I’m afraid you’re going to have to come down to the station and answer a few questions about the murders of five young women. We’ve had a tip that you’re involved, and we need you to fil us in on where you were the nights of each murder.”

Wade blinked, slowly. His smile fading into an accusatory glower, he grabbed his leather jacket and silently fol owed us back to the elevator.

CHAPTER 18

Wade sul enly got into Chase’s car, and I kept a close eye on the dark sedan al the way to the FH-CSI building, but apparently Wade decided not to make any trouble. We pul ed into headquarters and I joined them on the way in.

Wade gave me a soft smile. “Chase told me you had nothing to do with this.”

“You thought I did?” Great, so that was what the scowl was for.

“I just . . . yeah, it crossed my mind. I was wrong. I’m sorry.” The leather of his jacket was stil new, and it made a crunching noise as he reached over the top of my head to hold the door open for me.

I slid beneath his arm and in through the door. Wade fol owed, and Chase brought up the rear.

We headed toward Conference Room One. Chase shut the door behind us and flipped on the light. Wade offered me a chair, then took a seat.

“Okay, let’s get this out in the open,” he said. “You got a tip that said I’m your serial kil er. What do you need to prove I’m not, other than my word?”

“What were you doing in the park last night? I know what you told me, but you’d better tel Chase because if the tipster real y wants to frame you up, he might be watching you and it wouldn’t be hard to make you look suspicious.”

“What? What park?” Chase asked.

“I found Wade in the park last night. In fact, we had a nice long talk about what he was doing there, among other things. I don’t believe for a moment that he’s our kil er. But we should get everything out in the open.” I leaned forward. “You said you were looking for the kil er?”

“Yeah. I decided you guys could use some extra help. When you told me about him, it rang a bel . I thought I remembered someone from a Vampires Anonymous meeting a few months back.

He only came once, and something seemed off about him. I remembered he said he lives around the Greenbelt Park District, so I decided to try to ferret him out.”

“Why didn’t you cal us?” Chase jotted something on his pad of paper.

“I did cal the station, but they said you were out on a case, so I decided to take a look-see myself. I was going to tel you anything I found out, but when Menol y told me about Morio and the ghosts, and Ivana Krask, it kind of slipped my mind to cal .” He shrugged.

“Did you find the guy?” I asked as Chase tossed his pad and pen on the table.

Wade shook his head. “No. I scoured the park and al I found were a bunch of ghosts. They’re thick there, and frankly it creeped me out, so I left not long after we talked.” He motioned to me.

“How is Morio, by the way? Any better?”

“I was just going to walk over to the medic unit and find out. But first, I think Chase has a list of dates that he’d like to check you against.”

Chase withdrew a sheet of paper from his pocket and consulted it. “Where were you on December third?”

“That’s easy enough. December third was the Vampires Anonymous meeting. I was there setting up for the group from the time I woke up—sunset until the meeting broke up at two A.M.

Brett was with me. Then, afterward, a group of us decided to go for some late-night bowling.”

Chase and I stared at each other.

“Bowling? You bowl?” Chase was trying to repress a smirk.

I broke out laughing. “Why doesn’t that surprise me?”

“I happen to love bowling, thank you. I was on a league when I was stil alive.” Wade scowled at us. “I’l have you know, I used to bowl in the high two hundreds, and I stil do.”

Recovering his composure, Chase cleared his throat. “What about after that? Were you there til sunrise?”

“No, but after we left there, Brett and Mandy and I hit a new club that’s recently opened up.”

“Mandy? Who’s Mandy?” I gave him a saccharine smile but then winked to let him know I was just teasing him.

He frowned and ducked his head. “Mandy Treat is my new girlfriend.” But he didn’t sound happy about it. “Wel , she’s my mother’s choice of girlfriends for me. I don’t real y care for dating her, but you know my mother . . .”

I did, indeed, know his mother. And that was why Wade and I had broken up before we ever real y got a relationship started. “Yeah, I do. They broke the mold when they made Belinda.”

“What’s the name of the club?” Chase asked, pen poised.

Wade tossed a packet of matches over to the detective. It had a black cover with white lettering.

I picked it up and examined the logo. A single drop of crimson blood dripped from one fang. The lettering read: The Jagged Fang.

“The Jagged Fang? That’s a new one to me. Why haven’t I heard about it?” I passed the matches to Chase.

“Club just opened last month. One of our VA members is running it—it’s far less dangerous than the Fangtabula or Dominick’s. Club is for vamps, but also for humans who want to walk on the dangerous side, yet live. No drinking from unwil ing customers al owed, no mesmerizing al owed, no minors al owed. No sex on the premises al owed. In other words, an R-rated club.”

Chase flipped back through his date book. “Okay, we have your alibi for that night. I’l need to talk to Mandy and Brett, of course. What about for November twenty-sixth, twenty-eighth?

Thirtieth? And December first?”

Wade pul ed out his PDA and began flipping through the touch screens. “Busy freak, aren’t I?

Here we go. Twenty-sixth: another Vampires Anonymous meeting. We meet once a week now.

After that was over, I don’t have an alibi. I went home, watched TV, read, played video games—oh wait, I can prove it with my online login records. I logged in at midnight and played Superhero City until sunrise. We had a raid going on.”

A mama’s boy and a gamer. Joy, that was one boat ride to romance that I was glad I missed.

“Twenty-eighth, I had a date with Mandy and she spent the night.”

At my look, he shrugged. “What? She likes me; I don’t dislike her even though I’m not that jazzed on dating her, but she’s wil ing. Friends with benefits.”

“Nothing wrong with it, if she knows that’s al you want out of her.” I grinned again.

“The thirtieth, I don’t have a strong alibi. But December first? I stayed in. Hung out at my apartment, read, went shopping at Bartel Drugs for odds and ends. I think I stil have the receipt with the time stamp on it. I did laundry down in the laundry room at my apartment building. There was one other woman in there and we talked and she mentioned that she had to get to work by six thirty and she only had forty-five minutes to get there, so it had to be between five and six. I suppose if you went door to door, we could find her. And I had a long conversation with my cousin.

He cal ed me at six A.M.—nine his time—and we talked for an hour until sunrise.”

Chase leaned back in his chair, a smirk on his face. “Wow, Stevens, you real y lead an exciting life for a vampire.”

Wade eyed him, a slight tinge of red soaking into the gray of his eyes. “Dude, you are lucky I’m not into testosterone games. I could take you down like a pit bul . I may look like a professional geek, but I could rip apart this room in no time.” He shifted, the leather of his pants making a subtle noise, and flashed his fangs. I felt a faint quickening through my body. Wade was becoming a badass, and though he was stil learning how to wear it, it made him kind of sexy.

Rein it in, girl, I thought. Between Roman, Nerissa, and a tryst here and there with Rozurial, I had enough on my plate. I’d taken Vanzir off the roster—at least until the whole mess with Camil e played itself out. And I so did not want to be there when Smoky discovered that Vanzir had thrown Camil e against a wal and done her. I ful y expected bloodshed and wouldn’t be surprised if Vanzir bit the big one, and I—for one—was staying out of the way. Big, bad, angry dragon was nothing to mess with.

“How does that hold up for an alibi?” Wade fiddled with the zippers on the sleeves of his jacket.

Chase shrugged and stuck his notebook back in his pocket. “Good with me. To be honest, I real y didn’t think you were our guy, but as I said earlier, I have to check out every lead. And this guy sounded pretty convincing. Said the hookers were bloodwhores and that you were overheard saying that the only good bloodwhore is a dead one. I didn’t believe it, but I have to check out every lead. But why would someone want to frame you?”

I glanced at Chase, then at Wade. “Ten to one it was Terrance. He doesn’t know yet that you’re stepping down from the race. And so this is just one more way of trying to discredit you within the Supe Community.”

“Yeah, wel he can suck me dry. Remember”—Wade held my gaze—“you promised that if I withdraw, Terrance wil fal .”

“I know—and I promise.”

“Al right then, if we’re done here, I’ve got shit to do.” He slipped out the door, as silently as a whisper. Chase and I watched him go.

“Do I want to know what’s going down with Terrance and the Fangtabula?” Chase gazed at me.

“No, not real y. I’m going to check on Morio. Meet me over there?”

“Sure. I’l just file this tipster under L for loser.” He hesitated, then added, “Can I tel you something without you tel ing Delilah?”

“What is it with al of the secrets people have been shoving my way lately? You can tel me, but I don’t promise to keep my mouth shut. Not unless I think whatever it is won’t hurt her.” I was getting tired of being everybody’s confidante. Not my nature.

“She’l find out eventual y. I . . . I asked Sharah out on a date. I’m not ready to see anybody on a regular basis. I don’t know if I ever wil be, but I’m lonely and she was mentioning a movie she wanted to see, and I want to see it and it’s not like I’m going to sleep with her or anything—”

Flustered, he slid into a chair and shook his head. “Maybe it’s a bad idea.”

“Whoa, whoa! Slow down, dude. Johnson, listen to me.” I reached out and held him by the shoulders. “It’s okay. Real y. Delilah and Shade—it’s like they were meant to be together. I know she won’t begrudge you this. You don’t have to explain to me, or to anybody. Okay?”