Chapter One
The bust was about to go down.
Captain Mahina Garner of the Necropolis Police Department peered toward the warehouse’s back door around the side of the truck she was using for cover. There was no activity that she could see. She glanced at her wristwatch. Ten more minutes until her team was ready to go in.
She hoped that her informant had given her reliable information. She’d been working on this Vampatimine drug operation for a while now. And today was the big payoff. The main operator was supposed to be inside overseeing the production of the illegal street drug.
The leader’s name was Richard Terry, a young vampire of ninety-five, but still powerful enough to have control of most of the illegal vampire drug business in Necropolis. Mahina had been working this case ever since a young human woman was found murdered in one of the city’s seedier hotels with Vampatimine in her system. The killer had used it to subdue her. Produced from a vampire’s saliva, it was the Otherworlder community’s answer to the drug RBH—the date rape drug. She’d been trying to bring the ring down ever since.
The forensics team she worked closely with, headed by Caine Valorian, a vampire, had been able to find the killer of the human girl—it had also been a vampire that cowed her and siphoned all the blood from her body. The team, or OCU, were like any big city crime investigative unit—collecting evidence, analyzing it, and tracing that evidence to the perpetrators. The only difference was that the members were made up of lycans, like her, vampires and witches. It made sense for a city made up of entirely Otherworld-like beings.
But they had yet been able to track down the manufacturer of the drug. Until now.
“Garner. We’re in position.” Detective Ren Calder’s voice crackled through the radio clipped to her jacket collar.
Mahina pressed the respond button. “Good to go in two minutes.”
“Roger that.”
She was happy to have Ren on her team. He was a lycan like herself—strong, quick and agile, with great instincts. He was nice to look at, too, but that certainly wasn’t why she liked working with him. He was a good cop and damn good to have in a fight. She’d worked a number of cases with him before. They’d always come out with positive results and the perpetrators in handcuffs. She hoped for the same results today.
She wanted this bust so badly she could taste it. Not big on vampires to begin with—except for maybe two or three that she worked with in law enforcement and on Caine Valorian’s forensics team—she despised those who preyed on the weak. Which was unusual considering her species. But there was a big difference between chasing rabbits in a park and victimizing humans and other Otherworlder species with a genetic abnormality that could produce a lethal drug.
She glanced at her watch again. One minute to go. The storm was about to begin.
Nodding to the three officers she had with her, she tapped her watch and indicated that they had one minute left. They all nodded in return and readied themselves, checking gear and weapons.
Mahina checked the clip in her gun again. She had ten shots but hoped she wouldn’t have to use any of them. She liked shooting at targets in a closed range, not at real people. She always tried to avoid lethal force. She hoped the suspects wouldn’t make her use her gun.
After another quick check of the time, Mahina nodded to her team. She was ready to go in.
Gun in hand, she moved out first. Checking around the truck, she then ran to the next cover—a stack of wooden pallets used for shipping. Once she was there, she gave the signal for the rest of the officers to move forward. One by one they progressed to the warehouse door.
Mahina counted to three, kicked in the door, then rushed into the building. “NPD!”
She could hear Ren call out the same initials from the front. Everyone inside the building was sufficiently trapped with no way to escape.
It was dark in the warehouse, but that didn’t affect Mahina’s ability to see. All lycans had built-in night vision. There were about a dozen people scrambling in front of her, each trying to find a way to fight or flee. Bags of Vampatimine were tossed, money shoved into pockets and weapons snatched off the long metal tables.
She saw Richard Terry immediately in the chaos. Standing off to the side looking around, he projected an air of boredom, as if he were above all of this. With her hackles up, she made her way straight for him, intent on knocking the arrogant smirk off his thin face.
That was when all hell broke loose.
Gunshots rang out. Mahina didn’t know who was shooting at whom. Bullets whizzed by, forcing her to the ground. She rolled on the cement floor and came up behind a line of four metal drums. Ren had also found his way there, crouching down for cover.
He nodded to her. “Great party as usual, Garner. Looks like they were expecting us.”
That had crossed her mind, too. Her snitch had obviously tipped off Terry and his guys. She was going to have to have a long involved discussion with him once she got out of here. And he wasn’t going to like it much, especially when she tossed him into a jail cell for a few long months.
“What’s the plan?” he asked, peering through a slit between the barrels.
“Take down the bad guys and don’t get shot.”
“The usual, then.”
She smiled at him. She’d always liked his cool and casual manner. It kept her from rushing around like a mad dog. He had a quiet way of keeping her in line. An almost impossible feat that he was able to do with a little humor and a few choice words.
Peeking around the drum, Mahina spied the vampire she was after moving toward the back door. All the officers on her team were otherwise engaged and weren’t watching as their quarry stealthily approached the exit. It would be up to her to bring him down.
Which was exactly the way she liked it anyway.
Adrenaline coursed through her as she prepared to spring out from behind the barrels and make a rush for the vampire. She could sense Ren’s uneasiness beside her.
“Garner?” His voice held a slight edge. He must’ve known what she was about to do.
“Cover me,” she told him as she leaped to her feet and ran full out toward Richard Terry.
As she sprinted across the warehouse floor, Mahina was completely and utterly focused on the vampire. She didn’t see or hear anything else around her. She had to take him down. Nothing else mattered.
She could hear his heart pumping as she drew near. A mixture of excitement and fear infused his scent with an acidity that made her nostrils burn. But she liked the fact that he was afraid. That thought pushed her harder and faster, urging her on.
Someone came at her from the right—a big burly vampire with ham-sized fists. Mahina dodged his first punch, then retaliated with her own solid blow to his temple. His knees buckled and he collapsed on the ground. She leaped over his falling body and continued to sprint toward the door, where her quarry was just about to get away.
At the last second he swung around toward her. Everything after that was a bit of a blur.
“Garner! Get down!”
Ren’s frantic voice exploded in her mind. She didn’t have time to react before she was gathered in someone’s arms and propelled to the cement floor. The impact knocked the air from her lungs.
“Are you hit?”
Trying to catch her breath, she blinked up at Ren, confused. He surveyed her face and neck.
“What?” she asked, her voice barely a whisper.
“Are you injured? Did the bullet graze you?”
“What bullet?”
Rolling off her, Ren reached for the collar of her shirt. He yanked it up toward her face. “You’re damn lucky, Garner.”
She looked incredulously at the burned hole in her shirt. Quickly Mahina ran her hands over her neck and upper chest. There was no bullet hole. Not even a mark.
“Where’s Terry?” She looked around frantically. Had he got away?
“Don’t worry, we got him.”
Two of the officers had the vampire in handcuffs. A gun lay at his feet. Another of the officers picked it up carefully and placed it in a bag for evidence.
She hadn’t even seen the weapon on the vampire. When he’d turned at the door, all she’d focused on was capturing him. And he’d nearly taken her out. There was no doubt in her mind that his weapon had been loaded with silver. One shot to a vital part of her body and she wouldn’t have been able to heal the wound because of the silver poisoning.
Ren stood, then pulled her to her feet. He kept her hand in his just a bit longer than was necessary. An odd heat rushed up her arm. Mahina pulled away from his touch and brushed at her pants.
“Are you all right?” he asked. She could hear the worry in his voice.
“Yeah—why wouldn’t I be?”
He just looked at her, and she saw concern in his eyes. She didn’t like the fact that he thought there was something wrong. It made her feel weak.
Without another look at Ren, Mahina marched through the warehouse to take over the handling of the vampire. This was her bust, and she’d be the one to take him in.
He smiled at her when she neared. She knew he was looking at the bullet hole in her shirt. “Hmm, so close.”
Her resolve shattered. She punched him in the face hard, sending him to his knees. “I’d say that was just right on the money.”
The other officers grabbed the vampire by his arms and hefted him to his feet. He wasn’t smiling when they took him, half carrying, and half dragging, out of the warehouse.
The punch did nothing to dampen the feelings racing around in her mind and body. She’d nearly died. One inch lower and she’d have been down for good. Ren had saved her life. If he’d been one second slower on the uptake, she’d be bleeding out on the cold hard cement floor of the warehouse.
For a woman claiming to have everything under control, Mahina felt as if she was unraveling thread by thread. And it scared her to no end.
Chapter Two
Garner! Get down!
Mahina couldn’t stop the words from repeating in her head. Nor could she muffle the sound of gunshots still ringing in her ears.