Chapter Nine

Unfortunately, it wasn’t like I’d never seen a dead body before, but this was a particularly gruesome sight. The woman had been killed mid-shift. Her hands were curled into claws, and her jaw was elongated, teeth bared, but her face was still human. There was a gaping hole in her chest where her heart should be.

I finally regained control and clamped my mouth shut, but my scream had drawn attention. Luckily, it was just Skyler along with Connor and his pack, including Vaughn. He moved quickly over to me. He looked much better than he had ten minutes ago. Less hairy, too.

Vaughn pressed my face into his chest, but I couldn’t block out what I’d seen. Travis Jure standing over a dead werewolf whose fur was soaked with blood.

Mixed in with the smell of blood was a heavy, floral scent. It was probably the victim’s perfume, but something about the smell made me shiver with dread. It wasn’t perfume, I realized. It was magic. Bad magic.

Just when I thought my life couldn’t get any more f-ed up, Travis seemed determined to ruin it. Only Travis would kill a werewolf in front of Connor’s entire pack. Vaughn had barely regained control, and I was worried Travis was going to set him off again.

But when I looked up at Vaughn, his eyes were fixed on me. “You okay?”

“I didn’t do anything,” Travis stubbornly insisted.

“Travis, you’re covered in blood, and you were standing over a dead werewolf,” I said. “Your alibi is weak.” I tried to infuse my voice with every bit of power I had as I said, “Tell me the truth.” It was either that or let the werewolves rip him apart.

“Her blood smelled delicious,” he said. “I wanted it. So I took some.”

“Was she alive?” I asked.

“This is a waste of time,” Lucas snapped.

“Shut up, Lucas,” Vaughn said.

Out of the corner of my eye, I watched Vaughn. His big body strained with the effort of not ripping Travis apart, and I was grateful he was letting me handle it. His eyes went silver, though, and I realized I didn’t have much time left.

Travis made a move and tried to pin Xavier against the trunk of a tree. I snapped my fingers at the vampire.

“Come here,” I said.

“Make me,” Travis snarled.

I extended my index finger and beckoned him. I summoned every bit of my power to command and said, “Come here.” I tried not to use my vampire powers too often, because it was a slippery slope. When I used my witchy powers, I tapped into something that was part of nature, alive, fresh, and green. But when I used my vampire ability, it felt icky, artificial, and dark, like I was channeling the worst part of myself. The part that craved power.

His forehead crinkled in confusion when his feet obeyed my command and brought him in front of me.

“Travis, was she alive when you drank her blood?”

“No, she was dead,” he said.

Vaughn sucked in a breath, and Connor growled, low and threatening. The hair on the back of my neck stood up. One wrong move and he would tear Travis limb from limb.

The moon had decided it was time to shine, and I could tell the moonlight was making the werewolves more edgy than they already were, which was a hair’s breadth away from snapping Travis like a twig.

“Do you know anything about any other murders?” Connor asked. “There’s been a werewolf murder on the first night of the full moon every month for the last three months.”

The vampire pressed his lips together and shook his head.

“Do you, Travis?” I echoed, then again, “Tell me the truth.” I pushed up against his vampire will. “Now.”

“I’ve heard rumors,” he finally said. “Nothing concrete.”

“What kind of rumors?”

“That it was another werewolf,” Travis spit out.

I felt the hot fury coming off Connor in waves. “He’s lying,” he said.

For a long, tense minute, he and the vampire locked eyes. Skyler put a hand on Connor’s arm, and his body relaxed minutely before she managed to lead him away.

“Travis, go home,” I ordered. I realized I might need to get ahold of him again and added, “Where are you staying?”

He jerked his head, and I noticed a familiar tour bus parked near the front of The Last Stop. It hadn’t been there when we’d arrived.

“Don’t leave town,” I said. “As your queen, I command you.”

“I can’t leave,” Travis said. “We have a bunch of gigs here. Our country-and-western band is really taking off.”

“Just make sure you don’t,” I replied. “Now, you may go.”

And just like that, Travis went back inside the bar.

I turned to Connor. “I don’t think he did it.”

“Because he’s not a killer?” he asked sarcastically.

“No, he’s a killer,” I replied. “But I believe him.”

“You believe him?” Vaughn asked. His brows furrowed. “After everything?”

“Why would you protect someone who tried to kill you?” Skyler asked.

“Because I’m the queen of the vampires,” I said. “And like it or not, Travis is one of my subjects. I have to treat him fairly.”

“You’re sure he didn’t do it?” Connor asked. “Someone’s life may depend on it.” I wasn’t sure if he was talking about mine or someone else’s.

“As sure as I can be,” I said.

I still couldn’t look at the body on the ground. I wanted to ask what we should do about her, but Connor took out his phone and dialed a number. “We have another one,” he told whoever was on the phone, then gave them our location and hung up. “Vaughn, take Tansy and Skyler back inside,” he said.

Vaughn took me gently by the arm. “C’mon, Tansy,” he said. “You’ve had a shock.”

“We can’t just leave her there,” I protested.

“Our pack will take care of her,” Connor said. “And we will find whoever did this to her.”

“We already know who did it,” Lucas snarled. “And he has fangs and a cowboy hat.”

He was wrong, but Lucas had made up his mind, so arguing with him wouldn’t do any good. Instead, I let Vaughn lead me inside.

Granny and the OCBC were still on the dance floor, but Rose and Thorn were at our table, trying to talk with Beckett over the music. It felt like we’d been gone for hours, but it had been less than thirty minutes.

Vaughn pulled out a chair for me and then eased into the spot next to me. He looked pale and his mouth was in a tight line, but he was keeping his human form.

The Thirsty Thieves were back onstage, and the country-and-western version of a mosh pit had formed in the front. As Travis’s voice got louder, guys started slamming their bodies against each other, and then the inevitable fight broke out.

A bouncer, the same one who’d been at the door earlier, broke up the fight and made the group go back to their tables.

“We’ll leave as soon as Connor gives us the all-clear,” I said. I touched his hand with just the tips of my fingers. “I wish you would have told me,” I said in a low voice.

“I was hoping it wasn’t true,” he admitted. “That it’d all just go away. But it didn’t.”

Finally, the night started to wind down. The band left the stage, and a few minutes later, Granny returned with her silver fox still trailing behind her. “That was fun,” she said. “Let’s settle up the tab and get out of here.”

Her dance partner, whose name I still didn’t know, said, “Your tab’s already been taken care of.”

Granny went pink. “You didn’t have to do that.”

“My pleasure,” he said. “I hope you had a lovely evening. I know I did.”

I wanted to talk more with Vaughn, but Connor came back to the table. “Ready to go?” he asked Vaughn.

Vaughn met my eyes. “I’m spending the night at Connor’s place,” he said. “With the rest of the p—the guys.” His arm went around me, and he gave me a brief hug. “I’ll call you tomorrow.”

“Famous last words,” Skyler muttered.

Vaughn glanced at her. “I’m going to call Tansy tomorrow,” he said. “And then she can tell you all about how I groveled.”

“You plan on groveling?” I asked.

“Yes,” he said firmly.

“Good.” We smiled at each other before he leaned in and kissed me, just a peck. “Drive home safe.”

“Why don’t we walk you to your car?” Connor suggested, which I assumed meant the coast was clear.

We left as a group, and I noticed that Beckett, Lucas, and Xavier scanned the parking lot as we walked. Vaughn grabbed my hand and held it tightly.

After Connor’s pack, which now included my boyfriend, escorted us to Skyler’s car, they walked the rest of our group to Edna’s minivan. I watched them as Skyler pulled out. They didn’t get into the Challenger until we’d left.

I sat back in the seat and exhaled long and loud. “What a night,” I said. “Can you believe The Drainers are back?”

“It’s pretty ballsy of them,” Skyler said, “even with the new look and sound. Did they think we wouldn’t be able to recognize them?”

“Who knows how Travis’s mind works?” I had no doubt that Travis was the driving force behind the Thirsty Thieves. “When his father was king, Travis got away with murder. But that’s not going to happen during my reign.”

“Why didn’t you just stake him?” Skyler asked. “Problem solved.”

“Have you ever killed anyone?” I asked. Fury made my voice shake.

“No,” she admitted.

“It’s not so easy,” I said. “It stays with you, even when it’s self-defense, even when you know they deserved it. I don’t want to become the kind of ruler who can kill without thinking twice.”

“Like Jure,” she said. She was quiet a long time. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have suggested that you just kill someone. Even Travis.”

“We need to solve this,” I said. If I didn’t find out who was behind the murders, I’d have a vampire-werewolf war on my hands.