The Darkest Kiss (Riley Jenson Guardian 6)

Gerard James himself was buck-naked and sprawled, arms spread wide, across the desk, his shiny-white butt facing the window for all the world to see. Or at least, for those in the offices opposite. I was betting the embarrassing pictures would be front-page news tomorrow morning.

The scents of sex and lust lingered on the air, and underneath it was a hint of jasmine and orange. A feminine scent, as Cole had suggested. But there was something else, something that made my nose twitch and my psychic senses tingle.

Not death, but something very like it.

I frowned and looked at the body, waiting for the energy of the dead to stir past my senses. Waiting for his soul to come out and speak.

It didn't.

In fact, there was an odd feeling of emptiness to the whole room, as if someone had come in here and sucked out all the warmth. Removed any lingering remnants of life.

I shivered and rubbed my arms. Clairvoyance could be a pain in the ass, sometimes - especially when it wasn't giving me anything more than spooky little "something is wrong" feelings.

Kade stopped behind me, the heat of his body pressing into my spine. "There is an odd feel to this room."

I looked up at him. Kade was sensitive to emotions rather than souls or death, so if he was feeling something in this room, it had be very strong. And it would also be something very different from whatever I was sensing. He was also telekinetic, which had proven to be extremely handy when he was fighting vampires that were naturally faster than him. "In what way?"

He frowned, his gaze sweeping the room before coming back to rest on the body. "There is a strong sense of ecstasy and lust in here."

"Well, there would be, if they did it against the tables, the walls, the doors, and whatever else bit of furniture they could get a grip on."

His velvet gaze was half-hooded and his lush mouth pursed. Not really listening, not really hearing, just concentrating on whatever it was he was feeling. "This is more than that. It's like he was on a high, and couldn't come down."

My gaze went to Gerard. "Drugs?" It certainly wouldn't be the first time a politician had been caught using an illegal substance. And it might just explain the stupid risk he'd taken, coming into his office and leaving the blinds wide open.

"I wouldn't sense a drug high, but I'm sensing this." He frowned. "There is something entwined in the high, something I've never felt before."

"What do you mean?"

He hesitated a moment, then his gaze came back to mine. "Something very old, very powerful, and extremely deadly has been in this room."

Chapter 2

Iraised an eyebrow in surprise. "Well, it's obviously not a dead something, because otherwise I'd be feeling it."

My clairvoyance was tuned to souls and dead things - which was probably why I'd been sensitive to the presence of vampires, even when my clairvoyance hadn't yet been forced out of the closet by the ARC1-23 drug.

I stepped closer to Gerard's body and caught a stronger whiff of the woman's perfume. The jasmine and orange scents were sharper, but mixed in amongst them were notes of lilac and roses. I frowned. "I know that perfume."

"I didn't think you wore perfume." Kade's reply was almost automatic. He stepped around me, his nostrils flaring as he pulled some rubber gloves from the box sitting on the edge of the desk.

"I don't, but I walked past the Chanel store the other day, and some lady was testing something that smelled just like this."

Of course, I hadn't hung around to find out just what it was. That much perfume coming out of such a confined space had just about blown my olfactory senses. And the next time I walked past that shop, I'd be doing so from the safety of the other side of the street. I grabbed some gloves and snapped them on. Kade was bending over the body, studying Gerard's neck.

"What have you seen?"

"Scratch marks."

I moved around the desk to look. Gerard's shiny butt loomed large. Fitness and careful eating had obviously not figured on his agenda. Still, some of the most powerful men in history had also been some of the most un-appealing when it came to physical attributes. In life, it was the power of these men that attracted. In death, that power was never obvious.

"What sort of scratch marks?"

"Cat, I think." He pointed to the three slashes etched deep into Gerard's neck. "The wound smells fresh."

The scent of blood, though faint, was evident this close to the body. I leaned closer still, and lightly pressed one of the wounds. They opened a little at my touch, showing how deeply the claws had sliced into flesh. "The wounds haven't healed, so he didn't shift shape at any time before his death." I glanced up at Kade. "You think it possible his partner was a cat-shifter?"

"Well, I doubt he has a pet cat. Bird-shifters and feline pets have something of an aversion to each other."