Darkness Hunts (Dark Angels 4)

Stupid of me to expect otherwise, I suppose. “This isn’t his first kill, though. The Directorate is on the case.”

“At least you could provide a description—”

“No, I couldn’t,” I interrupted. Because he didn’t have a face on the fields.”

“That is unusual.” She frowned. “How indistinct were his features?”

“Totally—he had no facial features whatsoever. It was as if someone had completely erased them.”

“But that’s not possible.” She hesitated. “Well, obviously, it is, but it is extremely rare.”

“Why?” I asked curiously. “I mean, you can change your outward appearance, can’t you? Things like clothes, shoes, even hair color?”

“Yes, but it is almost impossible to change your actual features. Normally your spirit won’t allow it.”

“Well, this guy’s spirit did.” I paused, remembering the sensations that had rolled over me. “I actually felt him out there long before the woman screamed. It was as if the astral plane was rejecting his presence. It set up this really weird vibration.”

Adeline chewed her lip for a moment, then said, “And the woman? What was she actually doing?”

I described what I’d seen, then added, “The woman claimed they were having sex, but that sure as hell wasn’t what it looked like.” I paused. “Is it even possible to have sex on the astral plane?”

“It’s possible, but you have to be very careful about who and what you form such a connection with. Once you open that door, it may never close.”

I shivered. “Could this guy be some form of incubi?”

“Again, it’s possible, but both incubi and succubi tend to take physical advantage of us on this plane. It is rare for them to act on the astral plane.”

“Rare means it’s still possible.”

“Yes, but from what you described, he was not sexually interacting with the woman, despite what the woman believed.”

“Is there any way to stop him?”

“On the astral plane? Not that I’m aware of. I would think you’d have to find him in the real world.”

And that wasn’t going to be easy. Nor was it my job. Leave it to Rhoan, I reminded myself, and set the cup back down. “Thanks again for your help, Adeline.”

“No problem.” She escorted me to the door, then added, “I’m here if you need anything else.”

I gave her a smile and headed down the street to my SUV. The Toyota wasn’t my preferred mode of transport—that honor went to the silver Ducati I’d bought when RYT’s, the café I co-owned and ran with Ilianna and Tao, had made its first profit. Unfortunately, the Ducati and I had a serious parting of ways thanks to a pack of demons, and she was still in the shop getting repaired. She was an old bike, and her parts were hard to get, so I was going to be without her for a while. Which was why I was seriously considering buying another one. I preferred the feel and freedom of a bike as opposed to the sedate safety of a vehicle like the SUV. Even Tao’s Ferrari couldn’t give the high of the bike—not on Melbourne streets, anyway.

A breeze stirred the air, cooling the early-morning heat but doing little to ease the furnace-like intensity of the man who walked close behind me. Part of me wished I could ignore him, that we could just go back to the time when the attraction was muted and he was more antagonistic. More distant. But there was no way on earth to put that particular genie back in the bottle.

After a moment, I asked, “What did you mean before, when you said I had no idea of the risk we were running?”

“Just that. This attraction breaks all the rules—”

“Your rules, not mine.”

“Yes.” He paused. “I thought we had agreed that we should—”

“No,” I snapped back. “You decided we should attempt to ignore this. I had no choice.”

“Because of the danger—”

“To whom?” I swung around and stabbed a finger into his chest. It felt like I was hitting steel. “Not to me, buddy boy, and don’t pretend otherwise. You’re protecting your ass here, not mine.”

“True.” His expression was as enigmatic as ever, and yet there was an undercurrent in the air that was both frustration and anger. At himself, at me, at the situation. “But you have no idea of the dangers I face.”