Once Bitten (Shadow Guild: The Rebel 1)

Her brows shot upward. “A murder?”

“Yeah. Guy with a dragon tattoo circling his neck had his head bashed in.” I described the crime scene and nearly mentioned Beatrix, but I held my tongue. Didn’t need to spill my guts. “And he had this on him,” I said, holding up the matchbook.

Her expression didn’t change, but she was suddenly alert. “You with the police?”

Inside, I cringed. This was the part of investigations that I hated. Often, I thought my job would be easier if I could pull out a badge and demand answers. People never understood when you tried to explain that you’d failed out of police training for being a weirdo.

At least, I assumed they wouldn’t understand. I wasn’t dumb enough to try to explain that to them.

“No, I’m not with the cops.”

Her expression seemed to clear, and she looked more comfortable.

Thank God. I could use a break. “Do you know the guy?”

She shrugged. “Not so much. Do you have any other leads?”

“Another man was at the scene. Tall, broad shouldered, silver eyes, with…”

Fangs. Could I even say that?

I glanced behind me at the crowd of weirdos.

Yeah. I could say that.

“He was wearing fangs,” I said.

“Wearing them?”

“Yeah. Like here.” I made a V with my fingers and pointed to my canines.

“You mean he had fangs.”

“Sure. Yes.” These people were serious about their cosplay, so I wasn’t going to offend her by being pedantic. I remembered the feeling that she was telling the truth about the three-eyed demon woman but shoved it aside in favor of retaining my sanity.

“That could be a lot of people. Do you have another description?”

That he was sexy and seemed to be haunting my waking dreams? “No.”

“But you saw him?”

“Not well. I don’t…remember any more details.” And I wasn’t going to share that he’d spoken to me.

“But they might be in your head?”

“In my memories, maybe.”

“I can help,” she said.

“Really? Are you like an amateur hypnotist? Or a police artist?”

“I’m a seer. I can see into your mind. Maybe I’ll recognize the guy.”

“Um…” Was she crazy?

She crossed her arms and leaned back against the counter behind her. “What’s your deal?”

“What do you mean?”