Hotter After Midnight (Midnight 1)

“No.” She answered absently as she tried to search the shadows. Had Jake gotten frightened when he’d seen them talk to Niol?

Had they missed their chance to find out exactly what he knew about the case?

“Then what was she?”

“Human.” There’d been no shift in the atmosphere when the woman approached, no telling flow of power, no faint shine emanating from her body. Niol’s companion was most definitely a human.

Did she know what he was?

“What did he mean, about you draining some demon’s power? Thought you said you were an empath, that you just felt—”

He would lock onto that part of the conversation. Her eyes continued to search the booths as she said very softly, “I was defending myself, okay, Gyth? The bastard attacked me, shoved the full force of his power into my head.” As a level nine, the demon had plenty of power to shove. “It was instinct. I fought back, tried to push the energy right back at him.” And she’d managed to blast away all his power before she’d collapsed.

Emily finally looked at him, found him watching her. “It’s not something I like to talk about.” Explanation made, case closed. She didn’t want to bring up the subject again.

“Understood.”

Her shoulders relaxed. Good. Maybe she could get through the rest of the night without any more rehashing of one of the most painful moments of her life. Her stare swept the bar once again, then locked on the shadowy figure of a man.

A man who stood near the back booth. He motioned to her, waving his hand quickly in the air.

“Donnelley’s there.” Relief poured through her. She’d been afraid that Niol’s dark presence had screwed up the meeting.

“I see him.”

Course he did. He could probably see perfectly through the shadows while she had to strain and squint. Shifter skills. Sometimes they sure could come in handy.

A waitress brushed by them as they maneuvered to Donnelley’s table. Emily caught the faint whiff of power around the woman. A witch.

Donnelley was bent low over the table, his hands fisted over the old, scarred wood surface. His jaw tightened when they sat across from him. “I gave the note to her, Gyth, not you.” A Braves baseball cap was pulled low over his head, hiding his blond hair.

Colin leaned back against the black cushions. “It’s my case.”

“And my life!” A bead of sweat rolled down Jake’s cheek. “Do you know what kind of risk I’m taking just by being here?”

“Why?” Colin jerked his thumb toward the dance floor. “Scared your buddies will turn on you if they find out you’re givin’

information to the cops?”

Colin sure didn’t have much finesse.

“I wasn’t planning on talking to you. ” His stare darted to the left, the right. Then landed on Emily. “I wanted to talk to Dr. Drake.”

Beside her, Colin shrugged. “So talk. We’re both listening.”

Jake licked his lips. Hunched even deeper into the booth. “Preston knew about us.”

“Us?” Emily asked softly. She’d figured she’d better jump in, before Colin scared the guy to death with his hard-ass approach.

Sometimes a delicate technique was required. She’d spent years honing that technique.

“Yeah. You know, the Other. ”

Well, that wasn’t exactly news. But she nodded anyway, trying to look encouraging.

“His girl, she was a demon.”

She could feel the sudden, alert tension in Colin’s body. “What’s her name?”

Jake sucked in a sharp breath. The weak beat of his power flickered in the air around them. “You didn’t get this from me, okay?”

“Right.” Colin tapped his index finger on the table.

“Gillian Nemont.” He swallowed. “But I don’t think you’re gonna be able to talk to her.”

Jake pushed to his feet and cast another nervous glance toward the front of the bar. “Shouldn’t have come here,” he muttered. For a moment, his face tightened as he looked back at Emily. “I thought we’d meet alone.”

Colin stood slowly. “Sorry, we’re a package deal.” He positioned his body in front of Jake’s, effectively blocking the demon’s path. “And just why won’t Gillian talk to me? Does she have a thing against cops?”

Jake shook his head. “No, if you can find her, she might talk, but…”

“But what?” Emily pressed.

One shoulder lifted in a faint shrug. “But I think she’s hiding. I haven’t seen her in at least a week, maybe two.”

Jake stepped forward, obviously intending to make his exit, but Colin didn’t move. Colin stood a few inches taller than the demon, and he stared down at him, his head cocked to the right. “That all you got for us, Donnelley?”

Jake nodded. “Yeah, I wanted to make sure the doctor knew to look in the right direction for the killer, that’s all.”

“The right direction?” Emily repeated, frowning slightly at his phrasing. “And just what is the right direction?”

“A human didn’t do this,” Jake said. “It’s one of us. I knew it when I saw the body.”

“Well, damn.” Colin whistled softly. “You’re the guy who got the shot of Preston, aren’t you? You’re the one who took the picture of his body and got it splashed across every newspaper in the city.”

Jake lifted his chin. “I’m a reporter, okay? I was doing my job.”

“Huh. Here I was thinking you were just the cameraman.”

Jake’s golden eyes flashed black. A ripple of weak power swept through the air. The power would have been enough to cause a human to stumble back, maybe even to fall.

Colin didn’t waver from his spot. One black brow rose. “Is that all you’ve got?”

“You don’t want to see what I can do,” Jake snapped. Then he lifted his hand and shoved past Colin.

Emily sighed. That did so not go well. No wonder Danny wanted her to accompany Colin. “Not much for tact, are you?”

He glanced at her. “The guy tried to use his magic on me.”

Shifters were immune to demon magic. Actually, a demon’s magic worked only on humans.

“You know you just showed him that you’re Other. ” And that worried her. Had Jake deliberately tested him?

His lips tightened.

“If you don’t watch it, Gyth, your little secret might get out.”