Deadly Desire (Riley Jenson Guardian 7)

I ignored his question and asked, "Have the magi handed in their report from the warehouse yet?"

He propped on the edge of Iktar's desk and crossed his legs. He looked casual-if you ignored the tension riding his shoulders or the anger lurking in his green eyes. "Not that I'm aware of. Why?"

"Because the woman behind the zombies tried to kill a friend of our second zombie victim last night-and I suspect she's been tracking them all through a magic-infused business card. I left one with the dead zombie last night for Marg to pick up."

"Did the card feel similar to the magic you sensed at the vampire murders?"

I hesitated, then shook my head. "Although it has a dark edge to it, it doesn't have the same traits as the one at the vamp scenes."

"Magic doesn't have personal traits, like scents do."

"Maybe not to someone without a keen nose, but trust me, there's differences."

"So we have two rogue practitioners on the loose." He took another sip of coffee, then added, "You don't think there's a connection?"

"Between the vamp killings and the teenage girls? Hell, I don't know." It didn't seem logical at this point, but stranger things had certainly happened. I leaned back in my chair. "But I do think there could be connections between these two women, and that would mean the cases might be, as well. What are the chances of two dark sorcerers being active at the same time in the same city?"

"It has happened, but it isn't a common event. Sorcerers, unlike witches, tend to have their territories, and they don't like rivals intruding."

"Then maybe we need to source out Melbourne's witches, and see what they know about the new dark powers on the block."

"Our magi are already onto that. So far, there's been nothing."

"There has to be something. I mean, aren't there ley lines crisscrossing the city, from which magi draw their strength? Surely they should feel if someone new was dabbling."

"This is more than dabbling," Jack said with a smile. "But remember, most sorcerers draw from blood or personal magic. They do not use the earth energy, as most witches do."

"Witches don't only draw from the earth, though."

"No, many use white magic, which also draws on personal strength. It depends on the strength of spell required. Earth magic is a wild thing, and not every witch has the capability to control it."

"Do any of our witches?" I asked, curious.

He took a sip of his coffee, then nodded. "I'll roust our magi for their reports and see if they confirm what you suspect about the business card. What do you plan to do next?"

"I'm going out to talk to the parents of the other victims, just to see if any of them know what sort of work their kids had been involved in before their death."

He nodded. "Did Shore's girlfriend provide any useful information?"

"She said he was a regular visitor to strip joints, and liked bringing the dancers home. The last one he took home was from Meinhardt's."

"Both Armel and Garrison were regulars there, too." He glanced across at Kade. "You feel like a little investigative trip tonight?"

Kade grinned. "Boss, anything is better than sitting behind this goddamn desk chasing names that don't exist."

"Just remember you're there to get information about our victims, not just ogle the scenery."

"I'm versatile. I can do both."

Jack harrumphed-a sound of disbelief if ever I'd heard one-then glanced at me. "Anything else?"

I shook my head. "Ben said Meinhardt's opened about six months ago, but he couldn't tell me who the owners are. I'm going to do a search through business registrations to get names, then do a background check."

"Let me know if you find anything," he said, then uncrossed his legs and walked out.

I went through the eye scan and signed into my computer, then pulled up the records for the last two zombie victims. I jotted down their addresses and the names of their parents, then I retreated to the search function and typed in Meinhardt's. As the cursor began to blink, I glanced at Kade, who was still grinning like a Cheshire cat.

"And what is Sable going to think about you going off to some strip joint while she stays home and minds the baby?"