Deadly Desire (Riley Jenson Guardian 7)

"Good." I pushed to my feet but grabbed at the wall again as the room spun around me. "I wouldn't release the mom from her bindings until the body has been removed. She's a werewolf and more than a little violent."

"She is a mother protecting her son-or what she believes is her son. It's instinct."

"Maybe, but I wouldn't be pouring too much sympathy her way, or you might just find an axe in your skull."

Marg's dark eyes gleamed. I wasn't sure whether it was amusement or determination or a combination of both. "She will see the truth by the time we leave, trust me on that."

I believed her. Marg mightn't look much of a threat, but there was an amazing amount of strength locked within her spindly body.

I got out of there. It might be the middle of the afternoon, but my bed was calling and I had no intention of keep it waiting.

Jack called about eight that evening. I'd been up for all of five minutes, but I'd managed enough swallows of coffee to get the brain cells working.

"The zombie has been magically restrained and we're making arrangements with the parents to have him reburied," he said, without preamble. "And there's been another murder."

Oh, fuck. "Not another teenager." Please, don't let it be another teenager. I didn't need that sort of guilt right now.

"What teenager are we talking about this time?" Jack said, confusion evident in his tone. I didn't have the vid-phone activated-I figured he didn't need to know that I'd slept most of the afternoon.

"The one I saw in the zombie's mind. The one the sorcerer who raised him was planning to kill next."

"You read the zombie's mind?" Surprise ran through Jack's voice.

"Well, no, because technically the zombie is dead and doesn't actually have a mind. I encountered the sorcerer in whatever it is that remains."

"You shouldn't have been able to do that."

I frowned. "Do what? Touch the sorcerer's thoughts and find out her intent?"

"No, delve down into the remains of a dead man's mind. Not even vampires can do that."

"Yeah, but vampires generally don't have my affinity for the dead." I paused. "Besides, it wasn't exactly easy and it left me really drained afterward."

And if I shouldn't have been able to do it, then the dizziness I'd felt afterward wasn't Quinn taking too much blood, it was me doing the impossible. Again.

"That's beside the point." There was worry in his voice. "We'd better schedule some more testing."

I rolled my eyes. "We're testing every couple of months as it is. Surely that's enough?"

"Not if you're now able to read the minds of dead folks."

I resisted the urge to point out once again that I hadn't actually read the zombie's mind, and changed the topic instead. "So who is dead this time?"

"Another vampire, although it isn't one of the older ones."

"And not someone you knew?"

"Not personally, no, though I believe the council had him marked as one to watch, as he had gained a lot of money extremely fast."

I raised my eyebrows. "Why would that make him a person of interest to your council?"

"Because he certainly didn't acquire his wealth through any known legal route."

I grinned. "From what I hear, that's not exactly unusual among the vampire ranks." Hell, even Quinn had admitted to a brief life of crime.

"These days, we prefer not to draw such attention to ourselves. It doesn't reflect well on our image."

"Boss, you're never going to change humanity's opinion of vampires. It's too ingrained. Besides, it's a good evolutionary trait not to trust things that eat your kind."