The Darkest Kiss

“I had him rounding up the remaining Trollops last night,” Jack said.

“So they’re all safe?”

“There’s a Je

Not so great. I hesitated. Stopping the bakeneko was a priority, I knew that. But so was my brother. So was stopping him if anything went wrong. “Jack—”

“It’s not a request, Riley. It’s an order. Don’t make me come and get you.”

I blew out a breath. I knew when I was defeated—and I definitely didn’t want a scene at the hospital. Not when my brother was so fragile, mentally.

“I have to go home and change before I can do anything.”

“Do it, then meet Kade in Toorak Road.”

He gave me the full address, and I frowned. “Isn’t that a parking lot?”

“Yeah. Another naked male has turned up, this one found on his car on the top level.”

On? That didn’t sound good. “I gather he’s in the same state as the others?”

“Worse.”

I wanted to ask what could possibly be worse than what we’d already seen, but I had a bad feeling I’d know the answer soon enough. Besides, I had seen worse. Many times. It seemed bad men and women didn’t have a whole lot of respect for the human—and nonhuman—condition. “Crap.”

“Yeah.” He paused. “I talked to some of the other women last night. All the murdered men were Cherry Barnes’s former partners. And all the murdered women were the next lovers of those men.”

Which is basically what I’d guessed after talking to Dia. “So, unable to reach her mistress’s actual killer, the bakeneko is exacting revenge for what she sees as betrayals of her mistress’s trust. And she’s killing the women first so she can take their form and then kill the men?”

“It would appear so.”

And if it hadn’t been for the bakeneko’s catlike sense of self-superiority, we might never have realized who was behind all the murders. “Did the cuts on Cherry’s body match those found on Ivan and De

“Yes. She appears to have been Young’s first victim.”

“Meaning it was Young who set the bakeneko off in the first place?”

“Yes,” Jack said grimly. “Keep your com-link open, Riley. I want to know where you are at all times.”

“Will do.” I hung up and looked at Rhoan. “I have to go.”

He didn’t even look at me. “I’ll be fine.”

I didn’t believe it. Not one little bit.

Qui

“There’s been a murder?” he asked softly.

I nodded, then opened the link between us and said softly, Will you look after Rhoan for me? I know it’s a huge favor, but—

He leaned forward and stopped my words with a kiss. And oh, what a kiss.

It’s not such a huge favor, he said after a while, his breath warm and soft against my lips. Rhoan was a friend long before we got together. I’ll keep him safe for you, have no doubt about that. Out loud, he added, “Be careful.”

It felt like a weight had been lifted from my soul. I smiled and touched his face lightly. “I will.”

He kissed me again, then added, “Ring me when you finish. We’ve things to discuss.”

Things to discuss, decisions to make. But there was one decision that didn’t need to be made. Qui

I let my fingers slip down his cheeks and across his lips. He kissed my fingertips lightly, sending a tingle right down to my toes. I sighed, but forced myself upright. I wanted to stay, not just for my brother but to soak up the warmth and strength that was Qui

“Take care when dealing with the bakeneko,” he added, dark eyes filled with concern. “Remember, she’s consumed a number of souls now, and that will make her both fast and deadly.”

“Hey, I took out a god of death—how bad can a bakeneko be after that?”

He didn’t say anything. I touched my brother’s shoulder lightly, then left. And the feeling that I’d just tempted fate sat like a weight in my stomach.

The top floor of the parking lot had been cordoned off with yellow tape and watchful cops. Blood rode the wind, thick and fresh, and somewhere ahead Kade was speaking, his rich tones bringing a smile to my lips.

A smile that wasn’t likely to stay there given the apparent extent of the blood. This was going to be nasty.

I flashed my badge at the officer guarding the top-floor entrance, then ducked under the tape and walked up the ramp. One of Cole’s men—the bird-shifter—was bagging something that looked suspiciously like a chunk of meat, and I paused.

“Is that what I think it is?”

He glanced up, his expression neutral but his brown eyes afire with anger. “Yeah.”

So it was an arm. Or what remained of it, anyway. The bakeneko was definitely getting more violent with every kill.

“Stop this thing, will you?” he continued, zipping the bag up with more force than necessary. “I don’t want to see what it does next.”

“Neither do I.” My voice was grim. I glanced up the ramp as Cole’s voice rode the air, then glanced back at the bird-shifter. “Do you actually have a name?”

“People call me Dobbs.”

“First name, or last name?”

“Friends don’t use my first name.”

And neither would his enemies, if that tone was anything to go by. “Thanks, Dobbs.”

He nodded and got back to the gruesome task of collecting the smaller bits of flesh and fat globules that were still scattered about.

The wind hit me full force as I entered the top floor, blowing me back a step before I realized it. I shivered and collected the flyaway ends of my coat, quickly zipping it up. Thank God I’d had the chance to change—my blood-soaked dress would have left me frozen.

Kade and Cole were squatting near the rear of a blue Toyota four-wheel drive. Even from this distance, it was evident that neither man was happy.

I walked across, my boot heels clicking briefly against the concrete before the sound was rushed away by the wind. Neither man looked around, though both would have been aware of my presence.

“What’s up?” I stopped behind Cole and bent to peer under the car. Something that resembled a bloody mess of flesh lay about halfway down.

Not the torso that matched the arm. That arm had been male. This mess was female.

Although I could really only tell that by the pretty gold charm bracelet that was somehow still attached to her visible arm.

“Two victims?” I said, hoping to God I was wrong.

“Two victims,” Cole confirmed, rising and stripping off bloody gloves. “We think this one is unrelated.”

I straightened and met the icy blue of his gaze. “As in wrong place, wrong time?”

“Unfortunately, yes.”

“That’s uncharacteristic, isn’t it? I mean, she had witnesses when she did the shoe seller in the window, and she made no move against them.”

“Given we are not dealing with anything remotely human, who’s to say what is, and isn’t, characteristic?” Cole motioned me to follow him.

I glanced at Kade, who was still studying the body intently, then spun and followed the wolf-shifter. I saw the second body long before we reached it. His torso was sprawled across the trunk of the sports car and there was a look of pure terror frozen on his face. Or what remained of it.