The Lion's Den (12 page)

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“
Well it’s about time we got some damn help!” Matthew was practically shouting upon hearing the news they were going to have to partner up with two other detectives.

“
I didn’t want to have to partner up with anyone on this, Matt,” Warren said, frowning slightly.

“
Why? Is your ego bruised? Because I have to tell you, I’m relieved.”

Warren stopped at a red light. “Why do you assume I have a hero complex? Jesus, Matt! It’s not about me!”

Sensing his partner agitation, Matthew apologized. “Warren, I’m sorry. I don’t know… I guess you seemed kind of cocky talking with Johnson, earlier. I just assumed you enjoyed us being called the ‘Golden Boys’.”

“
Well I don’t … ,” Warren paused, smiling slightly. “Okay, in all honesty, I do. But that still isn’t the point. If this is a challenge to Darian’s coven, it’s going to be kind of difficult for us to steer the suspicions away from Darian. As a matter of fact, Johnson and Weinstein might try to make Darian a suspect. He is the Master vampire in Chicago. The S.U.I.T. for all its resources and knowledge knows nothing about our world.
Supernatural Etiquette, Safe Passages, Challenges of Authorities, Sanctuaries,
all of that, It’s foreign to them and they won’t understand.”

“
Give them and us some credit, Warren. Besides, we don’t have a choice,” Matthew said. He wanted to kiss his lover; he wanted to tell him everything was going to be fine. But he couldn’t, not out in the open. Pretenses were still important, even more so now than before.

“
I need to let Xander know about all of this, you call Richard.”

Matthew pulled out his cell phone, doing as Warren suggested. Richard answered in a groggy voice. “I’m sorry, were you asleep?”

“
And enjoying it, what’s happening now?” Richard asked. He wasn’t annoyed, he simply wanted the updates.

For a split second, Matthew was jealous that his Alpha was getting a good night’s sleep while he sat shotgun, exhausted with bloodshot eyes. He answered him. “We’re leaving the fourth crime scene now heading back to the precinct. Also, they’ve just found a fifth body. Warren and I have been paired up with two other detectives and we have to share everything we have in this case with them,”

“
I see. Make certain that both you and Warren are very careful about what kind of information you share, especially your sources. Make sure everything you share can be substantiated with solid facts,” Richard cautioned.

“
Yeah, Warren and I kind of touched on the trickiness of this pairing earlier. I’ll pass that along.”

“
You sound exhausted, when was the last time you’ve slept… or eaten?”

“
I haven’t seen a pillow in two days and the last meal I had was a few hours ago.”

“
Matthew, you’re not old or strong enough to test your nature. You need rest and real food if you plan on maintaining any amount of control,” Richard’s tone was measured but serious.

“
I know, as a matter of fact, we’re pulling into a
Nickey G’s
right now.”

Richard sighed. “I said
real food,
Matthew. You need a steak, preferably rare in order to sate your hunger, not a reprocessed burger.”

“
Oookaaay, we are currently pulling
away
from the
Nickey G’s,
empty handed,” Matthew informed.

Warren started chuckling in spite of his own fatigue. He was certain that Richard could hear him, and he didn’t mind. It was funny to him.

“
Tell Warren I said he should have known better than to take you there,” Richard said, smiling at the foolishness of the two pups. At over three hundred years, almost every shifter he knew was a pup to him, especially those less than half a century old like Warren and Matthew.

“
Tell him we’re going back home to eat a real meal and get some real sleep. Shit, I’m fucking tired,” Warren passed along.

Matthew pulled the cell from his ear. “I thought we were going back to the precinct?”

“
We were, I changed my mind.”

“
Well damn, do I get a say in this?”

“
What the hell, Matt? You want to try to solve this case as a zombie? Shit, I don’t know about you, but I can barely keep my eyes open, we’re shape-shifters, not fucking superheroes! We need sleep, we need to eat, we need to go the fuck home and deal with what we can later.” Warren steered the car effortlessly along the highway heading home.

Matthew looked at him. “I guess it’s good that our captain pulled in reinforcements, Mr. ‘We-Can-Handle-This-On-Our-Own’.”

Silently, Warren tossed him a look that said,
“Shut the hell up”.

Richard listened to the two men argue. He wondered if they remembered he was still on the cell phone.

Remembering that his Alpha had been rudely put on hold, Matthew put the cell phone back to his ear. “Richard? I’m sorry about that,” he apologized.

“
He’s right, you know. Call me once you’ve had a good rest and a real meal. Goodbye.” Richard ended the call. p>

Matthew slipped his cell back into his pocket. He looked at Warren, who was smiling slyly. “Oh, wipe that smug-ass grin off your face.”

“
Don’t be mad because he agreed with me.”

“
Getting help was
my
idea.”

“
Yeah, but going home was mine. Besides, your stomach’s growling so loud, I think it might attack us.” Warren laughed at his own sleep-deprived joke.

Matthew chuckled. “Yeah, you
really
do need to go to sleep. Whenever you come up with stupid shit like that, I know you’re beyond tired.”

Warren decided not to muster a comeback. Truth was, he was too exhausted. They drove home for a nice meal and a long sleep, not necessarily in that order.

***

Darian and Xavier hid in the trees as they watched the fifth body being dragged out from the Lake. The coroner’s team consisted of two fresh members and a very worn-out one; Galen, the leader. The man looked as if he was going to fall over at any second. He made a quick inspection of the body and left the rest up to his team. Darian read his mind as he walked away. Galen’s suspicions were the same as Warren’s; that the vampire was at least strong enough to stay awake during the day, if not strong enough to come out into the sunlight. It was perplexing to Galen because it was also impossible. All of the information given to them from the
Council
as well as what they’d gathered from the failed lab experiments years ago didn’t reveal vampires had that kind of ability.

Galen was beginning to learn a truth he’d rather not been exposed to. Darian admired the human for his intelligence and loyalty. He did, however wonder how far it would go. Would he be able to handle the truth? And what would he do with that kind of information? Would he have to do anything at all? Darian believed that the S.U.I.T. would began to put the pieces of this puzzle together on their own if any more bodies were found murdered during the daylight hours. He and Xavier surveyed the investigation for as long as they could. They watched the two new detectives question the police helicopter crew who discovered the body of an African-American male floating face down in the lake. After two hours of observing the investigation, the approaching sun forced Darian and Xavier to retreat to their home. Darian decided he’d go out again, at sunset.

***

Barry finished getting all of the information he could from the officers who called in the body. He thanked them for their help and made his way to his partner who was speaking with Janet and Victor from Marshall’s team. He stood beside his partner, taking in the rest of the information they were giving.

“
So, you’ll be able to tell me more later on, right?” Gabriel asked.

“
After we perform our autopsy, we’ll see what else we can come up with and let you know,” Janet said before turning to leave, her partner following.

Gabriel looked at Barry. “Five victims in twenty-four hours. What the hell is this, some kind of game for these sons of bitches?!”

Barry shrugged. “I don’t know, maybe. Are you happy you’re on this case now?”

“
Yes and no. If we don’t catch these bastards, we’ll be held accountable if they continue to kill. And if we do … correction, when we do, I’m looking forward to the credit we’ll greatly deserve. Is that so wrong? To get a little recognition for what
we
contribute. I’m tired of Davis and Eric getting all of the high-profile cases, the media attention, the awards and accolades. It’s not fair, like we can’t do any better,” Gabriel said, with a hint of agitation.

“
Well, got that off your chest?” Barry smiled. “Don’t hold back, let it all out.”

“
Man, fuck you. You get what I’m saying and you know I’m right.”

“
Yeah. Frankly, I just want to catch these bastards, I don’t care what happens after that as far as accolades go.”

“
Call me greedy, but I want have my cake and eat it, too.” Gabriel looked at the approaching sun. “I guess it’s about five o’clock. We should head back to the precinct, catch up on the files, see what Davis and Eric figured out.”

“
Finally something productive besides bitching.” Barry walked off in the direction of their car.

“
I wasn’t bitching,” Gabriel protested, following behind him. The two climbed inside their squad car and drove to the precinct to go over all the files. They ordered breakfast, ate while they worked their case, bouncing ideas off each other. A few minutes later, they got another call. They looked at each other over their desks, then rose, heading to yet another crime scene.

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ight

Warren flopped over Matthew’s body, slapping the “off” button on the alarm clock. He slid off his lover, face first into the pillow.

“
What time it is?” Matthew asked, stirring under the covers.

“
Too damn early. What time did you set the alarm clock?” Warren asked, voice muffled by the soft cloth of the pillow.

“
Seven.”

“
Like I said, too damn early. Set it again for ten.”

“
Warren, we should get started on this case.”

“
Matt, set it for ten,” Warren wasn’t giving his lover an option. He still felt exhausted, having had barely four hours of sleep. He didn’t think another three hours would hurt, it would only help. Closing his eyes, he allowed himself to be taken back into a deep slumber.

Matthew looked at him, rolling his eyes. Tossing his legs over the side, he rose and collapsed back onto the bed. His willpower not strong enough to claim victory over his exhausted mind and body. Doing as his lover suggested, he set the clock for ten and went back to sleep.

Three hours later, Matthew turned off the annoying buzzer. “All right, It’s ten now, we need to get up.” Feeling much more energized, he climbed out of bed, heading into the bathroom.