Zoey Rogue (22 page)

“Go on.”

“I’m getting there,” she returned. “I told him I didn’t sleep with any of them, just made out with them. He asked how many and I was like, I don’t know. Five hundred.” She paused again, remembering. “He didn’t take it well.”

Two of them chuckled while one outright laughed. Startled by reactions the disciplinary council would never have, she stopped and peered into the darkness.

“Go on.”

“That’s it. He was a nice guy. He sent all my stuff to the Professor’s.”
And I slept with a damn Incubus
. “Vikki and the Professor were right. I can’t have a double life.”

“Why did you try, if your Benefactor told you not to?”

“What does it…” she stopped herself. “A better question is why you create Cambions and let them kill women or why the Sucubatti recruit us then don’t give us any sort of outlet for the sex energy. I wanted to be normal, to be able to have a normal relationship, like normal humans do. I had Eric. He didn’t do it for me, but sleeping with the same guy every night and being in a semi-healthy relationship was better than rotating men through my bed every night. I mean, seriously, Vikki was hosting the whole damn football team in her room every other night! You all know one round with an Incubus will cure that, yet we’re left on our own to deal with this shit. If you had any idea what some of those girls do just to -”

“How would you know what one round with an Incubus would do?” one of the floating voices asked.

“People talk,” she replied vaguely.

“Have you crossed that line?”

“It’s forbidden.”

“You have a history of not following rules.”

“Pass,” she said. “I’m sure it’s no different than sleeping with someone else.”

“One moment while we converse.”

She waited for movement or the sound of talking. None came, and she wondered if they were able to talk through their minds.

The restraint Declan forced himself to employ with Zoey last night cost him dearly so far today. The moment he left her in his apartment, he fell into the foulest mood of his life. Patience was the key to dealing with Zoey, except he didn’t think he had the control to rein in his temper much longer.

Especially after hearing about the ex-boyfriend, Eric. Yes, he knew she didn’t belong to him until last night. Still, Declan wasn’t able to prevent his mood from growing darker, the longer they interrogated her. Was this what it felt like, when women ran across him? Primal, crippling need?

The woman was too far away. His body was aching for her in a way that infuriated him. He wasn’t weak. Yet the thought of her sleeping with anyone else, the four meters separating them, the fact she refused to admit to spending the night with him …

Declan’s iPad shorted out. It was the first outward sign of his irritation, but it was enough for Wes – who sat at his right at the inquiry – to notice.

“One moment, while we converse,” Wes said. He used his magic to throw up a sound barrier between them and her. “Anyone else here think this girl is fucking hilarious?”

His brothers laughed.

Declan barely heard Wes. His attention was riveted to Zoey, whose angelic features were scouring the darkness for some sign of them. She wore her hair in a ponytail and still glowed from their lovemaking, her lips roughened and cheeks flushed. The leggings gripped her shapely legs, and the bulky sweater looked sexy on her; he was jealous of how close the material was to her skin when he was so far away.

He shifted uncomfortably, unable to keep from getting hard at the thought of stripping her right here and fucking her, until she was out of his system.

She was armed again, a lesson she apparently hadn’t learned yet.

“Let’s get this over with,” he snapped.

His brothers fell silent, and he realized they’d been talking.

“I know that look,” Wes said for his ears only. “Something you want to tell us?”

“No. Let’s continue.”

“Tell me this little kitten isn’t yours,” Tommy, another brother, said. The first to find his soul-mate, he had been teased mercilessly by Declan for falling prey to a gorgeous Hunter with brown eyes.

“I hate my life,” Declan said, unable to contain the fury and frustration. “This is fucking hell.”

This time, his brothers laughed at him.

“Please, let’s get this over with,” he said.

“I’m kicking your ass after this,” Tommy said, chuckling.

Declan shrugged. Wes lifted the barrier, and Declan began talking once more.

“Tell us about Vikki’s character,” he said.

“She’s a good person, brave …” Zoey gave a canned response.

“Do you feel she would betray her organization?” he asked when she was finished.

“No.”

“Her Benefactor?”

“Yes, but he deserves it. He treats her like shit.”

“Could she kill an Incubus?”

“Maybe.”

“Would she betray you?”

“Absolutely not,” Zoey said firmly.

One of his brothers signaled he had questions. Moody and angry, Declan leaned back and nodded for him to continue. Through their bond, he was able to determine when she lied, when she was on the line about lying and when she was thinking of him.

His only real triumph was that she did think of him
–
often.

Zoey kept answering the stupid questions.

“You said Vikki was – past tense – rotating the football team through her room. What changed?”

“We talked about it last week. Maybe she still is,” Zoey said with a shrug.

“Have you seen any evidence she might be involved with an Incubus?”

Fuck
. “No,” she lied.

“Where were you Friday night?”

“I went on a mission then home.” The lie was easier than she expected, probably because she didn’t know what really happened.

“Was Vikki with you after the mission?”

“No,” she answered.

“Where were you Saturday night?”

“Vikki and I went to the South 81 club. She had a tip that there’d be Cambions there,” Zoey said, shifting. She didn’t like any of these questions.

“Where did the tip come from?”

“I don’t know. I assumed Dimitri, Vikki’s guardian,” Zoey replied.

“What happened that night?”

“There were two. We took care of them and uh, ended up …” her face warmed. “… well, poisoned. I guess more came after they took us out.”

“Poisoned,” one repeated. “You have a history of heavy drinking.”

“It’s one of the ways I try to cope with the magic,” she replied. “That, fighting and Eric. He couldn’t … anyway, those things took the edge off so I could be somewhat functional the rest of the day.”

“Do you believe you’re capable of remaining functional without him?”

“Yeah. He … he was sweet, but he didn’t do much for me,” she said truthfully, feeling guilty as she said the words. “Vikki’s got the numbers for the football team. Guess it’s an option.”

Declan was the best option, but there was no way she was showing up at his doorstep ever again, except to tell him farewell. She shook her head, realizing she’d missed a question.

“Could you repeat that?” she asked.

“Last night you and Vikki were at the same club again, correct?”

“Yes.”

“Tell us what happened.”

She was starting to get antsy with the seemingly random questions. What were they looking for? Zoey clasped her hands behind her back to keep from fidgeting and drew a deep breath.

“We went to the club. A bunch of Cambions showed up. I took half to the east alley and Vikki took the other half to the west alley. Six Cambions turned into … dozens,” she said, recalling the walled off alley. “We were set up.”

“Why didn’t you call for back-up?”

“Vikki did.”

“You heard her?”

“She texted someone,” Zoey said.

“You trust her.”

“Of course. But we didn’t need back-up.”

“Dozens of Cambions, and you didn’t
need
back-up.”

“Right. I took out thirty, maybe thirty five. She got forty seven, which means we’re going out tonight, so I can catch up,” she said with determination.

“She said you were hurt.”

“Yes.”

“How badly?”

“Just a scratch.” Zoey began to wish she’d called Vikki before showing up here. It would’ve been better to sync up their stories. She had no idea they’d be allowed to ask so many detailed questions about their missions.

“Vikki said it was serious.”

Zoey shrugged.

“And that there was an Incubus in the alley with you,” another added.

“I was drinking. It’s kinda fuzzy,” she said after a short pause.

“What did you do when the back-up came?”

“I, ah, wasn’t there. I don’t even know if they showed up.”

“Any doubt in your mind that Vikki didn’t call them?”

“No,” she said.

“We traced the text she sent. It was to someone named Liam. Do you know that name?”

Vikki called her lover instead of back-up. Of course, if he was bound to her as she said he was, he’d probably blow up anyone who hurt her.

“No,” she said.

“You’ve never heard her mention him?”

“No.”

“Even in the text she sent to you this morning?”

“She knew a lot of men,” Zoey said, trying hard to sound casual. “Maybe he was on the football team.”

“Do you know the penalty for lying to Enforcers?”

“I’m hoping it’s a quick death.”

More chuckles. They were humoring her so far.

“Do you recognize this man?”

The projector in the corner lit up, casting the image of someone on the back wall. She looked at him closely. He was handsome and tall. He looked like an Incubus, though it was hard to tell by the picture. She recognized the apartment building he was leaving, though. Her stomach sank.

“No,” she replied.

“This is Liam, an Incubus. We believe he has some sort of connection to Vikki.”

“Never seen him before,” she said. “Sorry.”

They rotated in a picture of Vikki and Liam. It was a night shot, grainy, but she recognized her friend. Vikki looked happy, and the Incubatti was smiling as well. Zoey felt a pang of longing and unease. She didn’t understand how they’d fry Vikki, if she had no choice what happened. Or why Vikki told her the inquiry went well. They must not have showed her their evidence.

“We believe they’re soul-mated,” one of the voices said. “Do you know what that is?”

“I don’t really understand it,” she admitted. “Something the Incubatti does that the Sucubatti doesn’t.”

They put up a new pic of the couple.

“Correct. A Halfling or Succubus that can withstand a full-blooded Incubus is rare. Vikki is such a Halfling. Her intended appears to be Liam. To claim her, he must initiate the rite and they must execute three stages. Did she ever say anything to you about three strikes?”

“No,” Zoey lied.
Strike one
. Declan had said it last night. Vikki mentioned the three strikes in her diary. Her heart began to race. Declan had seemed surprised by the strength of their lovemaking. It made sense, if he was only allowed to have one soul-mate.

“The three strikes are fulfilled over three nights, non-consecutive or consecutive. The first is the binding, where the Incubus shares his soul. The second is where his mate shares hers. The third basically seals the two into one,” one of the voices explained. “We are fairly confident she’s been through all three, which means she’s bound to an Incubatti.”

“Can she undo it?” Zoey asked, beginning to sweat at their acceptance of soul-mating.

“No.”

“Once the binding takes place, it can’t be reversed.”

“At all?” she insisted. “Even if she and Liam just decided they didn’t want to be soul-mated?”

“An Incubus – even an Incubatti – never turns down his soul-mate. Regardless, no. It is not a matter of choice.”

“It’s a matter of fate,” another seconded.

She cursed silently. She was in trouble, and so was Vikki. The kind of trouble the Professor couldn’t help her with. Zoey gazed at Vikki’s face. Even with Eric, Zoey had never been that happy. She loved seeing her friend like this.

“Pictures can be manipulated,” she reasoned. “There are a lot of people who resent Vikki, even her guardian.”

“Our inquiry relies on more than one kind of evidence. Pictures are taken with a grain of salt, especially those provided anonymously, like these were,” one of the voices agreed.