Logan: Chosen Champions Book One, page 13
“Victim is male. Early twenties. Paramedics weren’t sure he’d make it. He was badly beaten and raped. We’re estimating the attack between three and five this morning. It took a while before anyone found him.”
“Incubus?”
The detective nodded. “This attack… it was different. The level of violence was much worse than before.”
“Understood.”
Logan’s team arrived, and he had them spread out before he followed the detective into an alley. The scent of blood was heavy and thick in the air, as was the smell of the victim’s fear. Logan bit back his emotional response and focused his wolf on the details.
“What was he doing out here? Do we know?”
“Not yet. We found a backpack that belonged to him, so we’re contacting next of kin to see what we can find out.”
“There’s an underground club two blocks from there,” the oracle said. “The alley is between the club and the victim’s place of residence.”
“Send both addresses to my phone.”
“Already done.”
Logan shared the oracle’s information with the detective before sending Scout and Dasan to the club. Gideon and Coal went to the victim’s house. Aleron stayed with Logan at the scene.
“Damn,” Aleron said quietly. “You can feel the rage in the air hours later. He must have been furious.”
“He?” Logan asked. “We sure we’re dealing with a male?”
Aleron shook his head. “No, but this feels like male rage to me. It’s so odd, though. I’ve come across several incubi and succubi over my lifetime, and this energy isn’t what they project.”
Having never met one himself, Logan couldn’t agree or disagree. “Explain.”
“It’s the difference between having a glass or two of wine and being a little loose and relaxed to pounding twelve shots of tequila and getting sloppy drunk. They don’t need to resort to this level of violence to feed. In fact, they don’t need violence at all. Hell, I’ve met some of them who can get their energy restored from nothing more than a make-out session.”
“Speaking from experience?”
“Hell yeah. You’ve not lived until you’ve spent a weekend in bed with an incubus and a succubus. Now that was a good time.” Aleron grinned, and Logan groaned.
“Is there anything you haven’t fucked?”
“A few things, but not for lack of trying.”
Logan shook his head, grateful his teammate had the ability to keep him from getting lost in dark thoughts. Aleron might tease and fake a smile, but Logan had no doubt the griffin was having a similar angry response as well. Logan took a breath and calmed his wolf. “So this isn’t normal behavior for an incubus?”
“Not even close. I mean, human myths have them as these horrific creatures who suck humans dry—suck? Ha. See what I did there?”
“Don’t be ridiculous.” Logan moved around the building as they spoke, and Aleron used his enhanced vision to scan the area as well.
“Right, but that’s not really what they’re about. They’re lovers, not fighters. If someone’s not interested, they move on. I’ve never met one who wasn’t drop-dead gorgeous, and it normally doesn’t take much for them to find someone willing to fool around a little bit. Their magic doesn’t drain from their partners. It’s not an act of violence at all. Seriously, you’ve never made love until you’ve had sex with an incubus. It’s the act that restores them, and to bring violence into it goes against everything I’ve ever learned from the ones I know. There’s absolutely no need for it. Once they’ve found their partner, their scent does the rest.”
“So this isn’t about feeding? This isn’t some desperate attempt to… what? Gain more power?”
“Not that I know about. I mean, I can make a couple calls if it would help.”
Considering Aleron was the definition of the “love ’em and leave ’em” type, for him to offer to contact a previous lover showed Logan how much he wanted to stop the incubus they sought.
“Let’s talk it over with the team later,” Logan said. “For now, we need to focus on the scene. This thing left something behind for us. All we have to do is find it.”
They kept out of the crime scene unit’s way and studied the surrounding areas first. By the time they were allowed into the actual alley where the attack occurred, Logan and Aleron had developed a pretty clear idea of what had gone down.
The victim—Jeff Seevers, according to the oracle’s information—had been walking from the club to his home. The streetlights would have lit the way for him, until he reached the stretch on the block where the attack occurred. Two lights had been broken, one on either side of the street.
It probably wouldn’t have caught Jeff’s attention. Logan would have to come back at night to see for certain, but a couple of lights out, leaving a dark spot between two buildings, wouldn’t have seemed completely out of place, especially if Jeff was either a little tired from being at the club or if he’d had a few drinks.
The attacker had given himself a place to hide where he wouldn’t be seen. It made sense, and Logan could even visualize where the attacker had crouched to remain out of sight while still having a clear view of his intended target as he approached.
The problem? No scent.
And not just the lack of scent of something other. No, there wasn’t any smell at all in the area, almost as if the attacker had realized someone with a supernaturally enhanced nose would be hunting him down.
“What?”
“How much do you know about incubus magic?”
“I mean, I couldn’t write the Wiki on it, but I know enough,” Aleron said.
“What is it?” the oracle asked.
“No scent. At all. Not even the normal ones that should be in the area. It’s as if pockets of this area were wiped clear of scents, which I’ve never heard of. It’s not everywhere, though. Only certain spots.”
“Any runes like the last scene?”
Both Aleron and Logan searched the area but came up empty. “Not this time.”
“I need to reach out to some contacts. Check in with the others and see what you can learn. There has to be something we’re missing.”
“Do you want me to call my incubus friends?” Aleron asked.
“Do it,” Logan said. “We need information if we’re going to find this fucker.”
Logan shared the few insights he’d found with Detective Alfred before heading toward the club. Scout let out a frustrated growl at Logan’s approach, then breathed in deep. He took a startled step back, his eyes wide as he stared at Logan.
“What?”
“You… oh. Well. Um.”
Dasan shot a confused glare toward the young wolf. “What’s wrong?”
It took Logan a second to realize how potent he probably smelled. He’d not bothered showering before leaving Bailey’s, and with Scout being focused on scenting at the moment, he no doubt had picked up on what Logan had spent the previous night doing.
“Nothing’s wrong,” Logan said. “Scout, what have you got?”
Dasan glanced between them but didn’t question Logan’s word. Scout scratched his head and scowled. “There’s a scent here. I know it from somewhere. But I can’t remember…”
Logan stepped closer. “Show me.”
Scout nodded and took Logan to a dark area of the parking lot. “I first caught it here, but it’s nearly gone now.”
Logan breathed in and attempted to catalog the scents he encountered. Many wolves didn’t work on this area of their senses because it could quickly become overwhelming. Most of them learned at an early age to tune the scents out completely.
If they didn’t, their brains were constantly bombarded with scent after scent, an endless supply of information that constantly needed to be processed and filed away. Logan had always preferred the knowledge his sense of smell gave him and had worked to hone it as a skill. Even still, it overwhelmed him sometimes.
And at moments like this, when it was important to isolate a single scent out of hundreds in the small area where they stood, it became even more difficult to isolate what your senses were trying to tell you. It took him a minute, but he finally caught the vaguest hint of something other.
He focused on it for another long minute, letting his mind form connections he didn’t even understand. All he knew was that it didn’t smell like anything he’d encountered before. Somehow, the incubus kept managing to change its scent, but at least now he had something new to track it with.
“Keep processing it, Scout. Relax and let your wolf do the work.”
The young wolf nodded and mimicked Logan’s actions. He closed his eyes and breathed.
“Good, now file it away. You’ll know when you smell it again.”
“I want to find this thing,” Scout said.
“We will. Dasan, anything?”
“Security cameras don’t point here, so if this is where he hid, they likely won’t pick him up. There are cameras at the door and inside the club in a couple places. I’m sure the cops will process them once they get here.”
“Good. We’ll make sure Detective Alfred gets a team over here. Let’s go check the victim’s residence.”
Unfortunately, they didn’t have any luck there either. It didn’t appear that the attacker had stalked Jeff at home. Neither Logan nor Scout caught any scent of other—or lack of scent at all—at Jeff’s apartment complex.
They made their way back to the warehouse, where Logan wanted nothing more than to take his frustrations out on the new punching bag that had arrived a few days before. He’d not even taken the time to set it up yet and had a feeling another new one would have to be ordered.
Instead, they went to the upstairs room they used for keeping track of their cases. They had whiteboards and plenty of wall space to tack up pictures and other information. It helped Logan to see things laid out visually, so he wasn’t at all surprised to find a small stack of papers already waiting for him at the printer.
The oracle had read his mind once again.
Gideon helped him get the information on the walls from the first two attacks. “What do we know?”
“Both seem like victims of chance,” Gideon said. “Both Ashley and Rebecca were college students attending college bars. Jeff was a student as well. Neither appeared to be stalked beforehand.”
“Except he did know the scenes, and knew them well.”
“That freezer thing couldn’t have been known by that many people,” Scout said. “Employees and maybe the contractors who installed it?”
“Delivery people,” Dasan added.
“I’m sure the cops have that angle covered, but I’ll confirm with Detective Alfred next time we speak. What else?”
“I think we should talk to Solomon,” Scout said. “They should have been alerted, right? One of us attacking a human? Why didn’t it trigger their sigil?”
Logan had wondered the same thing.
“Because it isn’t revealing itself to the humans,” the oracle said through their earbuds. “It’s a gray area.”
“That makes sense,” Gideon said. “As long as the human isn’t aware that it’s something other than human, the hellhounds wouldn’t be alerted.”
“That seems like a very large gray area,” Logan said. “Scout, reach out to Solomon and see if he has any insight into this. We could use some outside info on incubus and succubus magic as well.”
“I’m on it,” Scout said.
“The second scene was similar,” Aleron said. “The attacker had to have known the club was there and that the stretch of road in front of the alley was frequented by late-night walkers heading home.”
“It was much more secluded than the first area as well, which is probably why runes weren’t needed.” Gideon added a few pictures from the printer to the wall. “These businesses aren’t open late, so the area was likely deserted at that time of night.”
“A lot of students live in that area,” Scout said. “It seems like that could be a common denominator as well.”
“Scout, I want you on campus for the next few days. See what you can sniff out. The rest of you rotate shifts with him. I don’t want you alone, you hear me? Focus on the scents and let whoever is with you take care of the rest.”
Scout nodded. “Got it.”
Of course, Logan’s next thoughts were of Bailey. The threat seemed to loom large around him, even though Logan couldn’t explain why. His wolf demanded Logan head back to Bailey’s side, and Logan couldn’t deny being very tempted.
He pushed away from the table and stood. “I need a run. My wolf is about to claw its way out of me. Report later and let me know if you find out anything useful.”
The team scattered, and Logan sat down at the table and stared at the wall for a little while.
“You going to explain how you knew to send us to that bar?” Logan asked once his team had moved out of earshot.
“I can’t reveal my sources,” the oracle said. “But they’re never wrong.”
“You think your sources can help us find this fucker before he hurts someone else?”
“If I thought so, I would have already handled it. Your frustration isn’t helping, Alpha. Go for a run. Commune with your wolf.”
Logan growled and started down the stairs. Scout met him at the bottom step.
“Let’s run,” Scout said.
Logan had no doubt Scout had questions about what he’d scented earlier, and he was polite enough not to mention it in front of the others. The warehouse sat in front of a large patch of undeveloped woods. Logan led Scout to the back door and began stripping out of his clothes. He propped the door open with a chunk of wood they left out back for this very purpose, and then shifted. Scout followed, and within moments, they’d begun racing at top speeds.
He had no doubt the run would settle Scout’s wolf, but as his thoughts drifted constantly to Bailey, Logan wondered if his own wouldn’t be content until he was back at the human’s side.
16
Bailey
Bailey’s first thought when realizing Logan wasn’t at his house wasn’t a good one. His heart sank, and his mind went to dark and depressing places it hadn’t been in a while. He checked the obvious spaces for some sort of note, but Logan had simply left.
So much for the connection Bailey thought they’d formed. He laughed bitterly at his naïveté and climbed out of bed. After a quick, equally depressing shower, where Bailey washed off the sweat and other substances from his body while flinching at the marks Logan had left all over him, Bailey tugged on a pair of boxers and stared into the mirror.
He thought about giving himself a stern lecture. Instead, he grimaced and went into the kitchen and stood in front of the coffee maker.
“I’m such an idiot,” Bailey sighed.
Instead of wallowing, he grabbed his phone to call Ashley for an emergency breakfast run. That’s when he saw the message from Logan. “Work emergency. Will call when done.”
He let out a sigh of relief and laughed at the prickle of tears in his eyes. God, he was a mess. He always did this to himself. He should probably spend some money on therapy to find out why he never felt like he belonged anywhere or that anyone ever really wanted him around.
It was such a dark and depressing way to think, and Bailey really didn’t consider himself a dark and depressing guy. He just didn’t feel like he offered anything of value. Really, what would someone like Logan see in him? Why would someone as awesome as Ashley want to be his friend? And knowing Logan hadn’t actually used him for nothing but sex didn’t help him feel better.
He called Ashley anyway, because if his heightened state of emotions told him anything, it was that he needed to talk them through with someone a lot smarter than him. Even if he didn’t feel worthy of being her friend, she was stuck with him now.
Ashley answered on the first ring. “Oh my God, please save me.”
“What’s wrong?” Bailey smiled, the ache in his chest easing as he heard her voice.
“I’m trapped in a house with a dozen women, Bails. A dozen scared but oddly obsessed with mani-pedis women. A dozen women who are bored and considering if we should all dye our hair purple in solidarity for Rebecca.”
“Rebecca didn’t have purple hair, did she?”
“No, but apparently purple is her favorite color.”
“You could rock some purple hair.”
Ashley grunted. “Don’t agree with them.”
“What about purple nail polish? Even the guys would do that, I bet.”
“Oh, why didn’t I think of that?”
“Because I’m a genius and a master of the obvious?”
She grunted. “Shut up. Why are you calling me, and why do you sound weird?”
Bailey sighed. “Because I need breakfast therapy.”
Silence from the other end of the line.
“Ash?”
“You had sex with him!”
“Yeah.”
Ashley squealed. “You better be on your way.”
Bailey grinned and went back into his bedroom. “I’ll be there in five.”
“I’ll meet you outside. Holy crap. You boinked Logan.”
“Ash! I didn’t boink him.”
She giggled. “You totally did. Boink. Boink. Ha! Get here.”
She hung up on him.
Bailey laughed and got dressed. He’d totally boinked Logan.
Ashley stood on the front porch of her sorority house waiting for him to arrive. She ran down the stairs and climbed into his car the moment he pulled up at the curb. “Whoa. You’re glowing, but you look like you’re about to cry. And is that a giant hickey on your neck?”
“What?” Bailey used the rearview mirror to check his reflection, and sure enough, he had a giant purple-and-red mark on the side of his neck. He distinctly remembered Logan gnawing rather sexily on the area as he’d…
“Ahem.”
Bailey blushed and glanced over at his friend. “Yep. Hi. Good morning.”
“Let’s go get food, and then I want details, Bails. Lots and lots of details.”
They pulled into the Denny’s parking lot, and Bailey pulled himself together before they went inside. The host led them to a booth by the window, and Bailey scooted into his side and grabbed his menu. He needed a serious amount of food after all the calories he’d burned the night before. He held the menu up higher to hide his flushing cheeks.
