Logan: Chosen Champions Book One, page 6
“You’re going to choke to death on that.”
Will arched a brow. “You think I can’t fit more than this in my mouth?”
Joey choked on his drink and water spewed everywhere.
“What am I missing?” Heather asked.
“Well,” Ashley began, holding up her hand and using her fingers to count off her points, “Bailey just realized we’re all actually his friends, so he’s having a moment. Will is trying to flirt with Bailey by promising he gives great blowjobs, but only because he knows Bailey’s safe to flirt with because Bailey is somehow not Will-sexual. Joey, however, is not safe to flirt with and would like nothing more than to find out exactly how well Will swallows. And you, my precious snowflake, really should pay closer attention and stop drooling over the baseball players at the next table.”
Bailey looked over his shoulder, and sure enough, half the baseball team sat behind them. How the hell had he missed that? He turned back to the table to see Joey’s eyes really wide and his mouth half open in shock. His cheeks were bright red as well. Will looked confused and glanced back and forth between Ashley and Joey, like he wasn’t quite sure if she was serious.
“Everyone at this table is clueless. I don’t even know why I bother with you people.”
Bailey wasn’t entirely sure either. After they ate, he returned Heather’s purse and then drove Ashley back to her sorority house. She dragged him up to her room, and they plopped down together on the chair and a half she had crammed into the small space. They propped their feet on the matching ottoman, and Ashley set up her laptop so they could start their research.
She somehow finagled him into filling out the application, and then found a list of scholarships and grants on their school’s website. Before he could blink, she’d set up an appointment with the financial aid advisor for him for the following day.
“You are a whirlwind.”
“When I’m anxious,” she confessed with a sad smile.
Bailey put his arm over her shoulders and pulled her close. “I’m sorry I didn’t keep a better eye on you.”
She laid her head against his. “It’s not your job to do that, and you know it. You stopped whatever was going to happen, though. And Bails… it scares me to think about what almost happened.”
It scared him too. “We’re okay, though. And if you thought I was kidding about the buddy-system thing, you were wrong.”
Before they could talk further, a couple of Ashley’s sorority sisters came in. Both of them were crying.
“Ashley, did you hear?”
She froze and grabbed Bailey’s hand. “Hear what?”
“Rebecca Allmon was attacked last night. They’re saying—” The girl broke off, and she began crying harder.
“They’re saying she was raped,” the other girl added.
Ashley squeezed Bailey’s hand so hard he thought she might break his fingers. “Where did it happen?”
“She was on the strip, at one of the bars. We’re going to call our advisor and set up a house meeting.”
She nodded. “I’ll be down in a few minutes.”
The moment they left the room, she began to tremble against him. “Bails.”
She didn’t need to say the obvious. He’d reached the same conclusion she had. It was almost her.
“You go talk to your sorority sisters, okay? I’m going to head home. Call me if you need me, and don’t go anywhere by yourself.”
She nodded again. “We’ll set up a buddy system. We have one anyway, but we’ll give demerits to anyone who breaks the rule.”
Bailey pulled her into a hug and held her until she stopped shaking. As he walked to his car, he shivered and looked over his shoulder. The fear must be getting to him, because he would swear he was being watched.
7
Logan
The punching bag didn’t stand a chance against the flurry of blows Logan landed on it. His fists flew at a speed that would be hard for a human to track, and even though both the bag and its support was reinforced, it cracked under the strain of his brutal attack.
Logan paused and stretched his hands, releasing some of the tension from his knuckles. The rest of him, on the other hand, remained coiled and ready to strike. His fury got the best of him once more, and he struck the bag with another blow.
It ended up being the death strike. Sand and sawdust poured from the bag onto the training room floor, infuriating Logan further.
“Spar,” Gideon snapped from the doorway of the room. He charged forward, and only Logan’s training had him rolling out of the way in time to avoid a roundhouse kick aimed at his head.
He leaped to his feet in time to dodge the first blows from Gideon’s fists. Lucky for him, Gideon had padded them up for the sparring session, and as if to prove he was out to kick Logan’s ass, he’d even removed his nose ring. As much training in martial arts as he had, Gideon had him beat.
The vampire clansmen were known as fierce warriors. They were legendary swordsmen, but their training didn’t stop there. Vampires trained extensively in multiple martial arts, and they only progressed in their training when they’d become experts.
Gideon rained down blow after blow on him, using both fists and feet in a multipronged attack that required Logan’s full and complete attention. He managed to get in a few hits of his own, but if their fight had a referee, it wouldn’t be him who’d won it. When he was sweating, aching, and out of breath, Gideon finally slowed and took a cautious step back.
“Better yet, or you need another round?”
Logan paused and actually thought about the question before answering. He was still angry. Furious, really. But he’d regained some of his control. “Better for now.”
“I’ll take it. Want to tell me what happened?”
Logan ground his teeth together before biting out his answer. “It got another girl last night.”
Gideon froze. “What?”
“Down the street. Less than a block away from where we were.”
“That’s impossible.”
“She’s in the hospital. The oracle is working on getting her records, as well as the police report.”
Gideon didn’t move. Much like Logan when he’d found out, he had to process their failure to do the one thing they’d been sent out the night before to prevent. “I don’t understand.”
Logan understood the defeated yet furious tone. It captured his feelings on the matter completely. “Neither do I, but we’re going to find this thing, and then we’re going to kill it.”
Gideon stood with his legs shoulder-width apart and his hands clenched together behind his back. Logan recognized the stance and realized the vampire’s fury matched his own, even if he had better control over himself than Logan did at the moment.
“We clearly do not have information on the full capabilities of incubi.” Gideon’s clipped words were as tightly furious as Logan’s. It somehow helped that his teammate was as deeply affected by their failure.
Logan took another deep breath, mimicking the technique Gideon used, before replying. “I thought the same. I want to go back down there and see what we can find out.”
“Are you sure that won’t draw too much attention?”
Logan scowled. It would absolutely draw unwelcome attention. A second later his phone dinged with a message. He opened it to read a new contact card. William Randell, and a phone number.
“William Randell? Who the fuck is that?”
Gideon groaned. “Pretty sure that’s Officer Randell from last night. You remember, the dude bro cop who wanted to know if we are supernatural CIA agents and how he could be one too?”
Logan resisted the urge to bang his head against the wall. “Apparently the oracle thinks he’s our in. Of course, the oracle didn’t have the pleasure of Randell’s company last night.”
Ding.
“Priorities. Call him.”
“Did you sleep at all?” Gideon asked.
Logan didn’t reply. Instead, he glanced up at the camera in the corner of the training room. “Do you think it’s wise to insert ourselves into the humans’ investigation? It’ll look suspicious.”
Ding.
“He’s a wolf. Use that to your advantage.”
“The oracle has a point,” Gideon said after reading the message over Logan’s shoulder. “Officer Randell was extremely impressed that you are an alpha. You could work that angle.”
“Last thing I need is a wannabe beta sniffing around.”
“No,” Gideon said, his voice grim as he spoke. “The last thing you need is for someone else to get hurt.”
Damn vampire and his impeccable logic.
Logan called the number.
Randell picked up on the first ring. “Who is this?”
“Randell, it’s Alpha Logan Moore. We met last night.”
“Oh, right. Dude, call me Randy. How’d you get my number?”
Logan ignored the question. “I need to talk to you about what happened last night. I’m told there was a second attack.”
“Yeah. We’re sending someone over to question Ashley. I didn’t…” Randy paused, and Logan could hear him walking for a moment before he lowered his voice. “I didn’t mention you being a witness, Alpha, out of respect, but now I’m thinking I should.”
Logan growled. His phone dinged, and he moved it away from his ear to see the message. “Tell him to do it. It will build trust, and you have nothing to hide.”
Other than the fact he was a shifter, of course. Logan glared at the camera for a moment before returning his attention to the call. “I’ll happily come in for questioning. Unfortunately, I didn’t see anything, or I would have already spoken up. I was out for a drink with a friend, Gideon Passarowitz. I believe you met him last night.”
“The vamp?” Randy asked. “Yeah, I met him. Okay, I’ll let the detective know. I’m already in hot water for not calling this in last night.”
“We were wrong not to take action,” Logan said. “And a young woman was hurt as a result. We won’t let it happen again.”
Randy let out a little whine, a show of submission to an alpha wolf. “Yes, Alpha.”
Logan ground his teeth together. “Now, get to work. Gideon and I are on our way down there.”
He ended the call, and they made their way to the garage. Logan tossed the keys to Gideon. He was entirely too distracted to drive.
“You should call him,” Gideon said. “Let him know what happened.”
“What? Call who?”
Gideon fastened his seat belt and started the car. “Bailey. You know, the guy from last night who has you so wound up.”
Logan growled. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I’ve never seen you react that way to anyone before, Logan. Think about it.”
“The only thing I’m thinking about is stopping this thing from hurting anyone else.”
Gideon returned his attention to the short drive downtown where the strip of bars was located. They found the crime scene easily enough. A half-dozen cop cars sat out front, and a small crowd of students had gathered around the edges of the yellow tape barrier.
“Want me to call Scout? He’ll blend in. We can see if he hears anything.”
Logan hadn’t let the rest of the team know yet that there had been an attack right under their noses. He clenched his hands into fists, wishing for another round at the boxing bag.
“Not yet. Let’s see what we can learn first.”
He led them to the edge of the crowd, making sure to position himself upwind of Randell. The cop’s nose flared a second later as he caught Logan’s scent, and he turned to pin Logan in his stare. After taking a second to process, he gestured Logan closer.
Logan also put his nose to good use, scenting the air around him for anything out of place. He didn’t pick up anything new since the night before, outside of a lot more cops. He found the boys in blue had a distinctive smell to them. Probably some combination of their uniform and whatever chemical they used to clean the patrol cars. It was such a distinctive odor that Logan generally tuned it out. He only noticed it now due to the sheer volume of it.
Once they got close enough, Randy turned and led them to a tall black-haired man wearing an ill-fitting suit. The moment Logan drew closer, another scent filled his nose.
Other. Masked and barely there, but definitely not human.
Logan stopped quickly. Gideon didn’t have Logan’s sense of smell, but he’d learned to read Logan over the past few months of training. He stopped as well, immediately going into a subtle defensive stance.
“Detective Alfred, this is the guy I was telling you about.”
The detective’s eyes flared for a split second, but long enough for Logan to identify him as fae. He glanced at Logan, then at Gideon, before turning to Randy. “Go help the officers in the back alley. If you get the scent of anything, report directly to me. Understood?”
So not only was the detective fae, but he knew exactly what both Randy and Logan were. Interesting.
“Yes, Detective.” Randy turned. His expression grew angry for a split second before he hid it.
Gideon shared a look with Logan, asking for instruction. Logan honestly wasn’t sure what to do. He’d never actually encountered a fae cop before.
“With me,” Logan said, softly enough only Gideon could hear. “Fae.”
Gideon adjusted his stance slightly, giving himself the ability to see the widest area around them without seeming too obvious about it.
“Aleron is on the way,” the oracle said in his ear. “I’m watching from the camera at your six. Do you want more backup?”
Logan clenched his hand into a fist at his thigh, signaling his answer: no, he didn’t.
“Understood. I’ll put Coal on standby in case that changes.”
The detective approached. As with all the fae, he kept his emotions in check, but he couldn’t hide his scent. Logan could have smelled his fury a mile away. At least they had that emotion in common at the moment. Hopefully, it would help.
“Who are you?” the detective asked. He hissed the words, but they weren’t said disrespectfully.
“Alpha Logan Moore.” Logan kept his tone light in an effort to keep the fae from becoming even more defensive.
“I am Jamal, James Alfred in the human world.”
They sized each other up for a moment. “What’s a fae warrior doing as a detective in the human realm?”
“I was banished for twenty-five years for pissing off my queen. I got bored.”
Logan smirked. “Sucks for you. Let me guess, your sentence was almost up?”
“I had a year left before I could return to my realm. That opportunity is now gone, since the veil between the realms is closed. Now that manners are out of the way, you want to explain to me why a wolf and a vampire are all over my crime scene?”
“We got a tip,” Logan said.
“From whom?”
Logan simply smiled.
“Should I call Solomon?” Gideon asked quietly.
Jamal took a step back at the casual invocation of the hellhound alpha’s name. Of course, they had no plans to call him, but the implication would be that they were assisting Solomon and were at the bar investigating the attack at his request. How else would they know something was wrong, after all?
“Nice save,” the oracle said.
Jamal recovered his composure quickly. “There’s no need to call the alpha. What did you find?”
Logan kept his voice calm and steady. “Nothing. I scented something sickeningly sweet. Experience told me to look for an incubus or succubus, but we only found the one girl. We clearly interrupted its attack, and while we got her help, the creature escaped.”
“There were more than you two here?”
Logan nodded but wasn’t willing to reveal details about the rest of his team. “We searched but found nothing. I don’t know how it managed to get out of the bar without us finding it, or how we missed the fact that it simply went down the street and found another victim.”
“We had the entrance and exit covered,” Gideon explained. “It shouldn’t have gotten past us.”
“Not all of them,” Jamal said. “Come with me.”
They followed him into the bar, where he went into the back and the door marked Employees Only. The same door Logan had found Ashley leaning against the night before.
Inside was a small storage area that led to the back exit. Logan had already checked the area. But Jamal didn’t head to the exit Logan knew about. Instead, he went to a large metal door at the side of the room.
“A freezer?” Logan asked. What the hell did a freezer have to do with anything?
“Shared by both bars. They’re owned by the same person.”
“Fuck.”
Jamal opened the freezer door. It passed through to a door at the other side.
“How could it have known that?” Gideon asked.
“That’s what I want to know. I’m going to go question—” Jamal paused and glanced at his notes. “—Ashley Wilson, the victim you helped. I want to know what she remembers. We need a description of this thing if we have any hope of stopping it.”
“Did you check the cameras?” Logan asked.
Jamal arched a brow. “You think I’m new at this?”
“No insult intended, Detective. I’m frustrated.”
“Tell me about it. If we have an incubus or a succubus on the loose… well, considering what happened to our second victim last night, we need to find this thing. As you may know, fae creatures lose power the longer they remain in the human realm.”
He hadn’t actually known that. “So this one is trapped and even more dangerous because of it.”
“I fear it will stop at nothing to keep its powers intact. We have to stop it.”
“We will.” Logan pulled one of the fake-agency cards the oracle had made up for them. “Let us know what we can do to help.”
Logan and Gideon continued out the back door of the bar, leaving the detective to his work.
