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  Orlando would take Brantley to the nursery if for no other reason than to give the females at Zeum a break. He couldn’t do this without their support and refused to take advantage of them. His schedule didn’t allow for him to travel daily to the east side where the pack was located, but he would get there on the days he could.

  “That’s great, but what happens when you can’t get to Jesaray house? Who will take care of him then?” Dante asked as he leaned back, arms crossed over his chest.

  Orlando didn’t get the feeling he was being difficult and creating obstacles, but was genuinely concerned for Brantley’s well being and that was the only reason he didn’t lash out at the cambion lord.

  Orlando met Elsie’s gaze and her smile told him the answer he was seeking.

  “I will take care of him and when I’m not here there are five other females who are available, not to mention Nate, the other warriors, and the gnomes. Pepper and Dipple have been amazing with Izzy. Besides, everyone at Zeum pitches in to take care of the kids. That’s what family does,” Elsie answered Dante, but kept her gaze on Orlando. Emotion clogged his throat at the unwavering support she showed him.

  “Thank you,” Orlando mouthed and she nodded in return.

  Zander raked a hand through his shoulder length black hair, the familiar movement telling Orlando exactly how stressed the vampire king was.

  “Are you sure you want to take this on? I know the bairn needs to be taken care of, but this is a lot for a single male. Trust me, I know how hard caring for him will be. Feedings every couple hours, countless diaper changes,” Zander said with a shake of his head. “It never ends.”

  It was a struggle to think past anything else. Orlando knew Zander wasn’t asking because he didn’t support him, but because he wanted to make sure he was thinking it through. Truth was he’d been doing nothing but thinking about this situation for the past twenty-four hours.

  “Brantley belongs with me. I know that in my heart. There is a reason I was so drawn to Jaidis when she wasn’t my Fated Mate and I think it is because I was destined to care for this little guy,” Orlando said, sharing his epiphany.

  Before he could continue, his cell phone vibrated in his pocket. In a roomful of supernaturals with extraordinary hearing, that was like being in a crowded theater and having your phone ring during a tender love scene. Shifting his hold on Brantley, the infant woke and wailed his displeasure at being disturbed.

  Without a word, Elsie was at his side and taking the baby from him. He stood and fished out his phone, checked the caller ID, and answered as he stepped into the hall.

  “Trovatelli here,” he murmured by way of greeting.

  “O, we’ve got a case that I need your expertise on. And, before I forget, have you heard from Reyes? How’s his mom doing?” Captain Rowley asked in his raspy, phlegm-laden voice.

  Orlando heard the distinctive sound of the male inhaling and knew he was puffing on a cigar. There wasn’t a time he didn’t have one of the foul-smelling addictions in his mouth. Even in the station house, the captain chewed on a cigar and lit up the moment he was stepped outside.

  “Santiago is hanging in there. Not the happiest right now. His mom is in a bad way and he will be out the next month for sure,” Orlando responded, trying to be as cryptic as he could and still stick to the cover story of Santi needing FMLA time off to take care of his ailing mother. Thank the Goddess Jace worked in a human hospital and filed the necessary paperwork to get Santi the time off.

  Truth was, he was serving his sentence in the dungeons of Zeum for going rogue and still had time left. From what Nate had seen, it had been hell on his best friend.

  Santi had been mated to Tori right before he was stuck in the dungeons. The couple had agreed to the sentence so Santi could earn his place back at Zeum, but it wasn’t easy. Of everyone in the house, Orlando sensed exactly how much it tortured both Santi and Tori to have him so close but unavailable. No one could see Santi. Nate brought him three meals a day and fresh clothing and linens when needed but that was the extent of his visitors.

  Orlando had begged Zander to allow Tori to spend time with Santi, as much for his own sanity as for theirs, but the king refused. Zander was a stickler for the rules. Thankfully, Santi’s wolf could run the halls of the dungeon so it didn’t go insane. It would have been better if he was allowed outside, but that wasn’t part of his deal. As a result, Santi could be feral when he was released.

  “Tell me about the case,” Orlando prompted the captain, wanting to think about something he could impact.

  “There has been an attack in the middle of a club and some of the victims…they aren’t right. And, from what the responding officers are hearing from survivors, sounds like something from a horror movie. I’m not sure if this is another hoax like the TwiKills or something else altogether. That’s where you come in.”

  The hair on Orlando’s arms stood on end and his leopard went on alert. A couple years ago, supernatural’s existence was almost revealed when newly turned skirm had gone on a rampage, killing indiscriminately. When archdemons created skirm they took control of the victim’s mind and the new archdemon at that time hadn’t been aware of how easily skirm lost control, but Kadir caught on quickly and the open killings stopped.

  The media dubbed the attacks TwiKills because they believed it was people pretending to be vampires. Orlando wondered if Lucifer had sent another archdemon to fill Kadir’s empty shoes.

  Quickly jotting down the address, he returned to the room, aware that they had all heard the conversation.

  “Fuck,” Zander snarled. “I had hoped it would take Lucifer longer to send another demon. Get your arse down there ASAP and see what damage has been done. And, call if you need help with the scene.”

  “This is exactly what has me concerned,” Dante cut in before Orlando could talk to Elsie about the baby. “You’ve had Brantley less than forty-eight hours and you have to leave him.”

  Elsie turned to glare at the cambion lord. “No one can be with any baby 24-7. We have a house full of caretakers that will be here for Brantley. You wouldn’t suggest taking Isobel from Zander because he was called to a meeting or a battle. This is no different,” she spat and her face turned red with her anger.

  Orlando shot her a grateful smile. It was nice to know he didn’t have to worry that they would be there for him when it was needed.

  “I have to admit that you’re right, Elsie,” Dante murmured before turning to Orlando. “Don’t make me regret drawing up the adoption papers. And, if you need any help with him, call me. That’s an order, not a request.”

  “You have my word,” Orlando promised.

  His priorities had shifted in the past days. Typically, he went into situations with his first thought to protect the realm and innocents at all cost. He never gave much thought to his own safety. Now, he had eighteen inches of responsibility depending on him and a bigger reason to return home. He’d always assumed his reason to return home would have been a female, but he was done with that. He would focus on Brantley and nothing else. He didn’t need a female in his life.

  On that thought, Orlando leaned down and kissed Brantley’s head then headed out the front door. He hadn’t made it two feet out of the house before the memory of sweet frangipani called him a big fat fucking liar.

  CHAPTER Four

  Excitement and anticipation bubbled beneath Ember’s skin as she parked her SUV near the curb. She loved her job almost as much as she loved her pack. In fact, she was obsessed with anything related to CSI, even the popular TV show. Everything from her Escalade to most objects in her kit were things she’d seen from the series. She had immediately connected with the show and its extensive knowledge of criminal psychology. She had a knack for cataloguing and processing a scene and took pride in her ability to discover clues others typically missed. It kept her mind sharp and focused.

  Originally, it was Ember’s idea for the realm police to employ crime scene investigators and she had fought too
th and nail for it. There had been no precedence for it in the Tehrex Realm. Standard procedure had always been realm officers handled every aspect of investigations and then reported their opinions to the leaders of the factions involved whom then punished offenders. There was no trial or delay unless the leader asked for more information.

  Admittedly, there were fewer crimes in the realm than there was the human world, but in her opinion they still needed to be investigated thoroughly. The realm had fallen down on the job and she believed more diligence was needed with crimes committed by supernaturals. Punishments were swift and severe. In fact, many carried a death sentence because of the danger to realm exposure.

  She was proud to say that her track record was ninety-eight percent accurate. A recent case that she had been wrong about still gave her nightmares. A few months ago, she had been called to a scene involving a vampire and a dead human female. After her investigation, she concluded Caine DuBray had lost control and drained his human girlfriend, which resulted in his comatose state from overfeeding. Her mistake had nearly cost him his life.

  Thankfully, Caine met his Fated Mate in the three days the vampire king gave him to find proof of his innocence. If Caine had been mated to anyone other than Suvi Rowan, one of the infamous Rowan triplets, he would not have uncovered the evil witchcraft behind the setup to frame him. He would’ve been put to death and it would have been Ember’s fault. It was a lesson to all involved and further proved why her job was so important.

  Setting aside those morose thoughts, she looked out the driver’s window and noticed the activity around the club. It was a human establishment and it was crawling with human police. Instinct told her to leave and return home. She didn’t hate humans, but she wasn’t comfortable around so many. It made her skin itch.

  For the hundredth time, she wondered what made the Dark Warriors call her to the scene. It wasn’t as if they had ever called her before, and, aside from the incident the other day when the female delivered her baby right before dying, she had never met any of the warriors. All she knew was that the Dark Warriors had asked for her assistance and a fellow realm officer was meeting her there.

  Scanning the chaotic scene, she looked for O’Haire, but didn’t see him. Did she go in without him? She had no idea who was at the scene and she didn’t like the idea of waltzing around a human crime scene. Invariably, her mind went back to wondering if Orlando had asked for her.

  Had he been thinking of her as much as she’d been obsessing over him? It was highly unlikely given how upset he’d been over the dead female. She, on the other hand, had been fixating on the feline shifter with his full mouth and sexy smirk.

  Never in her life would she have imagined one of the Dark Warriors being so gentle with an infant. However, the loyalty and determination he exhibited was no surprise. That was common among shifters.

  Most supernaturals remained close to their family, often living with them in the same house, but shifters had an additional family with pack mates. Pack had your back no matter the circumstance and it didn’t matter whether they lived in the Grove, as they called pack land, or not. There were always a few bad apples, but most would never hesitate to jump in and help a fellow shifter.

  She remembered the time she had been buying fish at Pike’s Market and encountered a mom and her young son. They were canine shifters and the boy couldn’t control his urge to shift. The mom was panicking and a group of humans was trying to see around her as she shielded her son.

  Without a second thought, Ember jumped in and helped shield the boy while ushering her and the stroller out of the limelight. After getting them to a private area, she’d helped calm the boy down and sent them home, offering to finish the female’s shopping. She hated to think what might have happened if the humans had seen the boy shift. Exposure carried an automatic death sentence in the Tehrex Realm.

  Of all the supernaturals, shifters felt they were at the highest risk if the humans discovered their existence. Historically, humans used animals to test everything from lotion, makeup, soap, and medications for humans. There was no doubt that shifters would be highly valued and sough after if they were discovered. They were a lab’s wet dream as perfect subjects to dissect and study and were her reason for avoiding the very type of scenario she found herself in.

  Despite her vehemence that she was going to stop obsessing over Orlando, her mind traveled back to thoughts of him. It had been obvious he was a feline. When they’d locked gazes after the baby had been born her instinct screamed he was a leopard and everything she’d mulled over since then confirmed that suspicion. Now she wanted to know what his coat looked like. Was his fur the darkest midnight or white as snow like his unruly hair?

  She had never been so affected by a male. The fact that she wanted Orlando more than she wanted to breathe irked her, but also reminded her that she’d been celibate too long.

  She had gone through one too many heat cycles with no partner to sate her sexual needs. Her best friend, Faith, repeatedly told her that she needed to get laid and had been trying to lure her to Confetti Too for weeks, but Ember wasn’t interested. Not that she was against the idea. A night of wild sex sounded pretty damn good, but she’d been too busy between work and patrols around pack land to entertain the thought.

  As much as she loved her job as a CSI, she had bigger dreams. Some may laugh and scoff, but she wanted to become Hayden’s first female Lieutenant. She knew he trusted her to take on patrols around their land and keep the pack safe, but she wanted more. It was just a matter of time before she convinced him she would make a capable C.L.A.W. (Core of Lieutenants Against the Wrathful), as his group of Lieutenants was known.

  A tap at her window startled her and she jumped. She’d been daydreaming for Goddess only knew how long and let her guard down. Cursing herself, she glanced over and was relieved to see O’Haire standing at her window.

  “You gonna sit there all day?” he quipped as he huddled into his leather jacket.

  Shaking her head, she opened the door and instantly shivered. The arctic front was bitter this time of year. “Steeeeve, you scared the shit out of me!”

  “Damn, where were you girl? I’ve been standing her for five minutes. You’re losing your edge,” he teased as he shut the vehicle door after she’d climbed out.

  O’Haire turned and began a quick pace, trusting she would follow as he started across the parking lot. “I’m not losing my edge, just wondering why we were called to a human crime scene,” she said as she caught up to him and they made their way across the pavement.

  Darkness hid most of their progress because someone had broken most of the streetlights. Leaves and sticks broke under her boots, sounding like gunshots. She expected the humans to turn to them, but no one paid any attention and she had to remind herself they didn’t have the sensitive hearing of a supernatural.

  “We were asked to be here. You didn’t exactly dress for the weather,” Steve replied as he glanced at her attire.

  “Don’t they care that we are here?” she asked O’Haire, ignoring his question.

  The wind cut right through her dress slacks as if they were tissue paper. Normally, she wore jeans with a nice shirt under her lab coat. She was grateful that she had forgone the lab coat this time. Human authorities were the boogey man in her opinion and her goal was to fly so far under the radar she was skimming blades of grass. Nothing special or different here, she thought as they approached the throng of cops.

  “They haven’t heard us yet, but they will care very shortly. Orlando is something of a celebrity among them so I imagine they will follow his orders,” O’Haire explained.

  Her heart rate increased at the mere mention of Orlando. In the next blink, she was sweating from nervousness. She smoothed down her blouse and pushed her glasses up her nose, wishing she had a mirror so she could check her makeup to make certain that she didn’t look like a clown.

  Normally, she wore a little eye shadow and mascara along with lip-gloss, but today she’d
gone to town in case she encountered Orlando. Unfortunately, it didn’t feel natural and the foundation was heavy on her face. The smell of the cosmetics permeated her nose. Steve hadn’t mentioned anything so she must not look that bad, she reasoned. They had the type of relationship that was direct and honest and she appreciated that. No bullshit necessary.

  “What makes him so important?” she asked, sticking to a safer question than the ones she wanted to ask.

  Chances were Steve didn’t know if Orlando was open to public sex or what his favorite position might be. The mere thought of the powerful male taking her had her core clenching with need.

  Everything about Orlando was intimidating from his black clothing to his intense emerald green eyes. She wondered if he ever smiled. He’d been grim and a bit broody when she’d met him and couldn’t imagine him grinning, let alone laughing.

  “Is this the special investigator Trovatelli called in?” a female voice interrupted before O’Haire could respond.

  Taking a step closer to the human, Steve smiled and turned on his considerable charm. It had never affected Ember because she didn’t like her males so big and beefy. He was a good-looking bear shifter and she’d toyed with the idea of them hooking up in the beginning, but decided against it. His neck was as big as one of her thighs for crying out loud and she had heard rumors that his dangle was just as thick.

  “You know you were hoping I’d come back, Stacy,” he teased, making the female smile and shake her head. “Of course, I was happy to personally escort the investigator to Orlando.” Ember thought he was laying it on pretty thick until she smelled his arousal. He wanted this human female.

  “I’ll never tell,” Stacy said then winked at Steve. “He’s through there. Come see me before you leave.”

  Ember rolled her eyes and bumped her shoulder into O’Haire’s side as they entered the club. Every light was on, making the room oddly bright. Nightclubs were typically dim as owners wanted to create a more intimate ambiance.