Fractured Souls by Ava Marie Salinger

21

Adrianne endedthe call and put her cellphone away. “Jerry Carneiro. That’s the name of the wizard who died behind Occulta a week ago.”

“Who’s the lead agent on the case?” Morgan asked as they made for their parked SUVs.

“Zakir Singh.”

Bailey grimaced. “Spit Guy?”

Cassius recalled the man with the scar from the bullpen yesterday. He frowned faintly.

Christ, has it only been thirty hours since I was arrested and taken to the Argonaut bureau? It feels like a lifetime ago!

“I really should have picked another city,” he muttered under his breath.

Morgan flashed a sharp look his way.

Then again, I wouldn’t have crossed paths with Mr. Sexy Grump over there.

Cassius ignored the way his chest tightened at that thought.

“Talk to Singh and see where his case is at,” Morgan told Julia.

Julia grimaced. “He’s not going to like us interfering in his investigation.”

“We’re not going to interfere. We just need to know what he has on the victim and any potential leads he’s come up with.” Morgan glanced at Cassius, his expression turning guarded. “We should keep what happened with the Reaper to ourselves for the time being,” he said curtly. “Strickland must already know, since he was involved in the battle to take down Tania Lancaster.”

Cassius noted his bitter tone with a pang of guilt.

“Any more secrets you want to share with us?” Zach asked Cassius.

“My lips are sealed,” Cassius murmured.

This earned him a battery of incredulous stares.

“Wait. You mean there are more secrets?!” Morgan said, incensed.

“Believe me, it’s best if you never find out about them,” Cassius stated firmly.

“I’ll check in with Lucy and Maggie, see if they have anything new on our victims’ bodies,” Adrianne said while Morgan scowled at Cassius.

“Do that,” Morgan grumbled.

Bailey rocked to a halt. “Shit.”

The wizard was staring at something on his phone.

“What is it?” Morgan asked irritably.

Bailey turned his cell around so they could all see the screen.

“This just came up as an alert,” he said grimly. “Looks like Cassius made the news.”

Cassius’s heart sank as he watched the video playing out on a national broadcast channel. Though the recording was jumpy, it clearly showed him in his Empyreal form. He clenched his teeth.

Damn that sorcerer!

A hand landed on Cassius’s shoulder, startling him. He turned his head and met Julia’s solemn gaze.

“Don’t worry,” the Terrene angel said quietly. “We won’t let anything happen to you.”

“You only did what you had to do,” Zach added, his face unusually serious. “If it weren’t for your actions in that park last night, we would never have gotten our hands on that sorcerer and a solid lead on this case.”

Cassius flushed as he clocked the others’ similarly determined expressions.

Adrianne smiled and poked an elbow in Cassius’s ribs. “I told you, we’ve got your six.”

Zach, Bailey, and Charlie headed off to Joyce Almeda’s house and the park where they’d taken down the sorcerer to check in with the forensic agents still on site. Morgan dropped Adrianne and Julia at the bureau before heading back to his and Cassius’s apartment building.

“You’re being awfully quiet,” the Aerial said after a while.

Cassius stared broodingly out of the passenger window. They were coming up to South Beach. San Francisco Bay glittered brightly to their left as Morgan navigated the Friday afternoon traffic on the Embarcadero.

“It’s strange.”

Morgan glanced at him. “What is?”

“That you guys are so willing to trust me, when you barely even know me. Most people find it hard to overlook my unsavory reputation.”

“Damn. Cabalista really did a serious job on you, huh?” A muscle twitched in Morgan’s jaw. “We’re not like them, Cassius. You can trust us.”

“That’s what everyone always says, before they get what they want from me,” Cassius retorted, unable to disguise the bitterness in his voice. “After that, they all invariably—”

The rest of his words were cut off, Morgan yanking the steering wheel to the right and jerking to a sudden stop on the hard shoulder of the freeway. The seatbelt dug sharply into Cassius’s chest, ripping a curse from his lips.

“What the—?!”

Morgan leaned across the console, curled a hand around Cassius’s nape, and pulled him in for a hard kiss. Cassius sucked in air, stunned by the smoldering anger in Morgan’s eyes. Morgan’s mouth gradually softened on Cassius’s, a different kind of heat darkening his gaze.

“Do you believe this is fake too?” he murmured against Cassius’s lips, his tone harsh despite the gentle way he was touching him. He took Cassius’s hand and pressed it to his chest. “That this, right here, is all made up?”

Cassius shuddered at the feel of Morgan’s heart drumming under his fingers. It was beating as fast as his.

“Do you really think I would touch you because I intend to manipulate you for my own gains?” Morgan asked grimly.

Cassius swallowed. “No.”

A frustrated sigh left Morgan. He dropped his forehead against Cassius’s. “I’m going to be frank with you. I want you. Not just for one night.” Morgan stared hotly into Cassius’s eyes. “I know you can feel it too. This thing between us? It’s more than just lust. Our soul cores react to one another whenever we touch.”

Cassius flinched as Morgan pressed a scorching hand to his belly. An echo of resonance danced between their bodies, a dark thread of twisted fate that hinted at a long-forgotten past.

“Tell me you want this, too, Cassius. Tell me you believe me.”

A sound that was half a moan left Cassius when Morgan nipped gently at his lower lip. Fire flared through him where Morgan touched him, slowly melting his body and mind.

“Tell me, Cassius!” Morgan growled.

“I do.” Cassius buried his hands in Morgan’s hair and sought his mouth, succumbing to the flames burning between them. “Now, kiss me, damnit!”

Morgan obliged him with a groan full of need, tongue slipping inside Cassius’s mouth to lash seductively against Cassius’s trembling tongue.

A horn honked next to Morgan’s SUV.

“Hey, assholes! Go make out in your own home!” an irate driver yelled at them.

Morgan reluctantly lifted his mouth off Cassius’s.

Cassius blinked dazedly, his erection throbbing between his thighs.

Morgan’s eyes blazed. He grazed the stiff length with his fingers, making Cassius shudder all over again and bite his lip on another moan.

“Should we do something about this when we get back to your apartment?” Morgan said, a sultry smile stretching his mouth.

“Stop teasing and drive!” Cassius ordered hoarsely.

Morgan chuckled and pulled out into the traffic.

Cassius’s penthouse was regrettably occupied when they got there. The contractors hired by the Argonaut Agency to repair the damages caused by the tactical team the day before were busy drilling out the broken front door and replacing the terrace’s glass panels.

“We’ll be done in a couple of hours.” The guy in charge glanced from Cassius to Morgan, evidently picking up on the tension between them. “Your cat’s in the bedroom.”

“Wanna come over to my place?” Morgan asked Cassius.

Cassius hesitated. Though they’d both wanted to touch and kiss each other on the elevator ride up, they’d had company in the shape of two elderly women who’d chatted non-stop, oblivious to the sexual chemistry sparking the air between the silent men on either side of them.

The brief reprieve had given Cassius time to cool off. Though he wanted nothing more than to relive the pleasure he’d found in Morgan’s arms that morning, a voice deep inside him was warning him not to rush into things.

“Can I take a raincheck?”

Morgan’s calm expression didn’t change. “Sure. I’m next door if you want me.”

Cassius felt a pang of disappointment when Morgan walked out of the penthouse without a backward glance. He’d thought the Aerial would put up more of a fight.

The sun was setting by the time the contractors finished up and left.

Cassius showered and changed into black jeans and a red T-shirt. He checked the address for Occulta on his cellphone while he shrugged into his leather biker’s jacket, putting food and water out for Loki and grabbing his helmet.

The cat’s mournful meow rose behind him as he headed for the front door. Cassius stopped and turned. Loki ran up to him and slinked his body between Cassius’s legs.

“I can’t take you where I’m going, so be a good kitty and wait here.”

Loki sat on his haunches and stared at him, yellow eyes faintly accusing.

Cassius felt like a complete cad as he closed the door on the demon cat. He took the elevator to the garage, climbed on his motorbike, and headed downtown.

Housed in the basement and first two floors of an old, redbrick warehouse to the west of the busy Union Square bar scene, Occulta was a popular hangout for the magic users and supernatural entities in the city. Cassius parked on a side street one block from the address and headed for the alleyway that backed onto the place.

A couple hugged the wall next to a red, metal door, their mouths glued together as they humped through their clothes. Cassius caught a hint of crimson in the woman’s eyes when she looked lazily at him over her partner’s shoulder, her hand busy on the panting guy’s cock.

The taint of sulfur and sex oozing from the demon identified her as a succubus.

Cassius headed past the pair and the fire escape rising from the basement, conscious of the succubus’s faintly annoyed stare when she realized her presence did nothing for him.

Few were completely immune to the irresistible allure of her kind, even among angels and demons.

The muted scent of human blood and an echo of magic fluttered across Cassius’s senses when he neared the dumpsters farther up the dimly lit passage. He stopped next to the middle one, squatted, and traced a spot on the ground before bringing his finger to his nose. He narrowed his eyes.

The unique Dark Blight taint and the bitter black magic he’d picked up in the sewers under Bayview Park that first night and this morning were just about detectable. His gaze moved to a maroon stain on the asphalt a few feet to his right.

This must be where Carneiro died.

“Why am I not surprised to find you here?” someone said above him.

Cassius looked up, his heart in his mouth.

Morgan dropped down from the fire escape rising up the back of the building and landed nimbly next to Cassius. Cassius rose, his mouth dry and his pulse now racing for a whole other reason.

Morgan’s crisp, white T-shirt accentuated his broad chest while his dark jeans showed off the hard muscles of his thighs. Metal studs gleamed in his wine-red leather jacket and belt, and his hair was still damp from the shower.

Morgan stilled as he raked Cassius with his gaze, his pupils flaring.

“You look nice.” He leaned in and inhaled. “And you smell good enough to eat,” he murmured in a voice that went straight to Cassius’s dick.

Morgan’s scent wrapped around Cassius, an intoxicating blend of ozone and evergreen that made him want to strip the Aerial naked and lick him from the top of his head to his toes. Cassius swallowed.

I am screwed.

Morgan’s seductive smile told Cassius he could sense his growing arousal.

So, SO screwed.

“Shall we go check out the place?” Morgan drawled.