Page 69 of Club Blood

“I would have to check, but not that I know of.”

“Have them look, please.”

Luca, sensing my desperation, held firmly on the button attached to his radio.

“This is Detective Forge. I need assistance investigating a case. Linda, can you check and see if we have any formal reports from the morgue? Would have been in the last few days.”

“Copy that.” the radio responded, before going eerily silent.

“Mercy, I don’t want any part of this.” He pleaded. I glared at him and rolled my eyes.

“You were involved the minute you tried to have my club shut down.”

“That was years ago! Surely I paid my penance?”

“It doesn’t work that way. Iownyou, Forge. You are mine. I only come to you when I need something, which you know is not often.”

“Yes, but you can’t imagine the whispers they have about me. The officers here, they think I’mfuckingyou. They treat me like a pariah, I’ve lost all credibility with everyone thinking I willingly associate myself with your coven.”

“Not my problem. You made your bed when you crossed me. Besides, you should feel honored I even deign you worthy enough of my presence.”

He looked like he was about to argue before the radio on his chest started buzzing. We both looked at it expectantly.

“Forge, we got a call yesterday from the morgue. Looks like it was a break in, but they couldn’t tell us which body was tampered with. Just had them check and they said nothing looks amiss.”

He glanced at me with a question in his eyes. My hand found the bottom of my chin, pulling lightly at the skin there.

“Tell them to look more at the body of the girl that was murdered by theAmbrosiabartender.” Luca narrowed his eyes, but relayed my message over the radio. There was silence on the other end, the longest five seconds of my life.

“Luca, you were told to stay out of matters regardingAmbrosiaand that entire fucking blood sucking clan you got tied up in.”

Rage filled his eyes, but his tone stayed even, “Just fucking look into it, okay?”

The line went dead.

“You better have a good reason for coming here,” he muttered my way, walking back to the heart and picking it up to inspect it more. I nodded my head.

“Heart’s yours. For what it’s worth, I wish you didn’t have to get roped into this. But Forge, I need to run this city, and the only way I can do that is if I have access to the humans, too. Unfortunately, that requires you.”

Luca didn’t particularly like that answer, but he sighed in resignation. At least while he was my contact, despite his resistance, he was protected. That sort of protection meant everything in a place like this.

“What are you hoping to find?” He asked me genuinely. I shook my head.

“Just confirmation that Narcissa left me the girl’s heart. My Second has led me to believe that it was her, but you know me. I don’t trust information unless I find it myself.”

“I don’t need you thinking I keep up on things happening inyour world. But I thought Narcissa was your Second?”

I smiled sadly at Luca, “I know your officers won’t take this seriously, but I do need you to tread lightly. Be careful with what you say and who you say it to. Keep yourselves armed. There are very important, dangerous vampires in Vegas right now—and they are not as amiable as I am—and I doubt they’ll stay hidden for long.”

“They wouldn’t disrupt the treaty,” he said confidently. I frowned, not from fear of harm befalling this human man, but from his sheer lack of naivety.

“You think the vampire’s care about the damn treaty?”

Luca shifted on his feet uncomfortably. The radio buzzed again.

“Confirmed,” The noise sounded from the device, “The body of the girl, Laura Anderson, was tampered with. The intruder cut her clean open, took vital organs. We’re on our way to investigate now.Ambrosiawas the last place she was seen, witness recounts her going into the club with a friend, but the girl has not been located. It’s likely she fell into the same fate, and we have a team searching for the body. Detective Forge, what’s your 20?”

“Don’t answer that,” I warned. Luca looked at me and his eyes widened. God what did I do, involving him?

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