Free (SPECTR 1) Hunter of Demons by Jordan L. Hawk Page A

had mentioned so flippantly, had left him barely able to sleep for months. Fuck, the human victims had been bad enough; lying on the filthy mattresses, their life energy drained to the point of death…if they were lucky.
    The succubi had been worse. They’d been women and girls once, until some stupid pimp decided having a stable of nearly-irresistible prostitutes would be good for business. He’d beaten and terrorized the women into agreeing to a summoning.
    John had arrived too late for them: their bodies altered, their minds gone, nothing left but hunger and lust. They’d come at him en masse, beautiful and terrifying, bloody claws ready to rip him to shreds. Kill or be killed.
    At least the pimp had been their first victim.
    He couldn’t let that happen to Caleb. Fierce, angry Caleb, who defied everyone, human and NHE alike.
    Caleb had an incredible will, but Gray was immensely powerful. Why hadn’t he simply forced Caleb out of the way and taken over from the start? Did he simply not want to?
    Was it even a choice?
    Damn it. Everything had been simple until he walked into the abandoned house.
    Sean would say it was still simple, and if John thought it was complicated, he was in way over his head. Or not thinking clearly. Or both.
    “Well, well, well. Things not going smoothly for the golden boy?”
    Startled out of his thoughts, John looked up. Special Agent Tiffany Ward leaned casually in the doorway to his office, inspecting her perfectly-manicured nails with a studied nonchalance which didn’t fool him for a second. Her black hair was swept up in a complicated arrangement of braids, and makeup accentuated her flawless brown skin. The suit she wore probably cost as much as his yearly salary. Scratch that—just the skirt probably cost as much.
    Like himself and Sean, Tiffany had gone to the state school for the paranormally-abled. Unlike them, she hadn’t lived in the barracks, but been dropped off and picked up by a limo every day. She had wealth, beauty, and talent.
    Too bad personality wasn’t on the list.
    “I don’t know what you mean,” he said, leaning back in his chair in an attempt to look casual.
    Tiffany deigned to glance away from her nails and at him. “Kaniyar’s keeping it all very hush-hush, but word’s gotten out. Her favorite boy failed. Brought low by an NHE.”
    His face burned and his heart ratcheted up its pace. No one was supposed to know about the abandoned house. The whole thing was classified.
    How had Tiffany found out?
    He forced a smile onto his lips. “Someone’s been speaking out of class.”
    She smiled sweetly back. “You weren’t able to perform. Don’t look so sad, Starkweather—it happens to every man some time or another. What was it, by the way? Wendigo? Therianthrope?”
    John’s hands balled into fists below his desk, although he wasn’t sure if he was angrier because there was a leak, or because people thought he’d failed to exorcise a run-of-the-mill NHE. And of course he couldn’t defend himself without revealing classified information.
    “Don’t you have some actual work to do, Agent Ward?” he asked stiffly.
    Her grin turned malicious. “Too soon? I’m sorry. I’ll just leave you here to think about it some more. Everyone else is.”
    She walked out, her heels clicking on the tiled floor, the sound of her laughter burning in his ears.
    The phone on his desk rang—an internal call. Someone else hoping to make fun of him? Grinding his teeth, he snatched it up. “Hello?” he growled.
    “Agent Starkweather.” Shit, it was Kaniyar. “Report to my office.” Click.
    As if this day needed to get any worse.
    *   *   *
    Caleb’s breath stuttered in his chest. God, Melanie was all right; he couldn’t have hurt her too badly when he—when Gray—bit her.
    But what the hell was she doing here?
    He beckoned to her wildly. She shook her head, then nodded at the street behind her. When he shook his head in response, she hesitated, looking around