Free Claimed by the Immortal (The Claiming) by Rachel Lee

numbers of saints who seemed to have individual powers that practitioners could call on. Most of it seemed benign, though, a fascinating blend of animism and Catholicism.
    There was nothing in the book, however, that suggested or even encouraged calling on darker forces. No help, she thought as she closed it and tucked it back onto the shelf.
    Just then, Damien emerged carrying an old book. “Alika would like us to leave.”
    “Is something wrong?”
    “Apparently she senses we’re drawing attention her way.” He reached her and took her hand, pressing a small leather pouch into it. “Some gris-gris for you. She hopes it will help. Now let’s go before we draw her into this mess.”
    Caro shoved the pouch into her jacket pocket and hurried to keep up with Damien as he sped from the store. She was now so full of questions she felt she could burst.
    She saw the trouble as soon as she stepped onto the street beside Damien. A group of five youths were standing around, and they didn’t look as if they were there by accident. Their gazes immediately locked on her and Damien, and they seemed to pull together before they even took a step. Then their postures shifted, knives came out of pockets and they stepped forward as a unit. Just like a gang fight, Caro thought, and somehow they had become the target. Danger was written all over this, and ordinarily she’d have been reaching for her radio. But she didn’t have her radio.
    Had the power summoned them? Were they being influenced to make something unnatural look natural? This whole scene seemed off somehow.
    “I can handle them,” Damien murmured.
    Caro might be on leave. She might have even fallen off the cliff of reality, but she was still a police officer. No way was she going to encourage violence and most especially from a vampire who could probably leave these guys shredded on the pavement, if what she remembered was true.
    She stepped forward, throwing back her jacket, revealing her weapon and her badge clipped to her belt. “You boys have a problem?”
    Behind her, she heard the door of the shop lock. She certainly couldn’t blame Alika for that.
    And then something shifted. It was one of the weirdest things she’d ever seen. Usually it took time to talk down troublemakers, but this was so different. Their gazes, intense only a moment before, changed. They looked around a bit as if wondering where they were.
    She took advantage of the moment. “Just go find legal fun. Okay?”
    Then she heard Damien speak in a tone that sent shivers all the way to her toes. “You heard the officer.”
    As if on marionette strings, the young men turned and walked away together. No hesitation, just instant obedience.
    She watched them disappear down the street and around a corner, uneasiness crawling coldly along her spine. Bad enough to face some unseen force, but to see it manipulate others was scary indeed. Damien was counting on keeping her surrounded by witnesses to protect her. Had this thing figured out a way around that? By using humans as its tools?
    Annoyance, a good antidote to fear, reared up and she turned to Damien. “I could have handled that.”
    “I’m sure. But how much time do you want to waste?”
    “All we seem to be doing is wasting time.”
    “Time is never wasted in the company of a beautiful woman.” Then before she could tell him to cut the crap, he added, “Actually, I learned a few things. My place, your place or Jude’s?”
    Jude’s would have probably been the safest choice, because even though he had sent Chloe home, he was probably still there himself. But all of a sudden she didn’t want to be safe. Maybe it was the result of adrenaline, affecting her sense of risk.
    Regardless, she knew she needed some answers, answers to questions she should have asked years ago of her grandmother, and questions she needed answered for her own peace of mind.
    Then there was curiosity. The kind that made her body shiver. The kind that pooled heavily