Free Sin's Dark Caress by Tracey O'Hara

right?”
    â€œI know, but we are thinking there was dark magic involved. Let me show you my readings.” Bianca led Tez away.
    Both women had beautiful pale skin and a slight build, but the similarities ended there. Tez had midnight black hair compared to Bianca’s pure snow-white locks. The medical examiner’s eyes were a brilliant azure blue, where the witch’s were pale, almost colorless. And Tez had a mouth on her, loud and foul in her Irish way. She said what she thought, which put off a lot of people, but McManus liked her.
    Shit, that succubus mojo Bianca’s mother had used still had his libido humming like a high wire.
    M cManus stood up and stretched. Several hours of taking statements from ungracious guests and suspicious staff was starting to take its toll. His back cramped. Thank God they were nearly done. Finally. The Neon was beginning to wear off and he’d need a hit soon. A drink wouldn’t go astray either.
    His pocket buzzed and he reached into his coat for the cell just as it began to ring.
    â€œMcManus,” his captain said on the other end. “I need you back at the precinct ASAP.”
    â€œJust finishing up here,” he replied with resignation. “I’ll be done in about an hour or so.” That drink would have to wait.
    â€œNo, now, McManus. And bring Bianca Sin with you.”

10
    Oxygen Thieving A’hole
    B ianca found a parking spot in front of the precinct, something that usually only happened on television, but she wasn’t about to dwell on her good luck—there was bigger fish to fry today. McManus seemed rather pissed by the summons, though she wasn’t exactly sure why, and his mood hadn’t improved much when she found him waiting for her by the building entrance.
    â€œWhat’s up with you?” she asked.
    He shrugged as he slid his hands into his pants pockets. “Something just doesn’t feel right. Come on—let’s see what my captain wants.”
    â€œOkay,” she said.
    As she followed him inside, she remembered Artemisia’s parting words. “While he may have responded to my influence, it was you he looked at, thought about, and his lust is delicious.”
    Her cheeks heated again. The one time they got together had been a disaster—a drunken romp after a postcase drinking session. It had been messy and clumsy and something neither of them talked about again. Not that she hadn’t wondered how things could’ve gone if . . .
    No, it was better this way. They were professional and that’s the way it should be.
    Homicide was on the third floor, and they took the stairs.
    â€œHey there, McManus.” A detective rose from his desk and leaned in. “Watch your back in there. Rumor has it someone is after your head.”
    McManus glanced at the captain’s closed door then at her, and slapped the guy on the shoulder. “Thanks for the heads-up, Harry. Come on, Sin.”
    The office buzzed with the usual cop banter, but it all stopped as she followed McManus across the room. On the outside, he seemed relaxed. However, the set of his shoulders and the tightness of his walk told a different story, at least to her.
    A great hulking shadow stood on the other side of the frosted glass. Only one man she knew could dominate a room like that, and if Oberon was here, then McManus was right—something was wrong.
    McManus opened the door and held it for her to enter first. Tension crushed the air in the small room. Oberon’s mood was as dark as the black leather coat he wore. And the reason sat only a few feet away.
    â€œFinally.” Agent Neil Roberts of the Violent Crimes Unit looked at his watch as they entered.
    Captain Phillips, McManus’s superior, frowned from behind his desk. Another man dressed in an expensive suit sat next to Agent Roberts.
    The suit stood up and smiled politely. “Palatine Grace, legal liaison to CHaPR.”
    Bianca