She made her way to the table first. “What do we have here?”

“Vampire death.” The cop recognized her and nodded to his charge. “Victim’s boyfriend. He found the body.”

“His name?”

The cop shrugged. “We haven’t been formally introduced,” he said with that dry humor only cops can pull off at a murder scene.

“Excuse me,” she said to the boyfriend. “You’re acquainted with the victim?”

He bobbed his head but didn’t look up. She noticed the blood on his shirt and hands.

“I’m sorry for your loss. Can you tell me your name?”

“Carl. Carlton Austin.” His voice was muffled, but he finally raised his head. The normal lines of his square face were twisted by misery; his cheeks were wet with tears. Ari had seen the same devastated look on Lorraine. Were vampire relationships always this intense? It was clear to her Austin needed professional help, and she knew an agency qualified to provide it.

She scanned the area for Ryan, but he’d disappeared from view, probably behind one of the vans. Ari shrugged and punched the keys on her cell. She wasn’t surprised when a live voice answered at Shale & Associates. Any agency working with the Otherworld community would have a regular night staff. Ari relayed the problem, and the female voice promised to take care of it.

“Carl, someone is coming to be with you. We’ll talk a little later. You need to wait with this officer.”

He nodded, looking lost.

She searched for Ryan again. This time she spotted him with a group of CS techs and began to work her way in his direction. Trying to get a feel for the scene, she took note of trees and park equipment near the victim’s body. She extended her senses, seeking anything that might determine what had happened here.

Ari suddenly stiffened. Pleasant shivers raced down her arms as her magic hummed in recognition of a familiar vampire power. What was Andreas doing here? She slowed her steps to a standstill, swallowing against the sudden dryness in her throat. Directly ahead of her, a tall, dark form glided smoothly toward Ryan. She wondered if she could still walk away, avoid the meeting. Maybe she could interview the crowd, get lost among the bystanders until he left. She’d almost convinced herself that might work, when Andreas’s head swiveled. He looked her straight in the eye and beckoned toward Ryan. Of course he’d known all along she was there. Ari sighed and raised her chin. Might as well get this over with. And keep it brief.

Ari watched Ryan’s face as she and Andreas approached from converging directions. Expressionless. Ryan knew there had been a serious breach between Ari and Andreas. After all, he’d talked to Andreas the night it happened, but Ari had never discussed it with him beyond the obvious death of the werewolf. He knew about that, but not about the mind link. Some things were too personal. Too awkward.

“Ari, you made good time,” Ryan said, his look speculative.

“I was close by.”

“Andreas,” he continued, “thought we might be hearing from you. But not this fast.”

“Bad news travels quickly.”

The rich warmth of Andreas’s voice nearly curled her toes. The sound of it always did strange things to her. Nice things. In spite of everything that went wrong between them, she missed his voice and the touch of his magic.

“Arianna,” Andreas said to her.

She nodded, not looking at him. “Hi.” It was feeble, but at least she spoke. She felt his eyes skim over her face, before turning to Ryan.

“What can you tell me?” he asked.

“Not much yet. Victim’s name is Patricia. That’s her boyfriend over there.” Ryan shrugged. “ME’s on his way.”

“I want in on the investigation,” Andreas said abruptly. “Like last year. Full access. Two vampire murders in a week make this the business of the vampire court.”

“Magic Council is already involved,” Ryan said neutrally, his gaze flicking to Ari. “As far as I know they still represent the vampires, and Ari’s their Guardian. I’m not saying your expertise wouldn’t be useful, but Ari has the final call on whether you’re in or out.”

Oh, thanks, Ryan. Did he have to dump this on her? Maybe he wouldn’t have, if she had told him the whole story, warned him she and Andreas couldn’t work together again.

“We don’t need your help,” Ari said bluntly. “This isn’t the same situation as last year’s case.” And she didn’t want to spend that much time around him. “I’ll make my reports to the Magic Council as usual, and your rep can keep Prince Daron informed.” She kept it formal, not looking at him. “Don’t you agree, Ryan?”

“Oh, no, Ari. Officially on the fence. Not my decision.” Ryan shook his head to emphasize his words. “You two have to work this out. I have a crime scene to preserve.” He walked away.

Coward. Ari wanted to hurl the word after him. Being alone with Andreas was the last thing she wanted.

“Do you want us running our own investigation? Outside the confines and rules of the Council?” Andreas asked quietly. “Because that will happen.”

She looked at him then, her irritation obvious. “You would do that?” She read the answer in his steady gaze. “Fine. Do as you please. Apparently you intend to anyway. So hang around if that’s what you want, just stay out of my way.”

“Arianna,” he began.

She was already striding toward the victim, forcing herself not to run. She had to get far away from his insidious attraction, that false sense of warmth and well-being his magic conveyed and the way her magic responded, as if sighting home after a long absence.

Andreas’s gaze followed her, like hot needles on her skin. Then, the awareness lessened, as he’d turned away. Ari twitched her shoulders to relieve the tension. She wasn’t looking back. She didn’t care where he’d gone or what he was doing, as long as it didn’t involve her.

Almost immediately, she felt something else. Something that made her edgy. She didn’t recognize it, but it seemed to rise from the victim’s body. She approached the rapidly decaying corpse but didn't see anything that should have caused her discomfort. Thinking she'd been thrown off balance by Andreas, she concentrated on what the scene could tell her. The victim was a female vampire, probably around thirty when bitten. Since Ari could no longer get a sense of her power, it wasn’t possible to estimate how long she’d been a vampire. She’d been part of the truly dead since someone put matching holes in her head and chest.

Considering the decay process was still active, this was a recent kill. Ari stared at the wounds. Strange looking for gunshots, the edges too irregular. No evidence of bullets or casings on the ground. This looked like the same cause of death as Jules. Where was Riverdale’s ME? She wanted some answers this time.

Her skin still prickled, her witch senses uneasy, reacting to some form of negative energy in the area. She glanced around, making sure Andreas wasn’t somehow responsible for the on-going tension, but he was busy on the far side of the scene. Besides, this magical energy was dark, much darker than Andreas’s, even during the time she’d seen him shadowed with fury. She took a tentative sniff of the air. Something…she still couldn’t identify it. She glanced at Andreas again, this time wondering if he sensed the same disturbance. She wasn’t willing to ask him. The less contact between them, the better.

She needed Gillian. She flipped open her phone and made the request. Maybe the ES reader would locate the source. She told Gillian to hurry.

Ari made an effort to ignore the creepy feeling and crouched next to the victim. She noted each detail. Casual attire. Jeans, blue shirt, leather sandals. The straight black hair was long; loose strands crisscrossed the decayed remains of the victim’s face. Ari decided she’d had fine features. Slender nose, slightly slanted eyes. The position of the body indicated she’d been facing the picnic table at the time of the attack. That must have been where the killer waited.

Dammit, that’s where Carl was sitting, contaminating possible evidence! Ari straightened to alert the cops, but Carl had already been moved and techs were examining the table. Ryan was a step ahead of her.

Raised voices near the perimeter barriers drew her attention, and she saw Harold Shale in earnest conversation with one of Ryan’s cops. She wished it had been Sarah Young, but she’d take what she could get.

“He’s with me!” Ari shouted. The cop waved and let him through. She met Shale halfway and escorted him to Carl’s location. “You two know each other?”

“Yes, I know Carl,” Shale said.

The other man sat, morose, non-responsive.

“He’s been like that since I got here,” she said. “We’d like to talk with him as soon as possible, if you can settle him down. But you can’t ask him what happened. Keep it general.”

Shale indicated he understood and turned to the task of reassuring the distraught victim. As she left, Ari heard Shale begin with “Carl, I’m so sorry.”

Relieved the victim’s boyfriend was now in professional hands, she tracked down Ryan. Probably should have told him Shale was coming before the counselor arrived. Would have, if Andreas’s presence hadn’t already screwed up her concentration.

“That’s the counselor, isn’t it?” Ryan asked as soon as he noticed her.

“Yeah, I called him when I first got here. Sorry I didn’t mention it before.”

“You think he can help? Boyfriend’s a mess.”

“Yeah, I noticed. That’s why I thought we needed a pro. If Shale can calm him, we’ll have a better chance at an interview.”

“He better not question him about this,” Ryan groused. “The boyfriend’s still a suspect.”

“I warned him.”

“Yeah, well, not sure I like getting civilians involved. This second vampire murder is big trouble, Ari.” He gave her an apprehensive look.