Colin felt the push of power then, felt the stir in the air-
Brooks was shoved across the room. Shoved a good ten feet. But Niol never touched him. His partner crashed into a table, fell to the floor.
Brooks jumped to his feet. "You sonofabitch!" He ran forward, arms outstretched.
Colin stepped in front of him. "Easy." The air seemed to be pushing against him, vibrating with malevolent force.
The doc would definitely have come in handy then.
"Keep your partner under control, Gyth." Niol lifted his chin, stared at him with those creepy-as-hell eyes. "Or I will."
"He assaulted me!" Brooks snapped, jerking his jacket back into place. "We can arrest the bastard."
Niol shrugged. "I never touched you. Ask your partner, he’ll tell you."
Colin’s jaw clenched. Brooks was no match for this guy. But Colin sure as hell would like to get two minutes alone with him. "Don’t fuck with my partner again, Niol. You won’t like the consequences."
A flash of amusement lightened his face. "You think you could actually take me on?"
A powerful shifter is the only Other that can match a demon’s strength. Emily had told him that. And the doc knew her supernaturals. "No, I know I could."
The amusement vanished.
"Now cut the crap, Niol, and tell us what you know."
The demon’s eyes narrowed. "The kids have been in the bar a few times. That’s all I know."
"Were they working for you?" Brooks had regained some of his control, but anger still tinged his words.
"No." Niol picked up his glass, took a long swallow. "I told you, not my method."
"Look me in the eye," Colin demanded, "and tell me that you didn’t send them to attack me and the doc."
Niol met his stare. "I wouldn’t send someone to hurt Dr. Drake."
"But you’d send someone after my partner?" Brooks pounced on the words Niol hadn’t spoken.
"No." Niol never looked away from him. "I’d do that myself."
He believed him. Shit. Colin finally lifted his right hand off his holster. "If you didn’t send them, who did?"
"I don’t know." Niol picked up his sunglasses, slid them back into place. "But I intend to find out." His face hardened. "No one uses my boys like this. No one."
They were wasting their time. Niol wasn’t going to tell them anything else, and Colin actually believed the demon might not know much else.
"We’ll be in touch again, Niol," Colin told him.
"Oh, I don’t doubt that."
"Come on," he muttered to Brooks. Time to get out of the devil’s den. Bringing Brooks had been a mistake, but there hadn’t seemed an easy way of ditching his partner. Not without raising too many questions.
Brooks shot a long, hard look at Niol. "I’m gonna be watching you from now on."
Niol didn’t look particularly impressed.
"You fuck up, you do anything that suggests you were lying to us, I’ll be back."
"Then I’ll look forward to your visit. But until then, get out of my bar, Detective Brooks."
"Gladly."
Definitely a mistake bringing Brooks. He would never be able to handle a war with Niol. He didn’t know who he was messing with.
Colin followed Brooks to the exit, trying to keep his body between Niol and his partner, just in case Niol was in the mood for any more of his little magical routines.
"Gyth…"
Niol’s call stopped him just feet from the door. Colin glanced back.
"A word if you will." A pause. "Alone."
"Oh, hell, no, that’s not gonna-"
"It’s all right, Brooks. You can wait outside. We’ve got some…Other business to discuss." That would be the only reason Niol would ask him to stay.
"Fine." Brooks looked seriously pissed. "But if you need me, all you have to do is call out, and I’ll be at your side."
He didn’t doubt it for a minute. "Thanks, man." He waited until Brooks pushed open the door and stepped out into the light.
Then he crossed the room in two seconds. "What didn’t you tell me, Niol?"
"You know the boys were demons."
No news there.
"When you and the doctor were attacked, I felt the stir of power in the air."
So he’d known about the attack. Renewed suspicion filled him.
"It wasn’t me. You have my word on that."
But how much was the word of a demon worth? "You felt the attack, but you didn’t try to stop it? I thought you said you wouldn’t hurt Emily."
Niol stroked the top of his glass. Looked vaguely amused. "Who do you think called the cops? I mean, your brothers in blue have to be good for something, right?"
Colin wasn’t amused. "If it wasn’t you, then who the fuck was it?"
"Another level ten." He took a long swallow of the blood red drink. "And believe me, Gyth, we’re pretty damn rare." He sat the glass down with a soft thud. "Just ask the pretty little monster doctor about that."
Another level ten. Shit. The day had not been good for him. And it had started so well, with Emily naked in bed with him.
"What do you know about hybrids?"
What? He’d heard the term hybrid before, but usually it’d been when he was watching TV and he’d flipped past the Discovery Channel. Hybrids were blends, mixes, like a flower produced from combining two different-
"Hmmm. Guess Emily didn’t mention hybrids to you." Niol’s lips curved. "Now I wonder why she wouldn’t tell you about them."
Colin had the feeling he was missing a significant point in the conversation, and he didn’t like that feeling. Not one damn bit.
He was around the table in a flash. He jerked the demon to his feet. "I’m not one of the humans you can screw around with." And he let the beast show in his eyes. His nails lengthened, his teeth sharpened.
"Shifter." Niol smiled. "Figured that’s what you were."
"Tell me about the hybrids." Before he gave into the urges of the beast and threw the bastard across the room. It’s what the demon had done to Brooks. It was what he deserved.
"Some Other don’t mate with their own kind." He laughed, a grating, harsh sound. "But you’ve already figured that out, haven’t you?"
His claws dug into Niol’s shoulders. Not enough to tear, not yet. "Spit it out, demon."
"Rarely, very, very rarely, a child is born from those matings. A special child."
Colin lifted his claws. "And?"
"And he’s a hybrid. A being of two magical lines, with the powers of both."
Why the hell were they even having this conversation? "I should care about these fucking hybrids, why?"
Niol laughed again. A long, dry laugh. "Oh, you should definitely care, shifter. You and Emily should care."
Ten more seconds. If the demon taunted him just a little longer, Niol would be flying across the room.
It’d be payback for his little trick on Brooks, and it’d make Colin feel damn good.
"My patience is running thin." His claws dug deeper. Niol flinched and finally stopped laughing.
"I’ve heard rumors…"
Now they were getting somewhere. Colin eased his grip. "What kind of rumors?"
"There’s talk of a hybrid demon in town. A strong demon, a nine or ten."
Strong enough to cause the surge of power Emily had felt in the alley. "Half demon, huh? What else is the bastard?"
Niol pursed his lips. Glanced down at Colin’s claws. "Shifter."
Oh, fuck.
"You gonna tell me what was going on back there?" Brooks demanded as they marched back to Colin’s Jeep.
"We were interrogating a suspect." Colin glanced up at the sky. The sun was setting, throwing blood red streaks across the sky.
He needed to find Emily. Needed to ask her about hybrids. Damn. Could the guy they were looking for be some uber-combination of demon and shifter? If so, then the case had just taken a very dangerous turn.
Fighting and tracking another shifter was hard enough. But with a demon’s magical powers…