The Devil in the Dark

Cass slumped back in her black leather office chair, rubbing her eyes as she swiped on the keypad of the laptop in front of her. Surrounded by the smell of old books, stamp ink, and coffee, she should have been relaxed. Her office, a cozy box of a room, contained four main elements: the office chair she was sitting on, a large oak desk covered in chips and scratches, and two metal filing cabinets older than she was. Where her colleagues hung up pictures of their spouses, kids, family vacations, Cass had certificates and photos of Peppercorn adorning her walls and desk, displaying just how nonexistent her life outside of work was.

Sighing, she rubbed her and moved around in her seat again. She'd done it so many times now that the motion didn't seem real anymore. And, each time, it failed to make her even the least bit comfortable. She had been glued to hours of CCTV footage, trying to piece together David's last movements. His lifeless body haunted her thoughts, driving her to push through the exhaustion.

"C'mon Cass, you can do it," she muttered, hitting play on the laptop. The screen displayed a quiet suburban street, the kind with perfect white bungalows and shiny green lawns. 

She scrutinized the footage, noting the lack of activity. David had left his flat in Minneapolis, feeding his roommates the lie that he was going to the library to study, but he traveled to Havenfield instead. Based on information and video cam footage from the manager of The Sleepy Tin Inn, he'd checked into the motel at around 12 am on a Sunday and spent the entire day there before heading downtown at 8 pm.

The Havenfield police department had managed to track down footage from every traffic post camera, Ring door cam or garage cam they could find on every path that led from the Sleepy Tin to the bar David had been headed to. Cass was tasked with the duty of carefully going through each of them in search of clues and, Goddess, was it an exhausting job.

She could have just asked one of the rookie cops in training to do it but Cass liked to be thorough and she'd never trust a case so delicate in someone else's hands. But now, as she watched yet another hour of mundane neighborhood life, her frustration grew.

 "This is pointless," she muttered, standing up. She could come back to it tomorrow with fresh eyes.

Gathering her things was a slow, dull process. Keys went in her pocket, files were shoved into a pile, and Cass headed out the door. She muttered tired 'goodnights' to the night shift and stepped into the parking lot, breathing in the cold, crisp air. Her mind drifted to thoughts of a cozy evening at home with Peppercorn, a novel, and a glass of pinot noir.

Those her plans were quickly shattered when a familiar, smooth voice cut through the night. "Beautiful night, isn't it?"

A shocked gasp escaped Cass's throat, clashing against the sharp 'clink' of her keys hitting the pavement. She pressed her hand to her heaving chest, whipping around just in time to see red eyes peering at her through the darkness of the parking lot. As if she could ever forget the owner of those eyes, the same soft, velvety smooth peal of deep, sonorous laughter that had been haunting her dreams for the past few nights reached her ears.

Uriel Serpov took short, almost predatory steps out of the darkness and into the dim, yellow light of the crooked lamppost she'd parked under on a whim when she'd driven into work that morning but was now extremely grateful for. 

Long, slender legs in loose black pants, a pert ass that her eyes lingered on for a second too long and a black satin button-up shirt tucked in and straining under the bulk of powerful arms and a trophy shaped muscular chest. The top three buttons were left undone, revealing smooth, honeyed skin and teasing a toned chest. A simple, silver chain hung between each rectangular pec and Cass's face flamed at the thought of running her fingers down, through the soft hairs that peeked over his shirt, past his belly button and lower...

The warmth that flamed her face was quickly pooling somewhere else.

Suddenly, the chest she was staring at moved, each perfectly sculpted pec lifting one after the other as Uriel flexed his muscles. "Like what you see, baby?" He teased with a grin.

Cass's eyes snapped to his face, her arousal morphing into anger as she came face to face with the devil she never hoped to see again. 

"You," she said, her voice devoid of warmth.

Uriel grinned, his inky locks falling back as he pushed them away. "Me."

Cass bent down to pick up her keys, using the brief moment as an opportunity to reign in her racing heart. The first time they met she'd been caught off guard, reduced to a scared, shivering twit in the presence of a greater power. But she'd stood before that fear and she'd remained standing afterwards, albeit on shaky legs. She would no longer be intimidated.

"Well," she straightened up and folded her arms, her face a perfect mask of pure boredom, "What do you want?"

Uriel feigned a shiver, rubbing his shoulders. "Brr, that's cold, Pup. Aren't you happy to see me?"

"I'd be even happier if you get staked."

Uriel laughed. "I should be offended, but oddly enough, I've heard that one before."

Cass raised an eyebrow at him but didn't say anything more. She was adamant that this encounter wouldn't be a repeat of the last but Uriel didn't look anything like he did then. The boyish energy that came with the tank top, shorts and beads he'd had on that day was now replaced with the pure sex appeal of his current attire. Cass was all too aware of the fact that it had been a while since she'd been touched by anyone, with 'a while' being a huge euphemism for just how long it'd actually been. 

The air around him was different too. Back then, she'd been overpowered by the sheer magnitude of his presence. Now, she felt secure on her feet, lulled into a sense of safety by the lack of murderous intent.

"Lyra told me she'd run into you," Uriel said, pacing around her car.

"Did she also tell you she threatened me?" Cass shot back.

"She did," Uriel replied, his tone unreadable.

"And she's your sister?"

Nothing online even suggested that Uriel Serpov had a sibling but that wasn't surprising. He was still Mafia, it only made sense that he'd keep those closest to him out of the spotlight. 

Instead of replying, Uriel began to pace. Slow, deliberate steps around Cass's car. Around her. She followed the movement with her eyes, each thump of his black baroques reverberated through her.

"A Honda Fit," he acknowledged, slipping out of the light of the lamppost into the shadows. "I can't explain it, but it's very you."

It was an art-- the way he disappeared in the dark as he prowled in a slow circle. Uriel was 6 feet of lithe muscles and fluid movements and Cass? Cass was pissed. 

How dare he? 

She met his gaze and their sharp intensity turned her knees to jelly. Fuck. That! That right there; that look of pure intense heat, the exact way he held her gaze like he knew exactly what she was thinking and he was waiting for her to make a move. That!

How dare Uriel Graves waltz into her town, her home, and throw her thoughts into chaos and give her that look? Especially in the middle of an investigation? He had no right!

"I don't get you," she said, grateful that her voice sounded stable as opposed to the waves of pure rage coursing through her. 

Uriel snorted a laugh. No longer interested in her old car, he stopped his pacing and stood before her again.

"What's there to get?" he asked, his voice bored.

"Why are you here?" Cass demanded, her patience wearing thin.

Uriel chuckled wryly. "Here? Here with you? Here in the US?"

"Here in Havenfield," Cass snapped, her frustration evident.

"Ah, your town," Uriel said, sarcasm dripping from his words.

"Cut to the chase."

"There is no 'chase' to cut to, Pup. I moved into town. People move, pack up their stuff, and find a new place to live. Simple as that."

It was a lie, Cass could tell. People like him didn't just move to the middle of nowhere. They moved to places that looked like the middle of nowhere; expensive lakeside houses on private islands, cozy chateau's in the French countryside, cabins in the mountains of Bali. Not rundown, dingy American towns. Not places like Havenfield.

He was in town for a reason and God, did she want to find out what it was. But she didn't have the time.

Frustration was slowly beginning to creep through Cass. Her frown deepened, her tone climbing a pitch higher. "Then why are you here?" Then, before he could ask stupid questions she added quickly, "Here, at my workplace, in the middle of the night, bothering me in the goddamn parking lot."

That deep, sonorous laughter filled the air again, sending painfully delicious tingles down her spine. He stopped pacing and sauntered to her, his head tilting to mirror the curious quirk of his lips. His eye, a captivating pool of the most dangerous color, raked over her body in unbridled approval. 

Heat splotched across Cass's face and neck like someone smacked her with a hot towel. Still, when Uriel's gaze met her, she refused to look away. She squared her jaw and glared, her eyebrow quirked challengingly. 

Uriel's sharp, perfectly white fangs pressed into his rosy bottom lip. "I told you before, Sladosti, you're an enigma. You intrigue me," he finally replied.

It was getting much harder to hold his gaze when she was sure her face was tomato red but, what was that he said? She intrigued him? Cass's heart thumped hard in her chest, each individual beat rang a decibel too loudly in her ears.

She lived a simple, linear life. Woke up at 6:45am every morning, no matter how late she slept, fed her cat, came to work, did her job quietly while pretending not to listen to Chief Laughlin complain about budget cuts to the department, ate the exact same lunch almost every day (a Chicago Italian beef sandwich and whatever soda she managed to snag from the vending machine), went home to aforementioned cat only to do it all again the next day. What exactly about her was intriguing?

Uriel stopped an arms length away from her and the baby fine hairs at the back of her neck stood at attention. "I've been around my fair share of rogue wolves, I know how they're like; too many scars, eyes that keep darting all over the place, always eager to shift. Always ready to betray and kill." He gestured loosely at Cass, "You're nothing like that."

She lifted her chin in self-righteous defiance. "Who says I'm not?"

Uriel's shook his head. "You don't have that telling smell of blood and desperation," a breathy half-laugh escaped his lips. "You smell like vanilla perfume, cat and... arousal."

Cass willed the ground to open up and swallow her. Unfortunately, it didn't and she stood under Uriel's curious gaze, her face going from wedding-bouquet pink to fire engine red.

"You have no right!" She protested, tone high-pitched and harsh with equal parts anger and embarrassment.

The vampire gave her a pointed look. "Same way you had no right tracking me down on the day we met." He shrugged. "It's a big town. It's not Minneapolis or anything but I don't go around with my senses fully alert— Moonblinds smell god awful. I would never have found you if you hadn't brought yourself to me."

Cass automatically opened her mouth to argue but no sound came out. She shut it with an annoyed huff. He was right. She had been running on fumes and sleep deprivation and the body in front of her required that she used her powers. Chasing an errant scent directly to a vampire was a thoughtless decision she was now seriously regretting.

"You don't need to look so peeved, Pup," Uriel ran his fingers through his hair and flashed her a smile, "many would consider finding me a blessing."

Good thing Cass wasn't 'many'.

"What do you want?" She spat.

His eyes sparkled with amusement. "What do I want?" He repeated the question. "Darling, you're an enigma! I've never met another Aetherkin like you and I thought that was impossible."

Cass frowned. She'd never heard that word before. It was sleek and foreign, like the man who'd uttered it. The same man who was now peering at her with amazement written all over his face.

"You don't know what that means," he said, his voice heavy with wonder, "How do you not know what that means?"

Unable to hold on to his gaze, Cass glanced away, her vision falling on the pavement where a patch of grass was trying its best to go through the cracks in the asphalt. Big deal, she didn't know what one dumb word meant; what did that have to do with her?

"When last did you speak to anyone who wasn't Moonblind?"

Again, that word. Her eyes snapped up to Uriel's, the lids squinted dangerously low. "Two days ago, when your sister threatened me," she spat.

Uriel waved a dismissive hand. "She won't do that again, don't worry about it."

That wasn't the only thing she was worried about. In fact, that was the least thing she was worried about. She was worried that the progress on the murder investigation was going too slowly. She was worried that the killer would walk free while she stood around playing begrudging friend to a blood sucker. She was worried that said vampire would distract her from what was truly important. Empty threats and false promises were not part of her problems.

"I want nothing to do with you, vampire," she said, her voice firm with certainty. 

Uriel laughed again, albeit it held none of the usual humor. "No one ever wants anything to do with me," he shrugged, "until they do. Then they come to me with a deal or a 'mutually beneficial agreement'," he made air quotes with his fingers. "Or they get on their knees and beg. I like the ones that come in begging."

"I don't want anything from you."

Cass's breath caught in her throat as Uriel reached out a hand, her lungs burned as the sizzling-cold fingers softly grazed her cheek. His gaze raked deliberately down her body again, pausing at that spot below her belly button where an uncomfortable pool of warmth was swirling.

"I could think of a few things you might want from me," he said with a wolfish grin.

Cass immediately smacked his hand away from her face, a shiver running down her spine at the sudden loss of contact, her heart racing, hummingbird fast, in her chest.

"Fuck off," she hissed. Her voice sounded foreign to her own ears, breathy and strained.

She was expecting a lame and disgusting 'I'd rather fuck you' joke, she wouldn't put something like that past Uriel. But it never came. 

Instead, Uriel took a step back and said. "I lied earlier, Malen'kiy volk. I'm actually here to warn you."

The sincerity in his tone made her brain stutter so much that she could only manage a useless, "Wha-?"

He scratched beneath his left eye, his finger tracing the line of a scar. "More accurately, I came to offer my condolences."

"What do you mean?"

He chuckled mirthlessly. "This town's about to bleed, and there's nothing you can do to stop it."

The murders. The bodies. He knew something.

Cass bristled. "Tell me what you know right now or I'll have you arrested!"

"Honestly, who uses cuffs outside the bedroom nowadays?" He muttered more to himself than to her. Then, "It's not like it's a secret. Any Aetherkin worth their blood knows the signs but it's clear that you don't hang around your kind."

Cass tsked but she couldn't deny it. She hadn't seen another Werewolf since she was a nine year old sitting outside her burning house, wide eyed and scarred, the sound of her father wailing over the flames and wind the only sounds she could hear. 

She bit down on her lower lip, tasting the metallic tang of blood filling her mouth. It wasn't a very pleasant memory.

Uriel began pacing again, stalking her in slow circles.

"Mysterious, unexplained deaths. No signs of a murderer, no idea of a motive. I saw the news, Malen'kiy volk, you're the lead investigator on these murder cases and there hasn't even been a peep of a suspect. I can assure you there won't be any. Your problem is clearly supernatural."

She'd had a feeling this was the case. She'd feared that that was the case. But hearing her fears validated only tacked another weight on her heart.

"How?" The words fell from her lips, a desperate plea. "How is it happening? How can I stop it?"

Uriel smiled cockily. "Woah there, Pup, why would you think I'd give you that information?"

"You're impeding on my investigation!"

"Your investigation hasn't even begun," he said with finality in his tone. "We both know arresting me won't change anything, I'll call my lawyers and be out of here in a heartbeat. I might even sue this department to high heaven just for the fun of it. I have nothing to gain from telling you what I do know and I have nothing to lose by letting the precious Moonblinds of this town drop like flies," he shrugged, "Sure, it'll be bad for business but I could just move on to the next town, set up shop, and go on with my life like Havenfield never happened."

He stopped pacing and stared at her. She stared right back at him. He was waiting for her to ask, she could tell and, god, did she want to, but her pride pushed against her resolve to solve the mystery. Her hatred for Uriel fought against her need to protect the town.

It was a brief battle. Havenfield came first.

"What do you want?" Cass asked, her voice steadier than she felt inside.

Uriel's smirk deepened, his eyes gleaming with something darker. He leaned in slowly, letting his breath ghost across her ear. She held her ground, refusing to give him the satisfaction of flinching, even as a shiver ran down her spine.

"What do I want?" he whispered, the weight of his presence pressing against her senses. "I want many things, Malen'kiy volk. Some of them… I think you'd be more than willing to give me, eventually."

She swallowed hard, her throat tight. He lingered too close, his words laced with double meanings that made her blood heat in ways she didn't want to acknowledge.

"But for now," he continued, his voice a velvet drawl, "I'll settle for this: you keep your eyes open, listen carefully, and maybe… just maybe… I'll let you in on a little secret."

Cass's breath caught, the tension between them a tightrope she was balancing on. "You mean, you want me to trust you?" she forced out, her tone sharp despite the thudding in her chest.

Uriel chuckled softly, his lips curling as he straightened, leaving her space to breathe. "Oh no, sweet pup. I wouldn't dream of asking for something so trivial as trust. I want something far more valuable than that."

Cass's eyes narrowed. "What's that?"

He smiled that infuriatingly knowing smile, a flicker of something dangerous in his gaze. "Time will tell. But I promise you this: when the moment comes, you'll be begging to know exactly what I want."

Cass's pulse quickened. She'd found that it was very easy to make her pulse quicken. The rational, detective part of her was rightly irritated. But, it turned out that even after all these years she was still just a helpless omega.

She clenched her fists, unwilling to let him get the last word.

"You think I'd ever beg you for anything?" she spat.

Uriel's smile turned wicked. He leaned in one last time, his lips a hair's breadth from her ear. "Soon, Malen'kiy volk… you will."

He stepped back, his expression a picture of cool satisfaction. Cass hated how her skin still tingled where his breath had touched it.

"Until then, sweet dreams," Uriel added, his voice dipping into a low, teasing hum. And then, just like that, he disappeared into the shadows.

Cass stood there, heart pounding, her breath coming too fast. She hated that he got to her so easily. Hated even more that some part of her—deep, deep down—wondered what it might feel like to let him.