So I'm not sure how many more chapters I'll put up. Although the information here is timestamped and safe, as well as safe because it's in my files. And editing/proofreading is good for me, helpful to the series. But. But I don't want it to be unsafe, or jeopardize its integrity, now that it's available on the internet, with google...well... we'll see.

I changed "rising" to "raising" as well, and I have a feeling that I'll be changing it again. :)

*&*

“What do you mean?” I asked innocently. I knew damn well what he meant, but I needed the time to formulate, and it wouldn’t hurt to know what he knew.
“What the hell right do you have to pretend you don’t know?” He was all but screaming into the phone. Yeah, pissed was an understatement.
“Well, it mostly stems from the lack of clairvoyance. I figure, I’m gifted enough without knowing what the hell you’re thinking.” I growled to myself, angry at him still. “You seem to have forgotten that you’re not exactly making my happy list. You let Jos rape Alayna, and didn’t do jack shit.”
“At least I didn’t kill anyone!” He yelled in response. “You slaughtered Keith and Kael like they were dogs! And after I told them they could trust you, you killed them!”
“Kael attacked me,” I replied sharply. “I didn’t want to hurt her, but she attacked me.”
“And you killed her anyway.”
“It was either that or be killed. I’m picky about that, honestly. And Keith…” I hesitated, sad beyond what I had expected. “He should’ve stuck to the plan.”
“You fucking killed them,” he replied bitterly. “I gave them my oath that no harm would come to them. You murdered them.”
“Eric,” I felt myself almost wilting under his anger and my own guilt. I didn’t want to hurt them. But I had to. “I’m sorry for what happened. I didn’t mean to kill anyone. Please…it wasn’t supposed to be like this.”
“You know what I don’t get? The Alpha is ready to fucking kill you. But he holds off, told us to let you be. Why would they protect you?”
“I don’t know,” I said softly. “I’m sorry, Eric. I am.” I hung up before I started to cry.
Foyl settled onto the desk and made soothing noises for several minutes. When the phone rang again, he got up to pull out the cord. I waved him away. “It won’t help to let him swear at you more. You did what you had to. That’s all any of us can do.”
“And I have to do this,” I said, picking up the phone.
“Lucifel?” The voice startled me.
“Erin? What…what’s up?” I wiped my eyes with a tissue and tried to sound normal.
“I heard what happened last night. The police are saying that the werewolf was on drugs when she attacked you. You aren’t being tried with anything, but…I don’t know Lucifel. It looks bad.”
“What looks bad?” With mediums, you have to be careful how you interpret anything.
“I don’t know. I just have a feeling. I could…try to find them. Those werewolves, I mean, but I don’t know if that would help you at all,” she sighed wearily.
“Only incriminate me, I’m sure,” I replied bitterly. “Thanks for the thoughts, Erin. I…short of werewolves marching on my home, I’m not sure what could make my situation more precarious.”
“Be careful, alright? That’s all I’ll say on the matter.”
“Thanks,” I said again. “How’re you and Strass doing?”
She laughed. “Seriously, I’m sure you’ve almost seen more of him than I have lately! He keeps heading over to visit your uncle, saying that he hasn’t been around other elves for so long. I’d be jealous if he wasn’t telling me how much he loved me every day.”
“Trust me, that could be as much curse as blessing,” I replied wryly, thinking of Caninus. “I’m sure he just misses elves. I’m not much for good company, after all.”
“Bullshit,” she replied playfully. “Now, you’ve got to tell me who it is you’re thinking about.” She laughed richly, “I can feel him over the line, sort of. Judging by what I’m picking up, he’s got to be a hell of a guy. You sleep with him?”
“What?” I sputtered. “What the…are you nuts?”
“Oh, dish! Dish!” she begged laughing. “I have to hear about him. I can almost see him now, while you’re thinking about him.”
“Oh stars,” I breathed, putting my head into my lap. No way I’d ever live this down. “He’s…a temporary business associate.”
“Not a customer, I trust? You’d never do anything so unscrupulous, I’m sure.” She laughed and it lifted my spirits a little until she said, “Lucifel, I can almost see him! Who is he?”
“He works for the person I’m working for. We’ve had to work together a few times, and he’s saved me about as often as I’ve saved him.”
“Where was he last night?” she replied quickly. “I heard you were hurt like hell.”
My fingers brushed over the neat stitches that were too even to have been Foyl. “He saved me then. Kael…she bit me before I shot her. He saved me from the virus, but he won’t say how.”
“Idiot,” she replied. “That’s got to be a million dollar cure. Anyway, tell me what he looks like, who he is. You keep sliding away from the image and it’s getting infuriating. Like scrambled porn or something.” We both laughed at that. “Seriously. Describe him to me!”
“So you can do a read?” I laughed at her. “I already did one, love. And my cards are more accurate than your spirits when it’s someone I know personally.”
“So what did they say?”
I paused for a moment, debating about what was an acceptable level of honesty. “The joker,” I said after a moment. “He’s an enigma so that wasn’t unexpected but…”
“What were the hearts? I can almost feel them coming from you.”
I sighed, “The queen fell on the ace.”
“No shit?” she laughed loudly. “Oh, lordy, Lucifel! He loves you that much? Oh, congratulations.”
“Yeah,” I replied softly. “I was thrilled.”
“So why haven’t you celebrated? He’s clearly psycho for you, dear.”
“Because he’s just that; psyco. Erin, he’s a vampire.” Coming clean might get her off my case. I hoped.
“Ah. That makes sense then, why you’re afraid to get too close. Afraid he’ll decide you’re a convenient snack?” Erin’s tone was as soothing and gentle as always.
“No,” I replied sadly. “Afraid his master will decide to have him kill me.”
She sucked in breath, “Ouch, love. Yeah, that’s not good. Pity, too. I caught a glimpse and he’s such a babe! I admire your restraint.”
“I don’t want to talk about it anymore, alright? It’s weird enough as is.” I sighed. “Listen, Erin, it’s been great talking with you. I don’t need a therapist when I’ve got you,” I smiled. “But listen, I’ve got work to do. The cops are going to be incredibly pissed at me.”
“Yeah, I figured,” she replied wryly. “Best of luck with that, and know that the spirits and I are pulling for you and your mystery guy.”
I didn't really want them to be pulling for Caninus and I, but I figured that "pulling for" us included hoping we didn't die, so I didn't say anything. At that point, anything that kept us from getting dead was worth it, even if it meant pretending that a vampire and I were an item.
Unfortunately, I hadn't lied when I said the cops were going to be pissed. Coil was livid when I got up the cahones to call him. "What the hell do you think you were doing, Lucifel? Two werewolves murdered in one night? And you ditch both crime scenes? I could lose my job because of this. I've covered for you as much as I can and I could still lose my job. You know they put my ass on probation because of this shit?"
I sighed sadly. "I'm sorry, Coil. Listen, I didn't mean to leave the scene, and I didn't want to kill anybody. Kael attacked me first--plenty of people can attest to that. And Keith ran away when I tried to talk to him. By the time I caught up he started attacking me." That wasn't the way it went down at all, but it was close enough to pass.
"Why leave the scene, Lucifel? It's practically convinced everyone of your guilt. You freaking ran away--that's so unlike you I can't get my head around it. And why take Keith's body?"
"I didn't mean to," I said. "After Keith's death, his body was a mess. I took it to do my investigation, but there was nothing there to even investigate. He was riddled with bullet holes and his abrupt change. No way I could have done anything to his body other than a were test and I already knew the result of that one. So I disposed of the body."
"Lucifel, you can't do that. It was a person, even as a wolf. A fucking person, and you burned him."
I sighed. "I'll have to call his pack later to apologize for my actions and inform them of what happened. If they want reparations or something, we'll discuss it."
He snapped, "Lucifel, this pack is not forgiving. You talk about reparations like it'll be a few thousand dollars--it will probably be your ass in jail for the rest of your fucking life. And you act so caviler about it?"
"Yeah," I replied hotly. "If I took this as seriously as I should, I'd be throwing up right now. I didn't want to do any of this, and I'll say it a dozen times more before this interrogation is through."
"Lucifel," his tone turned softer. "I didn't want to have to interrogate you..."
"It's your job," I said to him. "You do it well. I do mine well. Part of our jobs is to be able to shut off our emotional response. Let's move on, shall we?"
"What about Kael? Why'd you bail on that scene?" He'd taken the turn from bad-ass "I'm-gonna-put-your-sorry-ass-in-jail" cop to "lets-work-this-through" cop. I reminded myself that this was why he was such a good investigator.
"Kael attacked me," I said, ignoring his tone. "She attacked and I had to retaliate, but I didn't have any of my weapons other than a few knives. They weren't even a high grade of silver ore. She tore into my arm and infected it with the were virus."
"Shit! Lucifel, what are you going to do? Other magics don't blend well with necromages or with elves really well. I'm surprised you aren't dead! How are you?" He sounded genuinely concerned. Now he was "Coil-my-friend."
"I'm alive and no longer contaminated. Foyl found a way to arrest the virus and then used his own magic to purge it from my system. But I was unconscious--he had to remove me from the scene. Otherwise, I would have stayed, Coil, and you know that."
"Yeah," he agreed. "I know that. I'm glad you're safe, Lucifel—OWL couldn't stand to lose you. I'd almost convinced the state department to have you recognized as a civilian member of the unit until all this went down."
"I'm sorry," I apologized sincerely. "Now it'll never go down and you'll constantly be covering for my ass."
"I'm alright with it," he replied with a chuckle. "You're useful enough that your ass is worth covering."
"Thanks," I replied wryly. "Do I need to come into the station officially or anything? I'm sure I've got other paperwork to bring down if we can make it unofficial."
"I prefer it that way," he said. "Until their packs raise a shit fit, we'll keep this as low-key an investigation as possible."
"Thanks, Coil," I said honestly. "This would've been twice a bitch without your help. I promise, I'll tell you everything I can't later."
I could hear him smiling, "If you don't, I'll arrest your ass."
I almost said that, if we factored in all the evidence we were conveniently avoiding, he would have to. Trust me, there are better times and places to say that to a cop. Actually, there's no good time or place, which is a good enough reason to say nothing. "Thanks, Coil," I said again. "I'll call." I hung up the phone and ran a hand through my choppy hair. "Foyl, I'll be honest. This is a fucking mess."
"Just stay calm, Lucifel. it could be worse." I heard a heart-broken howl my front lawn and my throat leapt into my mouth.
"Worst kind of coincidence," I mumbled as I walked over to look out the window. But I already knew what I'd find. And I didn't know how to deal with it.