Charlie maneuvered through the throng of county police, shoving her badge into the face of anyone who tried to stop her. Close on her heels was her squad's best forensic analyst—who grumbled in dissatisfaction the moment they arrived. "What?" "The heat," Claire answered, clutching her kit to her chest to relieve her shoulder of its bulky weight. "TOD is going to be off..." "Sheriff!" Charlie called, greeting the man as he...

The tech lab shares a wall with their workstation, yet they need to take the long way around. Captain Euryale has mentioned adding a door in the detectives' station that would connect to the tech lab, but it would have to go in her office or they would need to rewire the entire room. Valerian's uncertain as to what she has decided. He doesn't bother knocking, just enters Devan's lab. Knocking doesn't make much difference,...

Chapter Five   Valerian hits a dead ende and takes a right, his steps silent on the tile floor. The building was not originally a precinct but a Sunday school or something in the 50s, and it has a basement. Most of the walls separating the classrooms were knocked down, combining the rooms to form larger ones like the detectives' station, the tech lab, and the interrogation room. The holding cells they had to build from sc...

Chapter Four   The precinct is bustling with activity when they enter. Calypso is nibbling on a cherry filled donut. Unlike vampires, succubi can digest human food. While not their main source of sustenance, Valerian knows Calypso enjoys a variety of dishes. Unfortunately, with energy being their main diet, she’s explained it’s easy for her to put on pounds, not having the metabolism to burn it off. Melissa, on the other...

  Chapter Three   Michael heads through the front door and down the porch steps. He waits in the driveway for his partner, Vick, to finish up. He should help but he wants to climb in his car and not look back, yet also turn around and march back to Valerian. What’s wrong with him? Walking away from someone has never been physically taxing. He feels agitated and antsy. He’s never been so forward with someone he’s just met,...

Chapter Two   When they pull up to the crime scene, a nondescript single-story house, human officers swarm the yard, already having taped off the house. Calypso is the first out of the car, followed closely by Melissa. Valerian ambles from the back seat, yawning and stretching, letting out a satisfied sigh at the pop from his spine. The trio slip under some yellow police tape only to be intercepted by a human officer. He...

  Chapter One   Valerian wakes to a shrill sound going off by his bed. The bed sheets are tangled and constricted around him, one of the reasons he stopped sleeping in a coffin. He's a very restless sleeper. When he was younger and a coffin was not optional, it was a lot more annoying. He was constantly waking up by banging his elbow or hitting his knee or smashing his head. Once a hole is smashed into one, coffins tend t...

Wednesday This wasn’t the first time I had been hauled into a police station. There had been a drunken streak bet with Sherry during our college days. I had been busted after I tripped over some hydrangeas and fallen backwards into someone’s property... Sherry had tried to pull me up but in her drunken state she fell on top of me. Our howls of loud drunken laughter had woken the owner. The house owners had been of the pur...