Demon Forged

clutched between Irena’s hands.
    She didn’t blink, didn’t blanch. After a brief pause, she looked up at Savi again.
    “Join us, detective,” Ames-Beaumont said, his voice smooth and amused. “And if you’d like to become a vampire—a nosferatu-born one, which I assure you is the very best kind—our winged friend Irena can assist you.”
    “Thanks, but no.” Taylor looked over at Deacon, who was steadily drinking from the goblet, and took a seat next to Savi.
    “Are you here officially?” Ames-Beaumont asked.
    “Semi-officially.”
    “Which means not officially at all.”
    “Colin.” Savi nudged him with her elbow. “What’s up?”
    Taylor’s gaze remained on Ames-Beaumont. “I need to know where you were this afternoon.”
    Because Ames-Beaumont was the one vampire who could have been at the courthouse that afternoon. Irena knew it hadn’t been Colin—the scent had been human—but the shooter had been so obviously human that she hadn’t thought to tell Taylor that. She’d never imagined the detective might consider other possibilities.
    Intrigued, Irena looked at Taylor more closely. It took guts to come into a vampire’s club and ask him to prove he didn’t kill a human woman.
    “Around noon, I imagine?” Obviously, the vampire knew why Taylor had asked, but Irena couldn’t tell if he was insulted or amused. “I was in my daysleep from dawn until just after sunset.”
    “Can anyone verify that?”
    That irritated him. His brows lifted very slightly.
    “I was with him,” Savi said. “We went to bed together.”
    “That’s not an alibi. You might as well be dead during the day. He isn’t.”
    Ames-Beaumont sighed. “Pray tell me why I would try to kill the congressman?”
    “Because he is a demon,” Irena said, vanishing the nosferatu head and the smears of blood from her fingers. She glanced up to find them all looking at her. “That is reason enough for me .”
    Taylor smiled, then pinched the bridge of her nose. “Look,” she said. “A human died, so Guardians are out as suspects, and so are demons. Daytime means nosferatu and vampires are out. If the murderer wasn’t a human, you’re the only one who could have done it.”
    She’d ruled out a demon killing Julia Stafford, because the nephilim hadn’t come to enforce the Rules and slay the demon. Neither had it been a Guardian, because Michael had not asked any of them to Fall or Ascend.
    How did Taylor know that much about them?
    “No,” Ames-Beaumont said. “I am just the only one who wouldn’t have been punished already for it.”
    “Either way.” Taylor spread her hands. “The FBI grabbed the investigation, not SI. And the feds won’t know to look your way, or any other way. But if it’s a human, they’ll know how to go after him.”
    “So asking me will serve what purpose? Easing your mind?”
    “I’m just trying to cover the bases that they can’t.”
    Why had Lilith never recruited this one for SI? Irena leaned forward, began to ask—and to tell her that SI would be taking over part of the investigation—but Ames-Beaumont apparently decided to relent.
    “Sir Pup was guarding our house while Savi and I were in our daysleep. He can verify that I was there.”
    Oh, he could not be serious. But with one look, Irena realized that he was. Her laughter burst from her in a howl. She fell back, clutching her stomach.
    Taylor rubbed her hand over her face. “You want to use Lilith’s dog for an alibi?”
    “He’s perfectly capable of answering your questions.” Ames-Beaumont glanced at Deacon, whose perplexed expression set Irena off again. “Sir Pup is a hellhound, not a dog.”
    Deacon’s expression didn’t clear. “A hellhound?”
    “Big,” Taylor told him. “With three heads and teeth like this.” She held her hands about six inches apart. “Scary as hell.”
    “And it guards you on the days you sleep?” Deacon’s face lost all expression.
    “Yes.”
    Irena sat up, wiped her eyes. “I can verify that Sir Pup wasn’t with Lilith today. And also that the shooter smelled human.”
    Taylor nodded, and exhaled slowly. Exhaustion seemed to settle over her. Savi reached out, touched her arm.
    “You okay?”
    Taylor’s hand folded over the vampire’s. They were friends, Irena realized. Whatever had been semi-official about this visit dropped away.
    And, she thought, their friendship also explained how Taylor knew so much.
    The lights didn’t blink when Michael teleported in.