Kate Daniels 01 - Magic Bites

How would we find out?”
    Doolittle stirred. “The only way to know for sure, m’lord, is to scan a blood sample. Blood can’t hide the magic when separated from the body. Time is of the essence in this matter. The less time the blood has to degrade, the better. I suggest we take a portable scanner.”
    “If he is what we think he is,” the alpha-wolf said softly, “we’ll have to go in force.”
    “And I doubt he would volunteer the sample.” Mahon said.
    “We can’t compel him,” the alpha-wolf said.
    To compel a person to give a blood sample with the purpose of scanning it was illegal. It was a violation of privacy and the courts have been adamantly enforcing it. If Crest proved to be human, he could make enough of a stink to keep the Pack in hot water for years.
    “Not to mention that he’ll know who all of you are,” I said.
    They mulled it over.
    “It doesn’t matter,” Curran said. “We solve this now.”
     
     
    “DOESN’T FEEL SO GOOD, DOES IT?” JENNIFER SAID to me as we left the black van that ferried us to Crest’s apartment.
    “No.”
    “It’ll be okay,” she said and we both knew she lied.
    The tight pack of shapechangers cleared the stairs to the lobby. A clerk was on duty, a thin, red-headed man, who started to rise at our approach. Curran nodded to him as if they had known each other for years and the man sank back into his seat.
    The six of us took the stairs at a run, Curran in the lead, followed by Jim, Jennifer, Doolittle, and me. Aunt B’s oldest son brought up the rear. He chose to carry a shotgun.
    We reached the door to Crest’s apartment. Behind me Aunt B’s son blocked the stairs. I wondered if the shotgun was for me, in case I developed second thoughts.
    My stomach tightened. It felt wrong. I should’ve come alone. I shouldn’t have let them pull me along. I will not put myself into this situation again.
    Curran knocked on the door. Crest’s voice said, “Hello?”
    Curran looked at me.
    “This is Kate,” I said. “I’m not alone and I need to talk to you.”
    A silence issued as he digested it and the door swung open. Crest looked slightly disheveled. He gazed at the stone-faced gathering outside his doorstep and stepped back. “Come in.”
    We did. The shapechangers spread through the house, and Crest found himself enclosed in a ring. They maintained their distance, a few feet between them and the human in the middle. Just enough room to gain momentum for a leap without getting in each other’s way.
    “Mind telling me what this is about?” Crest said. His gaze flickered to Curran.
    “These people are shapechangers,” I said. “Several of their pack mates are dead. I’m involved in the investigation and the murderer has developed an unhealthy fascination with me. He left a rotting head in my yard with a love note.”
    Crest’s face lost its expression. “I see,” he said. “You think that I’m the guy.”
    Doolittle stepped forward. “If you’d be so good as to volunteer a blood sample, the matter can be cleared up within minutes.”
    Crest was looking at the kid with the shotgun. Wrong. Excluding himself, the kid was the least dangerous of those present. “And if I don’t volunteer?”
    “You should,” Curran said flatly.
    Crest looked at me. “Kate? You believe that I’m the killer?”
    “No. But I have to know for sure.”
    A mix of emotions twisted his face. He thought that I had betrayed him. So did I.
    “You said you wanted to be part of what I do,” I said softly. “Now you are. Please give us the blood, Dr. Crest.” I don’t want to see you hurt.
    Crest clenched his teeth. Around me the shapechangers tensed. His gaze fastened on my face, Crest rolled up the sleeve of his shirt and held out his arm. “Might just as well get it over with.”
    Doolittle tied his biceps with a strip of rubber. A long needle pierced the skin and the dark blood squirted into the clear tube.
    “So tell me,” Crest said. “What exactly am I supposed to be? I assume since Kate’s involved, I’m not an ordinary human. What am I guilty of?”
    “She thinks you feed on the dead,” Jim said.
    “Really?”
    “Yeah. You hunt them. In the night. Human, vampire, Pack, doesn’t matter. You hunt them, you kill them, and then you eat the corpses.”
    “Lovely.” Crest’s gaze didn’t waver. Doolittle carried the sample to the scanner.
    “Oh, it gets better, Doc.” Jim was on a roll. Sonovabitch. “You also kidnap young women. You