Two hours and a long shower later, I curled up on my couch with a sketchpad on my lap and my laptop on the cushion next to me. This was the fourth sketch I'd started, and while it was more accurate than the others, it still wasn't just right. Not that my memory of the echo had faded or was flawed. The glimpse of him had been too brief to capture both him and the thing inside him.

I added flecks of white to the blue in his eyes, and to the side, I drew another set—these glowing amber. Even if he hadn't referred to the entity inside of him as a beast he had to control, I would have recognized it as something separate from him.

The tip of the pencil hovered over the page, just above the deep v of his upper lip as I tried to bring it to life. Most people wore a mask. Jac's earlier behavior was a good example of that. To the outside world, he was the cool, collected detective, but I'd riled him up today and the facade cracked. That wild part of him he hated reared its head, but it was still him. Just as much as the other. We were all just carefully curated collections of personalities.

But the killer... If that animal inside him broke free, the man who caged him would cease to exist. It would eradicate him. The thought caused an overwhelming sadness to wash over me—a sadness that made little sense. Why would I mourn the loss of a murderer?

I swapped out the pencil for a deeper red to better capture the fullness of his mouth. Maybe murderer wasn't the right word. He'd thought about the people he'd killed. There had been mention of battles fought—death came with war—and he wore a weapon he knew how to use and was willing to use. He had been willing to kill Molly, but he didn't want to. She'd impaled himself on her sword to stop him from taking her to the Synod.

Synod. The extent of my knowledge was it was a council for a supernatural race nearing extinction—the Andarie. For all my acceptance of myself as different, I stayed away from the supernatural world as much as possible, but this case was going to take me into the thick of it.

"Shit."

I threw my pencil down. Nothing I did could capture his otherworldliness. His eyes were the wrong shape, somehow slanted at the corners but wide and thick lashed, but I drew them too small and deep set. The black of his hair was a shade so dark, I couldn't replicate it—nothing was deep enough or rich enough, and his mouth... women would hate him for it while wanting it on their bodies. The only thing I was certain was accurate was his only "imperfection." A pale white scar running beneath his left eye.

Andariens were ridiculously impervious to injury, and their healers were among the most powerful, bringing back creatures even after they had expelled their last breath from their lungs. As long as the soul remained tethered, they could heal the flesh and draw the soul back into its shell. For one of their kind to sport a scar—that injury had to have been enough to  kill him, or it was magical in nature. That was the end of my knowledge of the Andarie—of anyone's knowledge of the race. They were secretive bastards, and I knew of only one place in the city to find them.

"Shit," I repeated, drawing out my phone and hitting the call button.

June answered on the second ring. "Bria you bitch."

"Hey love," I crooned, not at all offended by her tone. Snark was the succubus' love language. "Sorry, it's been awhile."

"Awhile. Three months. Three months. If Evan hadn't seen you pumping gas two weeks ago, I would have suspected you were dead."

"You know it's a lot harder than that to kill me, right?" I asked, now offended, though I shouldn't be.

If it wasn't for June, I would know very little about the supernatural world—less even than I did currently. I would either have accepted the world's view I was insane or have gone insane feeling completely alone. But she'd pulled back the curtain on a community I'd long expected to have existed, and two things became clear very quickly:

First, I was still alone because no one really knew where I belonged. I wasn't a witch, a shifter, a fae, or a demon—despite the very brief consideration, I was a succubus because of the entire screwing to restore my energy after using my gift. Beyond my heightened empathy, seeing echoes seemed to be the extent of my abilities.

And second, in the pecking order of supernatural beings, I was at the very bottom thanks to my very frail human body. It didn't matter than I knew six ways to dismember a body or could put a bullet through a kill spot every single time. One miscalculation on my part, and another supernatural could kill me in a single hit or spell.

Needless to say, I did us all a favor and spent most of my time among humans. June's friendship was the only one from my brief time exploring that side of myself that I continued to nurture, and based on her accusations tonight, I hadn't done a wonderful job of that.

June laughed softly. It was a rich, velvety sound that had my engine revving again, despite Jac's spectacular performance. It wasn't her fault—even when she wasn't actively putting using her magic; she was pure seduction. It's why she had so few female friends—they either wanted her or hated her.

"I suppose you are rather tough for a human and all, and while I'm delighted you finally reached out, I'm guessing there is a reason behind this call."

Twirling a loose curl around my finger, I screwed my eyes closed and tried to sound nonchalant. "I wanted to see if you were interested in going out."

"That's cheating. I can never say no. Any place in particular?"

"Indulgence..."

June sucked in a breath. "You do know what that club is?"

"It's why I need to go. I'm working on a case, and since I'm basically human, I need you to get in."

"It's not just that. You know I'd vouch for you, but I might not be able to watch your back there."

My eyes opened, and I frowned. Not that I needed her to watch my back, but I was curious. "Why not?"

"Oh gods, you don't know? Indulgence is a supernatural bar that caters to the more perverse natures of our community. They serve fresh blood for the vamps. Cage fights for the shifters, and there's a lot of PDA. Maybe if we go tomorrow night? I'll feed tonight, and I should be able to avoid temptation."

"It really needs to be tonight. It's time sensitive."

The killer was looking for the Shard Molly killed herself to hide. I'd called Laura as soon as I'd left the cottage. So far, no one had contacted her, but I suggested she find somewhere safe to stay.  If he really was Andarien, I didn't know if such a place existed, but it was all I could do for her without a lead.

"Okay, well, dress like you're asking for it," June said, a glimmer of excitement in her voice, "Otherwise, you'll stick out like a sore thumb. Wear a mask."

"A mask?" I asked, getting off the couch and heading to my room, my mind already trying to put together an outfit. My line of work and lack of dating life meant I owned very few scandalous pieces.

"It's their thing. I guess to hide your identity."

An hour later I waited outside the club's entry, wearing a black leather skirt with lace side panels that had been part of a Halloween costume one year and was short enough I kept checking to makes sure my underwear wasn't peeping out from the bottom. I'd been forced to get creative with the top. Using a nearly sheer red scarf, I looped it around my neck and crossed it over my breasts. A tight knot in the back and some double-sided tape was keeping it from riding up, but a bra wasn't an option.

A long wolf whistle pulled my attention to the woman getting out of the cab across the street. June strutted over to me, her long legs eating up the distance between us with ease. She wore a gold dress that looked more like lingerie than a dress, and she'd dusted shimmery powder all over her black skin, making her gleam like a goddess in the lamplight.

"Are the garters overkill?" I asked, smoothing my hand down the sides of my thigh and stopping at the top of the stockings.

"The only thing that's going to be killed are the men and women in that club when they realize you're not there to fuck them senseless," she whispered, her dark eyes gleaming with lust as she looked me over. "If I saw you in that getup, all I'd think about all night would be taking off that scarf and skirt, getting you on a couch, and wearing your thighs as earmuffs. In fact, let's take everything off except the mask."

I touched the silver mask over my eyes, feeling my body flush at her description. June and I had never crossed that line because we valued the female friendship between us, but it was in her nature to be open about desire and attraction. It was definitely the confidence boost I needed before walking into a club that would be filled with otherworldly beauty.

"So, what's the plan?" She asked, swiping a fresh coat of burgundy lipstick over her full lips. "If I don't ask now, I won't care in about five minutes."

"Nothing specific right now. Fynn and Khol still run this place, right?"

"Fuck, fuck, fuck," June growled. "Why didn't you tell me you were going to be sniffing around the Andariens?"

"I didn't say that—"

"Then why did you ask about them?"

"Fine, okay. I wanted to come here tonight because I knew the Andariens ran this club, but I just want to see if I can learn anything about them. If I could have asked you to get the information, I would have, but you don't know anymore than I do. They're the only ones I'm aware of within five hundred miles." And one of them might be the killer.

"There's a reason no one knows anything, and that's because they don't want them to," June snapped. She pushed her breasts up and tugged her dress down until I was afraid a nipple would slip—not that it mattered. They would all be out within a few minutes of going into Indulgence. "They're brutal and powerful, Bria. I was literally born in hellfire, and I would volunteer to go back to hell to avoid one of those fuckers."

"We can go, if you want," I said, feeling defeated but understanding her reluctance. I wouldn't put my friend in danger without her consent.

"Hell no. I can smell the lust out here, and I'm hungry. Just don't expect me to protect you if you piss off the wrong person. Got it?"

Grinning, I saluted her. "Yes, ma'am."

"Then let's get this show on the road."