Fire Within by Ally Shields Page A

on his way.”
    “I want in on the investigation,” Andreas said abruptly. “Like last year. Full access. Two vampire murders in a week make this the business of the vampire court.”
    “Magic Council is already involved,” Ryan said neutrally, his gaze flicking to Ari. “As far as I know they still represent the vampires, and Ari’s their Guardian. I’m not saying your expertise wouldn’t be useful, but Ari has the final call on whether you’re in or out.”
    Oh, thanks, Ryan. Did he have to dump this on her? Maybe he wouldn’t have, if she had told him the whole story, warned him she and Andreas couldn’t work together again.
    “We don’t need your help,” Ari said bluntly. “This isn’t the same situation as last year’s case.” And she didn’t want to spend that much time around him. “I’ll make my reports to the Magic Council as usual, and your rep can keep Prince Daron informed.” She kept it formal, not looking at him. “Don’t you agree, Ryan?”
    “Oh, no, Ari. Officially on the fence. Not my decision.” Ryan shook his head to emphasize his words. “You two have to work this out. I have a crime scene to preserve.” He walked away.
    Coward. Ari wanted to hurl the word after him. Being alone with Andreas was the last thing she wanted.
    “Do you want us running our own investigation? Outside the confines and rules of the Council?” Andreas asked quietly. “Because that will happen.”
    She looked at him then, her irritation obvious. “You would do that?” She read the answer in his steady gaze. “Fine. Do as you please. Apparently you intend to anyway. So hang around if that’s what you want, just stay out of my way.”
    “Arianna,” he began.
    She was already striding toward the victim, forcing herself not to run. She had to get far away from his insidious attraction, that false sense of warmth and well-being his magic conveyed and the way her magic responded, as if sighting home after a long absence.
    Andreas’s gaze followed her, like hot needles on her skin. Then, the awareness lessened, as he’d turned away. Ari twitched her shoulders to relieve the tension. She wasn’t looking back. She didn’t care where he’d gone or what he was doing, as long as it didn’t involve her.
    Almost immediately, she felt something else. Something that made her edgy. She didn’t recognize it, but it seemed to rise from the victim’s body. She approached the rapidly decaying corpse but didn't see anything that should have caused her discomfort. Thinking she'd been thrown off balance by Andreas, she concentrated on what the scene could tell her. The victim was a female vampire, probably around thirty when bitten. Since Ari could no longer get a sense of her power, it wasn’t possible to estimate how long she’d been a vampire. She’d been part of the truly dead since someone put matching holes in her head and chest.
    Considering the decay process was still active, this was a recent kill. Ari stared at the wounds. Strange looking for gunshots, the edges too irregular. No evidence of bullets or casings on the ground. This looked like the same cause of death as Jules. Where was Riverdale’s ME? She wanted some answers this time.
    Her skin still prickled, her witch senses uneasy, reacting to some form of negative energy in the area. She glanced around, making sure Andreas wasn’t somehow responsible for the on-going tension, but he was busy on the far side of the scene. Besides, this magical energy was dark, much darker than Andreas’s, even during the time she’d seen him shadowed with fury. She took a tentative sniff of the air. Something…she still couldn’t identify it. She glanced at Andreas again, this time wondering if he sensed the same disturbance. She wasn’t willing to ask him. The less contact between them, the better.
    She needed Gillian. She flipped open her phone and made the request. Maybe the ES reader would locate the source. She told Gillian to hurry.
    Ari made an