Night Fever (A Rue Darrow Novel Book 3) by Audrey Claire

not.”
    “Rue, don’t be sarcastic.”
    “Sorry, my love. It doesn’t matter what Silvano has in mind for me. I’m my own woman, and I say bad boy wolves all the way.”
    “One in particular,” he said, and I heard the happy grin in his voice. Rolling my eyes, I assured him again that he was the one, and we ended the call.
    The next night, another attack, this time at a salon. I zipped along the dark city streets until I reached the police station, and just for fun, I sent the demon lurking on the rooftop to his own realm and out of the human one. When I was finished playing around, I popped in on Violet as she was strapping on her gun belt in the police locker room. She glared when she spotted me.
    “How did you get back here?” she complained.
    I widened my eyes. “Was it supposed to be hard?”
    She sighed and slammed the locker closed. “Can you cloak now?”
    “Here and there,” I said. “It’s not reliable yet, but I’m getting the hang of it. This time, I just moved faster than they could see.”
    “You have a lot of fun with your abilities.”
    “That’s what happens when you’re not born this way. Plus, I like to stay somewhat positive. If I get down on myself too much, then I face eternity miserable. It’s all in the mindset.”
    “Hmm.”
    I followed her out of the locker room, and several officers glanced at me. Violet shifted her shoulders in that way she had which told me she was uncomfortable and hoped no one would approach her. She didn’t want to have to explain my presence. We left the station, and I joined her in her car.
    “How long are you going to follow me?” she snapped.
    Her irritation didn’t bother me a bit. “Well, I wanted to ask about the attacks. Don’t you think it’s weird that they’re happening in public places? I mean if I were a ghoul, I wouldn’t want to risk the exposure. I’d snatch the occasional human in a dark alley and hide the evidence.”
    She ground her teeth. “You mean like you do?”
    “I’m not a killer.”
    Her expression said she begged to differ. “You’re assuming they can reason.”
    “Didn’t you see it in their eyes? They’re not mindless zombies.”
    “Well, I don’t care what they are. I want them all dead.”
    “I didn’t hear a heartbeat. I’m pretty sure they’re already dead. They sure smell like it.”
    Violet almost whined in agreement. I figured her poor nose had suffered terrible abuse during the fighting. Then her countenance changed again, and I sensed her sadness. The emotion took me by surprise. Surely, she wasn’t feeling sorry for the ghouls.
    “I’m thinking of breaking it off with him.”
    Now I understood the emotion. “Cam?”
    She frowned at me. “Never mind. I shouldn’t have said anything.”
    “Aw, but you two looked so cute last night at dinner and holding hands while you walked.”
    Violet’s face pinked. She was a beautiful woman in her own right. “I’m not talking about him to you .”
    I ignored the attitude. “Does he know what you are? I bet he would be okay with it. He seems to like you a lot, Violet, and he has some backbone. I mean he has to, being a cop, right?”
    Her hands tightened on the steering wheel, and when I didn’t get out of the vehicle, she grumbled under her breath and started it up then pulled out of the station.
    “Where’s your partner?” I asked.
    “She’s sick.”
    “Tough dealing with humans. It’s not so bad having a nonhuman friend. I can be a friend, Violet.”
    She eyed me and then stared straight ahead through the windshield. Her foot hung heavy on the gas petal, and she sped along the street. When a light turned red too soon, she had to slam on breaks, and her agitation mounted.
    “Violet, are you okay? You seem much more wound up than usual.”
    She hesitated, but I waited. “He was almost killed. I should break it off with him. He’s human. They’re so darn fragile. I should stick with my own kind.”
    “That’s not what you