My first thought was that someone was playing a prank on me—typical hazing of the newbie. But that…man who’d attacked me had been a hell of a lot more than a prank. “What does that mean?” I demanded. “Are you like ghost hunters or something?”
For some reason, I instinctively looked to the younger man for answers. But he wasn’t looking at me. Instead, he lifted a framed photo of my mother, me and my little brother from an end table.
“Hey, don’t touch my stuff.” I strode across the room and jerked the frame from his hands—my first mistake. My fingers collided with his, sending a strong jolt of something very much like electricity throughout my body, setting every nerve ending on fire. What the hell?
I backed away, my gaze claiming his.
His eyes glowed, intense black and shiny, peering into mine as if he could see all the way to my soul.
My breath caught and held. I lifted a hand to my throat, pressing the other to my breast, as if to hold my galloping heart steady. “Who the hell are you?”
He smiled, his teeth gleaming white, the dark lock of hair hanging down over his forehead glossy black and begging to be brushed to the side.
My hand rose to do just that, only I caught myself before I actually touched him.
The older man stepped up beside us, reminding me we weren’t alone.
“This is Blaise Michaels, a member of my team.”
Anger gave me the strength I needed to break the stare between us. “Tell your underling to leave my things alone,” I forced out between clenched teeth.
“Blaise.” Detective Thomas’s tone was low, but intense. “Let me handle this. I think she can be of use to us.”
The younger man’s lips slid into a full, sexy grin. “I agree,” he responded, then winked at me. “You felt it too, didn’t you, Katya?” he said, only his lips didn’t move.
I did a double take. “Did you say something?”
Blaise’s eyes widened, a smile curling his lips, but Detective Thomas interrupted him before he could say anything else. “Stop fooling around. We have a problem and we need to get to the heart of it.” Thomas waved a hand toward the worn leather couch I’d salvaged from a street corner. “Won’t you have a seat? I have a proposition for you.”
For the first time since the room had cleared, I wished I’d rearmed myself with the other knife from my cooking set before I sat. “I’m not much of a fan of propositions.”
Detective Thomas smiled. “I think you might find this one interesting. Based on the M.E.’s report, that man you beheaded earlier tonight had been dead for two weeks.”
“He wasn’t acting dead when he threw himself at me.”
Thomas nodded. “That’s my point. Dead people don’t normally throw themselves around or attack people. That’s when my team gets called in to investigate. The creature who attacked you was a zombie.”
I laughed out loud, then sobered when the good detective and his flunky didn’t laugh with me. “You expect me to believe that?” My glance passed from Thomas to the man he’d called Blaise.
“You saw him. Did he look like a rational, fully functional, warm-blooded human?” The detective’s brows rose as he waited for my answer.
The stench of death still lingered in my nostrils and the cold fingers that had grabbed my ankle hadn’t felt like any live person I’d ever known. Still…zombies?
“We refer to them as reanimated bodies, but to the layman, the term ‘zombies’ works.” Detective Thomas paced the living room floor in front of me, his brows dipping low over his eyes. “There’s been a rash of reanimates lately and we haven’t been able to find the source. I’m short of staff and frankly I haven’t met too many people I’ve felt I could trust to keep calm in weird situations and do the job without hesitation. Or willing to keep his or her mouth shut about the paranorms roaming the streets of Manhattan.” He stopped and faced me. “Until you.”
“Me?” I sat back, my heart thumping hard in my chest. “No wait, back up, what’s this about more paranorms?”
“You know, the usual collection of creatures normally considered folktales or myths.” When I continued to frown, Thomas went on. “Werewolves, vampires, zombies and demons.”
I shook my head. “Look, it’s been a long night,” I said as I got to my feet. “It already had been a long night for me even before I got home. And I think I’ve just about reached my limit.” I walked toward the door, intent on showing them out.
Blaise stepped in front of me before I could get there. “You’ve worked the nightshift for the past six weeks right?”
“Yes.” I crossed my arms over my chest, more to cover the tightening of my nipples than anything. “So?” The man had so much magnetism going on, I could feel myself leaning toward him. What was wrong with me? I hadn’t felt an attraction this strong since…hell, maybe I’d never felt an attraction this strong. But that was all the more reason to fight it. I didn’t like anything that made me feel out of control. And there was nothing controlled about my response to this man.
“Haven’t there been some really strange citizen reports of wolf sightings in the alleys or people claiming to have been bitten by a vampire?” Blaise’s gaze slipped to my lips, and almost instinctively I licked them.
I forced myself to concentrate on his words, though they made no sense. “We had those crank calls in Chicago all the time, so what? There are lunatics all over the country.”
Thomas nodded. “Ever wondered if there was a grain of truth to the reports?”
An icy finger of déjà vu trickled down my spine. I had wondered, but discounted it as a little of the crazy rubbing off. Thus, my change of venue from Chicago to Manhattan. That and the stalker coworker who wouldn’t leave me the hell alone—until he finally crossed the line. “No,” I lied. “I never gave their stories a second thought.”
Blaise laughed out loud. Liar. Again, his lips never moved.
I’d been watching them, maybe a little too closely. “I don’t believe in ghosts and never have.”
“I’m afraid denial is not an option anymore. I need someone like you on my team. You proved yourself tonight with the zombie—handling the situation without falling apart.”
Blaise moved away, giving the detective the floor.
I was able to finally direct my attention to Thomas. “I’m a beat cop. I’m out on the streets every night. I don’t fall apart.”
“Good, then it’s agreed?”
My hands went up. “Whoa. I didn’t agree to anything.”
“You didn’t have to. I’ve already spoken with your supervisor and his boss. The paperwork for your transfer will follow in the morning. You can quit altogether and be unemployed, or you can work for me. We need you. Your first case has already…dropped into your lap. It’ll be up to you to find the people responsible for reanimating that dead man.” Detective Thomas shrugged into his coat and started for the door. “Your partner will fill you in on all the details of your new responsibilities.”
“Wait a minute.” I followed Detective Thomas to the door. “I haven’t agreed to this.”
Thomas stopped and turned toward her. “Maybe you don’t understand. I don’t have enough staff to chase this new threat. The man tonight wasn’t the last of them, but nearly everyone else on my team is too tied up to take on new assignments. Unless you step up, the next zombie is going to put more people in danger.”
The blue-gray of the zombie’s face flashed through my mind along with the chill that lingered where his hand had gripped my ankle. “There are