The two enemies stared at each other for a moment, and then McAllister lunged at her. It seemed to take hours for him to cross the small space between them.

As she watched him, it was as if the scene played out in slow motion. She wanted to move out of his way but knew this would be her last chance to win the fight. Avery couldn’t keep up the physical or magical pace. She just didn’t have it in her.

But, she was going to win this, no matter what it took.

As the detective slammed into her and drove her against the wall, the air whooshed from her lungs. She tried to breathe, but he had wrapped his fingers around her throat, hauled back his other hand and made a fist.

If that big, beefy hand connected with her, he’d knock her unconscious, and it would be over. He’d promised he’d kill her, and she believed him.

Instead, she lifted her right hand, gripping the device tightly as darkness crept into her peripheral vision. Bringing it up to his chest, she pulled the trigger.

McAllister froze, his eyes wide. His whole body shook as he let go of her throat. The big man tried to inch away from her, but she wouldn’t allow it. With every step he took back, she followed, pulling the trigger of the Taser gun again and again. His face reddened and scrunched in pain; his mouth opened as if he wanted to scream but couldn’t.

Finally, he fell to the floor.

She stood over him, the gun still aimed at him. His eyes fluttered closed as his body slowly stopped trembling. Finally, he lay still.

Avery stepped away from him and tried to catch her breath. Had she killed him, or just stunned him? She didn’t dare get close enough to feel his pulse. He was incapacitated for now, and that was all that mattered.

Spinning on her heel, she searched for Gabe. The energy orb must have hurt him pretty badly because he hadn’t joined the fight. She went to the spot where she’d originally seen him on the floor, but he was gone. How hadn’t she noticed him leave during her fight with McAllister?

Where the hell did he go?

She marched back into the living room and noticed Gabe’s truck was still parked in front. He hadn’t left.

She returned to the kitchen and noted the refrigerator had been pulled away from the wall. A pile of clothing lay neatly folded next to it.

Bending down, she picked up the boots and recognized them as Gabe’s. It was then that she saw a hole in the floor where the refrigerator had been.

She thought she heard someone breathing from below. Armed with her Taser gun, she slipped through the passage.

Nothing could have prepared her for what she found.

A small room had been dug out underground, no more than six feet by six feet. It wasn’t anywhere close to being considered a finished room. Plywood made up the walls. Dirt on the floor. The heavy scent of wet soil invaded her nose as she glanced around.

In the left-hand corner sat a small cot. Tables lined the rest of the room and were covered with gold crosses, statues, and jewelry.

In the middle of it all, Gabe knelt naked next to a body with a wooden stake through its heart. He turned to face her when she entered.

“What is this?” she asked.

“This is our vampire,” he said, getting to his feet. “He was very talkative before he died.”

“How did you find him?”

“Once I could breathe again after that damned energy ball slammed into me, I shifted, ready to help you with McAllister. But then, I smelled vampire under the refrigerator, and you seemed to be holding your own, so I came down here to investigate.”

She studied the room again, trying to keep her eyes off Gabe. With the hard planes and sharp ridges of muscle, his body was even more beautiful than his face.

One statue caught her eye, and she went to that table and picked it up. Tears welled as she clutched the golden Virgin Mary to her chest.

“This resembles one my mom had,” she said.

“It is your mom’s.”

Avery was still trying to put the pieces together. She couldn’t connect what McAllister had to do with the vampire, or why the bloodsucker had taken all these religious relics.

Gabe placed his hands on his hips, obviously not concerned in the least bit about his nudity. Avery couldn’t help but take a peek once in a while. Her cheeks burned with embarrassment, and the dark underground room beneath the house became very warm. She turned away from him.

“The vampire stole the relics,” he continued. “He and McAllister were partners. Before I killed him, he admitted everything. McAllister covered for him and kept him out of prison. They’d take anything worth selling and either fence it in Canada or have it melted down by a guy they knew. Gold is easy to hock in that form.”

Her mother had died because of the one thing she hated the most—greed. All of Avery’s emotions flooded at the same time, and she relented. Her tears finally flowed.

“The vampire had been assessing your mom’s church to see how he could get in there and steal from them. He saw your mom leave the church, and he was hungry. He followed her home with the intention of feeding, but when he saw all the gold in your mom’s place, he knew he’d struck bank. They fought. He won.”

“Why just the religious symbols? Why didn’t they steal anything else that was gold?”

“Oh, they did, Avery. Anything they could get their hands on.”

“What about the other addresses I went to?” she asked. “The ones on the piece of paper in my mom’s file?”

“All properties McAllister owned. They kept their operation moving and changed locations every couple of weeks.”

She set down her mom’s favorite Virgin Mary statue and picked up a gold cross necklace. “This looks like hers, too.”

“It probably is.”

“Did you find your pack’s relic?”

“Yeah. Turns out the vampire had a problem with a member of our pack, just not the one he almost killed. When he didn’t find the guy, he took the wreath instead.”

Avery picked up a wreath made out of sticks intertwined with black, gold, and silver ribbons.

“So, the disappearance of the wreath and my mom’s death weren’t related.”

He shook his head. “Nope, not directly, except the vampire was responsible for both.”

They stood in silence for a moment before Gabe asked, “Did you kill McAllister?”

She shook her head and wiped her tears. “I don’t know.”

Gabe nodded and climbed out of the room.

As she picked up various stolen items, she wondered how many lives had been deeply affected, or worse, lost. All for money.

Avery liked money as much as the next person, and often wished she had more. There’d been times in her life where she’d been in dire straits and had dodged her landlord for a week or two. One time, she even went without electricity for a few days because she couldn’t pay her bill. Yet, she’d never thought of hurting another being for her own gain.

She stood over the vampire lying on the floor, his dark eyes staring up at the ceiling, devoid of any life. He may have been the one who’d attacked her that night in the alley, but she couldn’t be certain. She’d been so afraid, and it had been very dark…

While dropping to her knees next to his body, she wished she felt some type of relief that her mother’s killer was dead, but she didn’t. She’d exacted her revenge, but it was bittersweet at best. The vampire would never hurt a human again, but it didn’t take away the fact that her mother was dead, and always would be.

Gabe returned through the hole fully clothed as she wiped the stream of tears from her eyes.

“You going to be okay?” he asked.

She gripped her mother’s necklace tight in her hand and considered the question. Her next task would be to gather her mother’s ashes, then start a new life. At some point, Avery would let Victoria know she was alive. Frankly, it all seemed so overwhelming, she didn’t even have the energy to leave the underground cavern that housed a dead vampire.

Melia would have wanted her to put all this behind her, to start over. Her mother never would have been horrified at her getting mixed up in this mess to begin with.

Gabe approached the body, hunched over, and threw it over his shoulder.

“What are you going to do with him?” she asked.

“Take him outside and let the sun fry him to dust.”

She nodded and got to her feet. “And McAllister?”

Her gut twisted at the thought that she might have killed him. She hated him with every bone in her body, but she didn’t want to be responsible for killing another being.

“He’s alive,” Gabe replied. “He’s tied up in my truck.”

“What happens to him now?” she asked.

Gabe stared at her for a moment, as if unsure of how to answer.

“Maybe it’s best you don’t know.” He seemed conflicted about the man’s destiny.

Whatever McAllister’s fate was, she guessed it wasn’t going to be through legal channels… human or paranormal. He’d probably never see the inside of Spectral Prison from an inmate’s point of view. For a brief moment, the thought bothered her, but then she realized as long as McAllister was alive, she would always be checking over her shoulder.

“Okay,” she answered, squeezing past him. She raised herself up into the kitchen. The hole leading down into this room had been much easier to maneuver than the sewer system at the prison.

Gabe followed her, and they walked outside. She inhaled a long, cleansing breath and ignored the thump of the vampire’s body hitting the grass. Nor did she turn around when the hissing and popping sounds of it burning in the sun met her ears.

Side by side, Avery and Gabe walked around to the truck. She got in the passenger side. Since McAllister wasn’t in the cab, she assumed Gabe had put him in the bed of the truck. As they pulled away from the house, she didn’t even glance in the rearview mirror, choosing instead to keep her focus on the road.

Ten minutes later, Gabe pulled the truck into the parking lot of a small diner and turned off the key. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out some bills.

“Get something to eat, Avery,” he said. “Enjoy some coffee. This place has the best. I’ll be back in a couple of hours.”

She took the money and opened the door. “Thanks for everything, Gabe.”

He grinned and nodded.

Avery watched his truck drive away until it disappeared over a hill.

She slumped her shoulders and exhaled.

A shifter and a Fae working together to solve a murder. Just a few short days ago, if someone had told her that was possible, she would have laughed in their face. In general, the groups hated each other. It would seem to be impossible.

But apparently, it wasn’t.

With a sigh, she entered the diner. Once she was seated, Avery asked for a cup of coffee and a piece of paper and a pen.

She had a future to plan. No time like the present.