Investigated Read online

  Investigated

  Daywalker Academy series Book 1

  Maya Daniels

  Copyright © 2019 by Maya Daniels. All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This book is a work of fiction. Any references, real places, real events, or real persons names and/or persona are used fictitiously. Everything in this story comes from the author’s imagination and any similarities, whatsoever, with events both past and present, or persons living or dead, are purely coincidental.

  Cover design by Jessica Allain, Enchanted Whispers

  Edited by Cassandra Fear

  If you are unable to order paperback copy of this book from your local bookseller, you may contact the author at [email protected] or visit the website

  www.authormayadaniels.com

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  From the Author

  Also by Maya Daniels

  “Blood will tell, but often it tells too much.”

  - Don Marquis

  Chapter 1

  “He is cutting through the back.”

  My partner Aiden growls next to me, his eyes trained on the back of the shifter we’ve been chasing halfway around town for the last hour. My arms are pumping, the breath coming out in short puffs of steam around my face. On the bright side, it’s nice not to feel the chill of early winter. On the other, I can really use a break and get this sucker.

  The call came in anonymously that the wolf shifter is seen exiting a witch’s house, covered in blood. He is dressed all in black, so it’s difficult to see the evidence of it, but I can smell the coppery scent that follows him like an arrow pointed at his head. In the last month, the number of calls have increased, the killings have doubled, and we can barely keep up with it. Adrenalin surges though me, the need to get ahold of him to get some answers pushing me faster than normal. We haven’t been able to get one peep from anyone about what is feeding this violence between the species.

  Not bothering to answer Aiden, I veer off to the right, barely missing clipping his shoulder with mine. The last couple of weeks, my depth perception has been shit. I’m lucky if I get my ass in a chair without missing the whole thing and landing flat on my back. But that’s a problem for another day. Right now, as I wheeze past homes, jump over fences, and trespass through people’s back yards, I need to concentrate on getting this guy. Not because I have something to prove, or for some sort of righteous notion of doing something right. As sad as it may sound, it’s because I’ve screwed up more times than I can count lately, and I’ll get suspended if the guy gets away.

  Aiden heads off left, I’m assuming to try and cut off the shifter from further ahead. The bark of a pissed off dog lodges my heart in my throat, but I’m gripping the wooden planks of the tall fence, already catapulting my body over it. Disappearing behind a two-story home, I see just a glimpse of the guy I’m after, and it propels me faster. Adrenalin rushes through me again, my fingers tingling with the weird energy that has been going to town on me and wreaking havoc on my body.

  “Get the guy, Franky. Then think about your messed up life.” Huffing under my breath, I zip by an open sliding door, hearing chatter and laughter coming from inside one of the homes.

  It must be nice, I think gloomily to myself. To live a life ignorant of all the ugly that hides in the shadows waiting to pounce on you at any given moment. I don’t begrudge them their innocence. I envy it. It’s not their fault I was born as a hybrid creature of the night, something they believe is just a figment of their imagination. And fate, the cruel and wicked witch that she is, couldn’t just land me in one of the species. No, my parents had to be the rebels of the supernatural world and mix genes. What was supposed to be a one night stand to scratch an itch ended up with a weirdo like me bumping uglies with the rest of them.

  Mix species are looked down upon in our world. The pure blooded love to say it’s because we have a higher tendency to go feral, or turn psychopathic. The truth of it is, hybrids get to have mixed powers from both species, and when they reach their prime, they are more powerful than any pure-blooded creature. They can’t control us, so came up with a way to erase us from our world. Hence, there are not many of us around. I assume that they just kill the product of the coitus before anyone finds out, but I could be wrong. Hell, I am wrong more times than not, and that’s why I am running after a shifter tonight. Like that time when I thought a guy was really nice only to find out he was a psycho luring me to his den so he and his buddies could have some fun. Needless to say, he misjudged the situation as well as I did. He died, and I ended up on the radar of Andrius Roberti, the meanest motherfucker of the supernatural world.

  And, wait for it…my boss.

  I was only sixteen at the time, but he kept me on a short leash, threatening to lock me up or kill me if he felt like it. For years, I was looking over my shoulder, and even under my bed, thanks to him. As soon as I turned twenty-one, he showed up and swept me away into his organization, not giving me the option to gracefully decline, which I had every intention of doing. I even practiced what I was going to say in front of a mirror. It sounded great and quite respectable to my ears, until Andrius showed up and pointed his finger at the open car door waiting at the curb.

  The Supernatural Agency for Accord is his baby. He only takes those that have proven their worth in his eyes as part of his team. All of them are pure-blooded, their powers manifested, with years of training under their belts. Everyone is praying before they fall asleep that the Agency doesn’t come knocking on their door. Not that it knocks. One agent will show up at your door and give you two options. Either go peacefully or die right there in your granny robe and fuzzy slippers. I’m not really the robe and slippers type, but I’m just saying. He collects the best of the best to keep the order the supernatural groups agreed on.

  When the supernaturals decided to out themselves to the humans, all hell broke loose. My world collided with theirs and, from the stories I’ve heard, it was a blood bath. We are stronger, more powerful, and nearly impossible to kill, but the humans have one great advantage. Their number. They outnumber us a thousand to one and it worked in their favor. The Purge, as they call it, happened and if we were to stay alive we had to agree to keep in the shadows and not mingle with humankind. Our town was created, protected by wards no one could breach, and the Agency was established to keep everyone here in line. No one leaves this town, apart from a select few. Andrius is as close to a God as anyone can ever get in our world, and his team is as feared and as powerful as him. All of them are legends. He collected the strongest, most powerful warriors.

  And me.

  Rounding a corner, the stitch on my side pulls me from the trip down memory lane just in time to be able to duck and roll, missing the flying fist to my face. My hip and shoulder take the brunt of the impact with the unforgiving ground as I tumble on the sidewalk, pebbles digging into my palms. Ending up in a crouc
h, my eyes widen when the sole of a size eleven boot obscures my vision. Jerking back, landing on my ass, I scramble like a crab to put distance between myself and the damn shifter that apparently got sick of running.

  Just my luck.

  A wicked grin splits his face, his eyes lighting up with the strength of his wolf. Usually, they would be the eyes of a predator prepping itself for a fight. Not this guy. There is a crazed glint in his gaze, something I haven’t seen even on a rogue gone feral and lost to his animal side. It almost looks like desperation. It gives me a pause, enough time for his other foot to connect with the side of my head. A burst of colors blooms behind my eyelids from the power he put in that hit. My face scrapes on the pavement, but I’m already pushing up and turning to face him. I regret my decision not to carry my weapons tonight, something this jerk should be grateful for.

  “If I knew it was a mongrel chasing me, I would’ve stopped running a long time ago.” His voice is gravely, more animal than man, and bile rises in the back of my throat when he adjusts his junk.

  “Aww, look at you.” Sweetness is dripping like honey from my lips. “Such a sweet talker. I bet the ladies love it, huh?”

  “Roberti must be desperate if he is sending you after me.”

  “Or you just suck dude, so he figured that’s all you’re worth.” Shrugging nonchalantly, I eye him for weaknesses. Oh, how I wish I had my daggers. “You think you are the top of the food chain because you killed a witch? Hate to break it to ya, but my guess is no. It just makes you a liability we can’t afford.”

  “I killed no one!” Taking a menacing step towards me, he grinds his teeth. “She was dead when I got there.”

  “Rightttt!” My hands are tingling bad, and my entire body is quaking with the need to knock his ass out. “And you were not escaping. You were just going for a night run after having a bath in her blood.”

  “Exactly.” Baring his teeth, he swings at my head again.

  I’m ready for it this time, so I block with my forearm, stepping in instead of pulling back so I can come face to face with him. They always underestimate the girl. My tall, thin frame makes them think I’m easily breakable I guess. Why that happens is beyond me, but I’ll take it. Shoving my hand flat on his chest, I send all the pent-up energy zapping through him. His body convulses, his manic eyes rolling to the back of his skull. A scream is ripped from me when claws tear at my skin. The shifter’s face starts morphing into his wolf, and with just a second to spare, I push myself off him and stumble back.

  Dropping on all fours, a dark gray wolf the size of a pony stares at me from two feet away. The same crazed look is swirling in his eyes, his top lip curling over sharp canines as long as my pinky. Saliva is dripping down his fur, and his sharp claws, one coated in my blood, scrape the pavement as if they twitch with the need for more.

  The entire left side of my body feels like it’s on fire. My blood is flowing freely, drenching my shirt and pants. The scent of it mixing with the witch’s blood still saturating the air around him only makes the wolf wilder. I can see it in the posture of his body, the slight hunch of its back legs, and the pinning of his ears on his skull. He’s preparing to pounce. With nothing left but to fight for my life, I place my weight on the balls of my feet, bending my knees slightly and bracing for it.

  A horrified scream makes both our heads jerk in that direction. I have never in my life heard a sound filled with so much terror. The blood curdles in my veins. Without a second thought, I bolt in that direction, forgetting all about the beast that is preparing to rip me to shreds, and the reason why I am facing off with a crazy shifter in the middle of a street to begin with. To my shock, the wolf is running parallel with me, looping down the street with his gaze trained in the distance. All my pain and injuries are forgotten together with the fleeting thought that Aiden is nowhere to be found. It all gets lost in the rushing of the blood in my ears, my feet barely touching the ground from the urgency I feel burning in my chest.

  Rounding a corner, I skid to a stop. Two shadows twist and twirl around a lump in the middle of the street. A hand reaches toward the sky from the crumpled person on the ground, as if warding off the waving shadows. The wolf next to me releases a sound between a growl and a whine, and its ears go back, flattening on its skull before turning around and disappearing into the night. I can’t look away from the scene in front of me to even worry that my suspect is getting away, or what that means for me and my future in the Agency.

  The darkness around the shadows is all-consuming, sucking in the light from the lampposts scattered down the street. The eerie silence creates a buzzing in my ears that only amplifies the rushing sound of the blood in my veins. Only my gasping breaks the stillness around me, and I realize too late that I shouldn’t stand like an idiot in the middle of the road for anyone to see.

  The movement of the shadows stops, and although I can’t see its eyes or face, if it even has any, I can tell when it turns its attention on me. The short hairs on the back of my neck stand on end, and my fight or flight instincts kick in. My gaze is locked on the lump on the ground, slowly disappearing from view as if being erased from this life like it never existed. The horror of that thought keeps me rooted on the spot, even when everything in me screams that I should run. The lump disappears, and the shadows condense into one before heading straight at me. Heart hammering in my chest, my entire being numbs from the crippling fear that overtakes all rational thought. Keeping my eyes open, I stare at my death, now only inches away from me.

  All the air is pushed from my lungs when something barrels at my side, sending me rolling for a few feet. The rough pavement shreds all of my exposed skin while I’m skidding on it, unable to stop the momentum. My head cracks on the sidewalk, the sickening crunch too loud to my own ears. Through blurry eyes, I see the shape of a man looming over me, as if checking if I’m still alive, but I can’t see his face or his clothing. I know for certain it’s not my partner, the wide shoulders and powerful arms definitely not matching Aiden’s swimmer physique. It’s all fading rapidly as I taste acid in my mouth. The last thought that rolls through my mind is, ‘Shit, the shifter got away’. But then another thought quickly follows, making me chuckle in my mind. Andrius can’t blame me, because I’m going to be dead. I lose my fight with consciousness with a smile on my face.

  Chapter 2

  “She let it get away.” Aiden points an accusing finger at me as I purse my lips.

  Unfortunately for me, I didn’t die. The jerk pointing a thick finger at my face found me on the street and brought me to Andrius before dumping a bucket of water on my head. So, here I am, drenched like a rat after a flood and dripping water all over the expensive rugs covering the floors of Roberti’s office. By the reddening of his face, I’m quite positive he does not appreciate it. Neither do I, but I can’t tell him that right now.

  “What are you, five?” Glaring at Aiden, I poke at the rips on my shirt. “You found me unconscious, dumbass. I didn’t let anyone get away. As I said…”

  “Yes, we all heard what you said.” Clenching his meaty fists, Aiden vibrates from his anger. “Shadows materialized out of nowhere and made people disappear.” My unwilling partner does not hide his dislike of me. He never has, as long as I’ve known him.

  “And you think what? I made that shit up because a shifter got away?” My own anger spikes up at his accusation. He might’ve taken offense when he asked me out and I laughed in his face. It was one of those foot in the mouth moments for me because I thought he was joking. Apparently, he was not. Immortals hold grudges for a very long time, I’ll say that much.

  “Enough!” Andrius barks, cutting anymore arguments with just that one word.

  Glancing at my boss’s face, my heart skips a beat at the intent stare he has trained on me. Dropping my eyes to my feet like my boots are the most fascinating thing in the world, I swallow the panic that’s trying to overwhelm me and push aside my need to stare him down in a challenge. Submissive I am not, but neith
er am I stupid. I fucked up. He is going to kick me to the curb now. It isn’t like he hasn’t promised that a few times already. This had been my chance to show him I’m at the top of my game and I screwed up more than ever.

  My palms are sweaty as I keep ripping at the shredded shirt. Not a trace is left from my injuries. I heal fast, yes, but not this fast. Something happened on that street tonight. Something I can’t explain, and even when I try, none of them believe me. Hell, I don’t even believe myself, and I was there. And who the fuck was that guy that saved my life? I don’t need anyone to give me a rundown of what happened. If he wasn’t there, I would’ve been dead right now. Biting on the inside of my cheek, tasting my own blood, I keep my mouth shut. That’s the least of my problems. After being in the agency for ten years, I have no idea what I’ll do with my life when Andrius tells me to pack my bags. I don’t fit in with the human world, even if I could walk out of the wards. Neither do I fit in with the supernatural one, and those same wards hold me hostage.

  “Get out!” The softly spoken words pack so much power that my feet are moving before my brain even registers what I’m doing.

  Aiden is out the door so fast I feel a breeze ruffle the short hairs that have escaped my braid around my face. I follow right on his heels, holding my breath. Andrius said get out, but not get out of my building. That’s a good thing, right? Mind reeling with where I can make myself disappear until my boss calms down, I reach for the door so I can close it behind me, one foot already out the door.