Minutes later, a patrol officer led a small procession into the inner offices of the Detective Services Bureau. The college kid witch was right behind the officer, whose eyes looked like they were gonna pop out of his head, followed by an easily recognizable man with purple eyes, a very attractive blonde woman, and a compact man in a black suit who looked like he should be wearing military fatigues.

“Detective Schulz, this is Chris Gordon. Chris, Detective Sergeant Walter Schulz. Oh, and this is Nika and Mr. Deckert,” the kid said with the awkward, yet somehow casual ease of youth.

“My lieutenant, Devon Weston. Oh, and this is Chief Park,” Schulz amended quickly, then introduced the young witch to his bosses. The detective could feel lots of extra eyes on them, but the man the world knew as the God Hammer handled everything with easygoing grace.

The chief looked at the little group and then around as if there might be more. “If you’re wondering about my wife, she’s not here. Handling another issue at the moment. But Nika is here. She’s Tanya sister.”

Schulz had already figured it out. Her beauty and grace, the composed expression… the pale skin. Her green eyes flicked to him and she smiled slightly, then she turned back to the chief just as he too figured it out.

‘You’re… you are…” Chief Park stuttered.

“Darkkin is the proper term, although vampire is okay,” Declan said. “The rest of the team is almost here: Stacia and a couple of others.”

Lieutenant Weston came to his boss’s rescue. “Uh, Stacia… Stacia Reynolds?”

The blonde vampire smiled openly, turning slightly to look at the witch. He met her eyes, nodding at some private point between them. Chris chose to answer. “Yes, leader of our werewolf contingent, such as it is,” he said.

“There’s werewolves?” Chief Park asked.

“Just two, besides Stacia. One of them is very new, but he’s a sheriff’s deputy from up in Maine. Should be a big help with our work.”

“Could be a big help. Or no help at all,” the military man, Deckert said, head moving as he looked around the room.

“True. It’ll have to be seen,” Chris admitted.

“He’ll be fine,” Declan said, which earned him a look from Deckert. The kid just smiled.

“What role do you play… Deckert, was it?” Chief Park asked.

“Security,” was the singular answer.

“Security? For werewolves, vamp… err… Darkkin, and Chris Gordon?” the chief asked, incredulous.

“Yup,” the man said, still looking around the room, and Schulz realized that he was watching the cops themselves for signs of threats.

“Mr. Deckert has proven that his… alertness is warranted, time and time again,” the very pretty blonde vampire said with a smile.

“Personally I’d go with paranoia,” Declan said, facial expression mild and relaxed.

“Paranoia is a survival trait in certain jobs,” Deckert said, feet spreading apart slightly into a parade rest.