Daemon’s Mark by Caitlin Kittredge (web ebook reader .TXT) 📕

Acclaim for Caitlin Kittredge

and the Nocturne City series

“Pure Blood pounds along hard on the heels of Night Life, and is every bit as much fun as the first in the series. With a gutsy, likable protagonist and a well-made fantasy world, Pure Blood is real enough to make you think twice about locking your doors at night. A swiftly paced plot, a growing cast of solid supporting characters, and a lead character you can actually care about—Kittredge is a winner.”

—Jim Butcher

“I loved the mystery and the smart, gutsy heroine.”

—Karen Chance, New York Times bestselling author

of Claimed by Shadow

“A nonstop thriller laced with a ferociously deadly menace. Count on Kittredge’s heroine to never say die!”

— Romantic Times BOOKreviews

“Kittredge takes readers on a dark adventure complete with thrills, chills, and a touch of romance. Well written… and impossible to set down.”

— Darque Reviews

“Fast-paced, sexy, and witty with many more interesting characters than I have time to mention. I’m looking forward to reading more stories in the exciting Nocturne City series.”

— Fresh Fiction

“Wow, I am still thinking about this book. The last time I reacted to a book this way, it was the first Mercy Thompson book by Patricia Briggs. If you are looking for a book that seamlessly blends a police procedural with a paranormal, go out and get this book.”

— Night Owl Reviews

“A tense, gritty urban fantasy that grips the audience from the onset.”

— Mystery Gazette

“Caitlin Kittredge just keeps honing her craft with each new book. Second Skin has some pretty creepy elements and page-turning action. Readers who enjoy good solid urban fantasy will enjoy this installment.”

— A Romance Review

“Night Life dived right into the action and carried me along for the ride… If the following books are written with the same care and interest as Night Life, they will be a welcome addition to this fantasy genre.”

— Armchair Interviews

“Kittredge’s amazing writing ability shines through in this wonderful tale of murder, magic, and mayhem… The intriguing plot grips you from the very first page and takes you on a roller-coaster thrill ride with an ending that will leave you gasping for more.”

— Romance Junkies

“Hot, hip, and fast-paced, I couldn’t put [ Night Life] down. Don’t go to bed with this book—it will keep you up all night. It’s that good.”

—Lilith Saintcrow, national bestselling author of

Working for the Devil

“Luna is tough, smart, and fierce, hiding a conflicted and insecure nature behind her drive for justice and independence, without falling into cliché… also just a lot of fun to read.”

—Kat Richardson,

national bestselling author of Poltergeist

St. Martin’s Paperbacks Titles by

CAITLIN KITTREDGE

BLACK LONDON SERIES

Street Magic

Demon Bound

NOCTURNE CITY SERIES

Night Life

Pure Blood

Second Skin

Witch Craft

Daemon’s Mark

Daemon’s Mark

Caitlin Kittredge

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

DAEMON’S MARK

Copyright © 2010 by Caitlin Kittredge.

All rights reserved.

For information address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.

ISBN: 978-0-312-94366-0

Printed in the United States of America

St. Martin’s Paperbacks edition / June 2010

St. Martin’s Paperbacks are published by St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

CHAPTER 1

When you’re a cop, you learn fast that any attempt at a nice evening out can and will be spoiled by a dead body.

The restaurant was Macpherson’s, an upscale steakhouse with medium-rare walls and décor made of antlers, and my dining partner was Agent Will Fagin, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms. More than just my dining partner, really … I guessed that William Fagin was, after six months of steady dating, my boyfriend.

I don’t do well with the boyfriend/girlfriend designation, but we went out on too many dates to be friends with benefits and stayed in too often to be friends, period.

Will smiled at me over his porterhouse. He had a great smile. Great everything, if you wanted to quantify it—forty years ago he would have been staring back at me from a movie-house poster. Thick blond hair, dancing black eyes, a long skinny frame that belied strength and manly prowess and all of that stuff that women supposedly swoon over in a boyfriend.

“I get something on my face?” he asked, running a hand along his mouth.

“No,” I said. “Sorry.”

Will’s eyes gleamed. “You were staring at me like you’re thinking hard. That never bodes well for me.”

“I was just thinking about what this is,” I said, gesturing with my napkin at the table, the near-empty wineglasses and the remains of my New York strip, the crumbs in the bread basket. Will held up his hand.

“Say no more. That what is this talk never ends in anything except me sleeping on a sofa, so I’m going to ask for the check and we’re going to head back to your apartment and have great sex until we forget about this conversation.”

I laughed, pulling Will’s hand down and covering it with mine. “If you let me finish, I was going to say that for me, this is good. It’s the first time it’s been good—calm—since I was in high school, and I like it. Gods, you’re neurotic sometimes.”

Will turned my hand over, running his thumb along my palm. “The offer to go back to your apartment still stands, Lieutenant Wilder.”

I was about to tell him that sounded like a fine idea when my BlackBerry chirped from inside my purse. As the lieutenant in charge of the Supernatural Crime Squad for the Nocturne City Police Department, I was never really off call. The brass liked me to show up at crime scenes, wave to the news cameras, prove to the plain humans of Nocturne City that their pet werewolf detective was on the job.

“Hold that thought,” I told Fagin, praying it would just be a text message from my cousin Sunny and not an emergency call.

My luck is never that good. Code 187, Pier 16, Port of Nocturne,