Hell's Rayne (Book 1)

Chapter 29

The pub cast a stark contrast to the cold discomfort of the church. It was warm and inviting, brightly lit against the gloom outside and cosy with plush carpet and dark furniture. People had already gathered around the bar, drinking, talking and laughing as if they had already forgotten the woman they'd just buried.

Jesse and I stood to one side, feeling awkward and detached from the rest of the gathering. He didn't seem to be much in the mood for socialising, and I could hardly blame him. Not only had he just put his sister in the ground, but I had given him some serious food for thought concerning his brother-in-law.

Deep down I was itching to get to Eric, to finally get to the bottom of this case. The end felt so close I could almost reach out and touch it, but I reigned myself in a little. I knew I needed to follow Jesse's lead, he was the key to this whole thing after all and I was only there to guide him along the way. I just wished he'd hurry up and act on it.

I had my doubts, still, about Eric's guilt, but the more the day progressed the more I tried to quiet those thoughts. I couldn't be on the wrong track now, not after so many years of experience in this job; that had to count for something. A drink or two under my belt and I'd managed to talk my confidence up. Above all else I wanted to go back home, and after so many weeks above ground of what felt like futile work most of the time, I was so close to having that ticket back to Hell in my hand.

Never before had a case I'd worked lasted so long, nor been quite so complicated. There had been times I'd spent with Jesse where I had almost forgotten who I really was, why I was there, my whole purpose in life, all lost in a comfortable monotony and easy companionship that appealed so much to my human side. But now a conclusion finally loomed ahead of me and everything had started to flood back; my sense of purpose, that underlying blood lust that craved the kill - even if I wouldn't be the one to actually spill the blood – and, most of all, the need to go home. With a little effort I could quiet the human I'd let have control for too long, even though she begged and pleaded for attention inside of my head, could ignore her craving for companionship and the attachment she had developed to Jesse; it was actually nice to finally feel like 'me' again.

The trouble was, I knew this other half was me as well, fifty percent of my personality that felt in perpetual conflict with each other. I never knew why I struggled so much with the divide within my very make up, not when most other hybrids seemed to be stitched together so seamlessly, I felt, far too often, that I was tearing myself apart.

Not now though, not in that moment, I knew I needed to keep it all together and focus on the mission in hand. Getting information out of Eric was going to be like squeezing blood from a stone, and the level of focus and concentration it would require would be more than enough to keep me distracted from my own inner turmoil.

While Jesse drank far more than he should – how we would be leaving the wake I didn't know as he'd had more than the legal limit – I spent my time nursing a third drink I had no intention of finishing, and watching Eric's movements around the gathering.

I was hardly an expert on his behaviour, having not actually seen him more than three times, but I for one felt he was acting a little out of the ordinary from what I had come to learn of him. He'd conversed for a short while with a number of different people, none of whom I'd recognised, but had excused himself from those discussions rather quickly. He exchanged a few short words with Patrick, but they both appeared eager to end any interaction and did as soon as Maura came along. Jesse's father excused himself and hurried away, while Eric, looking bitter found himself roped into talking with his mother-in-law. I couldn't hear any of their conversation, the table Jesse had seated us at was tucked away in the far corner away from the bar, much too far away for their voices to carry across the noisy room. I couldn't even think of a good excuse to get up and stand closer to them , the ladies was in the opposite direction, and heading for the bar would mean I'd actually have to finish my drink and buy another.