Witch's Sorrow: A Witch Detective Urban Fantasy (Alice Skye Series Book 1)

by Taylor Aston White

  “It isn’t that simple,” Miko snapped as he ruffled his hair. “I’m not exactly working on the usual body, now am I?”

  “Do you mind if I come back tomorrow?” Alice asked, “I would like to look through some of the reports.”

  “Sure, ring me later to organise a pass.” He absently waved his hand.

  “So you haven’t found anything useful.” Rex crossed his arms. “This has been a waste of time.”

  Alice glared at him. “Did you find anything else unusual?” she asked the doctor.

  Miko ignored Rex’s comment. “Yes and no. His internals are messed up, like his lungs and stomach didn’t know where to go when his heart grew.” Miko pointedly gave her a look. She remembered him showing her the damaged tissue surrounding the spine.

  Wonder what that could mean.

  “He had blood in his stomach, but I can’t really tell if that’s unusual or not. I know some shifters drink blood through ceremonies and when hunting.”

  Alice glanced at Rex, looking for confirmation. “Rex?” she called.

  No response, he seemed to be staring at the body.

  “Rex?” she said again, slightly louder this time.

  He looked up then, his face pale. “What?” His eyes flashed, his wolf reacting.

  “Dr Le’Sanza was saying some shifters consume blood for ceremonies and stuff? That true?”

  He seemed to shake himself, a full body vibration. “I need to go.”

  “Rex?”

  He faced her, eyes glistening. “Contact me if you find anything else.” With that he left the room.

  What’s up with him?

  Alice leant against a stainless steel cabinet, waiting for Miko to be finished with whatever he was doing. She felt herself stare towards the body, his feet bare, with a white tag tied around his big toe.

  What can I remember about Daemons? Alice bit the inside of her cheek, trying to think. Dread told her stories as a child, warnings. She didn’t believe him. Why would she?

  “Alice?”

  What else did he say?

  “Alice?”

  She needed to learn more.

  “ALICE!” Miko clicked his fingers.

  “Huh?” She blinked at him.

  “I’ve been calling your name.” He raised an eyebrow. “What were you thinking about?”

  “Nothing important.” She cleared her throat.

  “So, we going to talk about your wolf?”

  “What? Rex isn’t my wolf.” She felt heat against her cheeks. “We’re just working together.”

  “I meant him…” He pointed to the corpse. “But it’s interesting you mentioned Rex now, isn’t it.” His brows knitted. “Have you seen the way he looks at you?”

  “Looks at me?”

  “He looks at you as if you’re his.”

  “Excuse me?” He doesn’t really look at me like that, does he? That confused things. “Anyway, what do we know about Daemons?” She didn’t want to think about anything else right now.

  “Other than the fact they are beyond rare? Not a lot.” He gawked at the corpse. “They were more common in the nineteenth century, but have been hunted to near extinction.”

  “Hunted? Who has hunted them?”

  “Well that’s the interesting thing, I don’t know.” He threw his papers onto a counter. “I have asked anybody who should know and I got nowhere.” He tugged at his hair. “Don’t suppose you know anything?”

  “No.” She thought about it. “You said the body was transitioning? Is it magic? Or like a shifter?”

  “Magic? That’s interesting. Shifters in general, while not widely known, do actually have magic. It’s how they are able to shift between their forms.”

  “So Daemon’s could be a type of Shifter?”

  “That’s relative, they seem to shift from one form to another but there isn’t any evidence to suggest that. There is also no evidence to suggest anything else either.” With a pen he started to write notes on a piece of paper. “It’s an interesting theory though, something I will definitely explore.” He peeked at her over the paper. “I’m going to run the bloods again, see if I can break them down further.” He turned back towards his work.

  “I guess that’s me dismissed.”

  Miko didn’t respond, his attention on his new project.

  “Bye then.” Her voice was lost as she walked towards the lifts, just about to press the button when the door opened unexpectedly. A man stood in the centre as the doors opened, his face puzzled before recognition flowed across his features.

  “Agent Skye,” he greeted as he stepped out, letting the door close behind him before she could step in.

  “Detective.” She eyed the button to the left, analysing if she could reach around and not seem rude.

  “What are you doing here?”

  “Visiting a friend.”

  He played with the unlit cigarette on his left ear. “Interesting I found you, I was on my way to talk to someone about the body found behind the club. It seems that someone did bleed John Doe virtually dry before using a tin can lid to slice through his jugular.”

  “A tin can?” That was surprising, the cut looked too clean. She would have put money on a knife.

  “That’s what the professionals say. What was interesting was he was severely dehydrated. When the guys finally moved the body, a few of his bones disintegrated.”

  “What could have caused that?” She had never heard of anything like it.

  “They’re still looking into it.” He checked his watch.

  “Do you have any leads?”

  “Only the extra blood found at the scene, it was magic infused. Identified as belonging to a witch.”

  “You sure it wasn’t a mage?”

  “No, the blood was too strong.” He frowned, his eyes moving behind her.

  “Alice,” someone hissed to her back.

  Alice spun, heart in her throat. “Dread, you almost gave me a heart attack.” She hated that vampires were virtually silent in their movements.

  “We have matters to discuss.” His eyes flicked to the Detective. “O’Neil, haven’t spoken to you in a while.”

  “Commissioner. Have you looked into the proposal I sent over?”

  “About the liaison team? I’m currently working with my Paladins to decide who would be better suited.”

  “Good. The big bosses are pushing for a more blended variety in the workforce. Liaising with a Paladin would be a start.”

  “I agree, I believe it would benefit both sides. I will get back to you as soon as I have come to my decision. Now if you would excuse me.” Dread grabbed her arm, escorting her further down the hallway.

  “Dread what is this?” She dragged her feet until he stopped, making him face her. “Why are you even here?”

  “I have just got the report about the wolf. I’m here to personally remove you from your recent contract. Starting now you will no longer be working for Mr Wild. I have organised Danton to replace you.”

  “Replace me? Wait… back up. Why am I being removed?”

  He waited as someone walked past, not wanting anyone to overhear.

  “We cannot discuss this in the open.”

  Mouth tight, she opened a door to their right, walking into the small cupboard before Dread could complain. “You wanted privacy?” She flicked the switch for the light, the bulb choking to life with a high-pitched whine.

  Dread closed the door behind him, looking around the small room in disgust. It was literally a cleaning closet, several wooden brooms were stacked against each other on the left while the right wall was full of shelves holding cleaning supplies.

  “This isn’t what I had in mind, Alice.”

  “Start from the beginning. Why am I being removed from the case? I feel like I’m really starting to make a breakthrough…”

  “The risk is too high.”

  “Dread, I’m a fucking Paladin…”

  “Language!” he hissed, his obsidian eyes narrowing. “You
’re a Paladin who isn’t trained to deal with Daemons, especially abominations like that.”

  “Then who deals with them?”

  “There is an organisation that specialises in such things.”

  “An organisation? Who?” She needed to speak to them.

  “I do not have to explain myself to you Alice. There’s a reason behind every story I have ever told you. You should try to remember that.” He exhaled, calming himself. “I can’t risk any of them finding you, if they found out…” He caught himself before he revealed anymore.

  “If who found out?” Panic built in her blood. “What haven’t you told me?”

  “You were never supposed to know,” he murmured quietly, almost to himself.

  “Dread…” She wanted to tell him about her nightmares, but couldn’t seem to get the words out of her mouth.

  “Alice…” he sighed. “You must understand, I see you like a daughter, one I want to protect.” He hesitated, trying to find the right words. “No, this isn’t the right time.”

  Alice let out a little scream, frustration creasing her features. “I don’t understand, you demand I leave something alone but you don’t explain why.” Her eyes blurred.

  Alice dropped her lashes, shocked as moisture filled her eyes.

  “You will drop the case.” He paused as the closet door rattled, as if someone knocked it as they walked past. “This is over Alice. My decision is final.” Dread paused, almost as if he was going to say something else.

  She turned her head and held his gaze, seeing if she could read through his evasion.

  “I’m pulling you off this case. Mr Wild will just have to deal with it.” He moved to put his hand on the handle, his back to her. “I know this is hard but my priority is your safety. It’s what I promised…” He cleared his throat. “The risk is too high. Not when it’s your life.”

  The door creaked open before he disappeared.

  Alice let her head rest against the wall, her eyes closed, refusing to let her tears fall. She wasn’t stupid, she knew her broken nightmares that haunted her were memories.

  It didn’t matter how many years went by, Alice still felt the empty ache in her chest when she thought about her family, her mother, father and brother who were all brutally murdered late one night in their family home. The only exception was her, a small child who had been woken up by a strange noise. A child who had ran and hid when she saw a monster, a shadow.

  Chapter 12

  “He can’t take me off the case,” Alice grumbled into her polystyrene cup early the next morning. She had checked her Paladin status on the S.I. database at dawn, delighted to see the paperwork hadn’t gone through. That gave her at least two days. Until then, she wouldn’t be contactable by The Tower.

  Blowing along the top of her coffee she stared at the large converted townhouse that housed the local hospital. The front of the building was made up of five-story townhouses that have been connected to the sleek glass and steel structure built behind. Alice quickly moved past row of ambulances, walking into the general reception area. The smell assaulted her nose almost instantly, the strong mixture of copper and disinfectant polluting the air strong enough to choke on. The accident and emergency centre was situated directly behind the reception, rows of benches lined the white lino flooring, almost every available space taken up by someone moaning, bleeding or clutching some part of their anatomy.

  “Morning, I’m here to see Dr Le’sanza,” she politely asked the tired looking receptionist behind the desk. “He should be expecting me.”

  “Name?” the woman, Betty according to her name tag, asked.

  “Alice Skye.”

  Betty nodded before scanning through a book in front of her, a frown creasing her brow.

  “Is there a problem?” Was I too early? She looked up at the clock on the wall, noting how it was only just past eight. She had been too wound up to sleep.

  “If you could please excuse me Ma’am, I need to make a phone call.” Without waiting for a response Betty grabbed the handset by her computer, clicking a few buttons before murmuring into the phone. Alice could feel the eyes on her back, an accusation of impatient people having to wait too long.

  As if it was her fault they had to wait.

  “Miss Skye, was it?”

  “Yes, that would be me. I spoke to Le’Sanza yesterday…”

  “Yes Miss Skye, he has confirmed your meeting. He just didn’t follow the proper protocol to register a visitor, doctors do that sometimes.” Leaning down into one of her drawers she pulled out a long lanyard with ‘VISITOR’ written across it. “Please wear this at all times,” she said, passing it over. “It will gain you access to the lower levels of the hospital, please do not go into any patient’s rooms unless supervised. If you walk to the large lift and press ‘B1’, you will find Dr Miko Le'Sanza’s office. Take a left, down the corridor and it’s right at the end, you can’t miss it. Any questions?”

  “I’ve been there before, thank you.”

  “Have a great day.” With that practised smile, she turned to the next person in line.

  Clearly dismissed, Alice walked to the lift, waiting patiently in line with the other people. With a bing the lift doors opened, allowing everyone to squish themselves into the small space.

  “Press floor one please,” a woman asked politely as she read from her clipboard. Pushing the hair away from her face Alice obeyed, pressing the two floors and stood quietly beside the woman. The lift music started almost instantly, an annoying raucous of instruments as if the orchestra all stood up and took a step to the right, playing an instrument they were not familiar with.

  A few stops and people started to filter out, leaving more space to move around.

  Stepping back she allowed someone to pass, placing her at the back of the lift with the metal banister digging into her back. An annoying ringing broke through the music, adding an obnoxious tone to the already terrible song. A man who wore all black answered his phone, flipping the front open and putting it to his ear. Alice couldn’t help but stare, surprised to see a flip phone in this day and age.

  “Yes?” the man barked into the receiver. “Yes, we have already found the appropriate information. No, but we haven’t got access yet.” The man stopped his conversation, turning to glare at Alice. “Excuse me.” He held his hand over the microphone, his palm bigger than the black handset.

  Alice blinked up at him stupidly. “Oh, sorry.”

  He just tutted and faced the doors.

  “Sorry about that. Yes, of course. I will keep you updated.” He tucked his phone into his front pocket, grabbing his sunglasses and planting them on his nose.

  The lift dinged once more, signalling that she had reached her desired floor. The door moaned, revealing a very similar white corridor layout. It must be a rule somewhere that all hospitals must be painted a sickly white colour. Shoulders stiff, she walked out, barely stopping herself from looking back at the man, her gut telling her something was wrong.

  Dr Miko Le'Sanza’s office was right at the end of the corridor, his name embossed on a gold plated sign hanging on the solid wood, unsurprisingly painted white. She knocked gently before walking in.

  “Miko?”

  “Hello?” Miko swivelled his head towards the door, a surprised look on his face. “Hi Alice, didn’t expect you today.”

  “What are you on about? I said yesterday I was coming?”

  “Well yes, but Commissioner Grayson said…”

  “Dread came in?” She felt the blood rush from her face. Shit. Shit. Shit.

  “Well, yes.”

  Miko shuffled the papers in his hands as he stood up, a tower of envelopes and coloured folders engulfing what she knew to be his desk, various pens and pencils thrown vicariously across the pile. “He wanted to organise a team to take over examining the body,” he smirked. “I politely told him to shove it. No way was I letting anybody take this over.”

  “You said what?” She really wished she could ha
ve seen Dread’s face. “How did he even know about it?”

  “No idea. I told him I’m not letting some buffoons come over and mess up my research. So he had no choice but to hire me directly under The Tower until further notice.” He sniffed as if displeased, but grinned at the same time. “Which means I also know you’re no longer the Paladin on this case.”

  “So you’re not letting me see the reports?” She felt the energy leave her. What would she do now? That was her main lead.

  “Of course I am. What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him.”

  She beamed, looking around the small office. His desk has been pushed to the far wall, under a light box showing someone’s broken bone. The computer sat on the left corner, the screen showing a black screensaver with a pink square bouncing from one corner to the other.

  “When’s the last time you cleaned?” She sat on the pile of folders on the one chair available in the room.

  “I call it an organised mess.” He pulled out a few boxes from under his desk, planting them on her lap. “These are the files you were after.”

  “Really?” She pushed the top box off, letting it land on the floor at her feet. “Oh man, I think I owe you dinner.” She smiled at the number of folders, hoping some of them contained something helpful.

  “Actually, you owe about six people dinner. We have all agreed on steak.” His eyes sparkled. “These particular reports are based on unusual deaths with no known family,” he shrugged. “Normally in these situations they are never re-opened, just closed once all the leads go dead. So any unusual abnormalities aren’t investigated further.”

  “Have you read these?” She nodded to the pile on her lap.

  “I skimmed them last night. There’s one I think you should see.” He went to the mess on his desk, shuffling through layers of paperwork before he found what he was looking for. Accepting the report she opened the first page.

  Office of the medical examiner

  London

  Report of examination

  Decedent: Maxi L. Swanson

  Case Number: RF 12466-892029