Skin and Bones

by Susan Harris

  The three of them trudged into the station. The mood of the entire station was somber with everyone scrambling around, making calls and trying their damnedest to get a lead in Melanie’s disappearance. Ever considered that this travesty could lead to something else, a harmony between the human police and the supernatural members of P.I.T. Tensions might be high, but the human police knew that Derek and the team considered Melanie one of their own, whether she was a lowly human or not.

  There were no vindictive stares or bigoted glares; cops were simply being cops with an urge to find one of their own who had been taken on their watch. Derek led the way, a protective hand on the small of Ever’s back, and she fought back a shiver at his touch. Even as insignificant as it was, it heated the blood in her veins. It felt oddly familiar, and Ever could not shake the feeling that she was missing something important.

  “Destiny has many different faces, my forever. And our destinies are entwined. Do not resist me, Ever.”

  “Ever?”

  Ever peered over her shoulder and realized that she had suddenly stopped in the middle of the squad room. People were looking at her, and heat bloomed in her cheeks. She took in a breath and continued moving forward.

  “You okay?” Derek asked, his breath warm against her ear.

  Ever felt her heart pound in her chest so hard it actually hurt. When she failed to answer him, Derek steered her to the side, letting Ricky go by and head into P.I.T.’s room. When the door closed behind him, Derek put a tentative thumb and finger on her chin and brought her head up, their eyes clashing as Ever trembled.

  “If this is too much for you, then you can tap out. No one would think any less of you if you did. What we do, what we have to see; it can’t be unseen. For some reason, I feel that the horror we might be faced with might be too much for you. Is this something you can’t come back from? If we find Melanie and she’s not alive, can you let it go?”

  “I think I’m losing my mind. The dreams are following me into my waking hours, and it’s as if I’m remembering things buried deep inside my mind. But they can’t be memories. Maybe my biological mother was bipolar and I’ve inherited it. Derek, my mind is the only thing that has made me unique. If I lose that, then I lose who I am.”

  Derek traced the outline of her bottom lip as a tear trickled down her face. “You’re not ill, Ever. If you were, I’d smell it. And your mind is not the only thing that makes you unique. I’ve been drawn to you from the very first moment I laid eyes on you, and that was before I knew you had such a brilliant mind. We can figure all this out together. I promise that I won’t let you lose yourself.”

  “Thank you.”

  Derek leaned in, and Ever held her breath as he pressed his lips to her forehead. Taking her hand, he gently tugged her after him, and they went inside. Eyes turned in their direction as they walked in. Ever blushed when Derek directed her to his desk, sat her down, and then, before releasing her hand, brought it to his lips. Her skin tingled, and she shook her head. She knew he was letting them all know that he considered her his. And she liked it.

  Tom gave Ever a brief smile before glaring at Derek. Derek kept his cool. After a few moments, he inclined his head as silent words were spoken. Ever turned her attention to Ricky, who seemed lost in thought over at his own desk. His lips moved, and Ever could feel the slight stirrings of magic—a familiar sense that she had grown up with. His eyes were shut, but she could see them moving behind his lids.

  “Goddammit!” he exclaimed suddenly and shoved a stack of files off his desk. Caitlyn came over to him and picked up the mess on the floor. Ricky put his head in his hands and scrubbed hard. “I’ve tried locater spells, tracing, summoning, and nothing’s working! Why can’t I find her?”

  “Perhaps, my friend, she is not conscious. It takes a great deal of power to find someone who is unconscious. Even a skilled dream-walker would find it difficult to enter someone’s mind if they had been drugged or knocked unconscious. Don’t lose heart, my friend; we’ll find her.”

  “But what if we don’t get to her in time?” Tears glistened in his eyes as Ricky’s voice cracked.

  A new voice broke the closeness of the moment. “I wouldn’t fear for Ms. Newton. Our boy kills supes, not humans. I’m sure it’s just a ploy to divert our attention.”

  All eyes turned to the figure standing in the doorway. Adrenaline suddenly rushed Ever, causing her head to spin. A slim-yet-muscled woman leaned against the doorframe, her shoulder-length hair a mix of brown and blonde highlights. Olive skin, with the most enticing eyes—like sunlight shining through whiskey—stared back at her. This woman felt familiar. As the woman placed her hands on her hips and beamed at them, all the air seemed to disappear from Ever’s lungs.

  Tom stepped forward with an outstretched hand, and they greeted each other. Ever felt as if she were going to throw up. Her vision swam as she continued to watch the woman who had stepped out of her dreams and into reality.

  Systir.

  The word beat a tattoo in her mind, and Ever grasped hold of the edges of the table to prevent herself from keeling over. Oh God, she really was going mad.

  “Ever, you okay?” Derek’s voice made her drag her eyes from the mysterious woman, and she watched as his eyes narrowed and his nostrils flared, obviously seeing and scenting the fear that now ran through her veins.

  “I’m fine,” she managed to croak, but she felt anything but fine.

  “Everyone, this is the newest member of our team, Erika Sands. She comes highly recommended from the Dublin P.I.T., and in her short time on the job, she has gained some valid accreditations in dealing with homicides—both human and supernatural.”

  Tom paused as he pointed out who was who in the room, but Ever couldn’t breathe. She needed to get some air.

  Pushing her chair back, it slammed to the floor and they all looked at her. She swayed on her feet as the woman stepped forward, the red of her lips and the concern on her face a slap against her skin. Her knees buckled, and she braced herself to hit the floor… but she didn’t.

  Lightning quick, even before Derek could reach for her, Erika had slid across the floor and broken the impact of Ever’s fall. As soon as they came into contact, electricity sparked and Ever shuddered. What the hell was happening to her?

  Sister! Sister! Sister! The words were spoken in a language she didn’t know, but understood.

  The word screamed inside her head as the woman brushed a strand of blonde hair away from Ever’s face. Derek crouched down beside them with a glass of water in his hand and forced Ever to take a small sip. Erika leaned her into Derek and backed away, and Ever felt she could breathe again. She gulped in air and hoped the twisted sensation in her stomach would lessen soon.

  “I’ve never had someone swoon over me before. I’m flattered.” Erika grinned, more than likely trying to make light of the incident.

  Donnie studied the woman. “What are you? I’ve never seen a being move as fast as you did. It’s like you were there one second and at Ever’s side the next.”

  Erika laughed, and it weirdly stopped the storm of confusion that brewed inside Ever. “You could at least buy me dinner before we get naked and reveal who we are, big boy. Let’s just say for now that I certainly tick the ‘other’ box on the employment forms.”

  As Ever sat up and took another sip of water, she noticed the deep dimples on Donnie’s face and the scowl on Caitlyn’s as he grinned at Erika. She was beautiful, but that seemed too piss-poor a word to sum up how gorgeous the newest member of P.I.T. was. Now that Ever was beginning to recover from whatever the hell was wrong with her, she studied the woman like the profiler she was.

  A snug, checked shirt rolled up to the elbows was teamed with black combat pants and boots. Ever could make out the faint outline of a tattoo that peeked out from beneath the rolled-up sleeves. Strapped to her thigh was a holster containing some sort of gun. Ever had never had any time for guns, but she did have a soft spot for a nice sword; the wall of he
r apartment was lined with samurai swords and a stunning katana she had gotten as a birthday present from her father. Although Erika seemed to be conversing with everyone but Derek and Ever, Ever could see the woman was watching her from the corner of her eye, an amused glint setting them alight.

  “I understand you’ve a girl missing and not a lot of time to find her. Sir, if I may?” she asked Tom, the humor gone in an instant and replaced with professionalism. When Tom nodded, she continued. “This offender kills because he has a purpose, a task he must complete. The kills he does follow through on will only be done to justify his needs and wants. Our missing human does not fit his type, and killing her would only prick at his moral compass—and yes, he does have one.”

  Erika moved with the grace of a dancer. She tapped the board of the crime scene photos and pointed to the crowds. “You’ve seen him, whether directly or indirectly. He’ll come back to the scene to watch; he won’t be able to help himself. The only scene he won’t be back at is Melanie’s abduction site, and that’s for two main reasons.”

  She reached into her pocket and withdrew a stick of chewing gum before unwrapping and popping it into her mouth. She blew a single bubble before she spoke again. “He’s wounded. The pup he tried to take bit him, and although the bite won’t change him, it will take time to heal. This is his main objective. He needs to divert our attention from him to Melanie and give himself time to regain his strength. He’ll keep her alive until then.”

  Silence filled the air while her words sank in. They had time—not much time, but a little. Tom made the first move as he lifted his handset and made a call. He ordered in food and, surprisingly, blood. Ever glanced around at her companions. She could see the tiredness etched on all their faces.

  Tom hung up and turned to the vampires. “I need you guys to go get some rest. You’ve been running on no rest or blood for days now. We’ll need you guys at full strength while Derek is out of commission tonight. The underground resting areas are being prepared for you both. No arguing, just do it.”

  The vampires simply inclined their heads and vanished. Derek helped Ever as she went to stand, and as her legs wobbled, she eased herself back into Derek’s now-upright chair. She gave him a reassuring smile. Derek perched himself on the edge of his desk between Ever and the new girl.

  “Tom, I don’t have to change tonight. We both know you need as many trackers as possible.”

  “Forget it, Derek. I am not pumping you so full of silver that you can barely function as man or beast. Melanie would haul your ass over hot coals if she knew you were contemplating injecting that poison into your system for her. Don’t give me that look. Neither you nor I have forgotten what happened the last time you got that idiotic idea into your noggin.”

  Derek growled but didn’t answer Tom.

  “What happened the last time he shot himself up with silver?” Ever asked.

  “It doesn’t matter,” Derek grumbled with his head hung.

  “I think it does,” she snapped, surprised at her own tone.

  “He didn’t want to miss a family event, so the dumbass injected himself with liquid silver. About two-thirds of the way into the evening, instead of turning wolf, his body began to fight the toxin, and he started to bleed silver. He fought his body’s reaction to expel the silver and had a seizure. Ended up in a coma for a month.”

  Derek groaned. “It was a stupid thing to do, I admit, but we don’t have to be as drastic. I’m sure Ever’s mom has some enchanted silver that will prevent the change.”

  Ever shook her head furiously. “Don’t ask me to do that. Too much exposure to silver can kill you, Derek. Don’t ask me to do that. I won’t—I can’t.”

  The door opened, preventing Derek from replying to Ever’s pleading. The smell of coffee and hot food made Ever’s stomach growl in delight. When was the last time she had eaten? She couldn’t remember. No wonder she was getting light-headed and felt ill. An officer came inside and laid the tray of drinks and a bag of food down on Ricky’s desk. He grabbed a coffee and yanked a sandwich from the bag but just set them down in front of him.

  Derek snagged two coffees and handed one to Ever. It felt strange to be sitting here, waiting around for some sort of clue to lead them to Melanie and hopefully bring her back safely. She had no idea what the poor girl must be going through, and more than ever, she wished she had some sort of magic or was strong enough to stand with Derek and his team against this monster that was just as human as she was.

  She felt Derek nudge her. Ever took the box Derek was holding out to her as the smell of burger made her mouth water. She greedily took a bite, one hand reaching out for the drink cup Derek set down on the table and washed it down with the nectar of the gods. They all sat in silence as they replenished. The clock on the wall ticked loudly with every second that passed, and Ever sighed as mid-morning turned to afternoon.

  Derek cracked the vertebrae in his neck and groaned as if he were sore.

  “You okay?” she asked quietly.

  “I should be asking you that.”

  She made no effort to answer him, so he sighed. “I can feel it coming, the full moon. As it gets closer, I can sense it more clearly, and my muscles ache for the change. The longer I wait to turn, the worse it will hurt.”

  “Then why not change now, save the pain?”

  Derek shrugged. “Suppose I’m a little masochistic, I guess. The pain will remind me that I’m human. I shouldn’t take the easy way out and change before it’s time. I’ll already be no good to Melanie when the wolf takes over.”

  “It’s just until the sun rises. Hopefully we will have found her before then, and then all she will need from you is a hug and to know she is safe.”

  “God I hope so, Ever. I really fucking hope so.”

  They lapsed into silence again, and Ever looked over to check on Ricky. His eyes were closed again, lines wrinkling his forehead as he concentrated. His food lay untouched in front of him. Mumbled Latin spilled from his mouth, and his hands slammed down on the table. His eyes flew open, and Ever gasped as clear black orbs stared back at her. Erika moved to reach out to him but a quiet growl from Derek halted her.

  “Lanie, Lanie… tell me where you are, babe. Come on.”

  Could he have possibly located her? If so, then they just had to be the luckiest SOBs in the world.

  “It’s okay, babe. Hang in there. We’re coming for you. Hold on a little longer. For me… fight it.”

  Ricky’s eyes rolled back in his head, and with a sharp inhalation, his body bucked with his head bouncing off the hard wood of his table. Derek eased off the edge of his desk and went to Ricky. He bent his knees and put a hand on his partner’s arm. The warlock lifted his head, and where despair and guilt had once resided, hope filled his eyes.

  “She’s alive, D! Goddammit, he hurt her, but she’s alive.”

  “How did you do that?” Derek said.

  “I have no clue, but I did. She couldn’t tell me where she was, but Lanie told me she hasn’t left the city. He drove for like fifteen minutes before he stopped and hauled her out of the car.”

  Derek rose to his feet and went to the map on the wall. He circled the hospital and then he circled all the areas that would be fifteen minutes from the hospital with a red pen. “He’s in one of these places. Tom, double patrols in those areas and we can see if we can lock down a place he would be holding Melanie. It’s needs to be remote so that he wouldn’t be heard. This is where he takes the kids. It’s his comfort zone.”

  “He hurt her, D. She smelled of blood and fear. I don’t know if she can hold out much longer.”

  No one answered him because nobody had the words to reassure him that Melanie could indeed hold on until they caught him. Tom called in the update and requested that patrols be doubled in the areas.

  “Has anyone called her parents?” Ever suddenly asked, wondering why no one had mentioned them before.

  “She’s hasn’t the best relationship with her family,”
Derek said. “Her brother is a career criminal and is disgusted his sister works for the enemy. She wouldn’t want them knowing they were proved right; that she didn’t belong in the supernatural world.”

  Ever’s phone vibrated, and she scooped it out of her jeans. ‘Private Number’ blinked on the screen, and she pressed answer in case it was Dr. Val with an update.

  “Hello?”

  Nothing.

  The sound of breathing made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up, and a sense of knowing hit her in the gut. She swallowed back the fear that thrummed inside her.

  “Stefan, is that you?” she asked, gaining everyone’s attention.

  They scrambled around as she waited, listening to the tired sigh in her ear. Derek indicated for her to try and keep him talking, while Erika hissed to someone to get a trace on whoever was ringing her phone.

  “Stefan,” Ever said, her tone low and comforting as her heart jackhammered. “Come on, Stefan. You didn’t ring just to breathe down the phone at me. At least speak to me.” She pressed the speaker button and set the phone on the table for the rest to hear.

  “You’re a beautiful creature, Ms. Chace. Kind, compassionate. That wolf doesn’t deserve to have you look at him like you do. I’d treat you like a queen. When I’m changed, I’ll treat you like the queen you are.”

  “I’m afraid I’m terribly normal, Stefan. I’d never be fit for someone as special as you. You called for a reason. Come on, you can speak with me. As you said, I’m kind… I’ll listen to what you have to say.”

  “It’s unfair, isn’t it? To be so horribly human in their eyes? To be laughed at, ridiculed. For them to have centuries, while we only have a flicker of life. I just want to live. I just want to experience it. Is that such a crime?” There was sadness in his tone, but Ever hardened her heart. He had killed innocent children; nothing could be said to make that right or just.

  “I understand you, Stefan. All my life I’ve wanted to be special, to be magical, but I’ll live as short a life as you. I will get sick, I will die.”

  “YOU ARE NOT LIKE ME!” he roared. “You’re just like them—you just don’t know it yet. But I like you, Ever, and I believe you when you say that you want to understand me. We will speak soon. But for now, you must hurry. Darkness is coming, and the girl hasn’t much time left.” He muttered an address before disconnecting the line.

  There was a moment of stillness before Derek shouted for Erika to wake up the vampires. Ricky was already heading out the door as Ever gathered herself.

  The station burst into activity. People raced all over, grabbing weapons and amassing into a small army. Something niggled at her, and she placed a hand on Derek’s hand to stop him moving.

  “What if it’s a trap? What if this is another ploy to distract us? She mightn’t even be there.”

  The vampires sped around the corner, Caitlyn pulling her striking mass of curls into a ponytail as she moved. Derek gave her arm a squeeze as someone shouted.

  “The trace came through. The phone he called from pings at the location he gave.”

  The sun began to dull outside as clouds darkened the sky and thunder rumbled in the distance. Derek plucked a shotgun from a rack that had been wheeled in for the officers. He checked the barrel, loaded the gun, and then pumped it twice. A feral grin darkened his face as he faced the officers who had gone silent around him.

  “You heard the man. We have a location. Let’s go hunting, ladies.”

  He disconnected the call before tossing it on the ground and stomping his foot down hard. It lay cracked on the ground, yet he knew the SIM card was still intact, possibly being tracked at this moment. They would come, and she would be dead. He couldn’t really help that now.

  He regretted his actions. Of course he did. This poor girl was nothing more than an instrument of distraction, and he expected that he would feel guilt over this one for his new eternity. But he had his next victim selected, and now he needed to leave before P.I.T. arrived.

  A whimper snapped him from his thoughts, and he glanced over to where the girl hung from the ceiling by her arms. Silver restraint cuffs on her wrists held her aloft. Her legs dangled freely, her body twisting against the pain she was no doubt in. Her once-vibrant green eyes watched him, now lifeless and full of fear.

  He shouldn’t have enjoyed torturing her, but he had. The silver restraints were simply to delay the wolf from freeing her too easily. Grief did strange things to people, and he needed P.I.T. distracted while he commenced the final phase of his plan. He would become immortal, and then they would fear him.

  Packing up his bag, he tossed it over his shoulder and moved to leave. He brushed past poor Melanie and she cried out at his touch. Stripped to her underwear, a gag stuck in her mouth, she thrashed against the bindings at her wrists, and he lashed out. His palm connected with her face, forceful enough to draw blood. She stilled for a moment before the fight returned to her eyes once more.

  “I could’ve left you alive, but I underestimated the power of your warlock. I wasn’t even going to kill you, but now, alas, I must. I’ll remember you fondly in my new life. If you survive, maybe I’ll come back and make you mine. I’m sorry for what is about to happen.”

  Sirens wailed in the distance as he grabbed a fistful of Melanie’s radiant red hair and yanked her eyes to his. She defiantly held his gaze, despite the fear that rolled off her in waves. With his free hand, he pulled out the knife from the small of his back and pressed the tip to her sternum. His captive shivered at the kiss of cold metal against her bare flesh.

  He angled the blade and slowly inched it forward, cutting through skin until the metal met bone. It was his turn to shudder, and if he could have stayed there all day, cutting into the delicate softness of her flesh, he would have.

  “It’ll take time for you to die. I’ve made sure of it. You never know, but your warlock might get to you in time. Good-bye, my dear.”

  He slid the blade free slowly, and blood poured from the open wound. Melanie struggled before her eyes closed and her breathing became ragged. He tossed the blade aside and carried on without a second glance at the dying girl.

  His thoughts drifted to the lovely Ms. Chace as he slipped outside. Rain hammered down, washing the blood from his hands. He wanted to cut into her, see what hidden gems she had inside her. He longed to feel her blood on his fingertips.

  As he slipped over the railings and ducked into the industrial estate, he couldn’t help but ponder how good her marrow would taste when he cut it from her very-alive body.