Blood Bath, A Paranormal/Urban Fantasy (The Maurin Kincaide Series Book 4)

by Rawlings, Rachel

  "No blood on the floor or outside of the tub. The water was drained. Was forensics already on the scene when this photo was taken?" I had it figured out but wanted to be sure.

  "No, that's exactly how we found her." He nodded, confirmation I was on the right track.

  "Okay, so if the tub was empty when the girl bled out, where's all the blood? If she filled the bath with hot water to speed up the process and ensure success as the direction of the wound suggests, where's the water?" I knew these were questions Masarelli had already posed to his investigation team. "Let's say it drained on its own before you found her, bad seal on the drain plug, where's the ring from the bloody water inside the tub?"

  "Exactly. I'm ashamed to admit we assumed the tub drained and didn't question the lack of any residue on the porcelain. Seemed pretty cut and dry at the time. The girl's parents were a mess, we just wanted to get the scene processed and the body out of there." His expression darkened and I knew he silently berated himself for the oversight. "With the third girl we swabbed the drain and pulled apart the plumbing. We went back to the first scene and we went over the bathroom with Luminal, no trace of blood anywhere."

  "Okay, so five girls found in tubs, wrists slit, no water or blood in any of the bathrooms. What else do they have in common? What's special to the killer about these girls?"

  "So far just their age. All of them are eighteen, give or take a few months but not one of them is a minor. Different hair, different eyes, different body shape, some with tattoos some without. No patterns in home life or social status either. There's no physical pattern why these girls and not five others."

  "Are they witches?" The last time Masarelli and I worked together an extremist group was killing witches. To keep the witches from casting while held captive and tortured, their hands were cut off and cauterized. In one case however, the witch’s hands weren't cut off, her wrists were slit.

  "No, I already looked into it. That rules out the Inquisitors. Last I checked they only killed witches, not normal girls."

  "Maybe random is the pattern."

  "Random is by definition not a pattern."

  "For lack of a better word, it is a pattern if you're going out of your way to pick girls that aren't alike."

  "We call that MO."

  "Do you even know what that stands for, Masarelli? Maybe the killer is looking for girls who are different from each other so people won't immediately question the suicide cover?"

  "The parents wouldn't talk to each other, let alone know about the others unless someone told them. We haven't released any information to the press. The families don't know we're treating these cases as homicides. You may be on to something, Kincaide."

  "Don't sound so surprised. What's next, what do you need me to do?"

  "I need you to liaise or whatever the verb is for what you do. Find out if anyone in your community knows anything about five dead girls."

  "That's it? You don't want me to get a reading on any of the girls' belongings? You just want me to run information?" I tried not to sound offended.

  "You don't have a badge anymore."

  "You don't have to sound so happy about it. Fine, I'll ask around and let you know what I find. We done here? I can go?"

  "Yeah, I'll have Mike bring up your dog."

  "How about a ride back to my car?"

  "I'm not your fucking chauffeur. Call someone to pick you up."

  "Hey, I said I would follow you but no, I had to ride--"

  "Fine. Quit your bitching and come on."

  A commotion exploded outside the interrogation room. Masarelli jerked open the door to find Conry charging down the small hallway that led to the lower level where the cells were housed. The tow chains they used as a makeshift leash rattled as my dog tried to shake off the patrolman dragging behind him.

  I let out a low whistle. Conry slid to a halt, his nails struggling to find purchase on the tile floor. The patrolman leaned against the wall trying to catch his breath. I closed the few feet between us and unhooked the heavy chains around Conry's neck. A normal dog would have struggled under the weight.

  "You didn't have to chain him like he's a kraken. He's really well behaved." I rubbed his chest while he nuzzled my side.

  Masarelli leaned in. "I'd let it go. Unless you want to explain exactly what he is and where he came from. That's no ordinary dog and he's not registered."

  Conry licked the scowl from my face. "We're going home, boy." I had half a mind to tell Masarelli to forget the ride. I’d jump us back to my apartment but it wasn't worth the backlash of exposing my new skill to SPTF. No one, not the council, Aidan, or my father thought it a good idea for the Norms - especially the ones working for SPTF - to find out I could alter reality and with it the potential to change events.

  With Conry in tow I followed Masarelli out of the station. I barely made it through the door before my dog bolted past me down the steps. I called after him and moved from behind Masarelli to give chase.

  "Looks like I won't be needing a ride after all." A smile crept across my face as I took in the sight of a vampire, feared among his kind for the harsh justice he served, giving my dog a belly rub.

  Aidan quickly regained his composure and leaned back on the side of the car. The similarities of hard lines and muscle between him and the Camaro were not lost on me. I did my best not to melt under his smoldering stare. "Thought you might need a lift." His accent was thick and skin was paler than usual. He hadn't fed yet.

  "You might start your questioning with him," Masarelli grumbled on his way back inside.

  "Some lawyer you turned out to be." I tentatively closed the distance between us. Something besides hunger had him on edge.

  "You seem to have a penchant for getting arrested." He pulled me against him and familiarized himself with the sensitive spot behind my ear.

  "I was a little surprised you didn't try to bust me out." I leaned back, putting a little distance between my neck and him. Aidan had never asked to feed from me but his agitation was bubbling beneath the surface and I didn't want my jugular to get caught up in it. He's tasted my blood twice. Never as a meal. I didn't want his obvious hunger and emotional state to make this a first.

  "As was I, when I learned you confessed to killing Olwyn in order to protect the alpha." The last word came out in almost a growl.

  His relentless insecurities over my friendship with Cash were pissing me off, so I fired back. "I simply told the truth. Something that might serve you well in this relationship instead of the half truths and secrets between us lately."

  He bristled at my accusation. "I see you've already resorted to hitting below the belt?"

  I glared at him.

  “I suppose now you’ll stomp your foot and pout those beautiful lips.” He ran his thumb along my bottom lip for emphasis.

  I swatted his hand away. “I don’t pout.”

  “You do and as much as it pains me to admit it, I find it irresistible.”

  “Knock it off, Aidan. I know you know something.”

  “I know a great many things. You have yet to tell me what the detective questioned you about. What makes you so sure I know anything about his case or that this is even a council affair?” His hand found its way to my lower back, stopping me from inching away.

  “How about that response for starters? Aidan, we are well past the part where the council tries to keep this a secret. SPTF is asking me about rogues."

  "A rogue wolf is a good place to start any investigation given the new regime."

  "He wasn't referring to just wolves. What's going on, Aidan?"

  He let me go abruptly, preparing himself for the argument he knew was coming and I stumbled back a step. "You know there are things I can't tell you."

  "Can't or won't?" Another low blow. Aidan had been nothing but truthful with me - as much as his position allowed anyway. After the coven betrayed me, he knew I would accept nothing less than honesty, a condition testing the bounds of his obligation to the council during
more than one of our all night conversations.

  He actually looked pained by the question. "I have never lied to you. Especially not when I told you there would be things I couldn't talk about."

  "Things like dead girls in bathtubs?"

  "Get in the car, Maurin." He was trying to keep the anger from showing on his face and was failing miserably. His eyes and thickening Irish accent always gave him away.

  Looked like I over played my hand, pushed him too hard too soon. I should have built up to what Masarelli’s investigation was really about. Instead I blurted it out, needing to know everything, to be a part of every council disaster take over. I was never getting him to tell me anything this way. I needed to figure out a way to salvage the conversation and our night together.

  "Would you get in the god forsaken car?" he snarled, mistaking my lack of movement as a dismissal. "Why are you so hell bent on ruining our night together? Quite possibly the last night we'll have before the Council sends me away again."

  News he would be leaving again so soon was a sure fire way to stop me asking about dead girls in bathtubs. At least for a little while. I'm surprised he didn't say checkmate. "I wonder what's causing the sudden up tic in vampires behaving badly. You've barely been home a week. How long are you going to be gone this time?"

  He didn't say anything. The muscles in his jaw, another of his tells, twitched. Something was wrong, something more than chasing down another vampire in the throes of a blood lust.

  "How long, Aidan?"

  "Indefinitely." He practically choked on the word.

  I felt sucker punched in the gut. Sure he was over protective and jealous and stubborn but I had those same endearing character traits as well. In reality we hadn't been a couple very long and time alone had been scarce but that didn't stop him from worming his way into my heart. I wish I had seen the signs before it was too late. I let him in and now he was leaving. The emptiness I felt when I thought Oberon died was nothing compared to the darkness eating into my heart.

  "Maurin, I'm sorry." He pulled me into his arms, burying his face in my neck. The chill of his cool breath on my skin matched the cold seeping into my bones, snuffing out the fire that usually roared inside whenever Aidan touched me. "I didn't mean to tell you this way. Will you please say something?"

  There were no words. I broke free of the embrace, not allowing myself even a moment of comfort in his arms. How many times had my fears and weaknesses been chased away while he held me? Too many in too short a time. No, it was better this way. I wouldn't let him soothe me as he said his goodbyes. I stepped back, the mixture of sandalwood and spices - of Aidan - clinging to me. I wrapped my fingers around Conry's collar and faded into the between.

  3

  It didn't take long for him to show up outside my door. If I had somewhere, anywhere else to go I wouldn't have come back to my apartment. I barely managed to strip off my clothes and turn on the shower before the pounding started. I thought about letting him in, if only to spare the door any more abuse - until he called my name.

  Anger laced with anguish as he demanded I open the door and talk to him. Instead I stepped into the shower and let the hot water hide my tears.

  I was still raw from seeing my so called family after a decade of my mutually agreed upon exile and subsequently ending that chapter of my life. It had only been a week since my sister's wedding. I didn't want to go but hadn't had the heart to disappoint Frankie. She was the only person in my adoptive family that I cared about or that seemed to care about me for that matter.

  I left the house in Beacon Hill were I was raised as soon as I could. They never looked for me and I never looked back. Until the wedding invitation came in the mail. It was hard to say goodbye to Frankie at the reception - we both knew it was forever- but there was no place for her in my life now.

  Now I had to do it again. Except this time there wasn't anything mutual about it. Vampires were typically over protective and territorial when it came to the people and places important to them. Aidan warned me of that on more than one occasion. I took it to mean he'd be around for a while. I guess I wasn't that important because now he was cutting me loose. Sure I knew the Council was the real reason he was saying goodbye but my heart blamed him for it anyway.

  I scrubbed, lathered, rinsed and repeated, then stood in the shower until I drained the hot water heater and the cold forced me out. I wrapped my hair in a towel before drying off with another. The pounding stopped. I let out a sigh and then another. I was relieved and resentful all tangled into one. Relieved that he stopped trying to beat down my door and resentful for exactly the same reason.

  Half of me wanted him to go the hell away, the other half wanted him to stand out there all night miserable and professing his devotion. I was about to throw on pajamas and crawl under the covers when the sound of another person outside my door made me freeze.

  "What are you doing here?" Aidan's voice was so cold I half expected frost to form on the door.

  "I'm here for Maurin." Cash managed to insinuate a hell of a lot with those four little words.

  Power seeped into my apartment from the hall. The walls and door concaved from their opposing energy. Life and death clashed like two weather fronts. One warm, one cold, creating the perfect storm in the confined hallway. Something, more likely someone, slammed against my door and I jumped. Conry didn't stir from his favorite spot on the couch. Seeing as how they posed no threat to me, he was content to let the two of them wage their little war outside my door.

  An image of the two crashing into my apartment, bruised and brawling, flashed through my mind. While some carnal and obviously twisted part of me found that arousing, I had to stop them before things went too far. Cash was a member of the Council, fighting him outside of a sanctioned challenge was the same as treason - even if Cash was egging Aidan on.

  I threw the door open, my lack of clothes completely forgotten until one set of eyes raked over my chest barely hidden by the towel and the other scorched their way up my exposed legs. I was immediately assaulted with emotions - rage, jealousy, desire. I clutched the towel with one hand and the doorknob with the other for support.

  "I thought you'd get the hint after the first twenty minutes of pounding. You're going to break the damn door."

  "With these wards? I hardly think so." Aidan pointed to something etched into the inside top of the door jam.

  Squinting I struggled to see the faint markings. The more I concentrated, the more visible the tiny runes became. Once I knew what to look for I saw them running down the sides as well. Why hadn't I seen them before? I needed to add the strange markings to the ever growing list of things to talk to Arawn about.

  Their collective breath, taking in my scent, as I stood between them sent a chill racing down my spine and goose bumps across my skin.

  "Well, in that case you can rip out each other's throats for all I fucking care." A bitter laugh escaped me as almost identical looks of shock took up residence on their faces. I slammed the door shut and headed for the vodka in the freezer.

  "Maurin. Open the door." Cash's turn to knock.

  "Knock until your knuckles bleed. I don't give a shit." I poured a shot of espresso vodka and slammed it back.

  I heard the door open and cursed myself for forgetting to lock it. Not that they couldn't have busted it down if they wanted to. It was respect for me, for my space, that kept them on the other side of the door. That and the wards, which apparently only stopped someone who meant me harm. Without thinking or caring which of them entered first, I turned and hurled the shot glass. Cash caught it before it hit him in the face.

  "I'm guessing that was meant for you." He cast a smug glance Aidan's way and walked in like he owned the place.

  "It was meant for whoever was dumb enough to let themselves in. What good are wards if anybody can waltz in my front door?"

  Conry's collar jangled as he jumped off the couch. A low growl building in his throat. Cash tentatively held out a hand. My guardian
sniffed, nudged and licked. Apparently satisfied that this wasn't a home invasion, Conry returned to his spot on the couch.

  "Hey, you're supposed to be on my side. Some guardian you are." Conry let me know exactly what he thought about that comment by turning around on the cushion until I was literally looking at the wrong end of a dog. I took a swig from the bottle since Cash still palmed my shot glass. "Are you going to tell me what you want?"

  "You know what I want." No insinuating there, that was pretty straight forward. A little glint flashed in Cash's eyes. Good thing Aidan didn't see it.

  The oxygen was sucked out of the room and replaced with a suffocating amount of testosterone. Aidan finally crossed the threshold and positioned himself between the two of us.

  "Stop trying to piss him off, Cash. He and I are managing just fine without your help. Tell me what you want and go home. Please."

  For the second time, they both wore similar expressions. Not shock, maybe concern. I don't think it was the please so much as the way I said it. Even I caught the hurt and exhaustion in my voice. I wanted to take it back as soon as it left my mouth.

  "Your presence has been requested at Risqué." Cash was all business now.

  "You're a councilman not a messenger. They couldn't get someone else to get me?" Something was up. Aidan was too quiet.

  "We did send someone else. He was supposed to have you there forty-five minutes ago." He didn't need to tell me Aidan was supposed to take me to the Council. The menacing glare he gave Aidan said it all.

  ***

  The four walls that made up my cramped bedroom crumbled around me. The worn carpet fading beneath my feet was quickly replaced with familiar nothingness. I decided to take off for my appointment with the Council before either of them offered me a ride. I didn't want to be trapped in a car with either of them right now. Cash would want to know why Aidan was locked out of my apartment. Aidan would force me to talk about him leaving. I'd rather risk running into Kellen than have either of those conversations.