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

by Rawlings, Rachel

  "Not just control our minds but our flesh and bone. Grant tortured her, breaking bones, tearing flesh as fast as she healed it. Until her lack of feeding and blood loss finally took its toll. And still he did not kill her.

  “Unable to stomach more I intervened. I think he would have left her that way, unrecognizable, unable to feed or heal herself but unable to die. I had Grant by the throat, ready to finish him, when Gaius came back with a young man no more than fifteen years of age in tow and under his thrall.

  “At the sight of his beloved, distorted and disfigured beyond repair, he became enraged. A newly made vampire in the throes of a blood lust could not hold a candle to the vampire charging toward us. I had gotten lazy and over confident, I didn't know the history then. I knew this vampire was old but that didn't necessarily mean strong. He was using a different name. I had no idea who I was up against until he hit me.

  “He didn't bother to ask who was responsible for what had been done to Mercy, he'd see us both dead. What he didn't know was that Grant was a necro. Pain racked Gaius's body and he crumpled to the floor. With power unlike any I had seen in his kind before, Grant held him, writhing on the floor and focused on me.

  “Never faced a vampire immune to necromancy before, he stumbled when I stepped toward him. I grabbed him by the lapels and wasted no time draining him of his power and blood with the screams of a no longer enthralled young man in my ears.

  “Weakened and vulnerable from the effects of Dr. Grant, Gaius could no longer control the mind of the young man so I was left to deal with the human. I turned to him, my shirt stained and no doubt mouth red with blood. Some things cannot be wiped away. I picked him up and did my best to ignore the fact he had soiled himself. I let the blood call to the predator within me and feasted upon the young man.

  “After making myself presentable and locking up my charge, I found the pastor. I brought him the now decapitated body of the young man and proclaimed he was a vampire. The parents protested but their young daughter was already showing signs of tuberculosis. The blood stains around her mouth were enough to convince their father, Isaac Johnson. We burned and buried the Johnson boy, and young Elizabeth followed a week later.

  “Dr. Grant was buried with his head facing west, ribs broken, femurs crossed in the shape of an X, as was the custom for necromancers, under an incomplete marker bearing the letters J B and nothing more."

  "But what about the vampire? What happened to him," I asked, feeling like a child being told a terrifying bed time story.

  "I brought Gaius Caligula Caesar before the Council. Agrona planned to make him personally responsible for Mercy's care for all of their unnaturally long lives but the other members, even Kedehern, demanded release for the innocent girl forced to become a vampire. Caligula was made to take her to meet the sun. He stayed with her longer than he should have. It took years to heal the burns."

  "Where is he now? I need to talk to him."

  Cash had been busy, his fingers flying over the keys on the laptop. "I think we should all have a history lesson before we talk to this guy."

  "He's our only lead. We are talking to him."

  Cash swung the laptop around and tapped the screen. "I didn't say we weren't, just that you should gather your intel first. You need to know who you're dealing with in order to know how to negotiate."

  "I'm not a noob, in case you forgot, I used to interrogate people for a living. This is what I know how to do."

  "And how's that been going for you lately? Because I kind of remember picking you up off the floor today only to have you pass out again in my arms." Cash didn't even glance at Aidan. He didn't have to. He hit his target.

  I needed to figure out a way to stop this love triangle before it got started. Ignoring the problem would only make it worse. I had to talk to Cash. He deserved to hear it from me and I was going to tell him. As soon as we found the missing girls and our killer.

  "I think that's because the girl was dead. I don't do so well with dead things." I closed my eyes. It was too late to take it back.

  "That's what I've been trying to tell you." Cash gave me a wink and leaned back in his chair.

  "Ah, yes. You'd much prefer she shopped at Pet Smart, in the werewolf section, no doubt." Aidan glared at him.

  Ready to get the conversation back on track I started reading aloud from the profile Cash pulled up on Caligula from the Council's files. "This can't be right. Gaius Julius Caesar? Like ancient Rome? That would mean he's..." I tried to do the math.

  "Incredibly old and powerful. Which is why we are going to be sure he is involved before we barge in with guns blazing." I wasn't sure why Aidan was looking at me when he said that. Okay, maybe I deserved it a little.

  "The necklace is enough to connect him to at least one of the girls. We have to talk to the crazy bastard." Cash slid his chair closer so we could both look at the file. "Scroll down. See if there's an address."

  "I said he was crazy not stupid. The words are not interchangeable. He has not seen two millennia of sunsets by being the village idiot. And despite his past transgressions he is well received in vampire communities today, even the Council seems to have forgotten the incident in Willington. Though I doubt he has."

  "So what's your plan? You want to invite him over for dinner and see if it comes up in casual conversation? How've you been Caligula? Things are good. I've been draining girls and leaving them in their bathtubs. Would you please pass the o-neg?" Cash grabbed the mouse.

  I couldn't help it, I laughed. For some reason I pictured Caligula in a toga, complete with sandals and olive branch crown sitting at my kitchen table. Aidan didn't seem amused. Maybe if I described the whole toga and sandals thing, nope even then he wouldn't have seen the ridiculousness of it.

  "Do you trust me?"

  I wasn't sure if that was a trick question. Did I trust him? With everything but my heart. I was happy he had come to his senses and that we were back on. Still, it was going to be a while before I stopped wondering if he was going to find another reason why walking away was better than being together.

  "Yes." It was the only answer I could give but we all heard the hesitation in my voice. I saw the pain in Aidan's eyes and then the determination to undo the damage to our relationship. Cash sat back content to let Aidan set himself up. I sat up a little straighter and tried to convince everyone I meant what I said. "What do you have in mind?"

  "Can you get us into the morgue?"

  7

  "This is a terrible idea, Aidan." I hated being in the morgue.

  "You said you trusted me."

  "I do, but you weren't here when I tried this previously. It kind of cemented the fact that I can't read dead people," I whined. During that whole debacle, I attempted to read a dead witch, whose hands and tongue had been cut off. Needless to say, it didn't go well.

  "Not to mention I had an appointment to be here last time. You didn't tell me we were breaking in."

  "We're not breaking in. We're sneaking in."

  "Semantics. I don't think the police will see much of a difference. I'm warning you, Aidan, it was really bad last time."

  "The reason is there's too much death in a morgue for you to be effective. Your power is centered in the living world. You need to connect with someone whose power isn't."

  "How do you know that?"

  "Cash can't keep the technician distracted for long and Conry can't remain in his ethereal form forever. We don't have much time. I promise I'll explain later."

  "Aidan." I hoped that one word conveyed the trouble he was in if he didn't answer me.

  "You're not going to do anything until I tell you are you?" He pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. “I was doing research about the Kellen factor and sort of stumbled across it. I was hoping to confirm it with your father."

  "And you were going to tell me this when exactly?"

  "I found out around the time Agrona told me they thought you'd outgrown your position as liaison and were considering making yo
u a permanent part of my team. I just haven't had a chance to tell you."

  "Oh I understand, not a minute to spare. You've been so busy making decisions and planning my life. How could you possibly find the time to discuss any of it with me?"

  "Maurin, please. I'm happy to let you berate me for something I have already apologized for, after we find out if Caligula truly is involved. Personally I find it a little too convenient for the necklace to be found among the girls belongings."

  "We're definitely not done talking about this, you can bet on that. And for the record, you apologized for dumping me without having the decency to talk to me about it. This? This is a completely separate mistake. That requires its own apology. And groveling. Lots of groveling. You know, you've been around a long time; I expected you to be way better at this relationship shit."

  "Indeed. I can't help it. I lose the ability to think clearly where you're concerned." He pulled me into his arms but I didn't give in to the embrace. Well, not right away. "Are you ready to give this a try?"

  "Just tell me you didn't call Kellen." The fact that Aidan wanted to confirm anything with Arawn told me everything I needed to know about the Kellen factor. He kissed the top of my head, before walking down the hallway to the emergency exit and pushing on the bar to open it. "I'm warning you, if Kellen walks through that door I'm staking you at sunrise."

  When I saw who walked in I almost wished he had called Kellen. Graive came through the door with Oberon in tow, their hands clasped. Well weren't they just the picture of perfect coupledom. I fought the urge to roll my eyes.

  I had gotten over the fact that Mahalia - former high priestess and convicted attempted murderer - convinced Oberon to pursue me romantically to ensure my allegiance and the coven's seat on the Council. Graive had obviously gotten over the fact that he broke things off with her to do it.

  But we were all far from friends. I was still kind of hung up on the “killing me by demon” plot Mahalia concocted. The Council was convinced of their innocence in Mahalia's master plan but I was pretty sure if Graive knew about it she wouldn't have done anything to stop it. I think we all agreed Oberon's ethics were questionable at best. The coven's blind loyalty to Mahalia was why I had avoided them since her incarceration with the fae. That and some of her coven loyalists decided to shun me.

  Amalie slipped through the door just before it closed and I was actually happy to see her. I knew she didn't have anything to do with Mahalia's plans. She declared it often enough and I was being a royal bitch by lumping her in with the rest of them. I thought about what Cash said and how she had stuck up for me twice in the Daily Grind, even if it meant the shunning extended to her. I walked over, gave her a hug, and whispered an apology for being such a jerk in her ear. She squeezed back before letting go and wiped a gloved hand over her eyes.

  Aidan grabbed my hand and led me into the morgue ahead of the others. "I thought you could use a friendly face tonight."

  "It's a good thing I wanted to mend my friendship with Amalie or I might be a little pissed about you and Cash meddling like two old ladies." I gave him a little nudge in the ribs to let him know I was teasing but he seemed to be brooding over the fact that Cash had also made the effort to save an important relationship in my life. "Let's get this over with."

  Aidan nodded to Graive and she stood next to the wall of steel drawers. Her fingers just barely grazed the surface, the temperature dropping as her power oozed out seeking the right body.

  She stopped, palming the face of a drawer before pulling it open. The track on the drawer clicked as it extended to expose the girl sealed in the body bag. There was no point checking the tag on the outside of the bag to confirm it matched the one on her toe, we knew this was the right girl. I reached for the zipper, expecting my hand to shake. My nerves held up as I undid the zipper and folded the top of the bag over.

  This girl didn't even look like a corpse. There weren't the typical signs of trauma when homicide is suspected, just her slightly upturned slit wrists. Looked like the diener already weighed, washed and taken samples from her body for the coroner.

  Her brown hair was combed and tucked neatly beneath her head. Obviously, the medical examiner hadn't performed the autopsy yet. Lividity, a purple discoloration from blood in the body settling, was absent from her body. She had been completely drained. She looked more like a porcelain doll than a dead body.

  Graive grabbed my wrist, avoiding the palm of my hand and reached for the girl. I thought she would take the girl’s hand but instead she placed her index and middle finger over the cut in her wrist like she was checking for a pulse. I was seriously hoping we weren't reanimating another corpse. The last time Graive did, the zombie's head got blown off. That might be a little hard to explain to the ME.

  There wasn't the telltale moaning and groaning of the waking dead. Instead a rush of images flooded my mind:

  The girl at the movies with her friends, glancing to the shadow in the corner of the lobby.

  Alone in the college library, checking behind bookcases where she was certain she had seen someone.

  At a local sandwich shop, peering out the window at the street lamp to catch a glimpse of the person standing there.

  I gasped in unison with the girl in my mind's eye as fangs pierced the sensitive skin on her inner thigh. Strong hands kneaded her flesh, careful not to bruise. Her back arched and I fought the urge to do the same. I clamped my jaw shut to prevent mimicking her moans of pleasure while feeding her vampire. Holy hell.

  The teen knew what he was and wasn't afraid. The pleasure switched abruptly to pain but not how I would have expected. The vamp walked away. The girl's crumpled expression, her arms folded as she tried to stop the sobs that racked her body.

  I watched the vampire turn as if to give the girl a glimmer of hope, only to snuff it out forever as he moved away faster than her eyes could follow. She fell to the ground, utterly destroyed. Something moved in her peripheral. Was he back, had he changed his mind? Hope sprung eternal in the young girl's chest for the return of her vampire and the promise of immortality. She turned and let out a terrifying scream, which now poured from my mouth.

  Graive let go of us, breaking the triangle of power. I swayed, exhausted from reading the dead girl. Graive on the other hand hadn't so much as broken a sweat. She channeled my abilities through the dead but the energy expelled to make it work had come from me. Aidan wrapped an arm around my waist and I leaned into him. I heard Conry barking and knew we were out of time.

  A voice came from outside the door. "You're not with the paper. That was Ed Clancy, homicide reporter at the Times, on the phone and he's never heard your name. You can't go back there. I'm calling Detective Masarelli. Hey man, call off your dog." The technician was in a panic.

  I glared at Aidan. "The paper? Really?"

  "We needed to gain access to their files, or at least see what they knew and if any identifying marks had been found by the diener."

  I gave a whistle for Conry -he probably wouldn't listen to Cash's command to back-off if he thought the technician was a threat. "Aidan, do you're vampire Jedi mind trick and wipe this disaster of a reconnaissance mission from his mind. If you wanted to see the files I could have gotten them from Masarelli."

  "Masarelli won't be getting a copy of the files."

  I pointed Aidan toward the guy manning the morgue. "We'll talk about that later."

  With the morgue attendant taken care of, we settled on going back to my apartment. All of us. Fun, right? Not. My apartment overflowed with head strong, powerful sups. The air was thick with magic and attitude. I opened the window behind the couch so I could breathe.

  When we left the morgue I sent Amalie to raid the Daily Grind. I wished she'd hurry up because I seriously needed to feed my addiction and there wasn't enough coffee in my pantry to do it. Plus, I wanted croissants. I needed protein after a reading like that but right now it was all about comfort.

  I couldn't quite shake the sadness I felt from the
girl. Maybe because it brought back feelings I had when Aidan said he was leaving, outside the station. For a second I wondered if I had made the right decision to trust him.

  As if sensing my thoughts, he looked at me. Something in my expression must have given me away. He dropped his gaze but I caught the disappointment in his eyes. I refused to feel guilty for my wavering emotions. No, Aidan and I were definitely not out of the woods yet.

  Cash caught the exchange. Thankfully Amalie hit the buzzer for the door just then. Cash helped her with what I declared essential items to solving our case, but I caught the look in his eye as he brushed past me.

  "One thing's for certain," I said around a mouth full of croissant. "We know Caligula is involved, was involved with the girl."

  "I thought you knew that before going to the morgue."

  I glared at Graive as she mumbled something about it being a waste of her time. I may not have been sure if Caligula killed these girls, but I knew for certain she was still a bitch. "Now we know he knew her and that the necklace wasn't a plant. It's enough to get us an audience with him."

  "We aren't going to talk to him. I am."

  Everyone backed out of the kitchen. Everyone but Aidan. He glowered, daring me to argue with him. "You're not going anywhere near him."

  "Like hell I'm not. I. Am. Going. With. You. End of conversation." He obviously hadn't learned anything. Not that I should expect someone as old as him to change his ways in a couple days. Old dogs, new tricks and all that. Still his attempt to order me around kind of undermined his apology.

  He grabbed my arm when I moved to storm out of the kitchen and gently shoved me in one of my chairs. He fired up my laptop. The anger and frustration in his eyes had me glued to my seat. His fingers flew across the keys ferociously before he spun it around. Mercy Brown's face stared at me.

  "Notice anything?" When I didn't answer, he bellowed, "Look at her!"