Key to Redemption

by Talia Gryphon

  Rising, Gillian backed up a little, the Sidhe and Trocar watching her closely, but she waved them off. Gritting her teeth against the roil of her stomach, she continued looking at the body, knowing it was important somehow, that she needed to see something here. Something specific. The body had obviously been posed and left where it would be easily found.

  The clothing below the waist was bloody with jagged tears, and while she wasn’t going to touch anything until the police inspector got there, Gill was betting that, besides the disemboweling, the woman’s uterus was missing. Nagging pinpricks of thought kept poking at her as she looked at the area around where the body lay.

  It was virtually untouched, though the grass was high enough to leave a track. The lack of copious amounts of blood also bothered her. This woman had been effectively butchered yet there wasn’t as much blood as there should have been. Absently, she tapped her front teeth with her fingernail as she worked through what was puzzling her.

  She’d seen this scene before. But where? Where indeed. Not in real life. No. In pictures? Yes, that was it. Pictures. In a book, no, in several books. Bad morgue photos, old autopsy photos; grainy, sepia toned. Old case. Famous case. An infamous case.

  No arterial spray, little blood at the scene, evisceration, mutilation . . . no, this girl’s too young . . . couldn’t be; face destroyed, intestines over right shoulder, ear sliced half off, uterus missing, nearly decapitated, hesitation mark, posed body position, not a lot of blood, where is the blood? Impossible; impossible . . . because he never left . . .

  “England,” Gillian finished aloud as she talked herself through her thoughts and went white, turning toward Trocar with stark horror on her face.

  CHAPTER 13

  HE was at her side in an instant before he asked, “Tell me, Gillyflower, what has you, of all of us, unnerved?”

  Trocar was shocked and put a comforting arm over her shoulder. He had never seen his former commander flinch, blink, blanch, throw up or run from anything in all the years he had served with her. This was new and very unsettling.

  Gillian steadied herself on his arm but looked toward Finian. “There’s another body. Somewhere close to here, probably near the road like this one. If none of you can track blood spoor, we need one of the Wolves or a Vampire. We need to find her right now.”

  Finian looked at her like she’d lost her mind but nodded and gave the order. The Fey spread out and started searching in both directions down the road. Gillian opened her thoughts to Aleksei. “Get Pavel, Cezar or any Wolf you can trust down here right away. I need a tracker.”

  “I can come myself, piccola. It would be faster. The entire pack seems to have been affected by Perrin’s music and are still recovering.”

  “No, don’t leave him, Aleksei, he’s clueless about the world in general and would be a sitting duck for anything that crawled up there.”

  “We are coming together then. I will be your tracker, and he will be safe there with you.” Before she could protest, Aleksei broke off. Soon, he and Perrin were running down the road to them. She knew Aleksei ran to keep his eye on Perrin and for no other reason. Aleksei could handle what lay behind her. Perrin . . . huh-uh.

  “Keep back, Perrin, I mean it!” Gillian ordered him, her hand out in a “halt” gesture as they reached the edge of the field. He stopped at her command but was looking unhappy about waiting by the roadside.

  “Aleksei, I sent Tanis for Ivan. They should be here shortly. There’s going to be another body. It will be close by, and it will be a fresh kill but with very little blood around it. I want you to find it or listen to the Fey if they find it. Look at it carefully and tell me what you see.”

  The elegant Vampire Lord delayed a moment longer, crossing over to her in several long strides, his bare torso lovely in the moonlight. Ignoring the Dark Elf, who kept his arm over her shoulders, he bent to take her face and gently kiss her. “How do you know this, about the second body? Is that what has you frightened, piccola? What do you think you know?”

  He drew back, staying close enough to examine her, then turned to stare at the body, taking in the scene. When he looked down at her again, the ice gray eyes were worried. She looked so pale; he had never seen her like this, and apparently Trocar hadn’t either. The Grael hadn’t spared him so much as a glance but was staring down at Gillian. That Trocar was concerned worried him most of all. The Elf knew her better than he did, and gauging his reaction, all of them should be panicking if Gillian was that unnerved.

  “I need to be sure, Aleksei, very damn sure before I push everyone’s panic button. As soon as Ivan looks at the body, I’ll know for certain if I’m right.”

  “That is entirely too close to a lie, Gillian Key.” Aleksei’s rich voice was warm with love and concern but carried a wealth of reprimand.

  Before she could answer him, the lights of Ivan’s van came toward them. “There’s Ivan, and here’s Tanis,” she announced to no one in particular.

  The other Vampire misted back in next to Aleksei. Gillian stared at him a moment, a ghastly thought suddenly occurring to her and turning her blood cold. Tanis. Tanis was here; Aleksei was here, Perrin, Trocar. Mentally she did a quick head count of those she’d seen in the compound, then turned back to Tanis. This time her eyes held absolute terror as she grabbed his arms and asked in as level as voice as she could manage, “Tanis, where is Jenna?”

  Golden eyes narrowed, then widened with the same fear in Gillian’s face. “Dio caro!” he whispered and misted out, streaking back toward the castle.

  “Tell me, Gillian, right now,” Aleksei commanded her, but Ivan had hopped out of the van with two other people and was coming toward them so she shook her head and waved her arm in a semicircle, pointing, so they could see where the edge of the scene lay.

  “Good evening, Dr. Key.” Ivan was as handsome as his Werewolf brother but less graceful as he lumbered over the ground to the body.

  “Hi, Ivan.”

  “She’s not a local, that much I can tell you.” Ivan glanced at the body, opening up a case with vials, instruments and swabs, then snapping on latex gloves. He handed a pair to his assistants.

  “I figured that. Tanis and Aleksei didn’t recognize her either or they would have said something.”

  “No, I mean I know she was staying at the Inn. Radu can probably give you more information on her if you need it right away.” Ivan was Romanian through and through but had gone to Cambridge for a couple of years and spoke English exceptionally well.

  “Shit.”

  “Pardon?”

  “Nothing. Look, without compromising your investigation in general, can you tell me if her uterus has been removed? Also, have there been any more murders around the area like this recently? Like within the last few weeks, or even tonight?”

  Ivan stared at her a moment, then turned back to the body, picking up a pair of forceps to gently lift the ragged cloth over her abdomen and peer down with his small flashlight. “Yes, it looks like it was almost surgically removed.” He looked at her. “Why do you want to know about the other murders?”

  “How many, Ivan, and where?”

  “Two, in the village just North of us. Just like this one but not as mutilated. None tonight other than this girl.”

  “Goddammit!” Gillian swore, pushing free of Aleksei and Trocar. “Thanks, Ivan!”

  Yelling for Aleksei to call Tanis and tell him to meet her, she was running for the road. Trocar was only a step behind her. He knew whatever her reasons for bolting or her suspicions about the murder and her missing friend, she’d never been wrong in a crisis as long as he’d known her. If she was running straight to the murderer with the intent of rescuing her friend, he would follow; he would follow her into the Abyss itself if necessary.

  “Gillian, stop!” Aleksei’s voice held a whip of authority. There was no way in hell she was running off to parts unknown without the rest of them understanding what was going on.

  Perrin reacted and grabbed her as she s
tarted past him, then found himself facing the Dark Elf with a very sharp knife as Gillian struggled. “Let go, Perrin, I mean it!”

  “Release her.” It wasn’t a request.

  Perrin, however, was either very brave, incredibly stupid or had no prior experience with Grael Elves and their pointy knives, so shaking his head at Trocar, he pulled Gillian around to face him.

  “Tell him what you know, ma chérie, immediately,” he said firmly in a voice that said he expected compliance. He pointed to Aleksei, who had come after her and stood waiting, looking rather annoyed.

  Gillian considered breaking Perrin’s wrist to gain her freedom, or knocking him out, but dismissed both thoughts. He’d been abused enough, she didn’t want to hurt him when he meant well, but she needed to get Tanis and find Jenna. Now. Shaking her head at Trocar and gesturing to him to put the knife away, she informed them.

  “Jack the Ripper.”

  Aleksei and Perrin looked at each other, then back at her blankly, but Trocar’s breath hissed between his teeth. He knew whom she meant, intimately. He’d been face to face with the serial killer once, when he had indeed tracked Gillian through France. Tanis was suddenly there and they had another ally. An ally who would understand exactly what she meant without delay for explanations.

  “Tanis, Jack is here and he has Jenna. I don’t know how he’s here, but he is. He found me in London; he tracked me through France. If we don’t find him in a hurry, Jenna will be the second victim.”

  She pointed to the dead girl Ivan and his assistants were hovering over. “That’s the Catherine Eddoes kill, I’m sure of it. I studied his crimes in college, I’ve seen the morgue photos and read the coroner’s inquest report. That girl’s injuries match the Eddoes kill, cut by cut. That night in eighteen eighty-eight, he killed two. A ‘double event,’ is what he called it. Jenna is going to be the Elizabeth Stride kill if we don’t find her, fast.”

  She let that sink in. Aleksei was understanding her now, right along with Tanis, she was sure. Just as she knew Trocar would have followed her without question anyway. Perrin was looking more confused by the moment.

  “There were two more murders in the area before this one, according to Ivan. He’s re-creating his crimes from eighteen eighty-eight to remind me what he has in mind for me. He took Jenna to draw you and me out. It’s his punishment for you escaping Dracula with my help and for me evading him the last two times we met. He’ll be close by, watching. He gets off on all the hoopla surrounding the discovery of a body and seeing the reaction to what he’s done to the victim.”

  She paused again. There was one way she could think of to draw the serial killer out and possibly save Jenna’s life. Using herself as bait and taking a major potshot at his ego. The suggestion she was about to make wasn’t going to go over well.

  “We’re going to have to use me as bait or we’ll never find her in time.”

  “If there is time, piccola sorella.” Tanis looked positively ill, beads of blood sweat breaking out on his brow.

  “We have to try or she’s dead. He’s probably got her in the village. He’ll want some sort of privacy while he waits for us to show up.” Gillian’s voice was flat but she had shaken off the fear. Now she was angry.

  “Ivan!” she called to the police chief. “There’s something very bad happening in the village. Please stay here with your people until we get back.”

  He looked up from his work. “I am the constable for the town, Gillian. If you know where the killer is and intend to confront him, I should be there too.”

  “Ivan, you’ve known me for a while, and you know I wouldn’t ask you if it weren’t important. So I’m asking you, please stay here. I’m afraid we’re up against a very nasty customer here.” She indicated the body as a reference.

  “I want to avoid any more Human casualties if we can. It’s nearly three o’clock so the streets should be deserted anyway. This isn’t a suspect that you can take into custody and hold over for trial. We’re not even going to try.”

  Chief Jarek considered what she said, then looked to Aleksei for confirmation. “You intend to simply kill him? No charges, no trial? Lord Rachlav? This all meets with your approval as well?”

  “I agree that it will be safer for you to remain here while Gillian and her people track down this murderer. He is a rogue Vampire with a long and bloody history. They do intend to destroy him if at all possible under my authority. Tanis will be with them to verify his identity and see to it that he is utterly annihilated,” Aleksei confirmed.

  “Very well. You have never involved yourself with my position before, Count Rachlav. The Osiris Doctrine does state that violations of its principles will be dealt with through the respective Paramortal Courts or lawful honor systems. You are the Vampire Lord here, and you say that as a Vampire, on your Lands, he must answer to your justice. I believe in you, as do all your people, and I know Gillian to be honorable. We will do as you request,” Ivan agreed.

  “Thanks, Ivan. I just don’t want to get you, any of your staff or a single villager killed. I give you my word that we’ll find him and put a stop to this,” Gillian stated.

  Perrin watched her, amazement plainly on his face. As if by magic, she had evolved from an obviously frightened woman into a commanding presence with eyes that had gone from terrified to forbidding and cold. She stood squarely, shoulders back, intensity on her face. Then what she said sank in. Bait? She was going to use herself as bait?

  Since he still had hold of her arm, he shook it, his grip tightening unwittingly. “Bait? For this killer? Is that what you just said?”

  When she nodded, Perrin pulled her with him, past Aleksei, hustling her along, down to where the body still lay, Aleksei and Tanis following. Trocar stayed by the road. He’d seen it already. Perrin’s eyes took in the horrific scene and he paled, his undamaged profile taking on the pallor of his mask. “You are going to attempt to lure the monster who did that?”

  Unfortunately a light breeze picked that time to blow across the field, bringing with it the scent of blood, bowel and death. It was the smell of a slaughterhouse by an open sewer. The Vampires grimaced. Fresh blood was the only kind they were interested in. Gillian had pulled Aleksei’s shirtsleeve up to her face already and was holding her nose, breathing shallowly through the material so she didn’t get the taste in the back of her throat.

  Perrin wasn’t so lucky. As isolated as he was, he’d heard or read bits and snippets of news occasionally but, like most people, had never really comprehended the reality that comes with a personal, up-close perspective of a violent death. What he saw sickened him to the core. That Gillian was willing to place herself in mortal danger of winding up like the body that lay before him terrified him beyond his imaginings.

  He was unprepared for what he had heard, completely ill equipped for what he was now viewing. But when the cruel authenticity that is built into the smell of fresh death crawled into his nose and mouth, he felt his gorge rise and turned quickly away as he began vomiting onto the grass, dropping to all fours before he fell.

  Gillian shot the Vampires a look that clearly said, “Dumbass.” But she went to Ivan, who glanced at Perrin, still retching his stomach out, and wordlessly handed her a travel packet of a menthol vapor rub. She took it to him, opening it on the way and gently rubbing his back as she knelt at his side, reaching around so he would see the packet but not so far that he would barf on her arm.

  “Here, Perrin, rub some of this under your nose and up into your nostrils. It will get the smell out.” Her voice was carefully pitched not to sound critical.

  Nodding in understanding, unable to speak yet, Perrin did as she’d told him. The harsh menthol smell brought tears to his eyes but helped take away some of the horrible odor that he swore was still in his mouth and throat.

  When he thought he could speak, he turned to look at her, feeling shamed by his reaction, but found understanding and kindness in her eyes. She hugged his shoulders.

  “Experience i
s a bitch of a teacher. We’ve all thrown up the first time we saw a murdered body,” she lied to him kindly, “and this one is particularly bad, so please don’t be embarrassed, Perrin. It’s a normal reaction. No one thinks less of you. Especially me.”

  “Even now, you are kind.” He studied her face but found no censure there. “I want to help you find your friend, Gillian, but I cannot stand by while you risk your life as bait to catch a madman who could do such a thing to a young girl.”

  Struggling to his feet, he kept his face averted from the corpse. Gillian slid her arm around his waist to steady him and was pleased when Aleksei moved to support him on the other side. Together, they walked him back toward the road, upwind from the corpse, to Trocar and Tanis. Perrin was shaking like a leaf but he needed to be set straight.

  “I appreciate your concern, Perrin. I really do. But I know how to handle this. Trocar, Tanis, even one of Aleksei’s Wolves will be with me. Aleksei can’t come because, as a Vampire Lord, Jack would sense his power immediately and run for it. There just isn’t time to come up with another plan. Jenna is going to be dead soon, hell, she may already be dead while we’re standing around discussing.”

  She gently turned him to look at her when they got to the bottom of Aleksei’s drive. He was pale but seemed steadier on his feet, so the Vampire moved back to let her talk to her patient.

  Perrin straightened and turned her toward him, taking her by the shoulders gently. “I do understand the danger to your friend, but I also understand the danger to you, ma chérie. If you throw away your life and she still dies, then all of us are lost.”

  His eyes were penetrating and direct, holding hers until she colored under his gaze. She felt like a raw recruit about to be dressed down by her DI, but it didn’t sway her thinking. “I have no intention of being stupid about this, Perrin. Or of throwing away my life. Jenna is a Marine, as am I, as are Trocar and Kimber. We leave no one behind. Ever.”