“That makes two of us. One of the bodies was found up near a small stone circle near Stonehenge. It was weird; outside I could feel the henge’s power nearby, flowing in the earth, but as soon as I crossed the barrier there was nothing, like it was all cut dead.”
“Like it was leeched out?”
I shrugged. “Could be, and that’s not the only weirdness. The creature sucks the life out of its victims.”
Adrian raised a hand and set his cup down before climbing unsteadily to his feet.
“Do you need a hand?” I asked, then regretted it when he gave me a scathing look.
“I’m not an invalid, Jenna.” He disappeared through the beaded curtain that separated the main area of the shop from the back room and reappeared a moment later with a newspaper. He dropped it into my lap with a triumphant smile. “I always knew my hoarding tendencies would come in handy.”
I glanced at the front page and spotted the story in the corner, buried beside a full headline about some football tournament.
“I didn’t hear about this,” I said, scanning the page quickly.
“Most people missed it,” he said. “But it’s possible, right?”
The article stated they’d found an old burial chamber while the council had been digging to replace sewer lines. One of the pipes had burst, forcing them to dig deeper than they’d initially planned.
“They say it’s as old as Stonehenge itself,” Adrian said. “And it fits the timeline for when the murders started.”
I nodded. “Three of the workers died during the dig, their remains so badly damaged that they had to be identified with dental records…” An icy shiver trailed down my spine.
Grey had said wights could only be trapped. And after reading the paper, it looked as though it had been accidentally released. I opened my mouth, but Adrian interrupted me.
“Go ring him,” he said. “And yes, she can stay here with me.”
“After everything? Maybe it’s best if she comes back with me.”
Adrian shook his head. “You’ve got work to do. She can help out in the shop; it can go toward paying me back.”
I raised an eyebrow at him, and he grinned. “She’s safe here, Jenzie, Scout’s honour I won’t do anything to her.”
“But if those guys come looking for her…”
“I’ll ring you straight away if anything changes,” he said. “Until then, go. The sooner this thing is stopped, the sooner you and Mr Druid can go bom-chick-a-wah-wah.”
I groaned and shook my head, heat spreading over my face.
“So it’s true! You want to?”
“I’m not answering that.”
“You don’t have to. Your tomato head tells me everything I need to know.”
Hopping to my feet, I tried to glare down at him, but the shit-eating grin he wore made it virtually impossible to keep a straight face.
“You’re ridiculous,” I groaned.
“And you’re losing your touch.” He pushed up onto his feet and shooed me toward the door. “Now go, before I change my mind.”
There was no sign of Triskel in the shop. As I passed behind the payment desk, Adrian grabbed something small from a shelf beneath the counter and paused. He stared down at the object clutched tightly in his hand, his eyes unfocused.
“This came in a little over a week ago, but I don’t remember ordering it,” he said, before shooting me a smile. “That wouldn’t be the first time I’ve done that.”
“What is it?”
He shrugged and held out a tiny glass vial that looked more like an upside down light bulb. It hung from the end of a necklace, the top of it was twisted with what looked like copper, and within the vial I could see a small amount of powder and what appeared to be a seedling.
“Does it look like anything to you?” he asked.
I shook my head, but my fingers itched to reach out and touch it. There was definitely something strange about it.
“It’s for you,” he said, shoving it toward me a little more forcefully.
“Why for me?”
“I have no idea.” He sighed. “All I know for certain is that you need it, or at least that’s how it feels.”
“How do I use it?”
Adrian shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine. I can’t read your future, so while I know you need it, I don’t know why.”
I nodded and gave him a sceptical look, but took the necklace from his fingers. I hadn’t really been expecting anything to happen, but when nothing did I was still disappointed.
“You feel anything?” Adrian asked as I slipped the necklace over my head.
“Nope.” I raised the vial and peered into it, twisting it this way and that in the light. The powder inside shifted around like tiny particles of sand.
“I don’t know,” Adrian said. “With everything that’s going on with me, I’m starting to think I might be losing my touch.”
“Never,” I declared confidently. “You’ve never been wrong, Adrian. If you say I need it, then I’ll wear it until I figure out what it’s good for.”
He gave me a sad smile, and the urge to wrap my arms around my friend was overwhelming. But I knew if I did, I’d only bring him more pain, and that was the last thing he needed.
“I’ll talk to you later,” I said, heading for the door.
“Don’t call me when the soaps are on,” he said. “You know I don’t like to miss them, and these days they’re the only excitement I’ve got.”
“I won’t.”
He followed me to the door and shut it firmly behind me without saying goodbye. It was one of his quirks. Adrian never said goodbye, and though I’d always meant to ask him about it, I’d never found the time. And now definitely wasn’t right.
I slid in behind the wheel of my car and gave the necklace another glance before starting the engine and driving away from the shop.
Chapter 28
I was already on the road by the time I remembered my plan to ring Grey. Drawing the car over onto one of the lay-bys, I pulled my cell out and quickly dialled his number.
My skin prickled with unease as I waited for him to pick up, and when he finally did he definitely didn’t sound happy.
“Go,” he said, his tone gruff and weary.
“Hello to you too,” I said.
“Jenna, sorry…” His voice was strained with worry and fear.
“What is it?” I asked. “Is there another body?”
“Not as such…” He paused, and the line crackled. “One of the officers from the scene yesterday died in the hospital this morning.”
Through his voice, I could imagine Grey rubbing his hand over his eyes in an attempt to control his emotions. Anger spread through me, hot and biting, as Grey continued to talk.
“He had a family, a wife and two small girls… They were expecting their first boy.”
“I’m sorry.” My words were merely platitudes, but they were all I had to offer at the moment. If I could have served the creature’s head on a platter to Grey and the victim’s family, I would have. Heck, if I could have brought the man back, I would. But all I could do now was focus on what we knew and kill the thing when the opportunity presented itself.
“Thanks,” Grey said, and I listened as he coughed in an attempt to clear the lump from his throat. “You need a lift?”
“No, I’m already on the road. I was ringing to find out where you were. I’ve got some info I think will help.”
“What is it?” Instantly, the emotion was gone from Grey’s voice and he was right back to the calm and collected Division 6 agent I knew. It was all a facade. Grey took each death personally. He carried them with him, their ghosts shadowing his every waking moment and haunting his dreams when he decided to catch a few hours of shut-eye. It was just another of the things I admired about him—he cared, which was more than could be said for most of the Division 6 agents.
“I think I know the original burial site of the Pied Piper.”
“How did you find
that out?” Grey’s facade slipped, his excitement shining through in his voice. “We can use the original burial spell to trap it again.”
“I was hoping you’d say something like that,” I said, unable to keep the grin from my face. I ignored the sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach that told me it was all working out too good to be true.
“We’re done at the hospital, and Alex and I are just about to head into the morgue to see Antony, if you want to swing by…”
I nodded, and it took me a second to realise Grey couldn’t see me.
“I’ll be there. Give me twenty minutes,” I said.
“We’ll grab a coffee,” Grey said, and the line went dead.
Tossing the phone onto the passenger seat, I glanced out the windows before putting the Land Rover into gear and doing a narrow U-turn in the middle of the road. As I gunned the engine, my feeling of unease refused to leave. The closer I got to the hospital, the more it grew.
The hospital car park was already full, leaving me no choice but to use a nearby parking lot. The mortuary sat next to the hospital but wasn’t directly connected to it. The squat brick building looked like any other, which made it all the more eerie as I headed inside.
Grey stood in the entrance hall, two paper cups in his hand, and as he saw me slip in through the doors, he held one of them out toward me.
“You’re late,” he said, and I took the cup gratefully.
“Parking’s a nightmare.”
I followed as he headed down a wide hallway, his shoes squeaking on the polished floors.
Alex stood at the end, deep in conversation with a smaller man. They looked up as we approached, and Alex flashed me a half-grin. If he thought we were now best pals because we’d shared secrets as though we’d been having some kind of crazy sleepover last night, then he was sorely mistaken. I still didn’t trust him, at least not until he proved himself.
“Antony here was filling me in on the report,” Alex said, holding out a thick cream file to Grey.
“You’ve seen the bodies?”
Alex nodded, wrinkling his nose in disgust. “Definitely unpleasant.”
“Can I see them?” My question seemed to catch all three men off guard, and Grey raised his eyebrow at me.
“Is that such a good idea? I mean, I’ve got the file right here, you can read it.” He held the file out toward me, and I took it, my eyes scanning the paperwork.
“I’d still like to see the bodies,” I said. “There are some things you can’t get from written reports.”
Antony visibly bristled and folded his arms across his chest. “Everything you could possibly want is in those reports,” he said, managing to sound as offended as possible.
“That’s not what I meant, I…”
“It’s fine, I’d like to see them myself,” Grey said smoothly, and Antony turned his glare on him instead.
“Do you not trust me?”
“Of course I do, but you say in the report that there are some odd carvings on the bodies, and I’d like to see them in person.” I frowned. I’d given the report a cursory glance but had obviously missed the part about the carvings.
Antony relaxed a little and unfolded his arms. “Fine, just so long as you’re not questioning my ability…”
“I wouldn’t,” Grey said with a smile, but I knew it wasn’t genuine. It was his version of cop face. I’d seen him use it often enough as a way to ingratiate himself with whoever he was attempting to get information from. “And I know Miss Faith here meant no offence either.”
I jolted at the mention of my name and glared up at him. It was all well and good for him to apologise for himself, but I didn’t take too kindly to him apologising on my behalf too. It wasn’t my fault that Antony was a bit of a snowflake.
When I didn’t agree with him, Grey gently nudged me. I gave him a tight-lipped smile in response, leaving him with absolutely no doubts that he’d crossed the line.
His expression never changed, but I could feel him stiffen slightly next to me, the only indication he’d understood.
“You’ll need gloves,” Antony said, before turning back to the double doors and swiping a card down a reader next to the wall. After an audible click, he pushed the doors inwards, and the scent of chemicals and death poured into the hall. The smell was subtle enough that a human wouldn’t notice anything except the overt tang of chlorine in the air, just like at the swimming pool.
Without uttering a word, he led us down more hallways. Each one looked the same as the last, but after entering the last set of double doors, we found ourselves inside a large room. The wall opposite the door was covered in metal drawers that I knew held the bodies.
He directed us to a set of boxes containing gloves. I took a pair and snapped them on, my heart beating a little faster as I watched him pull open the first drawer.
The metal slab made a grating noise as he tugged it out, and the body that lay on top was unrecognisable. I stared at it in wonderment, refusing to believe that the mummified husk on the table was once a living, breathing human being.
Grey approached the body, bending at the waist in order to get a closer look at the misshapen, desiccated corpse.
“Happy now?” Alex asked, leaning in a little closer so he could whisper into my ear.
“What?”
“You seemed pretty eager to get in here to see the bodies. Now that you’re here, are you happy?”
“Why would you think I’d be happy to see this?” I said, gesturing to the body.
“I don’t know, I figured it was either a gorgon thing or you had some kind of fetish for death.” He shrugged. “Either is fine by me, but I don’t think druid boy would appreciate the latter.”
“You’re making jokes, when only a short while ago that was a living, breathing human being,” I said, turning on him angrily. “Why are you even here if you care so little about everything that’s going on?”
Alex continued to grin at me before reaching out and tucking a strand of hair back behind my ear. It was a patronising move, and I felt my blood pressure rise as he let his gaze roam over my face.
“Because I like watching you twist yourself into knots over them,” he said. “I don’t get it personally, but it intrigues me. You intrigue me.” He leaned in once more. “Did you know it was my idea to bring you in on the case? Druid boy didn’t want to involve you at all, but I’ve got a little sway with the brass up top and they agreed with me.”
I clenched my hands into fists and pushed away from him, then crossed the floor toward Grey and the body on the slab.
Grey’s eyes slid away from my face as I reached his side, and I knew he’d been watching my conversation with Alex intently. Rather than question me, I felt him swallow his anger down, his expression becoming cold and unreadable once more.
I wasn’t sure why Alex’s words pissed me off. So what if Grey hadn’t wanted me on the case? Heck, when he’d caught me off guard in Ireland, I hadn’t wanted anything to do with him either. But hearing Alex say that still hurt. A pretty big part of me desperately wanted Grey to want me.
“What do they mean?” I asked, peering down at the sigils that covered the body’s torso. The same markings were etched into the face. The straight and curved lines looked ancient, and as I looked a little closer I realised the wight had leaned too heavily on its weapon and carved through to the bone in most areas.
“I’ve never seen them before,” Grey said. “At least not like this.” He pointed to one of the symbols on the victim’s cheek. “This one here is the rune for ‘release,’ but this over here”—he moved his finger to a sigil carved below the victim’s breast bone—“this one means ‘cage.’”
“So the wight was both releasing and caging them?” I said, leaning a little closer. “That doesn’t make any sense.”
“It does if it was stealing their souls,” Alex said quietly. “I don’t recognise all of the markings, but it looks similar to a spell I’ve seen before.”
“What kind of
spell?” Grey asked.
“One that allowed the spell user to trap the conduit’s soul while feeding from their body.” Alex folded his arms over his chest as though simply remembering the spell made him uneasy. “Like I said, it’s similar but not completely the same. The wight doesn’t feed from the flesh, at least not personally; instead, it feeds from the essence. If it can take the soul too, then that would allow it to feed for longer…”
Bile crept up the back of my throat.
“It’s keeping them alive as it eats them,” Grey said with unmistakable horror.
“My guess is that it’s repeating the process over and over until finally it takes their souls too,” Alex said.
“What’s it hoping to gain?” I asked.
“Probably the same thing most monsters want,” Grey said. “A chance at immortality.”
Alex shot me a quick glance that I ignored.
“Are all the bodies like this?” I asked, turning back to Antony, who was watching us in fascination.
“Yes, they’ve all got the same markings, from what I can make out. Some of the bodies are in worse condition.”
“What about the three men who died at the burial site they found near Stonehenge? Did they have marks like this too?”
Antony seemed surprised, but he shook his head and turned back to a filing cabinet set into the wall behind him.
“Not as far as I know, but when the bodies were found they were quite badly decomposed.” He rummaged through the files before pulling a bulky one free. “Nobody knew what happened. The men were working late, and when they didn’t come home, their families raised the alarm. They were found the following morning; the area was flooded, but the bodies looked as though they’d been there a lot longer than was possible.”
“Could the same thing have killed them?” I asked.
“Theoretically it’s possible, but their bodies weren’t mummified as these were. Whatever attacked them was much more violent. Most of their internal organs were missing, and the bodies had been exsanguinated instead. The bodies’ conditions are different enough that we wouldn’t connect them.”
Cast in Stone Page 22
