by Dannika Dark
I approached two oversized leather chairs that faced each other and took a seat across from Niko. Between us was a small table with a decanter of alcohol and a half-empty glass. Niko’s hair looked like an ebony mane, his carved features emphasized by the firelight throwing shadows against his profile. He wore his usual dark slacks but didn’t have on anything else. Usually when I saw Niko shirtless and barefoot, he was in the training room or had just left it.
The cold chill in the air didn’t put goose bumps on his arms. Hell, the man could prance naked in the snow if he wanted and use his Thermal ability to keep warm. I quietly took notice of the Creator’s mark on his left pec. I’d seen it before. Every Mage carried the mark of their Creator—a symbol that appeared on our body from the moment their energy made us immortal. The mark linked us to that person forever.
“What are you doing in here?” I finally asked.
He turned his head away from the fire. “Reading.”
I glanced at the book on his lap. “How?”
He smiled and tilted it toward me, revealing blank pages with patterns of raised dots. “Braille. Can’t sleep?”
“I should ask you the same.”
“How was your evening?”
I crossed my legs. “Christian didn’t tell you?”
“He hasn’t returned home.”
Which made me want to stay up all night and wait for his return. I could always tell when he’d been with a woman. Even when he showered away their lipstick stains and perfume, he carried himself differently and was more flirtatious. “It sounds like his date went better than mine.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that. Christian never goes out with the same woman twice, so I would hardly call his coming home late a standard of excellence.” Niko set his book on the table.
“Glass wants to go on another date.”
Niko nodded, his expression brightening. “Splendid news. I can tell by your light that it went well.”
I laughed and cleared my throat. “I must be crazy for dating a detective.”
“Why is that? He’s on the right side of the law, so I’m sure he has admirable qualities.”
“That’s exactly what I’m worried about. The fact he can scent my lies makes me nervous about him asking the wrong questions. I’ve killed a lot of people, Niko. He might decide to put me in cuffs if he finds out.”
Niko gave me an impish grin. “Is that not what you intended?”
“Very funny, but I’m not into bondage. What about you? Isn’t it hard to date and bring women here? Or does Viktor not allow visits?”
Niko held out his hand, and a flame of blue light appeared in his palm. “Dating isn’t a concern I trouble myself over.”
I watched as he moved his hand around, controlling the light as if it were a separate entity in his hand. I wasn’t able to master light so perfectly, so I watched him in awe. “Is that something I can learn?”
“This requires an enormous amount of control, and that’s not something easily acquired in a short period of time. Perhaps one day when you’re as old as I am,” he said, rolling the light around in his palm. “I can only imagine what this must look like. These kinds of talents are what perpetuated the myth among humans that we were sorcerers of black magic. They didn’t understand what they were seeing.” He pointed his index finger, and the light briefly danced on the tip before melting back into his palm.
“Do you play the violin?” I asked.
His brows arched. “If I had that kind of talent, I might not have ended up here. Why do you ask?”
I shrugged. “A few nights ago, I thought I heard a violin. Then again, I hear all kinds of mysterious sounds in this mansion. Sometimes the wind finds a way in through the cracks of a window and plays like an orchestra.”
“This house has many ghosts, and they don’t all belong to Wyatt.”
The light tumbled between his fingers in a magnificent display and flared a radiant gold that no sunset could rival.
“What’s going on in here?” Gem asked. “I’m feeling left out.”
The light shattered in Niko’s hands, falling to the floor like dying embers from a fireworks show.
Gem stood beside Niko’s chair and smiled at me. “I can tell by the look on your face that you had a good time with Glass.”
“You’re in a clever mood,” Niko said, tilting his head in her direction.
“Stop reading my light.” Gem gave a playful shake of her head “Viktor sent me to find you. There’s been another murder.”
I didn’t have to look at a clock to know it was three in the morning. Niko had given me a quick lesson on how to use my Mage energy to tell time, although that had brought up a hilarious conversation about daylight saving and time zones.
“What’s he want us to do?” I asked.
Gem tightened her kimono, her damp hair pulled back. “Investigate the crime scene. We have to leave this minute.”
Niko furrowed his brow. “Everyone?”
She sat down on his armrest and played with the tie on her silk robe. “He didn’t say, but I should probably go.”
“No, Gem. I don’t like how those women affect you.”
“What if there’s a marking or tattoo?”
He rose to his feet. “Then we’ll take a photograph or describe it. We all have important tasks in this group.”
She sulked. “Yeah, but I feel useless—like I’m not pulling my weight.”
Niko’s crystalline eyes picked up colors in the firelight as he averted his eyes. “You’re anything but useless.”
I stood up, adrenaline kicking in. “We should get dressed and hurry before the sun comes up. Ugh. It’s too early for dead bodies.”
Gem hurried toward the door. “Speaking of dead bodies, I still need to wake up Wyatt. Downstairs in five!”
Wyatt yawned dramatically while speeding down the road in his vintage Mini Cooper. The driver’s seat was on the wrong side of the car, so it felt awkward to be sitting beside him.
I zipped up my leather coat since his heater was about as warm as an arctic winter. “You should have brought your coat. You’re going to freeze.”
“Gem woke me up in a panic. I thought Viktor was having a meeting, not an outing.”
“Did you find anything on Penny’s computer?”
He tapped his horn at someone. “She bought a lot of fur-lined boots and Western romance novels.”
We hit a deep pothole, and it shook the car.
“What about the dating website?” I asked.
“That’s going to take me a little more time. I made a list of the men she corresponded with, but they all go by handles. Breed sites are closely monitored against hackers, so I went to plan B.”
“I’m afraid to ask.”
“I created a fake profile, and Blue agreed to put on a blond wig since that might be his type. Ever seen Blue in a blond wig? Hot mama.”
“So you’re baiting him?”
“Yup. We made her pose demurely so she wouldn’t be recognizable. I gleaned some generic facts from Penny’s profile and tried to mirror it as much as possible without it being obvious.”
I glanced over at his T-shirt, which said: I WOULD CUDDLE YOU SO HARD. “Is that appropriate considering where we’re going?”
He rubbed lazily at the whiskers on his face. “You’re lucky I put on pants, buttercup. When I’m asleep, I don’t like anyone creeping in my room and jolting me out of bed. I already told Viktor I’m not down with this.”
“Then why didn’t you stay behind with Gem?”
I grabbed the dash when he slammed on his brakes and shouted at a car running a red light.
“They think because it’s three in the morning that they own the city,” he complained. “Oh, you were saying?”
“Viktor has enough of us going. I just wondered why you didn’t stay home.”
“I’m going on the off chance that the specter is still hanging around. If you want to know the truth, I thought the victims might have been me
ntally unstable ex-girlfriends whose lovers got rid of them. After sniffing through Penny’s personals, I feel like I have a better idea of what kind of woman she was. She didn’t seem like a crazy.”
I snorted. “Looking for a girlfriend?”
He pulled his beanie down in the front. “I only date women with a pulse. My friend could probably use a little company, though. In fact, it might be just the diversion I need to keep him occupied. I thought having all the spooks out of the house would be bliss, but now I’m beginning to see that it’s made him a little too clingy.”
I turned around to see if the van was still behind us. Wyatt had invited me to keep him company instead of riding along with everyone else. He preferred taking his own car in case he wanted to bolt, and I was on board with that plan.
Wyatt pointed as we passed a club called Red Door. “We’re almost there.”
After another block, he turned into a vacant parking lot. We were still in the heart of the city, but this was one of those areas that had unused strips of land. The headlights shone on Detective Glass, who was standing in front of his Mercedes with his hands in his coat pockets. I scanned the area in search of a body, but nothing immediately caught my eye.
As soon as I stepped out of the car, my hair whipped around and tangled in front of my face. I swept it back and headed toward Glass. “Another one already?”
Glass gripped my shoulders, his tone sending a chill up my spine. “You might not want to see this.”
“This isn’t my first rodeo, Glass. I’ve seen dead bodies before.”
“Detective,” Viktor said in greeting. “It is unfortunate we see each other again under these circumstances. How long do we have?”
Glass looked at his watch. “Thirty minutes before the cleaners arrive.”
Wyatt passed by us, his teeth chattering and hands tucked beneath his armpits. He wasn’t looking at the ground but searching for what I presumed to be the ghost of the deceased.
“Where is she?” Viktor asked.
Glass lowered his arms and gave me a pensive stare. “Raven, you should go back to the car.”
I furrowed my brow, uncertain if I was more curious or annoyed by his request. “I’m here to do a job.”
He sighed and tipped his head at Viktor. “Follow me.”
Shepherd eased up beside me and retrieved a small flashlight from his coat pocket. Glass had parked his car facing the field, so his headlights provided sufficient light.
When her feet came into view, I slowed my pace to take in the scene. They were halfway on the concrete, and the rest of her was in the weeds. Unlike the last crime scene, this parking lot was secluded from any buildings. Had there ever been one, the city must have torn it down long ago. Weeds were sprouting up from the large cracks in the concrete, and there were no painted lines visible.
A screech sounded as Blue’s falcon swooped above us and landed on an old telephone pole. Her sharp eyes looked down at us briefly.
“I need everyone to stand back while I do my work,” Shepherd commanded.
We formed a wide semicircle while Shepherd stepped into the grass and knelt next to the body.
Meanwhile, I was still trying to figure out why Glass was so concerned with my seeing another crime scene.
Niko touched my arm, a dark hood drawn over his head. “What’s around us?”
“A field straight ahead. It’s hard to see, but it looks like debris on the right where a building once stood. It’s like one of those strips of land between vacant properties that nobody can sell or do anything with. I guess there’s too much competition with the club up the street. There’s an old apartment building about a hundred yards to the left, but it looks abandoned.” I bit my lip and looked up at Niko. “Do you understand distance? Sorry, I’m not good explaining this.”
“You’re fine. Is this a place people would walk past?”
“No. It’s secluded. Do you see anything?”
“A faint trace of energy,” he said, turning away from the body and looking at the ground leading out. “This happened recently.”
“How did you find her?” I asked Glass.
He turned away from the scene and approached me. “An anonymous call.”
“Again? Seems like you have a lot of Good Samaritans awake after midnight. You’re lucky anyone found her at all.”
“The club was busy tonight,” he pointed out. “Someone might have seen or sensed something and didn’t want to get involved. That’s usually the case. It’s not uncommon for people to seek out these parking lots for, uh…”
“Recreational activity?” I suggested. “This crime scene doesn’t fit with the others. They were either deep in the city or next to a busy establishment, like he was showboating.”
Viktor clapped the detective on his shoulder. “Let’s talk privately.”
I could tell he didn’t want Glass seeing how we operated. The detective was involved in the case by default, but the higher authority had placed us in control. Maybe Viktor didn’t trust him not to leak our findings, but I did. Glass didn’t seem like the kind of man who spread rumors.
Shepherd stood up and wiped his hands against his pants. “This one’s different,” he murmured.
I still couldn’t see her very well. Niko and I neared the edge of the lot.
“The emotions are fresh,” Shepherd continued. “It happened within the past few hours, and I think it happened here. It’s messy. A lot of fear, a lot of blood.”
“Vampire?” I asked, wondering if it was linked to our case.
He ran his hand over the dark bristles on his head. “Two puncture wounds on her neck, but this murder was violent. There’s a knife in her heart.”
“Can you pick up emotions from the killer?”
Shepherd folded his arms, and his lips thinned. “Rage is what I pick up, and it’s giving me a headache. There was a struggle. Her fear is all over the crime scene, except it’s stronger over there than it is where I’m standing. It’s not intense until that one spot, so I don’t think she knew she was in danger until the last minute. I’m going to walk the perimeter,” he said, stalking off in the other direction.
I glanced down at her missing shoe. A gust of wind ruffled her dress, and the white fabric with spatters of blood caught my eye. As if pulled by invisible strings, I drew closer until I gazed upon her blond tresses.
And the dagger embedded between her large breasts.
“Raven, what’s wrong?” Niko asked.
It felt as if the wind had been knocked out of me. The woman on the ground was Christian’s date, Marlene. I almost hadn’t recognized her. She was staring up, glassy-eyed, and had the same mole on her chin that I’d noticed at dinner.
But it wasn’t until the breeze picked up that my blood turned to ice. One end of a red scarf flapped above her head, revealing the bite marks on her neck before settling on top of her face.
It was Christian’s scarf.
Ignoring Niko’s question, I brushed past them and knelt by her side. Marlene was a stranger to me, but I immediately regretted all the nasty thoughts I’d had about her. Only low-life criminals deserved to be tossed aside like yesterday’s trash. The scarf slid away, revealing her face once more. Her startled expression left me unsettled, so I reached out and closed her eyes. Chitahs lived for thousands of years and could heal remarkably well from grave injuries, but obviously not from blood loss and a pierced heart.
I examined the dagger. There was nothing remarkable about it—just a plain blade with a black handle I’d seen a million times. I didn’t need a flashlight to see the pool of blood beside her neck. My Vampire eyes also picked up on two broken nails and a bruise around her right arm.
Niko came up behind me and knelt down. “Can you tell her Breed? She’s not a Mage.”
“She’s a Chitah.” I turned to Niko, my voice quiet. “I met her last night. This was Christian’s date.”
His jaw tensed, and he studied the body with vacant eyes.
“I’m sorry, Rav
en. I tried to warn you,” Glass said from behind.
Niko and I rose to our feet simultaneously, and I couldn’t ignore the grim expression on Viktor’s face.
“What other evidence did you find?” Niko asked. “Are there any footprints?”
Glass’s eyes were downcast, focusing on the woman. “None. I think he led her to the edge and attacked her. The way she fell is indicative of the crime happening at the edge of the pavement: bent knee, trauma to the back of the head, signs of a struggle. If he’d dragged her out here—alive or dead—her legs would be straight and the grass behind her head would be flat where he treaded. I did find one piece of evidence.” Glass reached in his pocket and retrieved a plastic bag with something green inside.
It was a candy wrapper with Japanese writing—the same kind Christian was always munching on.
“That could have blown over here,” I said in disbelief. “There’s probably trash everywhere.”
He gave a mirthless smile. “I didn’t find it near the body. I did a walk-through and saw it in the center of the parking lot. There’s blood on the inside of the wrapper. Her blood. I can scent the emotion in it.”
I flicked my eyes between him and Viktor.
“To dispel any further theories you might have, the killer ate the candy after committing the crime and discarded the wrapper. It was wadded up with the blood inside.”
I marched past them. “I’ll be in the car.”
“Raven,” Glass called out but quickly fell into conversation with Viktor.
When I reached Wyatt’s car, I spotted a motorcycle on the other side of the road, parked in the shadows. It took me a minute to notice there was a rider on it. After a few seconds, it started up and quickly sped off.
Chapter 18
