Toxic Influence
Page 23
The rate of ice disappearing increased, leaving a massive wave of clear behind it with only the slightest shimmer of frost. It was fucking real pretty. Or at least it would have been if it wasn't for the five corpses in the dining room.
Once the ice was gone, Gutt nodded to Chief Ballinger. "We'll take the girl back, the rest of them are for you. And we'll be in contact once we have information."
"So will we."
With that, Gutt turned and went back to the ice elemental girl, lying there on the floor, surrounded by the family that owned the house.
Serious past tense on owned.
Gutt gingerly lifted the girl off the floor. Her limbs were stiff from the cold, but her core went limp as he took up her weight. Dead weight. My guts twisted at the sight of her there, cradled in his arms. So tiny and frail, her skin a bluish white, much paler than Gutt's slate-colored flesh. Long, white hair draped over his arm, and the pretty white dress flowed with it. If you'd asked me what a young ice elemental looked like, hers would be the picture I'd pull out of the ether.
Except vibrant and alive and surrounded by frost, not…this.
Gutt opened a portal again. "I'll get her to Casey, you fill Swift in on what we've got going."
"And do my paperwork."
Gutt nodded. "And do your paperwork. It'll be a while before results are back on what happened. Depending on what it is, might need to put in a call to the Kingdoms to try and crack the riddle. But here's hoping not." He gazed down at her, shaking his head. "Tragic."
Tragic. That seemed like absolutely the right word. A big fucking tragedy in a tiny little body.
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