by Kate Rudolph
But she still couldn’t believe that he’d done it.
“Can I see your claws?” she asked. Tessa hadn’t determined the murder weapon, but claws were still a possibility, and it occurred to her that no one had examined Doryan’s… or NaMasee’s too closely.
Doryan held out his hands and Amy watched, fascinated, as thick claws slid out of his knuckles. They could definitely do some damage. And she probably should have restrained him first before she asked him to pull out the weapon he always carried on him. But instead she reached out and ran her fingers over the thick bone.
She didn’t see any blood, and when she latched onto his hand and held it close, there was nothing but a bit of dirt.
If NaPyrsee had been killed by claws, the perpetrator would have been covered in his blood. And while Doryan might have had time to wash, she doubted he would have been able to get everything off.
“I’m going to need to scan your hands for DNA,” she said. But she couldn’t let go. She found her fingers tracing over the lines of his hands, memorizing their feel. They were strangely soft. She wanted them on her.
Doryan sucked in a ragged breath and when she looked up, she jolted. His black eyes looked almost red in the light. But that couldn’t be. Could it?
She forced herself to drop his hand and sat back, putting as much space between them as she could on the small couch. Somehow they’d ended up only a handspan apart, and that couldn’t happen again.
She needed to make a choice between the facts and her instincts. If she was wrong, she might condemn an innocent man to death.
Or let a murderer walk free.
Which was the right choice? What should she do?
“Tessa will be by a little later to scan your hands. Don’t wash them until then.” She pushed up from the couch and headed for the stairs. “I have some more interviews to conduct. We’ll speak again soon.”
“Get some sleep, Amy. Please.” Doryan’s request wrapped around her and Amy took a deep breath to steady herself. Why was he so concerned? Was this some kind of act?
Between exhaustion and whatever was going on between them, her mind was tied up in knots and she had to figure out how to unravel it.
“We’ll talk later,” she said again. And as she left she hoped she could find some way to make all this make sense.
Chapter Six
AMY DIDN’T GO RIGHT to sleep. Instead she drank a big coffee and hoped it did the trick. She managed to interview NaMasee, Linda, Reikal, Peter Marino, the NaZades and their mates, Manda, the NaMorens and their mates, Penny’s younger sister Nicole, and Joaquin Perez, who was Penny’s cousin and worked for the county. They made up everyone who’d been at the settlement.
The NaMorens and their mates had alibis because of the phone call, but Nicole had allegedly been asleep at the time of the attack and no one could confirm that.
Reikal, Peter Marino, and Joaquin had all been alone and in their cabins. No alibis there.
She knew exactly where Linda, NaMasee, and Doryan had been.
And the NaZades had all been asleep… or otherwise occupied. Vita had seemed willing to go into great detail about what she and Brax had been doing, and her mate had flushed. It was kind of cute and Amy could see the appeal of a relationship like that.
Not that she was really thinking about that in the middle of a murder investigation.
Except for the comm call, no one had a strong alibi. Anyone could have killed NaPyrsee.
She needed sleep and Kyla. And she sighed in relief when her partner called.
“Please tell me you’re almost here,” she said.
“Yeah, about that…” Amy could hear the wince in Kyla’s voice. “My car broke down and all flights out are booked. I’m working on getting a rental, but even if I do it’ll be late before I get in. I’ve booked a flight that’s leaving in two days. It was the first open seat.”
Amy wanted to curse, but she was too tired to do anything more than sigh.
“I have a friend upstate I can call,” Kyla offered. “She can be out there by lunchtime.”
“I need someone I can trust, Ky. Not a stranger. Just get here as fast as you can. I’ll manage until then.” She disengaged the call and slumped back onto the bed.
Could this get any worse?
It was still barely morning and Amy was ready to scream. Her emotions were seesawing every which way and she was sure it was exhaustion taking its toll. In her old life she would have powered through, would have taken a stronger stimulant and run until she dropped. But she wasn’t that kid anymore and this entire investigation was counting on her.
She could rest for a few hours.
She set the alarm on her comm to wake her up before lunch and curled up on her bed, bothering only to take off her shoes and nothing else. Despite all the pressure to get this right and all of the work she had to do, she sank directly into sleep.
She dreamed strange dreams. Doryan was there, but so were the other suspects. They danced around in circles, keeping her and Doryan from reaching one another, and then a sinister laugh broke through it all.
She woke up before her alarm, but despite the dream she was something approaching rested. A sick pulse of anxiety still sat low in her chest. though. Doryan was innocent and she hated that he was locked up like some kind of animal.
But there was nothing to exonerate him. He had no alibi. He had plenty of motive. And he had claws!
Amy let those facts swirl around as she washed her face and headed back out. She’d managed to snatch close to three hours of sleep and it would have to be enough.
Life continued around the camp, though it was subdued. She only saw one person out walking, a human, but she was too far away to see who. Wind rustled through the trees and made it just cool enough to make her wish she had a sweater. The September nights would be getting cold soon.
As they’d arranged earlier, Tessa was waiting for her in the settlement’s infirmary. The place wasn’t designed to store dead bodies and there was a portable freezer humming menacingly in one of the two exam rooms. NaPyrsee’s body had been set out on the table and Tessa stood over him, face full of concentration as she took in the details.
“Do you have any more answers for me?” Amy asked. “Claws? Knives? Convenient DNA?”
“Some answers,” said Tessa. “Though still not as many as you’d like.”
“I’ll take what I can get.” She’d never before appreciated just how many resources she’d had as a cop, or even as a private investigator, until she was putting this thing together on her own.
“Cause of death was blood loss from the lacerations on his neck. Time of death is harder to estimate. If he were human, I’d say somewhere between nine PM and when he was discovered. But Detyens could have different body chemistry and I’ve never studied one postmortem before.” She gave Amy a soft smile. “I know this isn’t as detailed as you’d like, but our resources are limited.”
“You’re doing more than I could do. Can you tell if the lacerations were made by claws?”
Tessa grimaced. “I can’t.”
“Knives then?”
“I can’t in good conscience rule it out. But it would have had to be some sort of multi-bladed weapon. The cuts aren’t exactly uniform, but their spacing is. They look like they were made at the same time.”
“And what prevents you from saying they were claws?” Amy needed something ruled out. The day was already starting with more questions than the night before.
“There’s no foreign biological matter in the wounds. Not besides a bit of dirt and grass, which I’m assuming happened when he fell to the ground. There is a lack of defensive wounds that suggests he did not fight, and from the angle of the wounds he was attacked from behind. They could be claw marks, but I’d expect to find Detyen DNA then. From the way Detyen claws work, they must be covered in DNA and possibly blood when they come out. I did a quick scan of Kayleb’s claws and that seems to confirm it. There wasn’t even trace amounts in NaPyrsee’s
wounds. Then again, I might be applying human anatomy to a Detyen subject. Maybe their DNA is different. Maybe my scanner can’t pick it up. I did, strangely, find trace amounts of pig DNA… and Detyens don’t show up as pigs. I checked that.”
“Are you going to perform a full autopsy?” Normally that wouldn’t be a question, but nothing about this investigation was normal.
“I don’t have the training,” replied Tessa, “and NaMasee has made it clear that the body is to be minimally disturbed. Detyens have their own burial rites, and he wants to make sure NaPyrsee gets his.”
“We’ll take what we can get. You’ve already gone above and beyond. So thank you. If you could summarize your findings and send them to me, I’d appreciate it.” If she couldn’t have the autopsy, she’d keep moving forward. There was no other choice.
The door to the exam room burst open and Kayleb stood there, chest heaving. “NaMasee just kicked me off guard duty and he’s in there with Doryan alone.”
Amy didn’t need to be told more. She ran.
DORYAN HAD MANAGED to sleep again. One positive of being soulless was the inability to feel boredom. Though he was questioning exactly what the bounds of inability were. Amy awakened something in him, something potentially dangerous that he should reject to keep everyone safe. Despite all the training at self-denial he’d undergone before becoming soulless, he couldn’t force himself to turn away.
He wanted. And it hurt.
How could this be happening? Why? Did the Legion know of the possibilities?
There’d been whispers of something happening, just before he was captured. Something about a soulless warrior changing. He’d gone out on a mission and returned back, emotions intact and bonded to a human. Doryan had paid it no attention at the time, and he’d been captured shortly thereafter. By the time he’d made it to Earth, the Detyen Legion was ingratiating itself with the human government after helping defend the planet from an enemy. If any of the soulless had found mates, it was being kept quiet.
And he couldn’t believe that was what was happening. The Legion had been creating the soulless for the better part of a hundred years. Why would things change now? And what made him so special?
A commotion outside the door pulled him from his thoughts. He heard raised voices but couldn’t make out what they were saying. Then the door unlocked and Doryan stiffened as boots pounded down the steps.
This couldn’t be good.
Lieutenant NaMasee came into view, his blaster in hand and looking at Doryan like he was a feral animal. “I’ve reported the captain’s death to the Legion,” NaMasee told him, voice deceptively calm. “And I told them of your presence. I’ve been given leave to retire you.”
A sense of calm washed over Doryan, and he didn’t bother to tell himself that he couldn’t feel anything. So this was it? His end came at the hands of a grief-stricken lieutenant in a sad little basement? At least he’d had his months of freedom before that.
Amy’s face flashed before his eyes and a wave of scorching heat flashed through him. It burned his veins and made his claws ache.
“Your eyes!” NaMasee’s own eyes widened and he pointed the blaster. “What have you done?”
Doryan didn’t understand. “I’m standing, lieutenant. Nothing more.”
“Soulless eyes can’t turn red, and yet yours are.”
He had no idea what NaMasee was talking about, but there was no way to contradict him. If his eyes had shifted he wouldn’t know, there was no physical sensation involved. Detyen eyes changed color when they felt extreme emotion, something Doryan hadn’t been capable of. Wasn’t capable of. But one thought of Amy…
“Stop that!” NaMasee screamed.
“Drop your blaster, lieutenant!” Amy carefully climbed down the steps, a small device in her hands pointed straight at NaMasee. “You shouldn’t be in here.”
“He’s a threat to us all!” the lieutenant insisted.
“And you’re making yourself look guilty by coming down here,” Amy countered. “Attacking a man who’s been locked up all night doesn’t make you look good.”
“I could kill him before you touched me,” he said.
“That blaster doesn’t look modified to me, now put it away.” There was a tense moment, but NaMasee saw reason and holstered his weapon. “Go to your quarters, lieutenant. And stay there. If you want Doryan, you’re going to have to go through me.”
Something threatened to come loose in Doryan’s chest and he wanted to let it go. He wanted to step up close to Amy and offer her his protection. He didn’t know what was happening, but it was too late to stop it, and he didn’t think he wanted to try.
NaMasee left, cursing all the way, and once the door banged shut behind him Amy’s shoulders slumped and she let out a long breath.
Doryan couldn’t have stayed in place if he’d been held by the tightest bonds. He was across the room and had a hand on Amy’s back, rubbing gently, trying to comfort her even if he had long forgotten how.
“I shouldn’t trust you,” she whispered, leaning into his touch. And then she stood up straight. “Come on, I’m taking you to my quarters. I don’t trust NaMasee not to come back.”
Neither did Doryan, and he wouldn’t complain if this turn of events got him closer to Amy. They didn’t speak as she led him out of the basement. No one seemed to be in the house or on the path outside. Doryan hadn’t been confined long enough to feel the absence of the outdoors, but the smell in the air was pleasant and he liked the wind on his skin.
Liked?
It was one thing to fixate on a person, but could it expand to other things as well?
Amy’s cabin was connected to another one by a bridge constructed in tree branches on the second floors of each cabin. He didn’t know if the other one was occupied. Inside the cabin she pointed to a rustic couch covered in multi-colored cushions. “Sit.”
Doryan sat.
She paced back and forth and Doryan could still see the exhaustion clinging to her. Had she slept at all since he’d last seen her? Had she eaten? Who was caring for her? They were doing a piss-poor job and he needed to take over.
“I do not let blind intuition lead me,” she told him, but he wasn’t sure she was even seeing him. “I follow the facts. One plus one is two. A person with means, motive, and opportunity absolutely could be a perpetrator. And yet I can’t, for the life of me, believe you’re guilty. Are you doing something to me? Is this some trick?” She looked at him with desperation in her eyes and that same crack he’d felt before widened.
Doryan reached out and grabbed her hand. It hurt, but not as much as it had earlier, and he barely flinched. “I didn’t do it,” he promised. “I would never lie to you. And whatever is happening to you…” He pulled her hand until it rested against his chest. “I feel it too.”
The angle was awkward until Amy put a knee on the sofa to steady herself. And then her fingers curled against his shirt and she brought the other knee up, straddling his chest. Their faces were so close he could breathe her in. It wouldn’t take any effort at all to kiss her, and desire, another impossible sensation, stirred within him.
He wanted.
“I won’t betray you, Amy Dalisay,” he vowed.
Her face scrunched up, but she didn’t pull away. “Why do I trust you?”
“The same reason I trust you.” It couldn’t be true. He couldn’t let himself believe it. But the faint spark of hope lived within him, and Doryan didn’t want to extinguish it. This couldn’t be fixation. He’d die before he hurt Amy. He’d kill anyone who tried to harm her.
Distantly he realized that he should keep that sentiment to himself for the time being.
“Have you slept?” he asked.
“A little,” but the dark smudges under her eyes told him it wasn’t enough. He wrapped his arms around her and scooped her up, the sudden movement making Amy cling even closer. “What are you doing?” she demanded.
“You need more sleep.”
“I don’t ne
ed to be bossed around,” she replied, but her fingers rested on his shoulders and her legs were wrapped around his waist. She could have let go if she didn’t want him carrying her.
“Let me take care of you.” It was a need inside him like he’d never felt before. He didn’t know if this was some temporary madness or a sign of degeneration, but he could feel an ending coming. And if it was his end for good, he wanted to savor whatever time he had left.
He set her gently down on the bed and before he could let her go, Amy tugged him down with her.
“Take off your shoes,” she muttered.
Doryan kicked them off. He hadn’t intended to lay down with her, but now that she’d invited him nothing could drag him away.
“I don’t sleep well with other people,” she said on a sigh, but her eyes fell closed and her breathing evened.
Doryan’s heart beat hard. He reached out and pushed a strand of Amy’s hair off her face, ignoring the spike of pain. It quickly transformed into something duller and morphed again into something hard, but not painful. Not in the same way.
He wanted to reach down and adjust himself, but a part of him was afraid that if he moved, the spell would be broken. The soulless didn’t feel lust. They didn’t desire. There was no drive to protect a woman… a mate.
He could almost feel it, the spark of recognition that came with finding a denya, but it was still walled off behind whatever had been done to him to get rid of his soul.
Could he get it back? Was there some way to find out if Amy really was his?
Thoughts swirled as Doryan sank into sleep, and though the soulless didn’t dream, he dreamed of Amy.
Chapter Seven
AMY COULDN’T BELIEVE that she’d fallen asleep again, especially not in bed with her prime suspect! But she’d already decided in her heart that Doryan hadn’t done it and unless she was given incontrovertible proof otherwise, she was done worrying about it.
