“Melody is missing!” Ryan Cavanagh’s voice was filled with alarm.
Declan halted his pacing and our stares connected. I didn’t need to put the phone on speaker—shifter hearing was impeccable—but I did it anyway and set the phone on the bedspread in front of me.
Declan padded closer and leaned against the wall beside the bed.
Melody was my former neighbor and someone I considered a friend. I didn’t have many of those. So if she was missing, I would get to the bottom of it.
“Start from the beginning.” I encouraged.
Ryan took a deep breath as though bracing himself. “She’s gone. Her place is trashed. There’s blood. God, there is so much blood. I… shit. You need to get down here. Aria we need to find her. I don’t know if she’s alive. She’s got to be ali—”
“Ryan, calm down.”
Panic tinged his words. He was rambling. Ryan was another former neighbor of mine. He, Melody, and I had all lived in the same apartment complex. He was your regular human variety and she was a Harpy who took immense pleasure in aggravating him every moment she got.
It was her way of flirting, though Ryan never seemed to recognize her antics for what they were.
“Where are you?” Talking on the phone wasn’t going to get us anywhere. He was too worked up. And in any case, if Melody was missing, I needed to see her apartment immediately.
“I’m home. I just got here and …”
“Stay there. I’m on my way.”
I hung up the phone, sheathed my knives, and grabbed my leather jacket.
“I’m coming with you.”
I nodded having expected as much so I didn’t bother arguing. Together Declan and I headed out. If Melody was missing, we had forty-eight hours to find her before the search got a hell of a lot harder.
The first forty-eight hours of any investigation were critical. It was the best window of time for following up on leads before people’s memory began to fade and before scent trails became too muddled. As time goes on, there would be fewer breadcrumbs to follow.
I’d take all the help I could get.
Ryan hadn’t exaggerated about all the blood. She better be alive.
I didn’t know a lot about Harpies. But I did know that their blood carried regenerative properties. Hopefully her healing could keep up with her injuries and hopefully all this blood didn’t belong only to her.
The normally beige carpet was stained a rust red. Large swatches spread across the floor in long smears.
Not only had someone bled, but someone had been dragged to make these sort of marks.
Blood spatter coated the walls. I got closer and spotted the arc pattern of blood from a knife or sword wound and cursed.
With this much blood loss, she wouldn’t last long if she healed at human speed.
I took in the upturned furniture and the blue-black feathers scattered around the living space.
She hadn’t gone without a fight. Good.
Two glass table lamps were shattered near the doorway. She’d likely thrown them at her attackers. And a coffee table stood on its side, one of its legs broken.
Someone had to of heard something. There were no wards on her apartment. Nothing that would have drowned out the noise.
When I was done here, I’d check in with the rest of the tenants. If anyone knew what happened, I’d find out. There were three other units on this floor. Ryan had originally lived on the fifth floor but had since moved to the second beside Mel’s. Floors five and six were undergoing renovations so there was no point looking for tenants there.
When I’d lived here, I’d been the only tenant on floor four, but I knew an elderly couple had lived in the unit directly below Melody and they were almost always home. With any luck, they’d have some information for me to run with. Missing persons cases were hard without any breadcrumbs to follow.
I’d be sure to check in with everyone and get a list from the super of those who weren’t home so I could follow up with them later. I needed as much information as possible.
Mel wasn’t the type to make enemies. She was a home body. She didn’t even really work. I knew she did something for her caste. But that was Harpy business and she didn’t really ever talk about it. When I’d lived here, she would go out maybe three or four times a month max to handle “harpy crap” as she often referred to it.
Could this be related to Harpy business?
I scrubbed a hand over my face. Some friend I was. If this was Harpy business, I was screwed. She was literally the only Harpy I knew and had ever met.
Why hadn’t I ever pried further? Why didn’t I needle my way into her life more?
I sighed. Because I had secrets too and at the time I hadn’t wanted her to pry into mine.
“Aria will find her.” Declan’s voice pulled me from my thoughts and I scowled at him.
I wasn’t sure if I should be thrilled about his confidence in me or annoyed he was giving Ryan false hope. Declan knew better than to make promises. But I decided it didn’t matter. Melody was my friend. No one hurt my friends and got away with it.
Ryan seemed to gather himself. His eyes red and bloodshot. He’d always had such a carefree vibe. This was a different side of him I wasn’t accustomed to seeing. He was a musician who brought home a different girl every night of the week. Much to Melody’s horror.
I’d had no idea he felt anything for Melody beyond friendship and before today, I would have
