Embraced By Darkness

My steps slowed as I neared the breakfast counter The blood was heavier here, huge swaths of color rather than mere splatter.

I licked my lips and forced my feet on through the open doorway between the counter and the wall.

Her torso lay in a corner, huddled between the cabinets and the fridge, as though she'd sought refuge from whatever had come after her.

Her head…

Bile rose in my throat, and it was all I could do not to throw up right there and then. Someone had driven a knife through her right eye, into her brain, back out through her skull, and into the plaster. Then they'd shaved her.

And I have no idea why that seemed such a defilement, but somehow, it did.

A hand touched my shoulder and I jumped.

'Jesus, arc you all right?' Cole asked. 'You're shaking like a leaf.'

'I'm fine,' I said, voice somewhat restricted as I battled the urge to puke. 'I just wasn't expecting… that.' I waved a hand at the woman's bald head.

'No,' Cole agreed, then added, 'Worse, there doesn't appear to be any hair here. Our killer must have taken it with him.'

I looked around and saw that he was right. 'Oh, great. A freakazoid with a hair fetish. Just what we need.'

He smiled, but there was little amusement visible in his pale blue eyes. 'All hunters like their trophies.'

I stared at him for a minute, not sure whether to be angry or just let it slide, when energy stirred past me.

I looked away. In the corner near the body, a wisp of thick air moved. It looked to be little more than smoke curling gently upward, barely visible against the darker shadows that clung to the body.

But it was not smoke, and a chill ran through me.

Her soul had come to talk.

'She's here,' I whispered.

Cole looked at me, then at the body. 'Where?'

The smoke grew stronger, found shape. Became more human in form. 'Near her head.'

He frowned. 'I can't see anything.'

'Trust me, she's there.' I rubbed my arms but it did little to ward off the chill. It was almost as if seeing and communicating with these lingering souls brought me altogether too close to the fierce cold of the underworld.

And far too close to that lingering, gloating sense of evil.

Wispy features formed. A mouth opened. He did it, she said.

There was an awful lot of anguish in that statement. And a pain that had nothing to do with her dismemberment.

Who? I asked the question telepathically, though I was still unsure as to whether a soul could actually understand or even hear me.

The figure stirred—an insubstantial form with only vague features. Liam.

So they could hear me, even if some didn't answer directly. Who is Liam?

The smoky form became agitated, and the chill got fiercer, until it felt like fingers of ice were creeping into my flesh.

She swirled faster, her movements almost angry. With every turn, energy built in the air, until the small hairs along the nape of my neck were standing on end.

Only then did the words come again. We were to be married. We were to live here.

With that statement, the energy fell away, and the soul disintegrated, fleeing to whatever region of afterlife it was bound.

And with it went the sense of evil, although that faded a lot more slowly. It was almost as if it wanted to linger, but something else was drawing it away.

I shivered again, then met Cole's curious gaze. 'She said her fiancé did this.'

'Her fiancé?' He looked around. 'Seems he wanted to get out of that marriage real bad.'

'Yeah.' I glanced at her remains, and wondered just what her fiancé was. Surely not human. It was doubtful, really, that he was even a were or a shifter. As strong as either race was, most didn't have the sheer physical strength to rip someone apart so cleanly. Although there was one type of shifter who probably could.

'Would a bear-shifter be capable of doing this?'

Cole frowned. 'Maybe, if they were in bear form. But from what I've seen, there don't seem to be any claw marks on any of the limbs.'

'No.' I looked at her torso and swallowed heavily. 'I think I'll get out of your way and go question the neighbors.'

This time, the amusement on his lips did light his pale eyes. 'And you said it wasn't going to be my day.'

'If you're not careful, I'll come back especially to mess up your crime scene.'

'You probably will anyway.'

'Not if you promise to send me a direct report ASAP.'

'Done deal.'

'Thanks,' I said, and got the hell out of there.

Once in the open air—and free of the gloves and the booties—I stopped and sucked in several deep breaths. Death might still cling to my pores, but at least it no longer fouled my lungs.

I looked up and down the street, studying the house numbers. Once I'd spotted the one I wanted, I crossed the road. After shoving open the rickety gate, I bounded up the steps to the front door of the house. There was a small doorbell to the right of the handle, so I pressed it and waited. A dog yapped somewhere in the bowels of the house, then the lace curtains covering the window to the right twitched and a small, sharp face appeared.

'Shut that gate,' he said, voice shrill and wavering. 'You want the dog getting out?'

I very much doubted the dog would come anywhere near me, but I dutifully turned around and wrestled the gate closed. Only when I'd done that did the old guy open the door. The yappy dog was at his heels, still yapping away. It might be little, but it sure as hell made a lot of noise.

'Yes?' the old guy said. 'What do you want?'

'Mr. Hammond?'

'Yes.'

'I'm Riley Jenson, a guardian with the Directorate of Other Races. We're investigating the crime you reported this morning.'

'Did you catch those buggers? I hate them boys, always breaking into them vacant houses and wrecking things.'

I frowned. 'Boys? You said in your report you only saw a shadow.'

'Well, I did,' he said, over the noise of the dog, 'but I know it was probably them boys again. I've run them off a few times since the house was sold.'

I shifted slightly, bringing one foot closer to the door. The yappy little dog took a sniff and recognized wolf. The tail dived between its legs and it scampered away as fast as it could. The sudden silence was bliss.

'So you know who bought the house?'

He shook his head. 'Seen 'cm a few times, that's all.'

'Do you know their names?'

'Nah. Just watched them, you know?'

I knew. Every neighborhood seemed to have at least one neighbor who knew all the comings and going, even if they didn't know all the names. 'Could you describe them to me?'

'She was a pretty little blonde. He was tall, thin, with dark hair,' He shrugged. 'They always came in a green BMW, if that's any help.'