Blind Destiny: Grimm's Circle, Book 7 [retail mobi] by Shiloh Walker Page A

he didn’t think he’d need them.
    Death was already a stain in the air.
    That scream he’d heard had lasted for just a second and then it had gone silent.
    “It didn’t come from inside,” he said as Sina landed behind him.
    Vaguely, he was aware of voices inside the buildings around him. Others had woken, heard the scream. They needed to be careful now, avoid the mortals.
    Sina laid a hand on his arm and he felt the prickle of her power roll over him.
    Now they’d been unseen by mortal eyes. Well, unless they decided to go and start chatting up whatever law enforcement made an appearance.
    “Where to?”
    She waved off to the side. “There’s an alley, there. Might as well go see who died.”
    It was, indeed, a man. Sina kept watch as Luc and Krell studied the body. Krell sniffed and Luc, hovering in the back of the malamute’s mind, assessed the scents. There was something wrong there…the dog couldn’t quite understand it. It wasn’t drugs, illness or madness.
    But the dog couldn’t quite place it and as smart as Krell was, he wasn’t human. If he couldn’t understand what he was smelling, Luc couldn’t place it for him. Luc took a few more minutes to examine the body with his companion and then they fell back, let Sina take a turn.
    “No injuries,” she murmured. “It’s…odd. He’s too young to just have a heart attack.”
    “Mortals do awful things to their bodies these days.”
    She rested a hand on the man’s chest, still warm. “Mortals have always done awful things to their bodies. But yes, I know what you mean…” Through Krell’s eyes, he saw her shoot him a narrow glance. “I’ve seen how you eat, after all. It’s a good thing you’re not mortal.”
    He gave her an unrepentant smile. “I’m in the mood for French fries.”
    “Hmmm.” She bent closer, studying the face. “The vessels in his eyes have ruptured. And the look on his face…”
    Luc had noted that.
    “He looks terrified.”
    As one, they looked at the house.
    Krell growled.
    Luc patted the dog’s head. “We need to go.”
    As they started to walk, she looked back at the house. “I wonder who he was. Do you think he’d been inside?”
     
     
    Natasha sat at the table and hovered over a cup of coffee that was strong enough to get up and walk.
    It was hot, potent, sweet enough to give her ten new cavities and she was on her second cup.
    Jake was dead.
    She’d gotten there just as the police showed up…and none of them had been in time.
    Jake was dead.
    How in the hell am I going to tell Neil …
    That thought hit her out of the blue and she started to cry. Neil was Jake’s partner and this was just going to gut him.
    She cried, and cried, and cried, until she thought she just might be cried out.
    Then she cried more. Burying her face in her arms, she let the sobs come, not bothering to fight them. What was the point? Jake had been with her from the first, and he’d been one of her best friends. Funny as hell, the kind of guy who didn’t take shit from anybody, and he’d used some of his own money to help fund this trip.
    And now he was dead…
    The door opened.
    Jerking her head up, she looked into the dark eyes of an unsmiling woman.
    Her hair was pulled back into a neat queue at the nape of her neck and she wore one of those tidy little powerhouse skirt suits. As she came over to the table, her heels clicked on the floor.
    Swallowing, Natasha opened her mouth and managed to mumble out a mangled hello in Greek.
    The woman smiled and sat down. “I speak English,” she said. And she did—perfect, unaccented English.
    “Oh, thank God.”
    The woman made a small little humming sound under her breath, leaned forward. Absently, she reached up, toying with a silver chain she wore at her neck. “I understand the man who died was a friend of yours.”
    “Yes. He—”
    “Boyfriend?”
    “No. He was just a friend. What happened to him?”
    The woman flicked her a quick look. Her dark eyes revealed