the top.
What kind of sick bastard wrapped up a body like a present?
Brenna stumbled over the piles of mail strewn across the floor. Seraph grabbed her arm and she froze, realizing she had almost contaminated the scene.
“What happened?” she asked him. “The last time I saw Xavier he was taking a victim to rehab.” She swallowed hard as blood now spilled onto the tile from the bottom of the box like an overturned bottle of Cabernet. Gray squeezed her arm in support.
“There’s no way his body could fit in there,” she said, half to herself.
Seraph frowned. “No body. Just blood and ash. A damn soup.”
“How do you know it was Xavier?”
“There was no mistake. Trust me.” Seraph paused, closing his eyes. “They sent his head in a different box. It turned into ash when we touched it. What’s left is in the lab.”
Gray cut in. “You said you thought the Kenaz killer did this?”
“He left his calling card. You can see it as soon as it gets analyzed.”
“Does that mean we’re on the case?” Brenna asked. A single look at those files could save her days of research.
Seraph studied her. She already knew his answer. “No. You’re too close.” He crossed his arms. “I need you and Gray to go over the evidence with Lucy. They used non-terran magic that needs to be catalogued. Might be Shadow Bearer. But under no circumstances are you to go after Xavier’s killer. I’ve put the best I have on it.”
Brenna glared at the overhead light, a frustrated breath rattling in her throat. Once Seraph made up his mind, he didn’t change it. She wanted to scream in frustration, but it was pointless.
“At least assign someone competent,” she said. “The death toll is rising.”
He slipped off his gray suit jacket and draped it over his arm, ignoring her. “Let’s go see Lucy.”
They followed him down to the forensics lab, just down the hall past enchantment research. Lucy was already there, her white lab coat glowing in the florescent lights. She leaned over a metal stretcher custom built for her height. A tub of blood sat atop the flat surface, a box of ash at its side.
As Brenna stepped inside the air seemed to curl and thicken into a dirty mist of sediment. It burned her eyes, stuck to the back of her throat. Coughing, she stumbled back. “Poison,” she gasped.
She grabbed her throat as it constricted from lack of oxygen and fled back into the hall, Gray beside her. It was a feeling she had experienced once before. “Poison,” she said again. Drawing in several jerky breaths, she turned to Seraph. “Why didn’t you warn us?”
Seraph shook his head, obviously concerned. “I didn’t know. Readings were negative. It didn’t affect anyone else.” He grabbed two gas masks from the lab and handed one to her, the other to Gray, before they went back inside. “What is it?”
“It’s called Quietus. It’s made from the ash of demons.” Gray’s eyes were blood shot, tears streaming from their corners. “In its purest form it would be fatal to either of us on contact. But it should only be fatal to others if they ingested it. This has to be some kind of milder derivative, but still dangerous.”
They moved deeper into the lab. “Can the toxin be grown on this plane?” Seraph asked.
Gray shook his head. “No. The plants involved are indigenous to our world. They would have had to smuggle it out. There are several portals that connect Earth to our plane, but you’d have to be extremely powerful or have the help of the Council to use them. Our people have been moving between the planes for centuries, but it’s been tightly controlled in this world since the Fall.”
Brenna looked at Gray. She would bet her life he hadn’t been on this plane long. If he had passed through one of the portals with the help of the Council, he was here for a purpose, not a visit. She would be surprised if that purpose didn’t lead straight to her.
She tried to read Seraph, but his stoic expression
What kind of sick bastard wrapped up a body like a present?
Brenna stumbled over the piles of mail strewn across the floor. Seraph grabbed her arm and she froze, realizing she had almost contaminated the scene.
“What happened?” she asked him. “The last time I saw Xavier he was taking a victim to rehab.” She swallowed hard as blood now spilled onto the tile from the bottom of the box like an overturned bottle of Cabernet. Gray squeezed her arm in support.
“There’s no way his body could fit in there,” she said, half to herself.
Seraph frowned. “No body. Just blood and ash. A damn soup.”
“How do you know it was Xavier?”
“There was no mistake. Trust me.” Seraph paused, closing his eyes. “They sent his head in a different box. It turned into ash when we touched it. What’s left is in the lab.”
Gray cut in. “You said you thought the Kenaz killer did this?”
“He left his calling card. You can see it as soon as it gets analyzed.”
“Does that mean we’re on the case?” Brenna asked. A single look at those files could save her days of research.
Seraph studied her. She already knew his answer. “No. You’re too close.” He crossed his arms. “I need you and Gray to go over the evidence with Lucy. They used non-terran magic that needs to be catalogued. Might be Shadow Bearer. But under no circumstances are you to go after Xavier’s killer. I’ve put the best I have on it.”
Brenna glared at the overhead light, a frustrated breath rattling in her throat. Once Seraph made up his mind, he didn’t change it. She wanted to scream in frustration, but it was pointless.
“At least assign someone competent,” she said. “The death toll is rising.”
He slipped off his gray suit jacket and draped it over his arm, ignoring her. “Let’s go see Lucy.”
They followed him down to the forensics lab, just down the hall past enchantment research. Lucy was already there, her white lab coat glowing in the florescent lights. She leaned over a metal stretcher custom built for her height. A tub of blood sat atop the flat surface, a box of ash at its side.
As Brenna stepped inside the air seemed to curl and thicken into a dirty mist of sediment. It burned her eyes, stuck to the back of her throat. Coughing, she stumbled back. “Poison,” she gasped.
She grabbed her throat as it constricted from lack of oxygen and fled back into the hall, Gray beside her. It was a feeling she had experienced once before. “Poison,” she said again. Drawing in several jerky breaths, she turned to Seraph. “Why didn’t you warn us?”
Seraph shook his head, obviously concerned. “I didn’t know. Readings were negative. It didn’t affect anyone else.” He grabbed two gas masks from the lab and handed one to her, the other to Gray, before they went back inside. “What is it?”
“It’s called Quietus. It’s made from the ash of demons.” Gray’s eyes were blood shot, tears streaming from their corners. “In its purest form it would be fatal to either of us on contact. But it should only be fatal to others if they ingested it. This has to be some kind of milder derivative, but still dangerous.”
They moved deeper into the lab. “Can the toxin be grown on this plane?” Seraph asked.
Gray shook his head. “No. The plants involved are indigenous to our world. They would have had to smuggle it out. There are several portals that connect Earth to our plane, but you’d have to be extremely powerful or have the help of the Council to use them. Our people have been moving between the planes for centuries, but it’s been tightly controlled in this world since the Fall.”
Brenna looked at Gray. She would bet her life he hadn’t been on this plane long. If he had passed through one of the portals with the help of the Council, he was here for a purpose, not a visit. She would be surprised if that purpose didn’t lead straight to her.
She tried to read Seraph, but his stoic expression
Similar Books
