I Am the Wild (The Night Firm #1)- Karpov Kinrade Page 0,47
of Furor, Lord of the Flaming Backlands, son of the Great Flame herself."
I raise an eyebrow and accept his hand, which is hot to the touch. "I'm Eve Oliver, Managing Director at The Night Firm."
Elal and I then shake hands. "I'm Elal," he says, simply.
"No other titles?" I tease.
Elal laughs. "Ifi made those up. He likes how it sounds to strangers."
Ifi pouts and bumps Elal with his hips. "It's not as fun when you tell them. And besides, I am the son of the Great Flame herself."
Elal rolls his eyes. "As is every Ifirit born of the Flame. That's hardly noteworthy." But then Elal glances down at who I assume is his romantic partner, and his face softens. "But you are the flame of my heart, and always will be. You are the only one who can claim that title in all the worlds."
Ifi's frown turns into a beatific smile and the two share a moment, and a kiss, until Sebastian, the party pooper, clears his throat.
"Sorry to break up the foreplay, boys, but you've done the autopsy on Mary Dracule, Vlad Dracule's wife, yes?"
The two Ifrits glance at each other, frowning. Ifi answers first. "Yes. We did. Her and her child."
I flinch at the memory of the crime scene projection. So gruesome and senseless.
"We need to know everything you found," Sebastian says.
They nod, and Elal points at the door of a refrigeration unit on the other side of the room, which pops open at his command and disgorges an exam table, complete with a cloth-covered form, that rolls swiftly to his side without a sound. Together the two morticians reach down and pull back the sheet, revealing the body of Mary and her newborn baby. I'm stunned to see that the pair have been put back together in the wake of the autopsy with precise care. It's impossible to even see where they were cut into.
"The child was killed first, while she watched, most likely," Elal says, soberly.
"The child's head was ripped off and his blood drained," Ifi says, continuing. "Mary was then drained of her blood and left for dead."
My eyebrow shoots up at that. "So the killer might have left before she died?"
Sebastian looks at me and gives an imperceptible nod. Oh, did I finally do something to maybe impress him?
"Or the killer watched her die slowly," Elal says. "But the creature who killed her didn't drain her entirely. They left enough so she could bleed out on her own, holding the pieces of her dead child in her arms as she did."
Vomit burns the back of my throat and I swallow it down. This is heinous. "You said 'creature'. So it's not necessarily a vampire?" I ask.
"A vampire would be the most likely culprit, but there are some unusual inconsistencies," Elal says.
"Like what?" Sebastian asks.
"Her blood not being entirely drained, for one. It would take a lot of self-control for a vampire to leave her alive like that," Ifi says. "And the bite wounds were slashed, so it's hard to tell exactly what killed her."
"And what of paternity?" Sebastian asks. "Have you been able to confirm whether the child is Vlad's?"
Elal shakes his head. "That test will take longer, I'm afraid. We will turn those results over to both you and the prosecution as soon as we have them."
Sebastian doesn't look happy about that, but what can he do?
"Were you able to extract her dying wish?" Sebastian asks, as if this is a totally normal and common request.
"Dying wish?" I ask, when it seems clear no one is going to offer an explanation.
"We are Ifrit," Elal says.
"And?" I ask.
Ifi grins and sashays over to me. "Oh darling, you're so new it's almost painful, in a delightful kind of way. We are Ifrits. Genies of the fire. Elal and I have the special gift of discovering the dying wish of the recently deceased."
"What do you do with their wishes?" I ask, imagining the massive problems that could occur if every person's dying wish was granted.
Ifi shrugs. "Usually nothing. Most beings are entirely uncreative and boring. Sometimes we pass it on to the authorities and let them handle things. And sometimes," he says, with a gleam in his eyes, "sometimes, if it's interesting enough, we grant them."
"All legally, of course," Sebastian says gruffly.
"Of course, Mr. Night," Ifi says, moving closer to Sebastian seductively. "Always legal."
Ifi tweaks Sebastian's nose like a schoolboy then laughs and returns to Elal's side.
"Alright, enough monkey housing," Elal says. "Show them the wish."