Once Bitten (Shadow Guild: The Rebel #1) - Linsey Hall Page 0,13
she was asking. “I’m investigating a murder.”
Her brows shot upward. “A murder?”
“Yeah. Guy with a dragon tattoo circling his neck had his head bashed in.” I described the crime scene and nearly mentioned Beatrix, but I held my tongue. Didn’t need to spill my guts. “And he had this on him,” I said, holding up the matchbook.
Her expression didn’t change, but she was suddenly alert. “You with the police?”
Inside, I cringed. This was the part of investigations that I hated. Often, I thought my job would be easier if I could pull out a badge and demand answers. People never understood when you tried to explain that you’d failed out of police training for being a weirdo.
At least, I assumed they wouldn’t understand. I wasn’t dumb enough to try to explain that to them.
“No, I’m not with the cops.”
Her expression seemed to clear, and she looked more comfortable.
Thank God. I could use a break. “Do you know the guy?”
She shrugged. “Not so much. Do you have any other leads?”
“Another man was at the scene. Tall, broad shouldered, silver eyes, with…”
Fangs. Could I even say that?
I glanced behind me at the crowd of weirdos.
Yeah. I could say that.
“He was wearing fangs,” I said.
“Wearing them?”
“Yeah. Like here.” I made a V with my fingers and pointed to my canines.
“You mean he had fangs.”
“Sure. Yes.” These people were serious about their cosplay, so I wasn’t going to offend her by being pedantic. I remembered the feeling that she was telling the truth about the three-eyed demon woman but shoved it aside in favor of retaining my sanity.
“That could be a lot of people. Do you have another description?”
That he was sexy and seemed to be haunting my waking dreams? “No.”
“But you saw him?”
“Not well. I don’t…remember any more details.” And I wasn’t going to share that he’d spoken to me.
“But they might be in your head?”
“In my memories, maybe.”
“I can help,” she said.
“Really? Are you like an amateur hypnotist? Or a police artist?”
“I’m a seer. I can see into your mind. Maybe I’ll recognize the guy.”
“Um…” Was she crazy?
She crossed her arms and leaned back against the counter behind her. “What’s your deal?”
“What do you mean?”
“You seem really on edge. And confused.” She gestured around the bar. “By this place.”
“I mean…duh? Everyone here is wearing a Hollywood-level costume at ten in the morning.”
“There’s a cosplay conference nearby.”
“Really?” Relief flashed through me. Now it all made sense. I liked it when things made sense.
“No.” She laughed. “Of course not.” Then she leaned forward, her eyes searching my face. “But I like you. You’ve got a good vibe. That’s why I want to know what’s up with you.”
“What’s up is that I’m looking for a murderer.”
“And you’ve also walked into one of the few shadow world pubs in town and seem to think everyone is cosplaying.”
Shit. I was clearly floundering here. “Um…”
“You don’t know what the shadow world is.” Her eyes widened. “You don’t know that magic is real.” The last words were said in a hushed tone.
“Should I?”
“You found your way into this bar, so . . . yes.”
“Oh, crap.” My hands curled into fists.
“This pub is a shadow world. In between the magical realm and the human one. What’s your gift?”
I gave her a blank look.
“Your magical gift. Surely you’ve got one. I can feel your signature, even though you should be keeping it on the down-low around here.”
“Signature?”
“All Magica—that’s magic people, by the way—have a signature that’s uniquely their own. It corresponds to any of the five senses. Strong Magica have all five signatures. And you…” She hesitated a moment, her gaze flickering as she inhaled. “Have all five.”
She looked impressed. Also a little wary.
There was a loud buzzing sound in my head. I didn’t want to believe this. It was crazy. But… “When I touch things or people, I sometimes have visions.”
“Oh, clairvoyance. Nice. You must be powerful.”
“I have no idea.”
“Oh, honey, you are. I can feel it.” She frowned. “But you’ve been living your whole life in the human world?”
“Uh…yeah. What other world is there?”
She gestured around us.
“There are bars everywhere,” I said.
“It’s more than a bar, but I’ll ignore that grievous slight to my honor.”
A million questions raced through my mind, almost all of them having to do with this place and the world and me. So many questions I felt like they could tear my mind apart.
No.
I focused on the one thing that needed to be done to keep me alive. It was a terrible thing to learn