Sun Broken (The Wild Hunt #11) - Yasmine Galenorn Page 0,12

alive after all of that. Then our killer decided to go for broke and cut out their tongues. In all cases, it looks like the victims were still alive. That is, until our psycho decided to remove their hearts. Except their hearts weren’t cut out. It looks like someone smashed through their chests and tore them out.” Herne looked a little green around the gills. I had come to realize that being a god didn’t guarantee an iron stomach or the ability to handle horrific events.

He laid out the photos of the victims, before and after. “Here’s what we have.”

There was a brief silence as we stared at the silent testament to just how far cruelty was willing to go. Finally, Viktor shifted his chair.

“What are the common links?” The half-ogre was staring at the pictures, his face bleak. I recognized the look in him by now. He was a surprisingly sensitive man, and he hated unwarranted suffering.

“They were all mediums, bone witches, or necromancers,” Herne said. “Other than that, the police weren’t able to pinpoint too many connections. Three men, two women. Four were magic-born, but one was a tiger shifter. Three necromancers, a medium—the tiger shifter—and one bone witch. Ages ranged from young—one of the necromancers—to old, again one of the necromancers. They all made their home in Seattle, but only one was born here. Two were married, one divorced, two were single. They didn’t know each other as far as we can tell, but two were loners and the other three each had a circle of family and friends.”

I frowned. That wasn’t a lot to go on. “Did they frequent the same places?”

“That we don’t know yet. The cops were looking into it, but there wasn’t much that they found. There was some overlap, but they didn’t find any common clubs or groups.”

I gathered up the photos, not wanting to look closer but realizing that we needed to examine everything we could. “It might be too late for the earlier victims, but can we get into their homes to look for evidence?”

“I’ll call the families and ask. Talia and Yutani, start researching their backgrounds. See what you can dig up on the net. Yutani, if you have to, go out on the Dark Web. Necromancers often are involved in shady dealings.” Herne glanced at me. “Viktor and Ember, see if you can get into their homes. Make a list of people to interview and head out this afternoon. And all of you, we don’t want this information leaking out. Right now, nobody’s put it together that a serial killer is running around, but it’s only a matter of time.”

“What about me?” Angel asked.

“Your search-engine savvy is good. While we work on this, can you see if you can find any mention of Callan and where he’s hiding? We know Saílle is protecting him right now, but if we can get any clue of where he’s actually hiding…”

“Will do,” she said, looking grateful for the chance to research something a little less gruesome.

“Okay, then, everybody get moving.” After he dismissed the meeting, I followed Angel out to her desk.

“This is a bad one,” she said, shaking her head. “I can feel it, Ember. This one’s a gut-wrencher.” She pulled up a browser and began to type in search words to try to locate Callan. A moment later, she paused, turning to me. “I’m afraid. Not for myself, and not even for you, but this one feels like it could get personal. I don’t know how or why, but it’s coming close to home. Maybe it’s just the energy of Typhon beginning to infiltrate the world. I find myself avoiding driving near graveyards lately, and I keep a watch on the skies, expecting to see something coming in on the horizon.”

I leaned against the post behind her desk. “I understand. I have that same uneasy feeling, and after my vision today, I’m even more leery. Do you know where your fear is lodged? If it’s not you or me, then…maybe just general?”

She frowned, then shrugged. “I don’t know, to be honest. I can only feel it around the periphery. Do you think this has something to do with Typhon?”

I thought about it. “Maybe. But the only link I can make is the fact that all of the victims have been connected to the psychic world, and four of them specifically focused on death magic. Maybe…hey, run a check on the psychic. See if he specialized in any particular direction.