A few people with lycanthropy, especially one as famous and glamorous as Liam, the world could handle. However, a hundred thousand with rare, strange and even dangerous gifts proved way too treacherous to let roam around the world unguarded and unchecked.
Under pressure from a certain powerful U.S. senator, who was rumored to be hiding a witch son, the idea to create an Otherworld city, aptly named Necropolis, was spawned.
“For their safety,” the city’s supporters spouted. Although it was never determined which they was meant—the Otherworlders or the humans.
To this day, the city wasn’t on any map. Only those with their eyes wide open knew of the city’s existence. And that was very few people indeed.
“What else, Givon?”
“Her throat was cut with a serrated blade and her blood was siphoned with quarter-inch rubber tubing inserted into one of the bite holes.”
“Sounds like our guy is knowledgeable in blood handling,” Jace stated.
“All vampires know how to handle blood, Jace,” Caine said. “If we didn’t, we would die.”
“Have you received a call from the baron yet?” Givon asked as he prepared to start the Y
incision.
Caine patted his pants pocket to ensure that his dreaded cell phone was still there. He had it on vibrate, and so far nothing had hummed against his leg. “No.”
“You will.” Givon winced, as he cut into the young woman’s chest just below her left clavicle.
He knew why Givon cringed. No one liked getting calls from Baron Laal Bask. He was a young, wet-behind-the-ears vampire with delusions of grandeur who had been handpicked by the Mistress of the City, an overbearing, manipulative vampire a few hundred years older than Caine. Laal became her direct link to the crime unit and police force in Necropolis as a way to keep her thumb on the pulse of the city. A situation the baron continually pointed out every time he spoke with Caine, thinking that he had wanted the job for himself. The last person Caine had ever wanted to work directly for was Lady Ankara Jannali.
“Yes, well, eventually she will need to become involved. We’ll definitely need a liaison between our community and the human one if we want to solve this case.” Caine sighed, knowing somehow that he was going to carry the weight of this case around and deal with the consequences.
Three hours later, Caine sat in his small, cramped office and went over the evidence they had obtained so far. Haunting, melodious strains of a vampiric aria floated from the speakers of his office stereo. Sung by Nadja Devanshi, his preferred chanteuse, The Crimson Moon was his favorite opera. Everything seemed clearer when he listened to her poignant voice.
Right now, he had a need for some clarity.
Oddly enough, he hadn’t received a call from the baron’s office. Maybe the warnings he gave his people about keeping their mouths shut in the lab had worked this time around.
Maybe this time, if he prepared himself quickly, he could be the one calling the baron with the bad news, instead of the other way around.
He flipped through his pages of notes and through the evidence log. The autopsy had gone as planned, with nothing showing abnormal. The COD on the girl was exsanguination. No surprise there. Her carotid artery had been punctured, her throat then slit and she bled out. They were still waiting for the results on her rape kit and toxicology.
Caine suspected that they would find XYV, vampire sperm. Sex was very closely linked to bloodlust in the vampire community. For the most part, a vampire could control it. If a case of bloodlust came over a vampire, he or she could engage in sexual activity and the hunger would pass, replaced by rapturous sexual pleasure for both partners.
It had been over five years since they’d had a vampire slaying in Necropolis. And that case had been proven accidental. The perpetrator had been sentenced to three years in jail for the accidental killing of his witch lover.
Running a hand over his face, Caine wondered if they had a re-offender on their hands.
He’d have to check his case journal, look it over and call Mahina to look up the vampire and question him to see where he’d been over the past twenty-four hours. Caine hoped not. During the case, Caine had ended up liking the quirky vampire. He’d really hate to have to put the guy back in jail.
Perhaps the offending vampire had acquired some of his dead lover’s spells. The markings on the door frame of the hotel room and on the victim were definitely magical.
Lyra had gone through her texts she had packed into the small shelf in Caine’s office, but couldn’t find what she was looking for, so she asked to go home. She had archaic texts there in her extensive magical library. Some of her books, she claimed, were two thousand years old, and passed down to her from her grandmother. So far, Caine hadn’t heard back from Lyra.
Unfortunately, they weren’t able to get an accurate bite radius measurement. Therefore, they couldn’t hit the OBRN, Otherworld Bite Radius Network, a database with all former vampire and lycanthropy bite offenders—a system Caine had developed himself. When a perpetrator was arrested, their fang circumference was measured and their tip-to-tip length recorded. Just like fingerprints, vampires and lycanthropes had individualized bite marks. If they could’ve matched that, they would’ve had a suspect. However, as it stood, the knife wound ruined any chance of an accurate measurement. Maybe the perp’s bite was on record and that’s why he slit her throat?
This case definitely had the makings of a disaster. For all the communities. What did a vampire, human and witch possibly have in common? What was this young girl doing in Necropolis with a vampire?
It was illegal for a human to be in the city. The city crossings, all four of them, were like border controls, and everyone coming or going had to produce identification. But so far, there had been no record of a young human girl crossing the borders. Caine had them check every point of entry around the city. And no one reported seeing or recording anyone fitting the victim’s description. So how did she get into the city? Smuggled in?
Most likely. But why? For the sole purpose of killing her? If so, they had a larger problem than just one murder.
The pager on his desk by the stacks of paper suddenly buzzed. Caine picked it up and checked the number. It was the lab. Hopefully, it would be some good news. Maybe the lead they desperately needed.