Drawing back, he rubbed a hand over his face. “You’l see when we get there.”
“I’l get my kit.” Lyra stood, as did Theron.
“Is there something I can do?”
“I don’t know. Is there?” Caine responded.
“I can sense things.” Theron licked his lips. Lyra could see anxiety rushing through him. “When I touch a body, I can get a sense of where that person was hours before.”
“Could you sense that with me?” Lyra asked, concerned he could have some extra power over her. She didn’t want him to know that hours before she came to the analysis room she’d been in the washroom splashing cold water on her face and mumbling to herself about him.
“Only the dead.” He drew a hand through his hair. “I helped in a murder case about four years ago. You can cal Inspector Bel monte to confirm that.”
Caine stared at him for a few seconds. Lyra knew he was trying to read Theron’s emotions. And by the calm look on Theron’s face, he had opened himself up for it, likely expecting it from the chief.
“Okay,” Caine final y said. “Stick close to Lyra.”
Lyra fol owed Caine out; Theron matched her stride for stride down the hal way. She glanced at him as they walked and saw a hard and stoic look on his face. His skin had grown pale. She could just imagine what he must be thinking.
To know the dead was one gift she knew she’d never want.
Knowing the living was enough.
Black storm clouds rol ed through the sky like a dark, unraveling carpet. Lyra thought it convenient that the sky’s emotions mimicked her own. Shivers radiated down her spine.
Even the warmth from the SUV’s heater couldn’t chase them away as they pul ed up to the crime scene. Both ends of the street had been cordoned off with yel ow police tape. But that didn’t stop several morbid crime tourists from craning their necks to get a glimpse of the body. She envied them their distance because she was going to have to get close enough for the smel to permanently tattoo itself on the inside of her nasal cavity.
One would think she’d be used to the smel by now after six years. But death was an odor no one should have to get used to.
After she jumped out of the vehicle and grabbed her kit from the back, she glanced at Theron and wondered why he had offered to help. It was obvious by the stony look on his face that he wasn’t pleased about being here. He actual y looked afraid.
“Everyone ready?” Caine asked.
Lyra grabbed Caine’s arm before he could walk away.
“You’re keeping something from me. I can see it in your face when you look at me.”
“I’m not trying to be cryptic, but I don’t want to taint your perception.” He set his hand over hers. “Just prepare yourself.
You’l get your answers when we get to the body.”
Lyra let her hand fal and, kit in hand, fol owed Caine and Eve to the crime scene. Theron walked beside her, his eyes forward, a tick at his jaw. She had a sudden urge to smooth it away. When they reached the police tape, an officer lifted it for them and they went under. There were two people, a uniform she didn’t know and Captain Garner in faded jeans and a leather jacket, standing by the plastic-covered body in the middle of the road.
Mahina shook Caine’s hand. “Nice day, eh, Valorian?”
“I’l save my verdict for later.” Caine glanced up into the grumbling sky. “Let’s hope that doesn’t unleash on us quite yet.” He gestured behind him to Theron. “Captain Mahina Garner, this is Theron LeNoir. He’l be helping us with the body.”
The lycan nodded briskly to Theron then turned to look at Lyra. “It’s good to see you, Magice.”
“You, too, Captain.” The police captain’s warm greeting threw Lyra off. Mahina was not one to offer compliments or polite greetings freely. Something was definitely wrong. She started to fidget with her necklace, taking solace in its familiar smooth surface.
“Okay, everyone, take a deep breath.” Mahina crouched down next to the body, gripped the side of the plastic tarp and lifted it.
Eve gasped. “Oh, dear God.”
Nothing could’ve prepared Lyra for what she saw lying on the concrete in front of her. She now knew why Caine hadn’t said anything. How could a person be prepared for something like this? Her whole body shook as she stared down ather face on a dead woman. Waxy, blue-tinged skin and stiff from rigor, it was if she were looking down at herself in another time. It was as if she were staring down at a deathly mirror.
Chapter 5