“A freezer. She’s in a freezer like a piece of meat.”
“The coroner suspected as much,” Caine responded.
“What else?”
More images came to him but they were running backward like film frames spliced in reverse.
“Gray cement. An oil stain.”
“Like in a garage?” Caine prompted.
Theron nodded. “I see a tire on a vehicle.”
“Can you see a make? Can you see a vehicle?”
“I see a three-pointed silver star in the center. There’s a reflection in the hubcap. A car in a dark color. Black or dark blue.”
Again the images changed. Theron felt like he was being yanked backward through a doorway. Mental y he tried to hang on to the last memory but it disappeared, quickly replaced by something else. Outside in the trees. Night. The moon was almost ful . Theron could smel wet grass and trees.
“There’s a bunch of trees. A clearing.”
His heart started to race and despite the cool misty air, sweat trickled down his back. He felt like he’d been running in the night. His lungs burned from the exertion.
“I think she was running through the trees. Being chased.”
The trees melted away like a Polaroid set on fire. Tal concrete buildings replaced the picture. Garbled loud music thumped in his ears. He couldn’t make out any of the words in the rapidly spoken lyrics.
“Do you see anything else, Theron?” Lyra asked. Her subtle floral scent came to him on a breath of cool air. It calmed him and he took in another mouthful.
“Buildings. Skyscrapers. A bil board. I hear music.”
Then everything went black.
Moving his fingers, Theron tried to find any other remaining memory. But it was pointless; the energy had disappeared. It was gone and there was nothing left for him to see. Rocking back on his haunches, he took in a deep breath and flexed his fingers. They had cramped during the process. “I can’t see anything else.”
Nodding, Caine flipped the plastic back over the girl and stood. “We’re looking for a dark-colored Mercedes. And we’l start canvassing the club areas downtown. At least it’s something to go on.”
His body trembling, Theron found it difficult to stand. He felt like he’d been worked over once or twice by a mean-spirited thug. Wiping his hand on his pants, he pushed up to stand. He wobbled once. But Lyra was there holding his arm to help him.
He nodded his thanks but in reality he wanted to gather her in his arms and feel the warmth of her body against his. Cold had crept over him. A slow-moving dread that made his backbone quiver in fear. Something bad was coming. And he didn’t have to look down at Lyra’s face on a dead woman’s body to know it had something, possibly everything, to do with her. Uploaded by Coral
Chapter 6
He stalked the large room from one end to the other, unable to rest, unable to stop his body from vibrating with excitement. He had wanted so much to see Caine and his team discover the body.See the body for what it was, and what it foretold.
The little witch must be shaking in her sensible shoes.
Grinning, he stopped at the bar in the corner of the room and poured himself a glass of blood from the open bottle. After swirling it in the crystal wineglass, he took a sip and sighed in satisfaction. Everything was coming together just as he had orchestrated. There wasn’t a move made by anyone without his knowledge or helping hand. Every murder, every scrap of evidence left at the scene, every scapegoat questioned and incarcerated was at his whim, at his mercy. Even the dhampir’s presence in Necropolis was premeditated. He would be a valuable asset toward the end. His father had aided him a long time ago, and now the son would be just as accommodating.
He knew the man was as greedy and self-serving as his father before him. Downing the rest of the blood in one gulp, he slammed the glass down on his large mahogany desk, shattering it into pieces. He nicked his thumb with a smal shard. Dark blood pooled to the surface. Licking it clear, he swiveled around to the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking downtown Necropolis and planned his next move. He would make sure it was one they never saw coming. One that struck fear into their hearts. Because when he final y gutted them, fear-fil ed blood always tasted like ambrosia.
Chapter 7
Standing out on her deck, Lyra inhaled one last breath of brisk night air before going back into her kitchen. She shut and locked the sliding glass door behind her. Although exhaustion was settling in, she found herself restless and unable to sit stil .
Theron’s magic stil tingled on her skin, making her jumpy. She had showered the second she returned home, scrubbing her hands and arms until they were red, but his scent and magic remained. Her stomach grumbled, reminding her she hadn’t eaten since the bag of pretzels she’d grabbed out of the vending machine before going over the book with Theron.
Opening the refrigerator, Lyra searched the shelves for anything to fil the void. Every shelf was empty except for some condiments, a couple of half-used jars of tomato sauce and a few Tupperware containers of leftovers transformed into science experiments. She slid open the bottom crisper and snatched the last vegetable she had in there. Celery. Not her favorite but it would do until she had energy enough to go out to her smal hothouse and col ect the vegetables she had growing there.