Night Kissed (Chosen Vampire Slayer #1) - Mila Young Page 0,12
excited you are back. We need to do one of our b-grade movie nights. No one will watch them with me.” She pouted.
“You got yourself a deal. It’s been a while since I’ve watched any movies. College assignments are whipping my ass.”
I sat at the island, basking in the late morning sunlight pouring in from the picture windows with the idyllic view of their lawn.
She served us a cup of steaming coffee with cream, then joined me. “You’re doing incredible, babe. You’ll soon be one of those forensic detectives like on CSI.”
“Let’s see if I can pass the exams first.” I laughed as I unloaded the contents of my bag and sat with my pen poised above the paper. “Okay, let’s get this out of the way, then we can sit and catch up properly. So, tell me about the murders.”
She beamed, but then instantly put on a serious face. Her eyes grew deadly serious. “I’ve never seen anything like it, V. I swear on my life.” She sighed, glancing out the window. “They’re butchering each other.” She pushed a newspaper, a few days old, across to me. It was open to a story about the rash of violent crimes plaguing the city. The center photo depicted the edge of a local road, dirty snow banked into drifts. Swaths of dark, bloody red cut across the surface. I stared at the unmistakable imprint of a body in the snowfall.
“This doesn’t look like a vamp scene,” was what I told her at first. For one principal reason. “They never leave that much blood behind.”
“It doesn’t look like a human scene either,” Lian countered.
“I don’t know…” Some of my forensics books would have disagreed. “Even good old mortal men can do some serious damage to each other.”
But Lian would not be persuaded otherwise. “I think they must be beefing pretty hard,” she said. “Otherwise, why kill like that? Doesn’t it seem like someone’s trying to send a message?”
I couldn’t hide the skepticism in my voice or face. “I mean, I guess so.” My gut told me her vamp assumption might not be completely correct. I knew that she was worried, and Lian was my best friend. “Listen, I can’t promise I’ll find anything out. But you need me, and I’ll try to figure out what the hell is going on.”
Instantly, she relaxed and smiled. “Oh, thank God. I thought you were going to bail on me for a second there.” She took a sip of her coffee. “To be honest, I’m more worried about the business than anything. These are my dad’s employees turning up dead. No one’s going to want to work with a company where everyone’s on a hit list.”
The point was salient. Still didn’t mean the vamps were the ones behind the carnage. Nonetheless, I had already made my commitment. “All right. If you’ve got any leads, I’d love to hear them. It’d help to hit the ground running.” I couldn’t imagine Mr. Zhao’s fishing empire going belly up, but the rumor mill was a powerful force, even in the city. It wouldn’t do to let shady gossip spread out of control.
“Not much,” Lian admitted. “Only that someone moved into one of the big houses down along the inlet recently. It’s been empty for months, but apparently there’s been recent traffic. Neighbors have seen comings and goings at night.”
It was only a blip on the radar, and an uncertain one at that. Still, it was the only crumb we had. “That’s a start.” I jotted down the address of the formerly empty house, as well as a few of the crime scene locations. “Anything else?”
Lian was quiet for a few minutes. “I really care for you, V,” she said softly. “So much. And I missed the hell out of you. Please be careful out there. I want you safe so we can grow old and move to Florida together as we agreed.”
I laughed lightly. “No promises,” I teased.
My friend rolled her eyes, walked around the island’s granite surface, and dragged me into a hug. Her breathing quickened as I knew she worried about those close to her a lot. “I’ll keep my eyes peeled for more,” she assured me. “Let me know if there’s any other way I can help you. Money, food, whatever.”
I pulled back. “Actually, you know what would be really helpful?” I grabbed my notepad and flipped it over to a clean page, then turned it toward her, offering the pen as well. “A map.”