Princess of Frost - Mila Young Page 0,36
He’d sent a guard to collect me as I woke up.
I lift my gaze and find Kade near the rear door while one of the guards with a heavy black beard seems to chew his ear off, hands flailing about. My second wears a long black coat, the collar lifted around his neck while snow dusts his short dark hair.
Upon my approach, they both look up and it's Kade I turn to, not the guard who bows his head forward then lifts it quickly, his mouth tightening as if ready to spill into a rant. Kade gestures with a wave of his hand for the guard to return to his duty, and once the man leaves, Kade talks.
"We found another girl," he says, glancing at the stables behind him.
"Same as the others?" Three others this month, all from the village, raped and their throats slit. My chest tightens. There are already creatures outside our kingdom, I don't need a fucking madman loose inside my home.
Kade nods, his expression grim. We both discovered the first body and we've studied each one afterward for clues, anything that would give away the killer.
"Show me," I order. Kade and I track through the deep snow together.
"Gean found her when he went around the back to relieve himself," Kade explains.
We track through the knee-deep snow and past spiny trees, the wind whistling around us like a warning bell. It brings the smell of manure and horses. As we round the corner of the stables, I spot the dark figure in the snow farther ahead. There's no one else around, as Kade would have cleared the area to make sure word doesn't spread. Right now, most of the staff at Midnight Court don't know, but after four killings, word will get out, so I need to advise the local villages. Even implement a curfew.
Snow crunches and compacts under our boots as we both loom over the dead body.
A woman lays on her back, head twisted to the side, eyes and mouth tightly shut. She's maybe in her early twenties, with red hair that blends in with the splatter of blood on the snow. Dark blotches coat her neck and coat from the deep gash across her throat. When I look at her all I can picture is my mother's face, the life ripped from her piercing green eyes. She lay on the ground, bleeding to death, left to die just like this poor girl. Bile churns through my empty stomach at the image that haunts my dreams.
Gritting my teeth, I exhale loudly and focus on the victim before me. The woman was too young to have lost her life. That's when I notice she's still wearing her long skirt. It shows no signs of tearing, unlike the other victims. I glance over to Kade. "She wasn't raped?"
He shakes his head. "The killer might have been interrupted. He ran out of time to rape her, and even the cut on the neck is jagged and at an angle, rather than the way it's normally sliced. Straight and precise."
I survey the area, but fresh snow has covered any tracks. "I want everyone who stays and works at the stables questioned before they leave. I want to be there." I kneel near the woman and run a hand over her brow, brushing snow away from her face. Her skin is icy to the touch. She doesn't deserve this, none of the women did, and when I find the sonofabitch who did this, I'm skinning the fucker alive.
"I'll get this cleaned up immediately and inform the family," Kade explains.
“Also double the guard security around the village.” I stand and my gut aches that this butchery has happened in my own yard.
"Each victim has been found in a different location around the castle." He speaks over his shoulder as he studies the nearby trees. He turns to face me, his brows raised, pale hazel eyes intense as he holds onto a branch with dark hair tangled around it.
"So he dragged her out here then killed her, but where did she come from?" I wander toward the stone wall covered in thorny vines. Up close, I place my hand against a plant, and a pulse zaps up my arm. The venom still runs in this thorn-infested plant, so climbing over the wall is impossible. We'd already worked out he would have to have brought the girls in from one of the two gates, and yet we’ve spoken with every guard on duty.