I huff out a breath and let them lead me to an alleyway. The woman behind me shoves me against the wall. When she finally comes around to where I can see her, I look her over. She stands at least half a foot taller than me, and the sleek tux she’s wearing hides her build well, which should be intimidating considering how easily she hauled my ass back here, but it’s not. Most adults, both human and supernatural, are taller than me, plus I know how to hold my own, as I easily showed Adrestia last night.
My gaze reaches her face, and I freeze. I know exactly who this is. Her lips turn up in a smirk, like she knows that something has clicked into place for me, and her gorgeous ice-blue eyes turn pure black. My heart feels like it’s going to beat out of my chest.A hunter, especially one of Avyanna’s status, confronting you like this is never a good sign.
“Are you here for me?” I ask, scared to hear the answer.
Avyanna shakes her head. “I’m intrigued by the fact you could look Roxi here in the eye and not turn to stone.”
“She had a veil over her eyes, and gorgons are extinct,” I say with a scoff.
Roxi rolls her eyes and rips her veil off her head. In the next second, a shimmer creeps across her skin, and I come face to face with a gorgon in the flesh. My jaw drops to the floor. I can’t look away from her, even though everything logical in me screams that this is a guaranteed death if I don’t.
Her voice is deep yet melodic when she speaks in this form. “We’re clearly not completely extinct, seeing as I’m alive and all.”
Our eyes meet and hold there for a moment before she looks away. A shimmer returns her to her human form shortly after. I’m still awestruck. And, amazed, nothing has happened to me.
Avyanna’s hollow laugh pulls me out of my trance. “It didn’t happen in that form either. Interesting. You’re coming with us.”
My head whips in her direction. “Excuse me?”
“I think you heard me just fine,” Avyanna growls.
A tall figure stomps into the alleyway and shoves Avyanna up against the wall opposite me. “Like fuck she is.”
Chapter twelve
When I woke up and found Vaelyn gone, disappointment flooded through me. I really thought we had something, but maybe I was wrong. Or, I was hopeful she would give me a chance.
Then, I found her note in the kitchen, and disappointment turned to anger.
After I found the note, I tried to distract myself by getting ready and working on the case. When I saw the agents from S.I.R.E.N. the night before, I clarified that they still had the other bodies. I’d seen them at the scenes since I was the first responding agent, but I needed to look at them again, so their headquarters was my first stop this morning.
When I get there, they already have the three bodies laid out for me on slabs in the freezer. All three are human women with dark, wavy hair and pale, unmarked skin. None of them are tall per se, but they’re all curvy. I would say our perpetrator has a type.
Going from woman to woman, I compare their injuries. With the first, the perp was messy as all get out, making me think it was his first time. She has claw marks across her face and legs, but then the perp tore through her abdomen, ripping through some of her organs. There was a lot of blood at this scene, so I’m sure it was all over the perp.
With the second victim, our perp was a lot more methodical. Claw marks are still across her face, but I think they got this one to go into the courtyard willingly, unlike the first one, because when S.I.R.E.N. did her rape kit, it came back positive for sperm. Upon further examination, they discovered that she’d recently had sex; however, we weren’t sure whether it was consensual or not. Either way, her injuries weren’t as frenzied, but they were still deadly. Instead of ripping her open, the perp bit into her, eating her as if she were some sort of sandwich.
The third victim’s attack seemed to have started similarly to the second: she’d recently had sex; there was semen still in her vaginal canal when we found her; claw marks streak across her face; and the perp bit into her. However, with this victim, he was interrupted. Barely any of her body was missing when we found her.
With each attack, the perp has seemed to hone his abilities. The thing I can’t get over is that they’re eating their victims. But why? It’s too bad I can’t ask Avyanna. She’d have a better insight into the monster I’m looking for.
On my way back home to look into monsters that eat flesh, two very familiar scents hit me—AvyannaandVaelyn. What are they doing together? How on earth would they even know each other? I follow their scents to an alleyway where I find Vaelyn up against a wall with Avyanna standing before her and a… gorgon?
What in the actual fuck is going on here?
Then I hear Avyanna tell Vaelyn that she’s taking Vaelyn with her, and I lose my shit. I stomp into the alley, grab Avyanna by the throat, and shove her against the wall. “Like fuck she is.”
Avyanna’s eyes widen, but I don’t let up until Vaelyn has her hand on my arm, trying to rip me away from my mimic. “Adrestia, what the hell are you doing? She’s a fucking hunter!”
“I know exactly who she is,” I growl. “I also know that she can absolutely kick my ass if she really wants to.”
Hissing sounds come from my left just before a voice I haven’t heard yet speaks. “Let her go.”
My gaze flicks to the gorgon before I think better of it. I immediately avert my gaze and wait for my body to begin turning to stone. When it doesn’t happen, Avyanna taps my arm. I let her drop to the ground and step back until I hit the wall where Vaelyn had just been.
“You didn’t turn to stone either,” Avyanna says with a raspy voice. Then, she’s in front of me, hand on my chin, making me look at her. “Listen to me. I want you to look her dead in the eye again.”
My eyes widen. “Are you out of your mind?”
