The stranger examined the body, squatting to lift the dead man’s arm. A cough rippled from his chest as he dropped the limb. He eyed the abdomen, cocking his head to the side as he took in the gashes.
Something wasn’t settling well with Amaris. She shifted her gaze from the body to a glittering bit of metal at the man’s side. It reflected the moon, and she squinted to see it more clearly.Is that a sword?She pressed a hand into the dirt, leaning closer to get a better look at him.
He couldn’t have been much older than her, with a stubbled beardcovering most of his tanned face. He wore a loose white top tucked into a criminal shade of taupe-colored pants fitting tightly to his thighs and tall riding boots. She should’ve relinquished herself from her hiding place to speak with him regarding the animal attack, but something about that sword made her hesitate.
“Theo, it doesn’t take this long to piss,” a woman said.
“Over here, Gris,” he hollered back, but refused to avert his gaze from the body.
Amaris sat back on her heels. They weren’t from Gainesville, but she couldn’t place their accents.
“What are you…” the woman named Gris said as she stood beside her companion. “Holy realm. Is that—”
“I thought I heard something and came to investigate,” the man named Theo answered.
Gris stepped toward the body, further illuminating herself against the moon’s light. Her attire was the same awful taupe, only cut tighter to the curve of her hips. It looked almost like a military uniform, but a sword didn’t drape her side like Theo. Several small hilts poked out from sheathes at her thighs, and she clutched a bow in her hand.
A small voice screamed in Amaris’s head to turn around and run, and it sounded a lot like Viv’s. But her stubborn feet planted her firmly in place.
Gris bent down, searching the man’s pockets and eyeing his abdomen.
“Is it him?” Theo ased, kneeling beside her and choking on another breath.
She pulled out a blood-stained paper from the man’s jacket and sighed. “Lord Freville isn’t missing anymore.”
“Do you think it was an animal attack?”
“Possibly.” She turned her head to study the markings on his abdomen. Her complexion paled with a swallow, her eyes widening as she leaned in.
“What?” Theo followed her gaze and the tilt of her head.
“The markings,” she breathed, hovering her fingers over the abdomen. “They’re sawed through with a dagger, not a claw.”
Amaris swallowed as her heart threatened to climb up her throat. Her hand shook as she slid it over her lips.Sawed through?
“Are you suggesting he was murdered?”
Amaris gasped, then clamped her hand tight to her face. Their conversation ceased. Gris stood, her eyes darting around the clearing. Tears spilled from Amaris’s eyes as she fought to hold her breath.
“I’ll grab Bennet. He’ll want to see this.” Gris was wary as she turned and sprinted back the way she came.
Amaris recoiled. Their suprise was the only reason she wasn’t sprinting, but that small voice begged her to get out of there. Staying low, she took crouched steps back but bumped into a pair of leather boots. Her head snapped up to face a menacing grin covered in brown stubble as the man beamed down at her. He snatched her arm, yanking her to her feet and shoving her into the clearing.
“And who might you be?” He smirked.
Forget demons with their beady black eyes. His striking light-blue ones threatened to slice her open.
“Get your hands off me!” Amaris shouted as he tossed her beside the body. She landed against her right hand, immense pain searing into her bottom lip as she bit back her scream.
“Looks like I found our murderer.”
Her eyes stopped on the long knives strapped to his thighs and his pale fingers hovering over them. Her heart beat rapidly as he leaned down, narrowing his face into a wicked smile.
“No…” Amaris stammered, but her tongue twisted at the sight of his weapons within a moment’s grasp.
“What do we have here?”
Amaris snapped her head. A man with a receding hairline of sandy-blond locks entered the clearing sporting a similar variation of their uniform. She’d never felt claustrophobic before, not after years of trainingin tight spaces, but the trees hanging above their heads pressed against her shoulders.
