Dead bodies.
“What’s this?” I tugged one out, my mouth coating in bile. Mostly decomposed, I saw a naked woman. The next one was a naked man,bloated with water, but his face was still recognizable. Fae. The next one was a young girl, the next a teen girl, the stack of photos showing various ages and gender types. Human and fae.
“What—what is this?” I asked again.
“Those are some of the bodies being found along the banks of the river in the last month.”
My memory flickered to something Scorpion had told me back in Prague.
“About a hundred fae and human bodies have been found floating in the Danube. The fae are drained of all bodily fluids. Some humans look like their brains melted out or something.”
“You have definitely found both fae and human?”
“Yes, but lately it’s been mostly fae or half-breed. Ones who aren’t noticed when they go missing.”
“What do you mean?”
“The destitute, runaways, whores.”
Dread collapsed my lungs, making me shudder for breath.
Whores like Rosie? Though I knew she was too high-scaled for what he was referring to; the majority of prostitutes, both men and women, were working the streets without the protection of a whorehouse. People with hopes and dreams of escaping the hard life, merely trying to survive.
“Who is doing this to them?”
“I don’t know for certain, but I think we both can guess.”
I struggled to swallow, my lids closing briefly. It was sad—I still held out hope that the man who raised me the last five years wasn’t this monster. But fae essence was the main ingredient in Dr. Rapava’s formula, and you couldn’t take fae essence without killing them.
“Ever since you told me what he was up to, we’ve been scouting some of the factories he or a Leopold elite is linked to. There are so many, and we’ve only been able to cross off a few. Istvan is smart, and he will make sure it is hidden well.” Andris sat up in his chair, tapping the map. A few circles had Xs crossing them out, spread over the city. “We’ve been scouting various places, but all the leads have turned up dead ends. The places are empty or regular factory plants.”
A loud knock rattled the door, cutting off our conversation. Not waiting for a response, the door swung open.
“Lieutenant! Brexley has return—” Zander came to a stop, his huge brown eyes landing on me, his mouth dropping open in shock. “You’re here!” His face brightened. He galloped to me, gathering me into a hug, a neighing sound humming in his throat. “I am so happy you are all right.” He held me tight, his lips brushing my cheek and temple. I squeezed him back, glancing over his shoulder, the door still wide open.
Warwick leaned against the wall, one foot propped up, like he had been there for a while. Waiting. We watched each other, his expression unreadable, but I felt annoyance and anger ooze from him. Huffing through his nose, he wagged his head, pushing off the wall, and strolled down the passage. His barriers slammed up tight around him, cutting me off from even getting a sliver of his emotions.
“It killed me to stand there...” Zander brought my attention back to him. He leaned out to see me better, hands holding my arms, his deep brown eyes assessing me. “I can’t tell you how worried I have been when Lieutenant told me you disappeared. To see you tonight... I almost blew my cover.”
“I’m fine.” I stepped back, tugging on the backpack straps, Ash’s bag with the fae book still on my shoulders. “You guys all act like I’m a walking disaster.”
They both stared at me.
“Yeah, okay.”
“How did you know she was back?” Andris addressed Zander.
“Oh, I thought...” Zander’s regard bounced between us. “You would have told him.”
“Hadn’t gotten to that part yet.”
My uncle’s lids closed briefly, sensing there was much more story to come. And he would be right. I had so much to tell Andris: my time in Prague; finding my Uncle Mykel; Povstat; the nectar; Killian; the deal. It had been two weeks since we fled the old base, and a great deal had happened.
“Get the largest bottle of your Unicum.” I sighed, strolling back for the chair. “It’s gonna be a long night.”
“It’s morning.”
“Yeah, that too.”
