“Brandon’s apartment is dark, impenetrable. Not lifeless like the other apartments, like a void.” The apartment across from Brandon’s snarled with snapping energy, thicker than the static haze of the Veil. “The one across from him has dead inside.”
“I don’t hear anyone moving on this floor that’s not us,” Wade offered.
Did that mean Brandon’s place was empty? Or that there was some sort of spell to mute everything?
“No living smell,” the crystal-eyed wolf muttered.
Victor’s team cleared through the first two apartments at lightning speed.
“The one on the end left was Cassidy’s,” I whispered to Angel. The only one with the door cracked open a sliver, a pale stream of light coming from inside almost illuminating a symbol drawn on the door of the one across from it, and the lingering taint of death spilling into the air.
The NHV team returned, each apartment empty and now gaping open. “Cleared in a panic, but clean,” Victor said.
“Reeks of rotten food, but nothing dead,” Kerry agreed.
“That one belonged to the suspect,” Angel said, waving his gun toward the cracked door. “Clear the one across first, then we all go in?”
“Someone is dead in that one,” I said, certain of it, though no ghosts remained. “There’s a rune on the door.”
“I’ll take a look,” Remi offered, coming up from behind us.
Victor gave him a curt nod.
Remi did something to the door that blazed bright enough to send color spots through my vision.
“Ow,” I grumbled.
Remi glanced back my way. “Sorry, but it’s clear to open now.” He stepped back; the symbol on the door cracked, actually physically cracked down the center.
Victor’s team surrounded the door. The vampire himself delivering the kick that punched the wood inward like it’d been hit by a jackhammer. The group hurried inside and cleared it with a few sharp retorts. When they returned, they looked grim. “Three dead in there.”
I swallowed hard, not surprised, even now that the door gaped wide. Not even a flicker. Maybe my power was wonky again? “I don’t see anything lingering.”
“How long have they been gone?” Angel asked.
“Could be weeks,” Kerry said. “They don’t smell anymore. And they look…” she wobbled her head back and forth as if trying to decide on a word, “sucked dry?”
That was a bad sign. “Is there an ME on this side?” I asked. How did the chain of evidence work for this sort of thing?
“We’ll bag them and bring them across,” Wade said. “They might have family looking for them.”
“Can I look?” I asked, wondering if this was like the ones I’d reviewed from the lot that had been void of any remaining life. The group all stared at me for a long moment, Angel’sconnection giving me clarity to see their concern, not doubt. “I’m okay. I’m just trying to sense if they are like the ones from the lot or not.”
“Your shielding isn’t great,” Kerry said after a long minute.
“But better than it was,” Victor pointed out. “Can we create a physical barrier?” He asked the latter of Angel, instead of me. “Keep him in your sphere until we know his view, bag the bodies for transport, and continue? I don’t want to lose his sight over the rest of the building.”
What was that? I was useful? Even to the stuffy vampire? I gripped Angel’s hand. “I’m good.”
“Let’s try it,” Angel agreed. “Don’t let go of me,” he instructed. “The connection isn’t solid enough.” I didn’t plan to let him go. Ever.
17
We filed in,the NHVs keeping ahead of us to create a physical barrier, though I wasn’t certain they could do much if some shadow popped out of the floor to grab me or something equally horrific. Angel’s grip on my hand helped, and the weight of the Taser in my other one gave me something to focus on. The dead had always been my forte. Their secrets were my job to reveal. I could handle this.
The scent of blood and spoiled milk hung in the air, heavy and sickly sweet. Bowls were set out on the far kitchen table like the group had been about to sit down for breakfast when the nightmare struck. The wide-open floor plan gave room for a nasty display of what I could only imagine was ritual magic.
Three bodies were arranged in a triangle, a chalk outline around them, candle wax creating points of what looked like a three-pointed star.
