Witch.
His case was a little more clear-cut, if no less harrowing.
Eager to impress his coven, he’d messed with substances and magic way beyond his expertise. Whether it had been an accident or not, we didn’t know. The poison he’d ingested, Blue Alhuirn, had hallucinogenic properties and was lethal in large enough quantities.
But more importantly, it was only found in the Fae Realm. Something I’d worried about when we first found out, but I’d been under intense scrutiny since I started working with the paranormal police. That and the fact only a full-blooded fae would have access to it was enough to satisfy those higher up.
How Ben got hold of it was still a mystery, because that substance was illegal. His coven naturally denied ever having procured any, and any fae in the area were equally as unhelpful.
I was still staring at his photo when Max walked in. He paused to lean on the doorjamb, lip drawn between his teeth. He filled the whole space, would’ve looked intimidating if I didn’t know him better. “Such a fucking shame,” he murmured, nodding to Ben’s photo. “Way too young.”
“Yeah.” His handsome face smiled back at me, the photo taken outside amongst trees and fauna. He looked at home in his surroundings, full of life. What had possessed him to mess around with deadly fae substances? “I ran into him in a club a few months before his death. He’d been as eager and excitable as he looks in that photo.” I sighed, remembering how he’d hit on me, then shrugged with a smile when I’d thanked him but gently turned him down. He’d seemed so young and innocent. Getting involved with me wouldn’t have gone down well with his coven.
That image didn’t quite gel with the idea of someone messing with illegal magics.
But I’d only met him in passing, a few moments out of his life. Nothing in the grand scheme of things.
“I asked them to put our evidence to the top of the pile.”
I grimaced as I pictured the stern-faced lab workers. “Bet that went down well.” Two witches, a part-fae, and a shifter ran the lab. It might sound like the opening to a joke, but the four of them were far from funny. But then, I guess being faced with the evidence of awful acts committed against or by non-humans day after day didn’t make for a humorous environment.
Max grinned. “They said they’ll do their best, but we’re not the only police team who think they’re more important than everyone else.”
“Ouch.” But they had a point.
He pulled out his phone, pressed the screen a few times, then our office printer whirred to life. Taking the photo it churned out, Max tacked it in onto the board. “Callum makes number five.”
Five in the last three months.
After the third one, my boss in Bodmin decided they were all connected in some way. Had to be. It couldn’t be coincidence that three seemingly healthy non-humans had suddenly lost their minds and posed enough of a danger to human lives that the only option was to call in the hunters.
We tried to get to them first, always, but there weren’t enough of us to patrol everywhere, and the risk to human life was too great not to enlist outside help. Even if that help used deadly force more often than not.
The trail appeared to be heading north, so I’d followed it, ending up here. I’d hoped to help prevent another case, get ahead of whatever or whoever was causing this, but I’d clearly fucking failed.
I sat back in my chair, hands clasped behind my head. “What do you think the odds are that we find Blue Alhuirn in his blood?”
“High.” Max pushed off the door and took his seat at the desk opposite mine.
We’d found it in victim number three, but not four. But that could’ve been due to any number of reasons. I still believed they were all connected and that Blue Alhuirn was the key.
I was about to rehash everything we’d learnt so far, but the shrill ring of Max’s phone belting out the sound of a wolf’s howl filled the room. He jumped a mile, cursing under his breath. “Jake thinks he’s fucking hilarious.”
Jake was Max’s best friend and flatmate. Both shifters, both loosely part of the same pack, both members of the paranormal police force. Max might say otherwise, but Jakewasfunny. And charming. And hot. If I hadn’t sworn off shifters for life, I might have been tempted.
Max silenced the call, groaning as he looked at the screen.
Gut feeling told me it was Rys calling. Confirmed a moment later when Max answered with “Rys. What can I do for you?”
I didn’t need to have enhanced hearing to know what that call was about. Max’s sigh and resigned expression, not to mention an apologetic glance in my direction, told me all I needed to know.
That was before Max answered Rys’s questions with, “No, I didn’t know you two had history.” Followed by, “Yes, I do now.” And, “Because who I work with isn’t any concern of yours.”
I held my breath, heart pounding as I waited for Rys to tell Max everything. Waited for the fond expression on Max’s face to cool and turn into something far less friendly.
He finally ended the call with, “I always am. Talk to you later.” When he glanced at me again, his expression hadn’t changed, which I took to mean Rys hadn’t told him everything.
Couldn’t have if Max wasn’t already giving me the cold shoulder.
