Angel’s little brother was a wolf shifter, and he was brilliant. But a Black youth in today’s society was still in danger just because of his color, and Angel had been constantly fussing about how he would manage in a foster family.
“Oh, DJ’s doing well. Anyway, we can catch up later. I’m just glad you’re back,” Ember said. “For one thing, given the triplets and my increased duties with Morgana, I don’t have the time to investigate cases. And we have a doozy on our hands—” She paused as the door opened and Wager Chance entered.
Wager was an old friend of mine. “Raven! Ember said you’d be coming in.” He started to give me a hug but paused to glance over at Kipa. Kipa just laughed and nodded, so Wager pulled me into a friendly hug and gave me a quick kiss on the forehead.
“Wager, good to see you.” I thought for a moment, then added, “Everybody should just come over for dinner as soon as we’re unpacked so we can all catch up.”
“That’s a good idea,” Herne said. “Right now, even though I’d love to just sit and chat, we have a disturbing case that we’re going to need help on.”
Ember nodded, returning to her seat. “We do. Morgana cut me some slack so I could come talk to you about it. She’s taken me under her wing, so to speak, and I’m leveling up my magic now that I’m a goddess. Motherhood changed my magic as well, and I’m learning how to adjust the quirks that having kids threw into the mix.”
“So,” Kipa said. “What’s going on?”
Herne sighed. “There have been three deaths on the waterfront—down on the piers. The mayor asked us to look into it, because they aren’t…natural.”
“Natural? So, murders?”
“Murders, yes. But…no human committed these murders.” Wager shook his head. “So, they found the three bodies within the last week, and their condition was unlike anything anybody’s ever seen—at least as far as the cops, the medical examiner, and us.” He grimaced. “It’s bad. Really bad.”
“What are we looking at, then?” Kipa frowned. “Pictures?”
I grimaced. I didn’t like looking at dead bodies, even though I was pledged to a god of death. It was much easier to deal with spirits than with mortal remains. But Yutani brought up a file on his laptop and turned it so we could all see it.
I managed not to spit out the doughnut I was eating. The video was so disturbing that, for a moment, I was worried I might lose my lunch.
“What the hell?” Kipa said, leaning closer.
I sucked in a deep breath and joined him in examining the chaotic mess that was on the screen. As we watched, it got worse.
Whoever the victim had been, he hadn’t looked like that during life. That much was all too obvious. He, or rather, whatever was left of him, was on the pier, naked, his clothes strung out along the boardwalk. The body looked as if it had been absorbed by a giant jellyfish.
No…
It looked like it was turning into a giant jellyfish. The top half still looked human-ish; I could tell the victim had been a man. But the bottom half…it was dissolving into a pile of amorphous goo, the legs and pelvis no longer visible. And it was dissolving quickly.
Surrounded by long strings of seaweed and a scattering of clams, the body continued to disintegrate until, after five minutes under the sun, it had vanished and the only sign that the man had ever been there were his clothes, a wallet lying on the pier, a watch, a wedding ring, and what I realized were several crowns that had been on the victim’s teeth.
“What the hell did we just watch?” Kipa asked.
“That’s the thing—what did we watch? I don’t know. Whatever happened to that man happened to two other people in the same week. We managed to find video of all three. The cops began filming the moment they came upon the bodies,” Herne said.
“They found each of the bodies in the early afternoon,” Ember added. “They were protected by the shade, but as the sun inched over the victims, the…melting…seemed to happen faster. All the videos pretty much show the same thing. The medical examiner’s office is analyzing what they could gather up as we speak.”
I let out a long breath. “This is incredibly weird and disturbing.”
“That’s putting it mildly,” Talia said.
“Any idea of who’s behind this?” Kipa asked.
Wager shook his head. “No. I wish Lyrical was around. She has more of a connection to the water than any of us, except Ember. She might have seen something like this at some time.”
“You said she’s off on a road trip?” I asked.
Ember nodded. “She needed it.”
I glanced over at Yutani, who just scowled at the table. He was wearing his usual dark, brooding look. He had been dating the Leannan Sidhe last I heard, but I had the distinct feeling that might have gone south.
“And you haven’t heard of anything like this?” I asked Ember.
