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A woman had never once compelled him like this, and even before he’d realized who she was, Kade hadn’t wanted her out of his sight. Something within him couldn’t bear it; an itch, an inclination, an instinct drove him to keep her close, whoever she was, and yet—
He’d traveled on a boat to find her. She’d left, and Kade wouldn’t allow the sadness in those eyes to lure him into forgetting. He seethed, battling the urge to toss her over his shoulder and demand answers, but he couldn’t. He couldn’t make a scene after finally finding her.
“Saige? Is that you?” a burly man boomed as he entered the office. A metal broach reflected off his chest. Tiredness gripped the man’s eyes, and he wore a frown so deep it appeared etched into his skin.
“Commissioner Doyle!” Evelyn said.
“Aye, that’s me. What are you doing here? Miss Patricia said ya moved on from Callum.” The man removed his leather cloak and hung it by the door, his gaze catching Kade.
Kade froze, an icy chill cementing his muscles in place. He assessed Evelyn. The mud on her worn cloak and boots. A filled satchel and tied parcel slung over her shoulder. Her cheeks were rosy as if she’d been kissed by the wind. She’d been ready to leave, perhaps already put her boots to the road. But if so . . . why had she returned?
Evelyn eyed Kade up and down, then darted her attention back to the commissioner.
She swallowed. “I came to warn you that I believe McKenna was killed by a vampyr. If so, you’ll need to burn the body to stop the curse.”
“Vampyrs are only in Sorin.” Kade spoke before he had time to think.
His betrothed’s silvery eyes narrowed. Her lips fell into a thin line as she raised a brow. “Have you seen the victim’s body, Huntsman? The evidence might challenge that notion.”
Commissioner Doyle clapped a hand on Kade’s shoulder. “A huntsman? Now, the timing couldn’t be any better, I tell ya!”
Kade ran his hand through his hair and cleared his throat. Thank the Moon God his disguise had worked. His hands itched to touch the enchanted necklace under his tunic for reassurance, but he resisted, falling into the disguise in a breath.
“Can we see the body, Commissioner?” he asked.
“Of course. Follow me.”
Kade waited for Evelyn, holding out his arm for her to go ahead of him. Now that he had found her, he wouldn’t dare lose sight of her. After a beat, she followed Commissioner Doyle into the back room, ignoring Kade entirely. Her muddy boots squished on the stone floor, and the drenched hem of her cloak dragged across it.
Shaking away the urge to blow his cover and demand answers from her, Kade joined them in the small, candlelit room. His wolf hearing detected an intake of breath from Evelyn, her heart skipping a beat. Did the sight of the dead unnerve her? Intrigued and focused on getting a better look at this supposed vampyr victim, Kade peered over Evelyn’s shoulder.
Unease swept through him. The young woman’s eyes had been removed. The murder victim—McKenna, he gathered—lay there with a crimson, hollow gaze and her skin tinged a robin’s-egg blue.
Stars above, she had been killed by a vampyr.
His duty snapped into place, worry and resolve twisting in his gut. How in the moons had a vampyr crossed the Sapphire Sea?
“How long ago was she killed?” Kade asked, rounding to the other side of the table.
Vampyr poison interfered with the natural process of decomposition, and even Kade’s werewolf sense of smell couldn’t determine McKenna’s time of death. The petrified state preserved the body until it was buried deep in the earth, covered by mud, worms, and darkness, allowing the vampyr curse to take root and turn the victim into a scáth.
“From accounts of when she went missing, we think she was killed last night,” Commissioner Doyle said.
Kade pulled the sheet farther back, revealing a wound not made by a vampyr—a puncture from a sharp object in the center of McKenna’s chest. There was barely any blood at all surrounding the wound.
She’d been drained.
“She was found dangling from the clock tower, a whaling hook in her chest,” Evelyn said, sparing him a quick glance. Her brows furrowed as she returned her attention to the dead body. Her other features lay blank. Even breathing, even heartbeat. The Daughter of the Goddess was unreadable, and Kade could only guess she thought the same as him. As Son of the God, Kade had encountered hundreds of vampyr victims, but he’d never seen one displayed like this or with missing eyes.
“She won’t turn,” Evelyn said, a sliver of relief in her tone.
Kade nodded. “Without her eyes, she can’t.”
Turning someone into a vampyr, much like spells and enchantments, hinged on preciseness. First, a vampyr victim needed to be entirely drained of blood for enough venom to enter the system and activate the curse. Injuries or mutilations before death could be healed by the vampyr curse, but a victim’s body needed to stay intact after death.
Minimal bruising rimmed McKenna’s eye sockets, indicating they’d been removed after she’d been killed.
“We don’t need to burn her?” Commissioner Doyle asked.
