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My eyes were drawn, against my will, to the front seat of the SUV and the bloody remains sitting there. Byron’s eyes were wide and terror forever etched into his face. Why had he gotten out of the car? Or was he given no choice? Had the Empusae simply spelled open the door and then ripped him apart?
And where on earth was Jeni?
My gaze swept the bloody remnants, and my stomach’s churning increased. I swallowed heavily against the bitter rise of bile and tried my best to clinically examine rather than react. While there were a lot of body parts strewn about, I couldn’t see anything that looked female. And maybe I wouldn’t, given the utter destruction, but still…
“Aiden, I don’t think Jeni was in the SUV when this happened.”
“She wasn’t. Her scent runs off into the trees.” He handed me a pair of shoe protectors. “Put these on so you don’t wreck another pair of shoes.”
I had absolutely no intention of wrecking another pair, simply because I had no intention of stepping in or on anything that even vaguely resembled a body part. But given the utter mess… I shuddered. “Aren’t you going after her?”
“I will as soon as the others get here.”
“But—”
“If the Empusae chased her, she’s as dead as Byron and the victim he found. If they didn’t, then she’ll be back at the compound by now. I’ll contact—”
The sharp ringing of his phone cut the rest of his words off. He glanced at it, then hit the answer button and said, “Has Jeni appeared up there?”
If the relief that briefly lit Aiden’s expression was anything to go by, she had.
“I’ll be up to talk to her as soon as the others get to the crime—” He paused, listening. “No, I can’t fucking come up straight away. I’ve a dead ranger, another unknown victim, and a crime scene to lock down. I’ll get there as soon as Tala arrives and can take over.”
I couldn’t hear the exact reply, but the tone was somewhat conciliatory and also male. Aiden grunted. “Get the doc to sedate her, then. I’ll bring Liz up to do a reading if you’ll clear it with the other alphas—that way, we’ll see what she knows without her reliving the trauma.”
There was another short pause, then Aiden grunted again and hung up.
“Your dad?” I guessed.
He nodded. “Impatient, as usual.”
“You realize I’m not going to be of much use up there, don’t you? Belle’s the telepathic witch, not me.”
“If you can retrieve memories from a dead person’s mind, surely you can retrieve them from someone who’s simply sedated?”
I hesitated. “I actually don’t know, because I’ve never tried.”
“But theoretically, it should be possible, right?”
“I guess, but—”
“Liz, if nothing else, this will remind my mother just how vital you are to this reservation.”
If it worked. If it didn’t, it would only confirm her opinion we were nothing more than charlatans. “I suspect me using psychic powers won’t really make much of an impact on her current opinion.”
“Perhaps not, but neither of my parents has seen you in action, and this will back what Rocco has already said about you.”
Meaning Rocco had discussed me with either the council or Aiden’s parents? Interesting, given I really hadn’t done that much in the way of magic when I’d helped uncover Larissa’s—who was at the time my suspected assassin—lies.
“We can try,” I said. “But don’t be surprised if it doesn’t work.”
“When you state something probably won’t work, it generally does.” His smile was fleeting and didn’t do much to lift the anger. “Watch where you step if you’re going to follow me around.”
I nodded and rubbed my arms. The last thing I actually wanted to do was watch him catalog the various remnants of humanity. I certainly didn’t want to see anything more than what I already had. The churning in my stomach was b
ad enough; too much more and I would be sick. In fact, if I’d had any damn choice, I’d be as far away as possible from this crossroad and the deaths it held. But I had no idea if the Empusae were still in the area, and no desire to leave Aiden to their bloody ministrations if they were.
He began photographing. I shadowed his movements, my eyes on the ground, watching where I placed every single step. The silence stretched on, broken only by the soft clicking of the photo app as we slowly moved around the SUV. It was then the other victim came into view. His bones had been picked clean and then piled neatly on the edge of the small crossroad, his skull gleaming in the beam of moonlight that caressed it. The Empusae had had the time to deal with him ‘properly’, which suggested Byron might have come onto the scene after they’d left.
