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Unable to deny it, Levi only shrugged.
“Is she any closer to wanting to form the anchor bond?” asked Knox.
“I believe she’s warming to the idea.” Levi slid his gaze to Larkin. “I took your advice and let Celeste be ‘the bad guy’ in front of Whitney and Joe. It worked.”
“Of course it worked,” said Larkin with a haughty sniff. “Celeste didn’t take the news well, then?”
“No.” Levi puffed out a breath. “She threw a tantrum, saying she wouldn’t ‘allow’ me and Piper to bond. But she apologized for that just now.”
Tanner’s brow creased. “What? Here?”
“She was waiting at the bottom of the stairwell,” said Levi. “She gave me a false apology and then tried convincing me we should give things another shot.”
Keenan rolled his blue eyes. “As if you’d ever be up for that. It’s like she’s forgotten all the drama she caused after you two ended things.”
“I’ve learned that Celeste has a selective memory.” Levi exhaled heavily. “Piper’s not going to be happy when she hears about it, but I doubt she’ll be surprised.”
Just then, Knox’s phone began to ring. The Prime held up a finger and then answered his cell.
“On another note,” began Larkin, sliding her gaze to Tanner, “have you and Devon decided on any baby names?”
Tanner’s mouth thinned. “Her new favorites are Engelbert for a boy and Hallelujah for a girl. It’s like she wants our kid to get bullied.”
Levi exchanged a smile with Keenan. They were all pretty certain that Devon was simply messing with her mate as a punishment for how much he hovered around and fussed over her.
Knox ended his call and sighed, his face grim, his eyes glittering with anger. “There’s been another murder.”
As they strode up the path toward the victim’s house, Tanner looked at Levi. “There are other reapers who could do this.”
Levi tossed him a sideways glance. “Do you really think I’d leave this to others when it could be connected to my aunt’s death?”
“No. But I do think that the killer—whether they had anything to do with her death or not—wants you to investigate these deaths. This is probably his warped way of … reaching out to you. Even communicating with you. After all, you feel what he feels when you use your gifts. You get a vague impression of what happened. Maybe he wants that.”
“He could be right, Levi,” Knox said from behind them.
Glancing over his shoulder, Levi told the Prime, “I can’t walk away from this.”
Covering the rear, Larkin and Keenan exchanged an unhappy look.
“All right,” said Knox. “I simply want you to consider that the killer could be purposely trying to draw you into this.”
Levi already had considered it. In his opinion, it didn’t matter either way, because he couldn’t step aside. He needed to play some part in catching this bastard.
Levi took the lead as they walked into the house and through to the living room. Waves of pulsing emotions hit him like a clap of thunder. “It’s like the last scene. The feminine emotions are anger, powerlessness, and a sense of utter defeat. Above it all is a blinding, choking, all-consuming fear.”
Levi noticed that the body on the rug was in the process of being bagged by some members of the Force. Her face wasn’t covered, so he could see the X that had been carved into her forehead. A brief touch of her arm confirmed for him that the broken neck was the cause of death and she’d been deceased for a little over two days.
Emma’s body had only been found because her one-year-old child, Charlotte, had been earlier left outside the lair’s foster home—clean, healthy, and unharmed, much like Diem’s son, Toby.
“What are you getting from the bastard who did this, Levi?” asked Tanner as the Force members carried the body out of the house.
“Same as last time,” said Levi, scanning the room. Like at the previous murder scene, no furniture was broken or upturned. There was no blood or other mess. “Contentment, a mounting irritation, disappointment, rage, loneliness. Again, it’s as if all was going good in his mind, but then he became more and more annoyed—and much more quickly than he did with Diem. Killing Emma was necessary to him, but he hated the desolation that followed.”
“So she was yet another victim who didn’t satisfy whatever sick needs he has,” said Larkin, her face tight.
“Emma’s here,” Levi told them as snatches of her voice floated through the air.
… couldn’t scream … helpless …
… my mind … control …
… so gentle … Charlotte …
Levi frowned. “She says she was unable to scream; that she was helpless. She said ‘my mind’ and then ‘control.’”
Keenan pursed his lips. “You think he might have the gift of mind control? That maybe he took her over? Used her as some kind of puppet?”
“It would explain why no one reported hearing any screams or cries,” said Knox. “And it would also account for why there are no signs of a struggle. The women can’t struggle. He strips them of their will.”
