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Except then the camera panned to the scene. No bodies were left. They wouldn’t show those on TV even after warning the kids out. The ground, which should have had pine needles and mess littered on it, seemed raked clear. It was in acircle, one that spread out just past where all the tiny flags stuck in the ground to mark important evidence sat, as if only that one circle had been affected by something.
Like a strong windstorm had sprung up and cleared away the debris.
It could only mean one thing.
Fredrick telling me about similar issues with the vampires and werewolves clearly wasn’t the only story.
Only a mage could have done that, which meant this thing was spreading, and the six murdered humans reminded me that others were paying the price.
Suddenly my half-frozen mac and cheese wasn’t so great anymore.
* * * *
The coroner’s assistant, Conner, shook my hand. “Not a lot of people get access like this.”
“Lucky me. Most people get VIP treatment for concerts, but I get to go see dead bodies.”
Conner shrugged and stuck his hands in his pockets as I followed him through the chilly hallways. “Normally we keep bodies, especially if they’re connected to an open police case, under tight lock and key. Isn’t very often we let anyone in.”
Which was exactly the reason I’d reached out to Kase. The coven had to have inroads to law enforcement, and given my star treatment, I’d been right. No doubt keeping their existence quiet was easier with the right people in their pockets.
As we walked through the hallways, I spotted two marks on Conner’s throat, the tiny star-shaped scars easy to miss but just as easy to find if I were looking for them. He’d let a vampire feed from him, and judging from the thickness of the scarring, he’d done it many times.
“So, you know Kase?”
He nodded. “Kase likes to keep an eye on anything that might affect the coven. He said to let you see the bodies, so I’m going to let you see the bodies.”
My gaze remained on the scars.
He touched the marks, then chuckled. “I’m not used to people seeing these.”
“How do they not? You look like a cobra chewed on your neck.”
“Part of the magic. Sort of like how humans don’t notice the odd things about vampires, like their teeth. They don’t see the bite marks unless they already know about vampires.”
I chewed on my bottom lip, thinking about the pressure it would take to break skin. “Does it hurt?”
He opened a door and held it for me. “A little, right at first. Their saliva has something in it that numbs the pain and keeps the blood from clotting. It’s why it is so important for them to close a bite afterward, because we can keep bleeding pretty badly without that. After their saliva starts to take effect though…” He didn’t need to continue with that line of thought.
It made sense from an evolutionary standpoint. It would be easier to find food if the prey enjoyed the process of being feasted on. Still, it was hard to believe anyone could really like it, even after the glimpse I’d gotten from Rachel’s echo.
His gaze went to my neck as I walked through the door. “I’m surprised I don’t see any bites on you—unless they’re somewhere that doesn’t show.”
“Excuse me?”
He lifted his hands. “No offense meant. Kase just doesn’t deal with humans unless he’s feeding off them. Feeding creates a bond, and the vampires don’t care for the risk of vampires out and about without that bond. That means if a human is around Kase—or any of them, really—they’ve got marks.”
“Well, I don’t. I’m not just a buffet for a set of fangs, thank you very much. He hired me for a job.” I paused as something hit me. “Does he feed off you?”
He shook his head. “Kase prefers female donors. Since the process creates specific reactions, vampires like to feed off someone they’re attracted to.”
The low temperature of the room made the heat in my cheeks all that much more noticeable.
Conner moved on from my question—a good thing because I didn’t have to think about Kase feeding off women—before he waved at the metal tables and sheets that covered them. I assumed there were bodies beneath the sheets, but they didn’t look right. The normal bumps and valleys I’d expect from a body were absent or twisted.
It reminded me of what the news had said.Blunt-force trauma.Apparently, they’d been roughed up enough that they’d lost their natural shape.
The idea made my stomach roll. Again, why was it always dead bodies?
