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“Sorry, miss. No public allowed.” He was an older cop, gray and balding, but his face was friendly.
I forced a smile. “Oh, I’m not part of the public, sir. I was asked to assist with the crime scene. My father, Officer Bowen, asked me to come. I work with an independent investigations office.” The old officer narrowed his eyes at me, suspicion made the wrinkles on his forehead more pronounced. “Here, I have an ID.”
I handed him the fake ID I had made when I was younger. I'd used this excuse before, and it came in handy when clients needed information at crime scenes. He looked at the ID for a while, I kept my expression clear but my heart rate picked up. Minutes ticked by, and I started to worry that he’d noticed something that others had missed.
The officer lifted the barrier tape just as I was considering grabbing the ID and making a run for it. “Welcome, Miss Bowen. I don’t need to warn you that it’s bad, but this one is particularly horrific. Your father should be here soon, he was promoted to Captain last week.”
Captain? Great… I had to get in and out before he arrived, I didn’t want to face him.
“Oh, wow. I need to congratulate him. I’ve been away for two weeks so I haven’t seen him yet. Thank you for the heads up.” I forced myself to stop speaking. I was babbling, which happened sometimes when I got nervous. I smiled at him again before walking into the chaos of the crime scene.
I froze as soon as I passed the curtain. Blood stained the tar, by now it had turned to a wine color. Officers were dotted everywhere, and there were hunks of clothed flesh everywhere. Under normal circumstances, a normal person would be horrified at the sight, but on top of the bloody scene, I could see remnants of the victim’s auras—they were gray now and held no color.
An impenetrable sadness suffocated me, along with terror and desperation. I steeled myself against the tears that threatened to spill. They hadn’t had time to realize what was happening before they died.
I shook myself. I had to get this done and get out before Captain Bowen got here. I forced my feet to move, and as I stepped over a hunk of meat, I spotted a bloody paw print on the sidewalk. Another followed close by.
According to the officers talking about the incident, there were three victims. They’d been torn apart, and they were trying to find personal belongings to identify them. I closed my eyes and tried to feel the scene, it was like a show on rewind, images flashed by until I was standing in the same spot, but now the street was clear of blood.
Two men and a woman were walking toward me, they were chatting and showing each other something on a phone. The woman was young, around my age and laughing at something one of her companions said. The guys were average looking, but the one on her left kept his eyes glued to her. I smiled at their clear happiness. She was oblivious to the guys who obviously liked her. It all seemed so normal, so human. Out of nowhere, a huge, crazed animal ran toward them at inhumane speed. The wolf foamed at the jowls, its sharp teeth were bared, and its yellow eyes were fixed on them. There was only one feral wolf and there was no sign of humanity in its being. Even its aura was empty.
I screamed in warning, but of course they couldn’t hear me. The wolf crashed through a trash can and barreled into the trio. The rest was a blur, it happened so fast, the screams ripped through me, and then it was quiet. The wolf darted between empty buildings toward the edge of the city and disappeared in seconds. I looked back at the scene before me and choked.
My eyes flew open and I was back in the present. Panic and fear tore through me, as if I was feeling every emotion that they had when it all happened.
“Are you okay?” Another officer asked. I had my hand over my mouth and I could feel my eyes darting around.
I breathed deeply and straightened. I smiled grimly at the officer and nodded. “Yeah, sorry. These things never get easier to see, and I made the mistake of eating on the way here. Rookie move.”
The officer nodded in understanding and gave me a sympathetic look before moving away. I walked around again and tried to feel more, anything that would give Cassian the information that he needed. But all I had was that it was one wolf, definitely feral, and it disappeared toward the edge of the city in the opposite direction of the warehouse. It was light brown with yellow eyes, and it took him seconds to rip through three adults with no effort.
I started walking back toward Griffin, my pace sped up when I noticed a familiar man who looked just like my father.
I ducked my head and paused when I saw a familiar face peek out of a window in a building that looked derelict. The facade glimmered and I caught a glimpse of a bar beneath the glamour. Morgan peered out at me as I walked to Griffin. She didn’t react or acknowledge me except for keeping her eyes locked on mine.
I wanted to collapse when Griffin came into view. I felt sick, exhausted, and dirty. “Let’s go.”
