Sasha shook her head and extended her palm. "Let me shake your hand, Colonel."
He stared at her hand for a moment.
"I need to feel your aura, your vibe. It"s sort of a wolf thing."
Complying, he nervously shook her hand.
"You"re clean, sir. A little weary, but clean."
"And that guy wasn"t?"
Sasha shook her head. "Not completely . . . but it wasn"t Were contagion. Truthfully, I"ve never directly felt anything like it in my life."
This was the part of her job that she hated most, the aftermath forensics. A cloud of flies took to the air as she covered her nose and plowed through the swarm. Louisiana in July was no joke. Heat and death roiled the acid in her empty stomach, and she was glad that she only had half a cup of coffee in it.
Thick sulfur stench a.s.saulted her nose as she stooped down to look at the claw marks on an arm and hand that was still attached to a camera. Carefully lifting the tissue by the open gashes along the bicep, she took a section of loose flesh off the limb with a pair of tweezers, dropped it on a petri dish, and covered it with the lid.
"Mark this claw tear sample," she said to the soldier beside her. "Watch where you step, it"s gruesome out here. Ship that on dry ice to Doctor Xavier Holland at NORAD."
The soldier nodded and extended the cooler for her with his eyes watering from the fumes.
"Just one more, and then you guys can bag "em and tag "em," she said. "I need a bite site for saliva."
Sasha stood and allowed her gaze to scan the ground, looking for a gouged body part. But everything that she saw seemed as though giant claws had raked it. The torn-off limbs clearly had been removed by powerful swipes. So had most of the guttings. Then she spotted a crushed skull that had been shorn from the body and walked over to it.
The person"s face was crushed flat as though each side of the head had been held in a vise-like grip. Brains had exploded out of the back; the eyes had obviously burst from their sockets given the sudden pressure. But to actually get the head off the shoulders required huge fangs.
Hurrying to the gruesome task, Sasha called over her a.s.sistant and got another lab evidence dish and several swabs. Green, slimy goo mixed with blackening blood stuck to the long swab and came away from the bite site in a tar-like string. Her a.s.sistant turned away and finally tossed his cookies.
"Sorry, ma"am," he said, panting and covering his mouth and nose with his forearm.
"Not a problem, soldier," Sasha said, stripping off her latex gloves and dropping them in the cooler with the last sample. "Just as long as you missed a body and didn"t upchuck in the cooler, it"s all good."
Fresh air never felt so good. She didn"t care that it was close to ninety-eight degrees or that the humidity was probably 102; she just needed the downwind scents of the true outdoors to clean the filth out of her sinuses.
Every so often, Sasha leaned her head out of the Humvee window and took a deep breath. It would have been easier to shadow-jump, but after what she"d seen, she was bone-weary. A little normal human companionship, even by way of a silent MP, was better than going into the misty darkness alone.
She gave her driver the location of Lawrence DeWitt"s apartment and jumped out of the vehicle when it came to a full stop on the street.
"Wait here," she told him. "I"ll be ten minutes, tops."
It seemed like a simple thing. She just wanted to check on the kid and ask him a few more questions. But when she came out of his closet, for a moment all she could do was stand there.
Blood and flesh were everywhere. Sulfur reeked so thickly in the room that it made her eyes water until she gagged. It was as though something had exploded DeWitt. A lone eyeball stared up at her from the rug. Green gook mixed with fat, muscle, bone, and flesh covered the walls and furniture, splattered his television and computer screens. The kitchen cabinets and counter were sprayed, and every few feet she could see chunks of flesh embedded in the blood-soaked rug.
"s.h.i.t. . ." Sasha backed into the closet and came out in the alley to begin casing the building for signs of how the attacker had gotten in.
If it was Were, it could have just crashed through the door, a wall, or a window, but the building was intact, just as DeWitt"s doors and windows seemed to be. He was fortified against Vampires, since her little visit, unless he"d foolishly opened the door for onea"which was very, very possible. But she"d never seen Vampires off somebody like this. Then again, they might have thought he and his crew had opened Ariel Beauchamp"s coffin to daylight and been really p.i.s.sed. Plus, he had ratted them out on cell phone video, which she"d sent over the airwaves to Winter"s. "d.a.m.n, d.a.m.n, d.a.m.n!"
With a knife in her conscience, she walked back to the military vehicle. "Let the colonel know there"s been another killing. One civilian, male, ID: Lawrence De-Witt. No need for a body bag, just an evidence cooler and a wet vac."
Elder Vlad opened his eyes in his lair and chuckled as his fangs lengthened. He breathed in deeply and then closed his eyes again, sending his thoughts to Cerridwen.
Have you watched the news, love?
She opened her eyes as her fingers curled around the icy armrests of her throne. "Yes," she murmured. "The butcherings leave nothing to the imagination. The humans are now fully engaged, I suspect."
Yes . . . you and I now have our wolf hunt. All that is left now is to bring it all to a vote.
Hunter sat before his grandfather, listening to his slow post-trance speech pattern while trying to understand the ancient wisdom embedded in the parables and images he conveyed.
"There is a twin evil slithering in the darkness. Two souls inside the same body . . . one is but a faint wisp of lifea"the other ferocious." Silver Hawk drew a labored breath, and Hunter placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Grandfather, you must rest. How deeply did you go into the shadow lands for this information?"
Bear Shadow and Crow Shadow glanced at each other when the elderly shaman didn"t respond.
"He was in at least twenty-four hours without relenting," Bear Shadow confided. "There were times he seemed to be fighting something or wrestling something."
"Grandfather . .. why didn"t you call me to you in the shadow lands? You went through the demon doors, didn"t you!"
Hunted squatted down before his grandfather, who was seated on the cabin sofa.
"I am old; my life force is to be used for the future generations, not to cling to this world as though I am unaware that there is another side."
Hunter closed his eyes and hugged his grandfather for a moment before coming to sit beside him.
"I had to go in and seal the breach," Silver Hawk said in a rasp. "The sigils against each spirit in our clan that the Unseelie left from the earlier wara"it weakened the veil between the worlds. The shadow lands were in peril. Something got out and had a grudge against the way of the wolf. This thing that is trapped cannot go back into our shadow lands or slither through by way of the demon doors. It is trapped in the world of the humans hence it will continue feeding until it is destroyed."
Hunter pulled out his cell phone and showed him the image of Amy Chen that Shogun had given them all. "This girl, is she carrying the demon you speak of?"
Silver Hawk shook his head no. "She is the whisper of life and Light battling within her own body against a ferocious predator within. Her parents" prayers are keeping her light alive ... but this other thing is stronger than what lies within her."
"Esmeralda, Esmeralda, please open the door!"
The locks to the town house quickly turned, and the witch opened the door for Sir Rodney, hustling him inside.
"This is a quiet neighborhood, Rodney, I"ve nevera""
"Have you been watching the news?"
"No. Why?"
He yanked his cell phone out of his trouser pocket and opened it. "Have you seen this girl before?"
Esmeralda took the phone from him and studied the image hard. "Yes . . . she"s new. She just came to our second night of full-moon rituals and was immediately invited to join our coven. Her energy was so strong, surprisingly so for a girl of so few years."
"How long did she attend?"
Esmeralda gave him a quizzical look. "Why?"
"It is of vital importance, love. Please do not be difficult."
"She came at sundown, as is customary," Esmeralda said, growing peevish. "She didn"t come with an escort or a mentor. She just seemed to know where to find our meeting, which portends that her psychic abilities arc extremely strong. She stayed until sunrise, when we all dispersed."
"You are sure about this?" he asked, now holding her by her upper arms.
"Yes, why? And you"re hurting me." Esmeralda pulled out of his grasp. "I"ve never seen you like this, and you"re scaring me."
"Do you know where she lives . . . where she sleeps by day?"
"Oh, come on," Esmeralda said with a smirk. "She"s not a Vampire. That much we know for sure. She has a strong life force and knew all the rituals by heart."
"You said you trusted me, so I"ll ask you again. Do you know where she sleeps by day?"
Esmeralda shook her head no. "But now that she"s taken the coven ritual, I can consult my crystal ball and possibly find out."
Shogun sat under a wide yew tree in the teahouse garden watching the miasma of sparkling light dance about his head like dust motes. The Faeries had gotten Sir Rodney"s Fae missive, and it was important to stay extremely still to hear what the tiny beings were saying. In his mind he blocked out distant traffic noise, becoming Zena"one with the peaceful oasis. This was the last place in the world he ever wanted to revisit... the place where he"d fallen so deeply in love with Sasha... the place where she"d allowed her shadow to dance with his.
For now, he couldn"t think about that. He had to hear what the Faeries were whispering. They knew the girl in the picture. She"d been here just the day prior to have tea. He would not tell them that inside the beautiful face and delicate body lived a feline monster that could take their tiny lives.
They led him to the salon where she"d been and then dispersed. That was as much as they knew. Shogun entered it and tensed. He could smell her light signature scent, the new one she"d stolen from the innocent Amy Chen. But worse yet, his aunt was toying with him, knowing he would try to track her by traditional Were methods. She"d come to the same private room where he"d been with Sasha, where he"d tasted her mouth for the very first time.
His aunt was such a b.i.t.c.h.
Okay, now this s.h.i.t was really getting on her nerves. Sasha stood by Doc"s side in the lab as she handed the cooler to him and Clarissa. Waiting for a flight was out of the question; she needed immediate answers.
Her stomach did a weird flip-flop as she glanced at Bradley and Winters, who were on computers and ready for sample a.n.a.lysis to begin. Woods and Fisher hung back, waiting on Sasha to give them the go-ahead that they could join the fight. But first, she wanted to know what they were dealing with.
"I can"t even begin to tell you what the scene looked like back at that kid"s apartment. I"ve gotta know if Vamps did this or if this was from a rampaging Were Leopard." She set Russell Conway"s digital camera down between Winters and Bradley. "I also need to know what that ent.i.ty is that he captured on the vid. Shogun made an interesting point: Lady Jung Suka"our suspected predatora"is white with black spots when in Were form. But what attacked that Ghost Finders, Inc., crew was transparent and black. Slow the frames down and you"ll see what I mean."
"You okay, Sasha?" Clarissa asked as Sasha blotted her forehead. "You look flushed."
"I"ve just seen a lot of really horrific s.h.i.t in the last twenty-four hours, and didn"t really eat this morning."
"Get her some orange juice," Doc said to Fisher. "She looks like her blood sugar"s dropping and she"s about to pa.s.s out."
"I"m cool, I"m cool," Sasha said, weakly protesting.
Ignoring her, Fisher left the room as Clarissa opened the first cooler and then screamed. Everybody was on their feet, and the adrenaline spike instantly revived Sasha.
"Bradley, get a brick-dust circle going, stat!" Clarissa shouted, backing away from the cooler. "Demon essence in the house!"
Clarissa waited until Bradley was able to dig in the lab drawers and rush back to begin pouring the reddish dust into the floor from the hole he"d made in his fist. Then she put some on her hands and carried the cooler to the center of the circle, cautiously opened the lid, and jumped back.
Angry green slime hissed and popped and slithered over the edge of the cooler like a fast-moving cold fire. As soon as Sasha saw it, she vomited green bile, which Clarissa and Bradley hit with brick dust.
"Get a circle around her, people," Clarissa said, watching Bradley, Winters, and Doc jump into action. "You hold the line at the door, Woods; don"t let it get out of the lab!"
"What am I supposed to do, "Rissa?" he shouted, running toward the open drawer and grabbing a handful of dust.
"Make a line in front of the door!" she yelled back as Doc held Sasha up while Bradley began saying the Twenty-third Psalm in a very loud voice.
Just as suddenly as the fracas began, the essence in the middle of the circles quieted, turned from a vibrant green to a gooey black tar, and then torched.
"I don"t think we need any a.n.a.lysis on the stuff in cooler number one. This was definitely a pure demon that took those folks," Bradley said.
"Bigger question is, how did Sasha get infected?" Doc peered at her with concern and helped her to a chair.
"I probably picked it up while mucking around at the kill sites," she said, wobbling to sit down.
"I want a full evaluation on hera"she"s not going back through shadow lands in this state . . . there could still be some infection in her," Doc argued, folding his arms in front of her.
"As much as I appreciate the concern, no can do, Doc." Sasha offered him a wan smile. "There"s a huge problem down in the Delta, obviously .. . whatever was in me for sure came outa"my apologies to the team."
"Clarissa, can you scan her psychically, and at least make me feel better?"
"No!" Bradley shouted. "Just let Sasha step through some Holy Water or something."
Sasha nodded. "Clarissa"s been through enough. Flash me with brick dust, the Twenty-third Psalm, Holy Water, whatever, but leave Clarissa out of anya""
"I"m okay, guys, no problem ... but I think Sasha"s all right. I"m not getting bad vibes now."
Bradley walked away from Clarissa, raking his hair in frustration.
"You"re sure?" Doc said, looking at Clarissa hard. "And how are you feeling? You okay, McGill?"
"Yeah, and never better, sir," Clarissa replied, going to Bradley. "I"m all right." She placed a hand on his back.
"Then humor me and let me purge you, just in case," he muttered, slowly drawing her into a hug.
"Well, now that all the excitement is over, what the h.e.l.l was that?" Winters looked at the cooler and ran his fingers through his hair just as Fisher came back in the door.
"Yo, what"s wrong everybody?" Fisher said, glancing around. "What"d I miss?"