Page 75 of Marked

“This way.” Paul led us down the hall, around the corner and into a large clinical room with surgical steel everywhere.

Well. Almost everywhere.

Two corpses lay on separate slabs in the centre of the room with sheets covering the entire length of their bodies—presumably Dita and Shona.

“I need to take care of a few things. You have about half an hour before we leave.” Paul slipped out the door and left me alone with two dead bodies and Ace.

“Shouldn’t they be stored on ice or in one of those magic freezing rooms?” Ace waved at the wall of cadaver storage.

“Maybe? I’m not a coroner. Maybe they only get stored there after the autopsy is concluded. But it’s more likely Paul arranged to have them left out for us.”

“Then let’s get to work.” Ace approached the first body and pulled down the sheet to expose her face.

I sucked in a breath. Dita.

Ace’s gaze slid to study my face. “Did you know her?”

“Not well.” I lifted my chin in the direction of Dita’s body. “Just hard to see someone I knew like this, you know? It’s the colouring and stiffness that makes it not seem quite real.”

Ace nodded and pulled the blanket down farther to expose Dita’s chest. Right between her ample breasts, a gaping wound stared back at us. Arrows usually made clean cuts going in, but someone must’ve ripped out the weapon roughly because the edges of Dita’s wound were jagged and hideous.

“The arrow went straight through the breastbone.” Ace studied the injury. “Phaan of a shot.”

“Phaan of an arrow.” The breastbone was strong. The archer had to have used quality arrowheads and must’ve drawn a bow large enough to exert that much force.

Ace grunted and pulled off one of his gloves, tucking it under his arm. Without a word, he laid the flat of his palm over the wound. He closed his eyes and magic stirred in the air.

“What are you doing?” I jerked forward to stop him. By the time I took the three steps to reach him, he’d already removed his hand and stepped back to pull his glove back on.

I shoved his shoulder. “What the phaan?”

He scowled over his shoulder. “I took a sample of the magic. That’s why we’re here isn’t it?”

“I thought you were going to do the same hover thing you did with the arrow. I didn’t think you’d touch her. You can’t disturb the evidence.” I waved my hand at the dead body. “What if you left magical residue?”

Ace lifted both eyebrows. “Last time I checked, I’m not some sort of serial killer leaving the city guards my calling card. Even if they pick up my magical signature—which I very much doubt—they won’t have anything to compare it to.”

“Yet.” I folded my arms over my chest, and mentally formulated a lecture about why tampering with the evidence could be disastrous for an investigation.

“The magic could be important, and I can only do my hover thing over inanimate objects, not people,” he said. “It can’t be coincidental that bonded immortals are dying, and you were struck by an arrow that managed to incapacitate you so drastically.”

“Did you get anything?”

He smirked.

“Oh, come on. The damage is already done, and you made a compelling argument. Can you tell if it’s the same magic that was on the arrow that struck me?”

“Yes, I can tell.”

I wanted to throttle him. “You know, if you have a strangling kink, you could’ve just said so. I’d be happy to oblige. No need to be coy.”

He chuckled and shook his head. “Yes, I can tell, and yes, it’s the same.”

My vision wavered, and an icy chill spread over my skin, prickling my scalp. Though I’d expected as much, though all the evidence—as minimal as it was—pointed to a connection, it was jarring to hear. Suspecting and confirming someone tried to murder me and would’ve succeeded if they’d aimed better packed two different punches. I’d never faced mortality before.

I didn’t like it.

Squeezing my eyes shut, I took a deep breath to try to banish the shivers running along my spine. I hadn’t just recuperated from a poisoned arrow shot. I’d avoided death. I had come remarkably close to being a third body on a slab in this room.

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