Page 8 of Soul Sucker

“Ella, are you okay?” Liz reached out and touched her arm.

As Ella opened her mouth to inquire why everyone kept asking her that, Feehan came into the room with the two other guys who made up the SBLE special response team. Ella nodded at Rich and Andrew, and then turned her attention to her boss, who looked almost as tired as she did.

He walked over to the board and stuck up a picture of the apartment building, a shot of the couch with the victim on it, and an enlarged copy of the woman’s driving license.

“Okay, you have all the basics here. We have a deceased twenty-seven-year-old female. She was a registered empath named Christa Louise Morehouse. Last known address, according to her driver’s license, Humboldt State University.”

The name was vaguely familiar even if the face wasn’t.

“Then what was she doing in the city?” Liz asked.

“That is unknown at present.”

“Do the police think she was living with someone?”

“Apparently not. The apartment was leased in her name.”

Liz got to her feet and started pacing. As she walked, a thin stream of silver like a spider’s web followed along behind her. The Fae-Web already contained a mesh of words and images connected to the case. Being part Fae, Liz had the ability to perceive problems in different dimensions and was adept at seeing connections that would evade most human investigators.

“What else do we have?” Liz demanded.

“The police are following up with Humboldt State and interviewing her neighbors, so we’ll get that information within the next day or two,” Feehan said. “I’m surprised you don’t remember her, Ella. She was in your class at the Otherworld Academy.”

“She was? I vaguely remember the name, but nothing else.”

Feehan nodded. “Perhaps it will come back to you.”

“I hope so.”

“Anything else, Mr. Feehan?” Liz asked.

“Nothing except Ella’s take on the victim at the scene.” Feehan looked at her. “Do you want to share?”

Ella put her elbows on the table. “It was weird. Most empaths have really strong shields, but hers were paper-thin. I had hardly any problem getting into her head, and when I did, there was almost nothing there.”

“What do you mean?” Liz swung around, her expression intent.

“It was as if whatever killed her had ripped out every memory she possessed, both her psychic memories and her personal ones.” She shivered. “There was nothing left, apart from a few echoes of her last thoughts.”

“And what were those?” Feehan asked.

“Mainly relief.”

“The victim was twenty-seven, right?”

Feehan shared a glance with Liz, and Ella stiffened. “So?”

Feehan hesitated. “Is it possible that she did this to herself to avoid going mad?”

Everyone turned to stare at Ella. “Sucked out her own brain? I don’t think that’s possible.”

“The police did say there was no sign of a struggle,” Liz murmured as her silver web shimmered with possibilities, none of which Ella liked.

“No. Someone must have done it for her.”

“Could she have asked someone?”

“Another empath?” Ella looked down at the table. “I don’t think so. We retain all the shit we take in. Taking on another empath’s entire psychic burden would probably kill the recipient as well.”

---