Page 5 of Of Flames and Crows

Blood normally pooled in the dependent areas of the body after death, causing the flesh to discolor in purple patches. Subsequent breakdown and decomposition of red cells by bacteria often created stark lines that demarcated where vessels were underneath the skin.

“I incised her femoral and carotid arteries.” Hodge’s voice had grown thin with dread. “It looks like this woman’s entire blood volume disappeared at the time of her death.”

Mae’s pulse quickened. “What?!”

She picked up a pair of forceps and carefully peeled apart the cuts in the cadaver’s neck and groin. The arteries were stone dry. She spotted a couple of strange lesions distorting the internal walls of the vessels.

“Five liters of blood don’t just disappear into thin air,” she mumbled. “Are there signs she was exsanguinated, somehow?”

Hodge shook his head. “None.” He beckoned Mae to the metal table upon which the woman’s innards lay in neat organ systems and indicated her intestine. “This is the other finding I wanted you to look at.”

Mae put on a mask and visor. She carefully parted the dull, bloated loops and stilled when she exposed the anomaly Hodge had referred to: a cross section of the woman’s bowels was charred in a circular pattern.

“There is no evidence of burns in the outer layers of the body bar that red area on her abdomen,” Hodge explained stiffly. “It almost looks like something detonated inside her. But the bowel walls are intact and the other abdominal organs do not demonstrate evidence of explosive damage.”

Mae stared. Something flitted against her magic. She stiffened.

Brimstone and Hellreaver tensed.

She touched the singed area gingerly, hoping she was wrong. A faint trace of power sparked against her fingertips.

Shit.

The hairs rose on Mae’s nape with her next heartbeat. There was something else there. A lingering taint that did not belong.

A low growl rumbled out of Brimstone. The fox propped his front paws on the edge of the table and sniffed.

His eyes flashed crimson.I smell remnants of black magic and demonic energy, my witch.

Hellreaver vibrated against her chest.So do I.

Tension knotted Mae’s shoulders as she studied the scorch marks. If she overlaid the dead woman’s intestines in the position they would have been inside her body, the area affected formed the outline of a sphere.

She was a magic user. And it seems her core imploded inside her body!

She startled when Hodge said her name.

“Are you okay?” The director was eyeing her anxiously. “You’ve gone quite pale.”

Mae recovered her composure. “Yeah, I’m fine.” She clenched her jaw. “Do you know if other bodies have been brought in in this kind of condition?”

Hodge shook his head. “Not at Grandview. But I can check the other hospitals in the city.” He faltered, his expression growing wary. “Is this—is this related to what happened down here two months ago?”

Mae met his subdued gaze steadily. Hodge had been present at the time of her awakening and had witnessed Alexei Antonovich, a member ofOnikswhose autopsy she had just performed, revive as a demon and attack her. Though they’d never spoken about what had taken place that night or the monsters who had invaded the hospital and killed staff and patients alike before Nikolai and the New York coven had turned up to confront them, Mae was conscious Hodge suspected she knew more about the ghastly events than anyone else.

She came to a decision. Too many of those who had survived the Grandview attack had been labeled as suffering from mass psychosis after they’d reported what they’d seen. She liked Hodge. The man deserved to know an element of the truth.

“Probably.”

The color drained from Hodge’s face.

“I suspected as much,” he mumbled. “Thank you for being honest with me.”

Mae blew out a sigh. “I’m sorry. I can’t tell you more than that.”

Hodge grimaced. “To be honest, I don’t think I want to know.”

Mae’s gaze moved to the dead woman. “Have you IDed her yet?”

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