Page 1 of Bound
Chapter 1
Gage
Lights from the patrol cars dance across the stone walls of the alley, casting the dingy space in pulsing reds and icy blues. Several uniforms help to hold back the humans as I duck under the yellow tape marking another crime scene in Lock Lake.
But this is not something the locals can handle, and I know that within seconds.
The young male’s body is half hidden in the shadows beside a dumpster. Not quite covered in the broken pallets, the kid’s lean, muscular frame is a soft blue in the dimness. But that has less to do with the garish lighting and more to do with what he is.
From the darkest part of the ocean to a pale blue brighter than any sky we get in Louisiana, his shorn hair is left long over his forehead. The style is edgy. But there is no salon in the state that can copy a mix of color that I know is natural.
I crouch down, surveying the way his limbs rest beside his nude form in an almost casual fucking repose. No marks cover his flesh. Nor are there any signs that he was being held captive or being used as a vamp’s not so willing donor.
I exhale.
“Fae?”
Nodding, I turn to take in the man next to me.
With dark hair and silver eyes, Tanner Faust could almost pass for another human. But I know better.
“What are you getting?” I ask.
Kneeling next to me, he leans in close to the victim. His nostrils flare, taking in every trace fragrance with his heightened shifter senses. “He just smells like water,” Tanner grumbles.
“Probably an affinity for it, then,” I say, not even fucking surprised.
Kid is blue. From his hair to his skin and his eyes. He looks like water made flesh.
“He shows no sign of a struggle,” Tanner continues, scouring the victim. “M.E. will say for sure, but I don’t think that’s normal.”
“Considering someone left him dead and naked in an alley?” I quip, arching a brow at him. “What gave it away?”
He offers me a cheeky grin. “I knew you’d catch on.”
I roll my eyes.
Fucking cats.
Pushing to my feet, I scan the immediate area. “That still leaves us with the problem of a dead Fae and no idea why he’s dead.”
T shrugs. “Until we know the how, there isn’t much reason to look for why, true?” He surveys the youth again. “For all we know, he could’ve dropped from a heart attack while tossing a cup in the bin. Maybe someone took his clothes after.”
I scrub a hand over my jaw. “Maybe.”
But it still doesn’t feel right. And after doing this for so long, I’ve learned to trust my fucking instincts.
The kid is too young to have died from any natural cause. Which means we are looking at something deadlier. Stranger.
And in a world riddled with the arcane, how much stranger can shit get?
I peer over my shoulder at the local cops, and our team’s former captain Ruin Wade. Both burly men converse far from the other uniforms who have moved a distance away, giving us a wide berth.
There is always a distance whenever we show up. And in a world that knows about the supernatural populace, the line of prejudice is a thin one. Most of the uniforms are polite enough. A handful even work well with our colony. But there are always a few that just can’t tolerate our presence.
Tough shit for them. We have full jurisdiction on all supernatural related crimes.
And the victim is definitely Fae.
