Page 38 of The Dark Hiss of Magic
I glanced down the marble corridor where there were several marked doors. I doubted our target would be spending any time in a hot room. ‘There,’ I said softly. ‘Showers.’
We exchanged glances and moved towards the room. It was immediately obvious that it was empty. Then Thane stiffened and pointed. ‘Look. Blood.’
I looked down at the wet floor. He was right: there was a faint trickle of watery blood dribbling towards a drain in the corner. The killer had been here and made fast work of washing himself. There was another door out of the shower room. ‘Come on,’ I said. ‘He must be this way.’
We burst through and I ran for the nearest fire exit, pushed it open and gazed outside. Nothing. At my irritated hiss, Thane barrelled further down the hallway towards another brightly marked exit sign. The third fire exit had to be somewhere else in the building. ‘No sign of him,’ he said.
Shit. ‘You go out and circle round,’ I said. ‘See if you can pick up any scent. I’ll check that he’s not doubled back.’ I didn’t pause for confirmation, simply returned the way I’d come.
Nothing was out of the ordinary and nothing had changed – until I reached the reception area where an annoyed druid was bellowing at Alara. ‘Somebody’s nicked my clothes! Some bloody thief has taken everything I was wearing when I walked in here!’
I ran out of the front door praying that Thane had had more luck, but when I found him at the western side of the building his expression told me everything. ‘Fuck,’ I muttered.
He gazed at me bleakly. ‘Yeah.’
Chapter
Fourteen
No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t connect the dots and work out what Rory Taggert and Knox Thunderstick had to do with each other. However, I knew that Knox’s surreptitious jaunt to the mortuary and then his subsequent murder couldn’t be a coincidence.
‘Shall I come in with you?’ Thane asked quietly when we finally reached Pork Pies’ glass door.
The interior was brightly lit and welcoming, which only made me feel worse. ‘You’ve been banned.’
He ran a hand across his short copper hair. ‘I expect Knox Thunderstick’s sister will make an exception under the circumstances.’
It would be easier with him by my side, but unfortunately there would probably be a confrontation before I could even start to tell Harriet what had happened. ‘It’s better if I speak to her alone,’ I said with a heavy heart.
Thane expelled a long breath. ‘Very well. I’ll wait out here.’
Reluctantly, I walked into the café. Harriet was behind the counter, a clipboard in one hand and a pen in the other as she marked off stock. She started to smile in greeting when she sawme, but her grin faded when she registered my expression. ‘You found Knox.’ It wasn’t a question.
‘Can we talk in the back?’ I asked. This would be better without an audience and there were several customers.
Harriet had turned deathly pale. ‘No. Tell me here. Tell me where he is.’
‘Harriet—’
Her hands clenched into tight fists. ‘Tell me!’
Shit. I half-closed my eyes then opened them again; she deserved my full gaze.
This was an aspect of death that I’d never experienced. I’d never had to be this person before and I didn’t want to be this person now. ‘We went to his house. We knocked on his door and then we heard a gunshot.’
Harriet didn’t make a sound.
I swallowed. ‘We broke in. Knox’s bedroom door was barricaded by a wardrobe. It took a bit of time to shove it open. When we did…’
She was already reaching for her coat. ‘He’s dead, then.’ Her voice was flat.
‘Yes. I’m sorry. Somebody killed him.’
‘Did you see who did it?’
‘No. We tried to find him but he’d gone.’
‘The werewolf couldn’t track his scent?’
