Page 32 of Tempt the Dragon
Chapter Nine
Death had a strong pungent stench that crept through the nostrils and lodged in the throat. Aiken stepped into the apothecary shop on the corner of Baldwin and Grand Road feeling grim and exhausted before any questions had been asked or answered.
Mel walked in behind him, an audible gasp escaping when she saw the body draped over the countertop, blood still dripping downto form a puddle on the floor.
“Who the hell are you? This is a crime scene, you can’t just waltz in here and...”
He reached into his back pocket, pulled out his wallet and flipped it open so the gold badge flashed quickly in the enforcer’s face.
“Aiken French, Legion Security and licensed private investigator. The owner of this shop—Natalia Gionni—was our client. We got the call thatthe alarm system was disturbed so here we are to investigate.”
Only the senior agents of the Legion were licensed as investigators. It was another layer of authority Theo had thought might come in handy for them at some point. That point was obviously today. Legally, he could still be asked to leave the premises until the enforcers were finished with their official investigation, but fromthe frazzled look on this guy’s face, Aiken was sure he’d be more than happy to turn this mess over to someone else.
The enforcer caught a quick glimpse of the badge before Aiken clapped the wallet shut and shrugged. “The detective in charge is over there talking to the medical examiner. You gotta put these on, though, before you go any farther.”
Following the direction in which the guypointed, Aiken saw the box of booties and immediately reached for a pair. Today’s boots were once again imported leather, but of a sturdier variety than a few nights ago. They were steel-toed and laced up past his ankle. Still, the memory of that hideous sludge the shooter had vomited on him the other night rang clear in his mind and he pulled a powder blue booty over each booted foot.
Meldid the same. “We should probably put on the gloves too.”
He shrugged and grabbed a pair of latex gloves that were in a box beside the booties. “Use your senses, that way nobody tries to figure out what you’re thinking or what questions you might be asking.”
She hesitated briefly and he met her gaze. “Just focus on your sight and scent. Let your hands remain at your side and use only thosetwo senses to guide your mind.”
He wasn’t sure if she was going to do what he said or not, especially since it required her to call on the Drakon magick she detested. It didn’t matter, there was no time to go through this with her again. Moving around her, he went directly to the body.
“This is a recent kill. Blood smells fresh.”
“Why’s she hanging over the counter this way? Did hetry to drag her before ripping her throat out?” She was asking the question out loud, but that was fine since they were standing pretty close to each other. The only other person near them was snapping pictures of the body and he’d just moved around to the other side of the counter.
Aiken knelt down and Mel followed his lead. “How’d you know it was her throat that was bleeding?”
“It’sa lot of blood. Splatter range screams jugular.” She was good, experienced in taking in details of her surroundings, even if she wasn’t using any magick to do so. He already knew all of this and tried to relax and let their partnership flow the way it had so easily years ago.
“So the bite was meant to kill, not change her.”
She shook her head. “He doesn’t need more normal vampires. Theywant the ancients.”
He disagreed. “They want the vampires to rule, no matter what, which means the more the merrier.” Long straight black hair hung down from the body but didn’t touch the floor. Natalia had been wearing a deep purple dress, silver rings were on each of her fingers, and her nails were painted a vivid pink.
Mel leaned in a little, looking around the back of Natalia’s neckto where a gold chain was still hooked. “What did Bleu say about all this when you called him? Did he mention anything else about the others that’ve been found?”
The call he’d received seconds after she’d asked a question that was undoubtedly designed to start another uncomfortable conversation between them had come from Isla, the techie Drakon who lived at the Drakon office headquarters indowntown Burgess, called the Tower. He hadn’t lied to the enforcer; they had tripped the alarm upon entering the store. Isla monitored all systems they installed and she also knew the location was owned by a witch. “Not to me. Bleu was going to call Isla to get the details from her since she was the one who thought to search for any other preternatural deaths. All I know is the other two are alsoin this area and were gruesome kills, lots of blood. Vampire signature.” Just like the number of others that had been popping up in the past month.
“I don’t understand, is Isla a psychic? How’d she know there would be others?”
“No. Isla’s Drakon power is mimicry, which is kind of similar to yours but she can only take on human forms. Ziva’s the clairvoyant.” He shook his head so as notto get off track. “But Isla designs systems that constantly monitor preternatural activity and since we just visited the witches two days ago, she did a search and found the other two dead bodies.” Still speaking in hushed tones, he followed her gaze, and was about to use his power to move the chain from Natalia’s neck into his hands so they could examine it later in the truck, but approaching footstepsstopped him.
“Care to share what you’re down there whispering about? And who sent you here?”
Locking gazes with Mel and silently telling her to go along with whatever he said, he began to rise slowly. She followed, clearing her throat when they were both standing and staring at the man dressed in a navy blue suit, white shirt and blue tie. He was Aiken’s height, olive skin tone and discerningsea green eyes. This was the detective.
“Aiken French from Legion Security. We installed and monitored the security system in this store. Natalia was one of our best clients.”
“Considering the circumstances, that’s not speaking too highly of your product, Mr. French.” So he was taking the arrogant authoritative route. As far as enforcers went he was probably smarter than average, whichwas why he had the title. Still, Aiken was not impressed.
“The alarm wasn’t triggered until twenty-seven minutes ago. Heat signatures that showed up on our monitoring devices identified five entering the premises.” He nodded across the room. “You and your team equal five. That means whoever was in here and did this was let in and undoubtedly left before your arrival.” He wasn’t here to shareinformation or to help this guy do his job. Collecting information that might lead them to Duncan sooner was the priority. It was obviously too late to save Natalia.
A few seconds of stilted silence followed before the detective turned to Mel. “You his sidekick?”
