Grave Witch

He almost choked on his eggs. Reaching across the bed, he grabbed his coffee from the bedside stand.

I gave him a moment to recover; then I asked, “Do you know the connection? I mean, I’m guessing Coleman didn’t abduct them off the street and tie them to a bed. The scene was set for a romantic rendezvous. He knew the women before he killed them.”

“We’ve seen only one crime scene. And, Alex, you’re still not working this case.”

“Fine.” I passed my last strip of bacon to PC and carried my plate to the sink.Then I didn’t know what to do.

I wasn’t used to sharing my space. The room was overcrowded but too quiet.

I flipped on the TV, and a local anchorman appeared with the picture of a young woman in the background. I frowned. “I know her. That’s Helena.”

I pressed the volume button to turn up the sound.

“—was found two nights ago. Police are currently not releasing information but have confirmed that this is a homicide investigation. In other news—”

I flipped around to face Falin. “He’s talking about the warehouse victim, isn’t he? Was her name Helena Brothers?”

Falin frowned at me, and I tried to think back. I hadn’t analyzed what I’d seen in the warehouse. What had been left of that woman had been awful, but now that I thought back to the glazed eyes, the pain-torn face, I could see Helena’s features. I sank onto the bed.

“You knew her?” Falin asked, and I nodded. “You knew Bethany Lane, too. You’re the one who initially identified her body.”

“The wyrd community is small.” I stopped and looked up, my eyes wide. “Have all the victims been wyrd?”

Falin didn’t answer. He stood, avoiding me by carrying his plate to the sink. I frowned at his back.

“That’s it, isn’t it? Who were the other two vic—”

A knock sounded at my door, and I jumped. It wasn’t my main door. It was the door leading to the rest of the house. Holly bustled in without waiting for me to answer.

“Tamara just called,” she said, plopping down on the edge of my bed.“And she—” She stopped, her eyes wide as they landed on Falin standing in my kitchen in just a pair of jeans and his gloves. “Oh, uh, I didn’t know you had company. I’ll just …” She jumped to her feet and pointed toward the door.

“Holly, it’s okay, really. What’s up?”

She glanced at Falin again, and I followed her gaze.

Falin was apparently trying to give us a measure of privacy and had busied himself with the dishes. There was an impressive view of his backside, which Holly was all but drooling over.

“Do I need to get you a bib?” I whispered, and she started. “What did Tamara say?”

“Oh, um. Tamara is having a hell of a day. She called crying. She’s going to have to autopsy one of her coworkers who was found dead in her apartment this morning. I thought we’d go take her to lunch to cheer her up.”

I frowned, a tickle of dread building in the back of my mind. “Did she say who died?”

“Yeah. Sally.” She paused. “Oh, Alex, you probably knew her, too. I’m so sorry.” She wrapped arms around my shoulders, but pulled back immediately. “Alex, are you okay? You’re chilled to the touch.”

I nodded absently. I was tired, but I’d had a rough couple of days and had barely slept last night. I was far more concerned with the fact Tamara had told me Sally was feeling sick when she came off night shift yesterday morning. A night shift that would have corresponded with Helena’s body showing up in the morgue. It might have been completely unconnected, but …

“Did Tamara say what Sally died from?”

“No one knows.” Holly pressed her lips together.“So, lunch this afternoon? My treat to both of you?”

I started to nod, then remembered I had a lunch date with Ashen. “Could we do an early dinner instead? I have lunch plans already.”

“Really?”

I frowned. She didn’t have to sound so shocked.

Holly glanced back at Falin.Then she nodded.“Yeah, dinner works. That will give us more time to talk and give everyone permission to cry over their beers. I’ll see you about four o’clock?”

We said our good-byes, and I shut the door behind her. I rubbed the scratches on my shoulder. I’d gotten infected with the soul-sucking spell from a shade who’d died from it. Now, Sally, another wyrd witch, had autopsied a victim and was dead. But why is she dead and I’m not? I’d checked the Aetheric this morning.The tendrils were now corded down my arm to my wrist and snaking through half my torso. It was spreading, but not fast enough to kill in a single day.

I need to see that body.

I turned around and discovered Falin watching me.

“I don’t think you should go,” he said from the kitchen.

I blinked at him, so lost in my own thoughts I couldn’t follow where he was coming from. He doesn’t think I should go? Where—to see Tamara? Well, so much for him giving me privacy during my conversation with Holly.

“One, it’s not your decision. Two, why wouldn’t I go see Tamara? I can’t just hide in my house for the rest of my life.” Though if I didn’t find Coleman, the rest of my life would be a much shorter time than expected.

Falin frowned at me. He leaned against the counter, his hands braced at either side of him on the sink. He’d found yellow rubber gloves somewhere, and that would have been comical except for the rather distracting way sunlight played over his chest.

“I was talking about lunch at the Eternal Bloom.”

“Oh. Yeah.” Okay, awkward. Here I was staring at him, and we were talking about my lunch date with another guy. “Also not your decision.”

“It’s too dangerous,” he said, and I felt a twinge of disappointment that the possible danger was the only reason he didn’t want me to go.

Get your head on straight,Alex. Falin was an uninvited guest invading my space—and going to the fae bar was dangerous. The fae in the cemetery hadn’t tried to hurt me. They’d just given me a cryptic message and told me to run away. But the fae in the white van were definitely bad news. At the same time, hiding in plain sight was sometimes the best course of action. And I wasn’t going to be there alone. I was meeting Ashen. If I was lucky, his research had turned up something useful about the glyphs on Coleman’s body. And if I could reproduce the glyphs from Helena’s body, maybe Ashen could help me unravel that spell.

Falin watched my expression, a grimace engraving itself in his face. “You’re going anyway.”

“Yeah. Ashen could see the spell on Coleman’s body. How many grave witches looked at Coleman?”

“Five.”

“And how many could see the spell?”

Falin scowled. “Just two.”

“Ashen mentioned that the glyphs appeared to be fae magic. He knows something. What did he tell you?”

“Clearly not as much as you’re hoping he tells you,” he said, but when I just stared at him he continued. “He confirmed what you saw, he indicated the spell was fae in nature, and he said he was unsure about the purpose of the spell. What does that tell us? Nothing we didn’t already know.”

I shook my head. “But he knows something about glyphs. You don’t know what they mean, but he said he studies them. Plus he might have sensed more than I did. It’s worth the risk.” And he might know why the other three grave witches hadn’t been able to see the spell, but Ashen and I had.

“You think it’s worth risking your life to find out more about a spell you know is connected to Coleman’s theft of the body? Alex, that’s stupid.”

I frowned at him. Okay, so when he put it that way, it did sound stupid. But I hadn’t told Falin about the soul-consuming spell. My life was just as much at risk if I stayed home and waited for my soul to get sucked out.

If Ashen could decode the fae glyphs, he might be able to help me figure out Coleman’s plans.

Falin must have read the determination in my face, because he shook his head but said,“Fine, but I’m going with you.”

“Uh. No.”

He pulled the rubber gloves off and tossed them beside the sink. Then he walked around the counter and opened my laptop.

“You’re not going,” I told him.

“It’s a public place.”

Great. I was going to have a babysitter. I changed the subject. “Sally autopsied Helena’s body.”

Falin didn’t look up.

“She was a wyrd witch. Empath. She’s dead. I told you the magic on Helena’s body was still active.”

His face pursed in a frown. “The anti– black magic, unit cleared the warehouse scene and Helena’s body. Twice.”

“Yeah, they did that before I saw all the active magic, too. I want to see Sally’s body. I might be able to determine whether she died from the spell on Helena.”

“A spell you can’t explain to me.”

I frowned at him, my hand moving to rub the scratches on my shoulder. His gaze flickered toward the movement, and I dropped my hand by my side. It was too late.

He stood and crossed the space between us in quick strides. I backed up, running into the counter, and Falin filled the space in front of me, blocking me in. He leaned forward, his gloved fingers running across the sensitive skin around the scratches. They still hadn’t scabbed, hadn’t started to heal.

“Stop.”

He didn’t listen. He pulled off his right glove and rubbed his thumb over the raw skin. Pain shot through me, a lightning-sharp stab that hit deep in my being, and my legs buckled. Nausea swam through me and filled my mouth with hot saliva. I closed my eyes, trying to swallow against the sickness, and Falin stepped back.

“That’s black magic,” he said. “How long have you been exposed to that spell?”

“Since we met. At the morgue. I caught it from Bethany’s shade.”