Blood Craft: The Shadow Sorceress Book Two Read online

  “So, you saw it,” Dex said, the look on his face sending a worm of fear deep in my gut. It was as though he knew what I’d seen, that he had an understanding of the kind of magic needed to pull off something like this.

  “He stitched them into the earth,” I said, my words a little strained as I fought to find my equilibrium once more.

  “How is that even possible?” Graham said, sinking lower onto the grass.

  How he could he even get that close to the bodies was beyond me. Their fear and pain practically rolled off their skin; I could still feel them as though they were trapped within their own bodies, their souls sealed within, their tombs made of flesh and bone.

  Was that why I couldn’t feel any magic?

  The thought almost staggered me as I stared at the corpses of the two dead victims. Whatever had been done to them, was it sealed inside them? Sealed into the earth?

  “Graham, we have to take this case back from the cops, this isn’t a human kill…” I said, doing my damnedest to keep the quiver of fear out of my voice.

  “I know,” he said, his face practically glued to the ground as he examined the black cord that held them pinned to the earth.

  “The area needs to be sealed, quarantined even, until we can diffuse it.”

  “Uh, that might be a problem. You guys handed the case over to us, we have jurisdiction now, and I’m pretty sure you can’t just walk in here and declare something is preternatural without proof, especially as you signed off on it as human in the first place,” Dex piped up, his voice authoritarian.

  “Dexter, we’re the Elite. If we say it’s preternatural, then that is exactly what it is. We don’t need proof the way you might. I don’t have to make a case to you or anyone else for that matter,” Graham said, his voice icy, all traces of the friendliness he’d shown towards Dex earlier now gone.

  Dex straightened up, drawing himself up to his full height, his fists tightening at his sides as he attempted to stare Graham down.

  “I’d heard you’d changed, but I didn’t realise just how much until now. There was a time when you’d have agreed with me, Graham, stood with me as a brother in blue. What the hell happened to you?” The tone in Dex’s voice betrayed his disgust and I felt my own hostilities rise.

  “I grew up, something you have yet to do. Now, if you’ve got a problem with the Elite stepping in and taking your case out from underneath you, then I suggest you take it up with your Captain.”

  “This isn’t how we do it and you know that,” Dex warned, shooting me a sideways glance before he strode for the exit.

  The moment he was out of earshot I turned my attention back to Graham. “We can’t really just walk in and take the case, can we?”

  Graham shook his head and dropped his gaze to the bodies on the grass in front of us. “No, but we needed something to buy us sometime. Dex is smart, he’ll go to his Captain and come back here with all of his facts straight. That gives us about ten minutes to figure out what the hell is going on here.”

  “Graham, we need to claim the scene back. They can’t be allowed to touch anything else. I can’t explain it, but there’s something really wrong here, don’t you feel it?”

  He shook his head and peered into my face. “Are you sure it’s not just the after effects of you trying to swallow back your own powers earlier?”

  Shaking my head, I studied the bodies. “Whoever did this sealed something inside the bodies.”

  Graham took a step back from the corpses. The change in his expression told me everything I needed to know.

  “What sort of something are we talking about here?” he asked.

  I shrugged and continued my study of the bodies. “Without being able to walk the scene, I can’t tell you anything else; your guess is really as good as mine.”

  “So where do we get the proof from that this is preternatural when it was already declared human?”

  “Why did you declare it human?” I asked, glancing back up at Graham.

  It wasn’t like him to make a mistake like that; he was one of the best at his job and normally he erred on the side of caution, not handing a case over to the cops until he was completely certain it was human and nothing else.

  “Jon sent me half the file…. It’s not an excuse; the part he did send me contained abnormalities, but nothing so weird I would rule it preternatural. When I got out from my visit with Jess, he’d sent me the other half and I just knew….”

  “But by then it was already too late…. That bastard,” I said, not bothering to keep the anger I felt from my voice.

  “Look, I’m certainly no fan of Jon, but he wouldn’t do something like this deliberately. If this blows up, it’s going to be the Elite’s ass on the line.”

  “If this blows up, Graham, it’s going to be our asses on the line. You know Jon will pass the book the first opportunity he gets. You work with me and, well, he’s not my greatest fan—if this goes wrong, this is his chance to get rid of us once and for all….”

  Graham nodded thoughtfully before dropping back onto his knees next to the bodies. “Fine, then I say we get on with finding ourselves some proof that this is preternatural.”

  “Not you, I need you to keep watch. Let me know the minute Dex is on his way back.”

  “Why, what are you going to do?” Graham shot me a curious look.

  “I’m going to walk the scene. It’s the only thing I can do to get us the proof we need,” I said, tearing off the gloves I’d been wearing. As much as I hated the thought of it, this was going to require skin on skin contact, especially if I was going to get the information I needed before Dex kicked us out.

  “We don’t have a warrant,” Graham said.

  “And we won’t have one if I don’t get us something we can work with. Now please go and stand guard,” I said, sucking a breath in through my gritted teeth.

  He didn’t continue arguing with me and for that I was grateful. My magic was already unstable; the last thing I needed to add to the explosive mix was anger. If I did that, then….

  Well, it just wouldn’t be a good idea to lose control of the scene.

  Forcing my mind to quieten, I took a large breath in through my nose and let it out, slowly, before dropping my hands to the nearest body.

  Chapter 5

  I wasn’t sure what exactly I was expecting to happen, but it sure as hell wasn’t nothing. The victim’s skin was icy beneath my touch, but it had a waxy consistency that had nothing to do with the usual feel of death. The skin was practically slimy and it took all of my willpower to just keep my hands pressed to the woman’s chest.

  Nothing happened.

  There was just the steady rise and fall of my own breathing and I could make out the faint sounds of Graham as he shuffled awkwardly just outside the tent.

  The wind ruffled the grass once more, the sound of it whispering through the blades sent a shiver of something I couldn’t quite figure out down my spine.

  The last time I’d walked a scene, the dead body had come back and attempted to rip my throat out. But this, whatever was going on here … well, that was kind of the problem: nothing was going on.

  Concentrating a little harder, I drew forth a little power, the feel of it curling up from inside sending a frisson of anticipation across my skin. It was as though my body understood that this was what I was meant to do, that the power I felt, the power I wielded, was second nature to me and if I would just get out of my own way, things would be easier.

  Pushing my power down my arms and into the body in front of me, I waited for the scene to come to life. Everything that had occurred here had left a mark on the earth, scarred it. The memory should have flared to life, the pain and fear the victims felt had soaked into the ground and it was that my power tried to latch on to.

  But just like the bodies, their emotions were slimy, and each time my power found them and attempted to anchor them in place, they slipped away, out of my grip. They slithered around me like snakes, untouched and unmoved b
y my magic.

  “Shit,” I muttered, drawing some more power from my centre and driving it into the ground.

  Static raged in my ears and the faint sound of Graham calling to me caught the edge of my hearing, but as hard as I tried to follow the sound of his voice back, I couldn’t.

  Pain ripped through the centre of my body and I screamed, a long, ragged, piercing cry of agony; my grip on the body in front of me fell away as I hit the ground.

  The smell in the tent intensified, smothering me beneath its cloying weight as something shifted inside me. It spread within me, its tentacles wrapping around my organs sealing itself inside me.

  I opened my mouth to scream again but there was no sound. My hands scrambled down at my sides, closing around the hilt of my athame, and I drew it up from my weapon’s belt.

  “Morgan!”

  Graham’s voice came back to me in a flood of sound and I jerked in his grip, the hold he had on my arms sent another kick of adrenaline coursing through my veins.

  “Let me go,” I said, fighting his hold.

  “Not until you give me the blade,” he said, the look in his eyes betraying his fear.

  My hair was stuck to the back of my neck, my sweat cold as it coated my skin and I gave up the athame without a second thought.

  “Christ, Morgan, what the hell happened? I thought you said you were just going to walk the scene?” he said as he dropped back onto his knees next to me.

  “I was trying to, but….” I cut off, my hands automatically reaching towards my stomach. Fighting against the white shirt I wore, I dragged it up and searched my skin for wounds. But there was nothing.

  I’d felt it, I’d felt something pierce me, force its way inside my body and spread through me, bit by bit killing pieces of me.

  “Graham, is there anything on my back?” I asked, shuffling around to reveal my back to him.

  Glancing back over my shoulder, I studied his face as he checked me over and then shook his head.

  “Not a mark. Now, are you going to tell me what the hell you were doing? I’m standing guard outside the tent like you asked when I hear you screaming and I come in here to find you about to commit seppuku.”

  “What does that even mean?” I asked, shooting him a confused look before letting my shirt drop back down.

  “With your athame, you were about to gut yourself. If I hadn’t stopped you, then this would be a very different conversation.” His words sent a thrill of fear racing through me.

  There had been a moment where I’d been convinced that if I didn’t cut whatever it was spreading around inside me out that it would kill me. I’d felt its black bleakness stretching out across my insides…. Was that what the other two victims had felt, too?

  If it was, then they’d suffered beyond measure. That kind of death wasn’t something I would wish on anyone. But if I had enough strength to try and cut the bleakness out of myself, then why hadn’t they tried to do the same?

  Other than the marks they’d left on each other’s hands, there wasn’t another mark on them. Well, nothing I could see anyway. Whatever had attacked me, I’d felt it enter through my back…. Maybe when we could safely move the bodies and look at their backs….

  “Did you find anything we can…” Graham cut off as the tent flap slapped open and Dex strode back inside, two uniformed officers in tow.

  “I’m calling you on your bullshit, Graham. I’ve spoken to the Captain and to the head of the Elite, neither of which are too pleased with either of you.”

  I groaned inwardly. I could just imagine Jon’s face, the look of glee as he promised to deal with us, reprimand us for the mess we were making. A mess he was responsible for.

  “Dex, just listen,” Graham said, his tone soft and placating.

  “I don’t have time for this. You had your shot at it and you yourself declared it a human kill. That makes it my jurisdiction and I intend on carrying out my job to the letter of the law. You might have forgotten what that really means, Graham, but I haven’t.” There was a finality to his voice and I knew we were seconds from getting tossed out on our asses.

  The tent flap opened once more and two men dressed in forensic overalls stepped inside, making the already cramped space even tighter. Without a word, they moved past Dex towards the bodies and I grabbed the arm of the nearest one.

  “You can’t move them. Quarantine protocols need to be in place, we need to get someone down here who can cleanse the entire scene and make the bodies safe for transport.”

  The forensic guy shot me a baffled look over the top of the surgical mask he wore covering the lower half of his face before shaking his head and jerking free of my grip.

  “We’re going to need some room in here if we’re to move the bodies without disturbing the evidence,” the other guy said. He was already beginning to prep the furthest body for removal and fear curled in my stomach.

  “Dex, you can’t do this. Please, just listen to me. If you attempt to move the bodies without….”

  He shook his head and cut me off with a wave of his hand before I had an opportunity to finish speaking.

  “Just get them out of here before they screw up anything else,” he said to the two uniformed officers standing next to him.

  They stepped forward, the nearest one grabbing my arm just as something behind me gurgled and hissed. Jerking free of his grip, I had just enough time to turn and watch the centre of the first body split wide open. A gash as long as my arm opened up from neck to below the male victim’s navel; the hiss of air escaping from his abdomen had my stomach rolling in revulsion as the smell of putrid food and crap hit the air.

  But the smell was the least of our worries; the grey column of smoke that thrust up into the air was something I’d never seen before. I stared at it, the forensic guy hazily visible through it as it thickened and pulsed before surging back towards him.

  “Crap,” I said, more to myself than anyone else present in the tent, as the grey smoke poured in through the forensic guy’s eyes and ears causing him to start screaming.

  He dropped to the ground, his spine bowing as he writhed before finally growing completely still. The rest of the grey smoke disappeared out beneath the edge of the tent walls and the sound of men screaming told me all hell had broken loose.

  The forensic guy twitched once and sat up.

  “Crap,” I said again, and drew my gun, settling its weight in my hands as I took aim and pulled the trigger.

  Chapter 6

  Someone slammed into me, knocking my aim off and causing the bullet to just graze the shoulder of the now-possessed forensic guy. Although what had possessed him, well, that I had no clue about. Demonic possession was a black art; I’d seen victims of possession before, their eyes swallowed by the darkness that dwelled within them.

  This … well, this was something I’d never come across before.

  Jerking my elbow up, I caught Dex square in the chin as he fought to try and wrest the gun from my grip.

  “What the hell are you doing?” he shouted, falling back away from me, holding a hand to his bloodied face.

  The creature that had been the forensic guy roared, the sound reverberating through the tent. It hit me like a fist square in the chest, knocking me completely off balance, and I dropped to the ground, gun sliding out of reach as my heartbeat stuttered in my chest.

  Power flowed in around me, making it suddenly hard to breathe. The air itself shimmered with heat and sweat dripped down my back as I struggled to draw a breath that didn’t want to melt the inside of my throat.

  The creature seemed to flow upwards onto its feet, the human body it possessed moving fluidly as it advanced slowly across the space towards the still-intact body of the woman.

  Crouching down next to her, it trailed its hand down over her cheek, towards her chest and instinctively I knew what it planned to do next.

  “We can’t let it open her up, we can’t allow it to release the other half of whatever in Hell that grey smoke is!”
I shouted, my voice hoarse as I threw a glance back at Graham’s stunned face.

  He recovered fast, drawing his own gun and taking aim at the creature, giving me the chance to scramble across the ground to where my own Glock 19 lay discarded. I really needed to work harder in training. Once was a one time too many for a creature to disarm me and this was the second time it had happened in as many cases.

  “You can’t shoot him, he’s got a wife and kids, and…” Dex shouted, his voice high and frightened.

  “Get back or I will shoot you,” Graham said, his voice utterly calm as he took aim at the creature, his arm steady; he wouldn’t miss.

  The creature lifted its gaze to him, the frustration in its grey eyes sending a frisson of fear down my spine. It moved then, lunging forward over the remains on the ground, directly towards Graham.

  His gun went off, two rounds burying themselves into the centre of the creature before it tackled him to the ground.

  “Graham!” The panic and emotion in my voice surprised me as the scream tore from my throat. I crossed the tent in a blur, emptying my clip into the back of the creature before I really thought about what I was doing.

  The gun clicked empty as it turned to face me. The splash of crimson down the front of what had been pristine overalls was startling. Its warm and wet hand wrapped around my throat, lifting me from the ground, its grip tightening until there was no air left to enter my lungs, and still its vice-like hold tightened.

  Power surged inside me, clawing its way up from the depths of my very soul, and I slammed my hand against its chest. Forcing everything I had down into that one concentrated area, I thrust my power into its body. The creature stared at me, a momentary flicker of intelligent recognition in its grey eyes before it threw its head back and screamed.

  The grey smoke that had poured into the forensic guy rushed out of him, dissipating into the air.

  The grip around my throat disappeared and I dropped to the grass as the possessed man crumpled to the ground. The second I hit the dry earth, I was already scrambling towards Graham.