Page 41 of Bitten By Desire

Zoe opened my portal, and I went in yelling, “Freeze!”

But even as Sam and Hazel rushed through behind me, I realized the only ones frozen were Lydia, Julian, and Tabitha. There were two other people present, but they both lay dead on the floor.

“Unfreeze,” I told our people, and they rushed over to my side to stare down at the corpses of the uniformed guards.

The entire room was in shambles—machinery dented and sparking, holes ripped in the walls and even the ceiling. It looked as though a hurricane had come through, eaten everything and everyone, then tossed them back out. Moonlight streamed through the jagged gap in the roof, lending an eerie glow to the carnage.

“What the hell happened here?” Sam asked, stepping over the body of man who’d been pierced by a metal rod that looked like it belonged to the wrecked controls on the other side of the room.

“We have to check the rest of the building,” Lydia said.

“It could have been a trap set for us that detonated too early,” Julian said, stopping her with a hand. “I will take a look.”

Before I could argue that he didn’t need to be the one to go, a gust of wind nearly knocked me into Tabitha, and what was left of the door creaked backward, bouncing against the wall.

“Do you smell anything?” I asked Sam.

“Death, something burnt, and flowers.” He seemed as surprised as the rest of us at the last item.

“Lavender,” Lydia said, nodding.

It was Lorraine’s favorite scent. But more likely… I cringed. I’d smelled it in the fae realm. They could have created this kind of mess for sure.

Julian appeared at my side. “The entire building is like this. Dozens dead, but I couldn’t find any sign of the major, her righthand vampire Tomas, or Binx.”

I bit down on the inside of my cheek as I tried to stop the dizzying feel of a panic attack threatening to grab hold. I should’ve known that would be impossible. I tried to breathe instead, counting, holding, and releasing each breath.

“Okay,” I said when I was able. “I think this might be the work of fae.”

“Maybe Binx got away,” Hazel suggested.

“Or the major and Tomas took him and escaped,” I mumbled, kicking at some debris with my boot.

Zoe peeked her pale head through the portal she’d been holding open. “You guys need to come back.”

We filed through, and she released her hold on the portal then collapsed on the couch.

“Did you hold it too long?” I asked, concerned.

She shook her head. “No, I turned on the news. I think you should see this.”

She tapped the remote and we all turned to watch. A scene similar to the one we’d just left spread across the screen. The biggest difference was the sheets thrown over two bodies. It looked like a conference room where the giant table was split down the center and the words scrolling at the bottom of the screen confirmed it.

“Explosion on the 21st floor of this Manhattan office building leaves at least two dead and several injured.” Zoe inched up the sound.

“…police haven’t ruled out terrorism but say it’s unlikely since the law offices of Carter and Loeb seem to have been specifically targeted.”

She flicked it off with a finger.

“Who—” I started to ask.

“Carter and Loeb,” Julian said, eyebrows raised. “The last witch liaison was one of their biggest lawyers.”

Hazel nodded. “It was a wizard named Hector, if I recall. He was quite standoffish and got along far too well with the general.”

“Do you think...” I paused, trying to piece it all together. “Do you think there was a board member there?”

“Well yeah,” Tabitha said. “Both Carter and Loeb were on the board of SHADE. The major had an operative keeping tabs on them, but we could never get anything useful.”

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