Page 32 of Death Raiser

“On this trail?” I looked around. The body may have been dumped in a small clearing, but the path leading in and out of this area was little more than a glorified deer path.

“Trail running is a thing.” He shrugged.

“A voluntary thing?” I blanched. That sounded like torture to me.

“Apparently.” A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. “Personally, I can think of better ways to exercise, but their story checks out so far.”

“Better ways?” I raised an eyebrow.

“Focus, Lark. You have a job to do.”

He was infuriating. “You know, working these scenes with you has convinced me of a few things.” I knelt down and lifted the corner of the tarp.

“Oh yeah? What’s that?” he asked. “I’m what’s missing in your life?”

“Of course, but also, I don’t think I’ll ever own a dog or take up running.”

Kang chuckled and shook his head. “You’ll find death no matter where you go. You don’t need either of those things to help you.”

He had a point.

“Do you have a chicken?” I asked.

Jacobs cursed and spun on his heel. I’d spotted his car by the perimeter. He wouldn’t take long to retrieve it. In the meantime, I stood in a crime scene alone with Kang. Sure, others milled around the edges, but the clearing felt very small all of a sudden, and my body still remembered how good it felt to be in his arms.

I looked away from his amused expression and studied the surroundings. There, a few feet into the trees grew a perfect ring of white mushrooms.

A fairy ring.

Myth claimed fairy rings acted as portals to the fairy realm. They could also strip fae of their glamour.

Fae could hear, see, and smell the dead.

Just like Kang…

My skin prickled with anticipation. This was my chance.

I made a show of continuing to search the forest before returning my attention to Kang. He stood perfectly still, watching me. Before I would’ve assumed his expression showed cold disinterest, but now I knew him better and I’d begun to catch his tightly controlled emotion. Kang wasn’t disinterested at all. If anything, he held himself back from something he wanted very much.

Me.

Our gazes locked and we stared at each other while the breeze played with my hair and the analysts puttered around the edges of the crime scene. Neither of us said a word.

I swallowed, my mouth and throat suddenly dry.

“Got the chicken,” Jacobs hollered out. “Did I miss anything?”

We both turned at the other detective’s approach, and Jacob’s smile faltered. Not sure what he saw, but it definitely startled him.

“I’ll need you guys to stand over there.” I pointed to the forest.

Kang following the direction of my pointed finger and frowned. “Why?”

“My magic has been a little wonky lately. Better safe than sorry.” I pointed to the section of trees that had the fairy ring. “A foot or two into the trees over there should be fine.”

Kang frowned even harder but complied. He walked over to the forest and stopped at the treeline. He bowed his head and studied the ground before glancing over his shoulder. “A fairy ring? Really?”

He didn’t miss much.

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