Page 43 of Revenge of the Blood Pack

Hacan’s smile disappears. “The Leprechaun League was using rainbows to enter people’s homes, cut out their body parts, and sell them on the black market, although we didn’t know it at the time. No one could figure out how the culprits were getting in or out of all these homes without leaving a trace. People were investigating demons, vampires, and even the shifters… Max was the one that figured out what was going on and caught fifty guys, saving countless lives. And that’s only one case. His file… he’s a goddamn superstar. Anyone he gets his sights on, he catches.”

I try to hide my embarrassment. After my last few cases, I started getting more and more attention, which is part of the reason my bosses want me to work with a team. They say I’m thebest and should be training more Enforcers so they can, “make an army like me.” But I don’t like any of it. Not the attention and not the idea that I can magically train a bunch of people to be just like me.

“Rainbows to enter homes?” Braxton sounds intrigued. “Bro, is this the stuff you’ve been dealing with?”

I’m prepared for him to tease me as I look back at him, noticing the fact that Asha is at his side. “Yeah, so what?”

“That’s just… awesome,” he tells me, eyes sparkling, and some of the fight goes out of me.

My gaze goes to Asha. She’s tilted her head, and she’s studying me in that way she does sometimes when she thinks I don’t notice. But the second she realizes I’m looking at her, she jerks her gaze away. So, I have no idea what’s going on in her head, but it’s probably too much to hope that she’s impressed.

I honestly think she might be the first person I’ve met in a long time who Iwantto impress, which is pathetic.

Turning away from them, I nod at Hacan. “Want to show me what’s going on?” And then I say over my shoulder, “Trouble stays here.” The last thing we need is a dog prancing through our crime scene.

Hacan launches into action, explaining everything as he leads me under the yellow tape. “Honestly, we haven’t figured out a damn thing, other than that claws mostly tore this guy apart. And that he’s not human.”

“How do you know that?” I ask, then inhale slowly, trying not to wrinkle my nose at the strong scents of blood and gore, to push past them to see what else only my nose can pick up on. And then, it’s there. The scent of dark magic. It’s smoky, rancid, and impossible to mistake with any other scent.

“Drake, our demon Enforcer, picked up the signs of dark magic being done here. There was a circle drawn in blood, thenconcealed, but he was able to show it to us, along with the remnants of herbs and burn marks from magic.”

We come to the largest pile of flesh and blood on the floor. A few bills have spilled onto the ground, sticking to the blood, and more are in the bag resting on a table. In fact, the entire bag is filled with money, suggesting this was our culprit. The one marking his victims and forcing them to give him their money.

But something feels off.

Kneeling down, I take slow, even breaths, letting my senses stretch out.

Behind me, I hear the demon named Drake say, “That’s really Max Blackwell? For some reason, I pictured him bigger.”

“Everyone does, but I think he might be big in the places that count,” Hacan says softly, but not too softly for me to hear. My brother laughs, and I glance at them out of the corner of my eye.

Hacan is leaning too closely to Drake, and the demon is leaning right back. As I inhale their scents, I find them intertwined in a way that makes them more than partners. Even Hacan’s blue shirt is the exact shade of Drake’s eyes, which might mean nothing, but I’m sure he chose it because on a subconscious level the shirt reminded him of his lover’s eyes.

But diving into their love life isn’t what I’m here for, so I focus back on the scene. In some of the gore, I spot traces of boot prints. Someone worked to erase them, or maybe the blood was just so fresh that it helped to conceal the marks. And the claw marks are obviously from a shifter. Most are too hard to make out much from, but I know they belong to a smaller shifter. A wolf. But, maybe, a female or one small in stature.

I inhale again slowly and the scent of dark magic is there, but also a… wrongness. The same wrongness I scented when we met the other Blood Mages. The smell isn’t like Asha. Asha doesn’t smell like a full wolf. She smells almost like the wolves of legend, her scent mixed with magic and pureness. It isn’t wrong, justdifferent, unique, interesting. But this isn’t like her. It’s a Blood Mage. Whether one of her people or one of the original Blood Mages, I’m not sure, but this isn’t just demon magic or the result of witches.

As I close my eyes, I pick up other scents.Fuck.I almost get the sense that there was more than one Blood Mage here. The scents are similarly tainted by dark magic, but also different. One… feels more innocent. One feels… evil. I can’t be sure, but I think I’m right.

I stand, frowning, and move carefully around the room, breathing in as I study the scene. Whoever attacked this Blood Mage, they got close, caught them by surprise, or there would be evidence of a battle using magic, not just the remains of magic that had been done.A lover perhaps?That would explain the fact that the other person was smaller. But the idea of a shifter willingly choosing a Blood Mage as a lover doesn’t sit right with me.

This Blood Mage was a male, given the testicles hanging from the corner of a box. And to assume that no one would fall for a Blood Mage when I myself am struggling with my feelings for Asha isn’t the correct assumption.So, was this a lover’s quarrel? Two partners fighting over money?

And then I freeze and inhale again. Kneeling down, I scent something, something familiar, and slowly untangle the scent from the others.

Damn it. Damn it. Fucking damn it!There’s no mistaking Asha’s scent weaved in with the others. No one except someone who knows her well would likely pick up her smell amongst the others, but unfortunately for me, I do know her smell well.

So, there were… two Blood Mages and Asha here? And one of the Blood Mages ended up being torn to pieces by a smaller shifter? Fucking hell, Asha killed him?

I don’t know. Or I do and wish I didn’t.

“What do you think?” Hacan asks curiously.

I haven’t worked it all out yet, so I act quickly. “This was a Blood Mage, but I’m not sure it was the one we’re looking for.”

“You think there’s more than one in town?” Braxton asks with curiosity.

“No way in hell,” Hacan says, and he sounds concerned.

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