Page 362 of Castings & Curses

Shit.

A hiss greeted her and red eyes flashed in the darkness.

“Get out of my head,” Cappelli bit out, stepping away.

Devi dug her nails into her palms to bring her focus back into the physical world.

A flash of fang revealed, and she understood. Her new partner was a vampire, and she’d been through the shit. Part of her wondered where Ridgeway was now, but hell if she was going to ask.

Devi swallowed, nervous perspiration erupting all over her body. She had gotten used to thinking of her as human. Having a reaction to her wasn’t planned and she had to shake herself.

“Shit. I’m sorry.”

Devi was drawn back into Cappelli’s consciousness and memories as her own nausea took over and Cappelli’s attempt to keep the contents of her stomach from defiling the crime scene was lost. The sour tang of bile overwhelmed her as she stumbled away and retched into the dirt.

“Ugh.” Her face was hot and she wiped at her mouth with the back of her hand. “Nasty.”

Devi let out a strangled breath and blinked to clear the visual from her mind.

“Hey,” Cappelli grunted, turning her body to help steady her.

Oh God.

Devi held up her hand.

“Please don’t touch me again. I don’t want to see anything else. I’m okay.”

“So that’s why he wanted you.”

“Among other things,” Devi grunted and tried to right herself, but instead got an eyeful of the rave site.

She tried to keep the tremor out of her voice as her eyes adjusted to the light. The scene in front of them was carnage. A campfire burned and within it she could see the charred remains of something that appeared more or less human.

More images of her past experience with the occult came unbidden and she had to blink them away. There were reasons she’d been asked to come here. She may hate it, but she was good at her job.

“It’s a body.”

“And not just one.”

Bodies of bound teenagers lay around the fire, their throats slit. The pooling blood appeared black in the dim light. One kid, a boy, was sporting a hat that looked like a house from Hogwarts. Her fingers itched to touch him, but she feared the visions it would bring. Perhaps she wouldn’t need to.

This was familiar. Like a scene from one of her case studies. A few more seconds of observation and the facts fell into play.

Isolation.

Swamp.

Elements of magic.

It was all there. Hell, she could even read the plot right now, it was so textbook.

Corpses of slain uniformed officers, what appeared to be a detective and a couple of crime scene techs, lay among the witches.

Some were mauled, but others had their throats slit.

She said the word before the thought even processed. “Power.”

“What?”

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