Page 8 of Dark Souls

I hung up the phone and dematerialised behind black mist, grinning when I appeared right before her in her office in New York. She narrowed her amber eyes at me and hung up the phone. “You are going to get me in so much trouble for this.”

“I’m sure you’ll find a way to make it up to your fiancé.” I winked.

Take A Bite

Thegreyskieswerestarting to drizzle, setting an already gloomy scene as Sienna parked up on the side of the road that ran through the dense woodland. I opened the door, pulling my leather jacket tighter over my chest as I stepped around the car and towards the commotion ahead. Several unmarked SIA cars were obstructing the narrow road and police tape blew in the breeze. Two ambulances were parked near the ditch where the police custody van had swerved off the road and collided with a thick tree trunk.

It was a car crash. Why would the SIA be involved in that? Sienna fell into step next to me and gripped my elbow, halting me from getting any closer.

“Wait here a minute while I speak to Raiden,” she ordered before storming towards a group of agents, one being my uncle’s very large and muscular back. The moment she caught up to them, he slung his arm over her shoulders, kissed her lips, and then peered directly at me. And fuck, did he look annoyed.

Lifting my chin a little higher, I gave him my most innocent smile as he stormed towards me, Sienna jogging to keep up with his dominant strides.

“Why am I not surprised to see you here? Until you’ve had the training, you should not be getting yourself involved, Ilaria. This shit is not nice and you shouldn’t have to see it.”

“This was my arrest so it already involves me, Raid,” I answered calmly, causing his silver eyes to shine with irritation. “And please, I’m hardly squeamish. I won’t embarrass you in front of your agent buddies. So, what happened? Where’s Eddie?”

He rubbed his stubbled jaw as he placed his other hand on his hip. Knowing my uncle hated being the centre of attention, I was ready to make a scene if he refused to tell me what was going on. He grumbled something under his breath before he started walking towards the edge of the forest, beckoning me and Sienna to follow.

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you. The police who were escorting him said a male figure appeared in the middle of the road and they had to swerve to avoid hitting him. They crashed into the tree and were knocked unconscious, so they didn’t see a thing. When they came around, they found this.”

As we walked deeper into the forest, the rain fell heavier and it was harder to see clearly, but soon enough, there was a group of people around a taped-off crime scene. Sienna let out a gasp before she turned her head away in revulsion and I froze next to her.

Holy mother of Moses.There, with his arms tied around the back of a tree trunk, was a naked Eddie Hughes covered in blood with a gruesome hole in his chest where his heart once was. But that wasn’t the worst of it. The killer had cut off his dick and shoved it in his mouth. The man had died with his rapist dick shoved down his throat.Oh, the irony.

Unable to help myself, my shoulders shook and I slammed my hand over my mouth to muffle my laughter. Raiden and Sienna both glared at me with complete bewilderment, which only made me laugh harder.

Sienna’s eyes widened in horror as she hissed, “Don’t laugh! This is a crime scene!”

I flapped my hand at her as I tried to contain the giggling fit brewing by drawing my lips into a thin line and holding my breath.

“Care to share with the class?” Raiden asked, folding his beefy arms over his t-shirt and staring at me with slight amusement.

“Oh, come on!” I chuckled, pointing at the castrated corpse. “Can’t you see the symbolism? You have to admit he got what he deserved.”

Raiden exhaled a deep breath, his jaw ticking as he glanced back at Eddie. His shoulders shuddered in disgust as he muttered, “Still a horrific way to go. Whoever did this has one too many screws loose.”

“You think this is the same person who killed Sylvester?” I turned my attention to Sienna. “It has to be, right? It’s almost like they are sending us a message.”

“It is definitely not a coincidence.” Sienna sighed. “But why target Eddie? This was definitely planned. The killer went out of their way to get to him, which makes me think…”

Her eyes locked with mine and filled with concern. I already knew what she was going to say because it was exactly what I was thinking.

“The killer was still there that night. That they saw what happened between Eddie and me.” A shiver rippled down my spine. I knew I was being watched. I could sense someone in the shadows, but I thought I was just paranoid; the adrenaline was causing me to overthink things. I should have trusted my gut.

’What did I tell you? Always trust your gut!’Rue scolded me in my mind.

“So we have a psychotic wannabe hero on our hands?” Raiden ran his hand through his wet black curls as he glanced back at the body which was now being carefully untied from the tree.

“Where is the heart? Was it bitten?” I couldn’t hide the excitement in my voice. This was the thrill I was chasing. Being a predator by nature, the hunt to catch this killer unlocked a dark, twisted obsession in me and I knew it was too late. I was sucked in. I wouldn’t let this go until I knew who they were.

Raiden shook his head. “Can’t find it. Perhaps our Hannibal Lecter ate it.”

I frowned, disappointed, but Sienna’s curse under her breath drew my attention away. I glanced over my shoulder to see who she was staring at and noticed Archer’s car arriving.

“You better go, Ilaria. And don’t you dare breathe a word of this to anyone,” Sienna ordered. For a split second, I wondered if I had time to snap a quick picture but I knew that would go down like a lead balloon, so I kept my mouth shut and nodded before dematerialising behind a puff of smoke once more.

Appearing inside my family home in Oregon, which could be referred to as a palace from its sheer size alone, I ripped off my soaked jacket and hung it on the coat rack before heading through the large white foyer. My black jeans and Metallica t-shirt were also drenched and clinging to me like a second skin as I headed upstairs for a warm bath. My mind was still swirling with thoughts about why the killer would have gone to such extreme measures when Eddie was already in custody that I didn’t hear my mum’s voice from the bottom of the staircase until she’d called my name at least twice. I spun around, my hand on the banister as I blinked down at her in a daze.

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