Page 27 of Blood Bearon
“What are you doing?” Rachel asked as he got close.
“Looking for a pattern, shape, anything of the sort that might clue us in on where he will attack next, or where he might be striking from.”
The latter wasn’t something Khove ever expected to find. With his magical powers Korred could strike from anywhere. Distance didn’t matter to him. But he had to pretend, for the detective’s sake.
“Are you seeing anything?” Rachel asked as he completed his circle.
“No,” he said, looming over the table for a moment before slumping forward in defeat. “Nothing at all.”
“It looks completely random, doesn’t it?” she asked, sounding as dejected and frustrated as he felt.
“Yes.”
The clock was ticking, and already the sun was going down on the horizon. They had precisely nothing.
“Well, there must be something we can do,” she said.
Khove admired her tenacity. Even though her frustration was evident in the tightness of her lips, turning her naturally-full mouth into a thin line, her eyes never stopped moving. Never stopped looking. The brain behind them must be formidable. He wondered if she could be—
Not now,he chastised himself.Focus on the mission. Find Korred.
Once that was done, he could do whatever he wanted. Until then, there was nothing but the mission. No stray thoughts about the detective, her lips and…andnothing.
“Well, we can send units to watch the properties in orange,” he said. “You and I will pick one, set up shop just before dark, wait to see what happens.”
Khove didn’t like the idea of sending humans to watch the sites, but what else was he supposed to do? Rachel would know something was up if he insisted that only he should be out there. This was, as far as the police knew, just a normal criminal they were trying to catch, and as much as Khove wished, he couldn’t disabuse them of that notion.
All he could do was ensure he made the right decision and was waiting at the right scene in time to catch the bad guy.
Rachel was nodding slowly. “You’re positive he’ll wait until dark?”
He nodded slowly. “Certain of it.” After all, he wasn’t convinced yet that it was Korred himself hitting the Ursa properties. In all likelihood, it was either some human goons, or more likely, his Fae servants doing his dirty work, and the Faeries simply couldn’t survive in sunlight. It was the one advantage he had over them for the moment.
“Which ones do you suspect he’ll attack?”
Khove moved around the table to stand next to her, carefully not reacting as the smell of sandalwood reached his nose. He loved the soft scent, which she’d used while washing off the soot and ash. When she moved her head sharply, her ponytail swished back and forth, wafting more of it his way.
Bending over, she started analyzing each location highlighted in orange. Meanwhile Khove tried his best to concentrate, but his attention kept wandering back to her. He couldn’t help but admire her figure, clad in a normal outfit, a button-down blouse of off-white, black slacks and black boots. It wasn’t anything exotic, and yet the way it clung to her shape compared to her police uniform was…something else.
“Khove?”
Steeling himself, he yanked his attention back to the map with a forceful mental snarl. The detective was alaw enforcement officer. That was what she wanted, and it was also how she wanted to be viewed. If Khove simply started drooling over her powerful frame and not her beautiful mind, he would be no better than the others she so despised.
“What are you thinking?” he asked, trying to steer the focus back to the topic at hand, while having a very terse argument with his brain about her.
“I think we should take this one,” she said, tapping a particular orange circle.
Khove considered the location. “That’s not the biggest one. If he wanted to maximize damage, he’d hit us here.” He tapped a three-story office building across town that held the House’s accounting firm, among others.
“You might be right,” she admitted. “But, if he’s going to strike multiple times tonight, odds are he’ll want to start with an easier target. Get himself warmed up. This one is an isolated building. It has a parking lot on two sides, a park on a third, and the road in front. If they come at it from the park and retreat that way, they could disappear down any number of side streets before anyone realizes what’s happening.”
Khove tapped his chin in thought, forcing his eyes to remain on the map, and not the small triangle of flesh exposed at the bottom of her neck where her collar parted.
“Maybe,” he agreed, still not completely convinced. It’s not what he would do.
But this is Korred. He’s not a tactician. He’s a crazy mage, most likely leaving this in the hands of subordinates, at that. If they’re human, they willdefinitelystrike somewhere easy first, get their blood fired up.
“I think you’re right,” he agreed. “It’s also farther from the Sheriff’s office. Longer response time, in case something goes haywire. They hit there, circle around to the north while we race over there, and the next place is left open.” He tapped the accountant’s office. “You should put a heavy response team here.”
