Total pages in book: 113
Estimated words: 107209 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 536(@200wpm)___ 429(@250wpm)___ 357(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107209 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 536(@200wpm)___ 429(@250wpm)___ 357(@300wpm)
Hunter met his gaze evenly. “Guess not.”
“What else?” Pax asked shortly.
Fizzlewick rubbed his clean-shaven jaw. “From the bruising, I’d say she was strangled with one hand. The bite marks, and there are several on her body, are from fangs. I’ve found no evidence, visible or in energy, that her attacker mated her.”
So someone had bitten and raped her but not mated her. Most immortals could sense the energy of a mated female, and nothing in the air hinted at that.
Paxton stared at Vero. “Do Kurjans get mating marks on their palms?”
“No,” Vero said. A mating brand usually showed up on the palm of anybody with demon lineage when they met their mate, and it transferred during sex and with a bite to create the mating bond. Other immortals mated with a good bite during sex, and Kurjans permanently marked the bone of the female.
Pax glanced down at the faded mark of a P on his right hand. “I like that I transferred a mark to Hope.”
Vero couldn’t care less that Paxton was half-demon.
Dr. Fizzlewick gave a half bow to Paxton. “King? Thank you for giving me the time to do an autopsy.”
“Of course.” Paxton leveled his gaze at the scientist. “I’m not sure about the king label, but we’re on the same side now, right?”
Fizzlewick cut a glance at Vero and looked back at Paxton. “Of course, my king. You gave us all a choice and I decided to return home. I can’t say that I’m comfortable with this new arrangement, but I’m not averse to giving it a try.” Ancient wisdom echoed in his tone. He shook his head, his eyes softening as he looked down at the dark-haired female. “One more thing.” He lifted her head carefully and turned it to the side. “There’s a wound at the back of her neck. Fresh.”
Vero ducked down to study the raw wound. “What is that?”
“Some symbol? I took several photographs.” Fizzlewick gently released the victim’s head and reached for a file folder on the counter. “It’s a circle with three slashes through it. Her attacker dug a blue ballpoint pen deep into her flesh to scratch in the pattern.”
Vero accepted the printouts and scrutinized the design. “Some vigilante group taking credit? A warning?” He looked at Paxton. “Is this familiar to you?”
“No,” Paxton said, his eyes spitting fire as he looked at the paper. “I’ll reach out to the Realm and see if they have any info.”
Fizzlewick sighed. “Such a pity. She was so young.”
Paxton looked at Vero. “What do you know about her?”
“Not much,” Vero admitted. “She was kidnapped three months ago.”
Paxton turned, anger flushing across his high cheekbones. “Did she have an intended mate before I took over as king?”
Vero shook his head. “I don’t think so.”
The Kurjans had been kidnapping enhanced females for eons. Some became mates to soldiers and others were used as experiments that involved injecting Cyst blood into their brains. Survivors from these experiments were being rounded up and treated by the Realm. All remaining females in Kurjan territory had been tested and were perfectly healthy, even if they had been experimented upon earlier.
Vero rolled his shoulders. “I don’t think anybody had tried to claim her, but I’ll look into the matter.”
“We both will,” Paxton said. “Doc, if you discover anything else, let me know.” He turned and strode out the door, Hunter on his heels, Pax’s boots leaving a trail of melted snow.
Vero looked at the scientist. “You have no idea who killed her?”
“None,” Fizzlewick said. “I’m telling the truth. There was no forensic evidence. Most of our soldiers have lived hundreds of years. Anybody who wanted to kill her would’ve made sure they weren’t discovered.”
Vero’s throat ached. “True.”
“Do you need me to do anything with that?” Fizzlewick jerked his head toward the still-healing wound in Vero’s neck.
“No,” Vero muttered. Paxton had already offered him blood, but he had refused it. “I’m healing fine.” He had already sent all his healing cells to the area and could speak again, so it shouldn’t be too long until the injury stitched over and disappeared.
Fizzlewick glanced at the empty doorway. “You’re due for your injection.”
“I know.” Vero shrugged out of his jacket and shoved up the long sleeve of his black T-shirt. Fizzlewick removed a syringe from a drawer and plunged the blue liquid into Vero’s arm.
The doctor pulled out the needle. “The Realm scientists are still requesting samples of this concoction, and I’ve denied them so far. Paxton hasn’t pushed it.”
Heat flushed down Vero’s torso as the injection warmed his blood. “Stop worrying about it. Hunter surely sent them a sample while he spied on us.” Guilt that Vero had failed to read the duplicity in his one friend tried to take him and he shoved it away.
“I doubt anybody thought the Sunshine Cure needed to be hidden.” The doctor tossed the empty syringe into a garbage can.