by Skye Knizley
Levac looked over her shoulder. “They killed him for the gold?”
Raven shook her head. “No. Jack here has been dead at least a few hours. He’s cold, even in the plastic.”
“So, who did we meet at the bank?”
“I have no idea,” Raven said.
It took the local police little more than twenty minutes to arrive. While they waited, Raven and Levac went through the rest of Cutter’s belongings. There wasn’t much. As far as they could tell from his comic and game collection, he’d been a fairly ordinary single guy, working his way through college on the ten year plan. Then someone, presumably Klien had shown up and cut his throat for him.
“I have a question,” Levac said.
Raven looked at him. He was searching through Cutter’s clothes drawer and she hoped to God he wasn’t about to ask her about some kind of porn he’d found.
“What?” she asked.
Levac closed the drawer and leaned against the dresser. “If these things are vampire-like, why aren’t they just draining their victims dry?”
“They may have,” Raven said. “I’m not sure that Quinn and company were victims. If it works like being Embraced, they don’t get drained. They get taken to the point of death then fed by the Master that created them.”
Levac looked a little green at that. “Then why the throat cutting?”
Raven shrugged. “I have no idea, Rupe. This isn’t like anything we’ve handled before. Maybe there is a ceremony or something that requires a bloodletting.”
Bobbi Kinnamon and a technician Raven didn’t recognize came in from the next room.
“Am I interrupting something?” Bobbi asked.
Raven smiled. “No, Bobbi, what’s up?”
“We found something odd. Kyle?”
The technician cleared his throat several times then held up his clipboard like he was about to give a speech in class.
“Agent Storm, we found that the victim, John ‘Jack’ Cutter has no blood in his body. Well, almost none. Which makes this different than the other cases.”
Raven frowned. “Did he bleed out through the cut in his neck?”
“I don’t think so,” Bobbi said. “There isn’t enough blood anywhere in the house to explain the missing amount. It’s like the killer took it with him or something.”
“I bet,” Levac muttered.
Raven shot him a look. “Maybe he was saving it for something. Have the coroner find out how much is missing. Is there anything else different?”
“Yes. There is no wound in his back, no skin removed. It looks like he was killed, drained and dumped,” Bobbi replied. “The only real similarity is the method of death. Are you sure this is related?”
“Most definitely,” Levac said.
“How did you find him?” the tech asked.
“We tracked him from his place of business on a tip,” Raven lied. “The rest is classified, sorry.”
The tech smiled. “This is so cool, I never got to work with the FBI, can you tell me anything about the case?”
“Down, Brian, heel,” Bobbi said with mock seriousness.
Brian smiled and looked at the floor. Raven wasn’t sure if she liked him cause of his ‘aw shucks’ manner or wanted to slap him.
“Sorry, Agent Storm. Just a little excited,” he said.
“No problem,” Raven said. “Bobbi, can you finish up here and email me anything else you find? Levac and I have already done a search, but maybe the forensic team can find something we didn’t.”
“Sure thing, Raven,” Bobbi said.
She stepped closer, Raven assumed so only she and Levac would hear. “Can I ask what happened to Agent Kole?”
Raven glanced at Levac, who shrugged.
“She was killed in the line of duty,” Raven said. “We sent her home yesterday.”
“Oh no,” Bobbi said.
Raven saw tears in her eyes.
“I guess you can’t tell me how it happened?” Bobbi asked.
Raven shook her head. “I’m sorry, no. But I will make sure to send you the funeral arrangements when I get them.”
“Thank you. She seemed…nice.”
Raven squeezed Bobbi’s shoulder then turned toward the door. It had been a long day.
The Rapide was waiting outside in the rain. Raven started toward it with Levac in tow when movement to her left caught her attention. A figure was moving toward them from between the buildings, its face hidden by a hood. Raven drew her Automag and held it to one side, watching the figure. It raised its hood as it got closer and Raven caught a glimpse of her own bright red hair. She was so startled that the other woman managed to raise the pistol she’d kept hidden behind her and shoot Raven at point blank range. The bullet passed through her upper torso and out her back to imbed itself in the wall. She fell backwards, her pistol dropping to the ground beside her with a loud clatter.
“Drop this case,” the figure said in a voice identical to Raven’s. “Or I will kill you both.”
“Who are you?” Levac asked.
“No one of consequence,” the woman replied.
Her face rippled, in one motion becoming almost featureless, covered in green and yellow scales before settling on the victim, Jack Cutter.
“I don’t want to destroy you,” he said. “Please don’t make me.”
Raven was partially concealed behind Levac, who had turned and held his hands up in surrender. She reached out with her left hand and picked up her pistol as quietly as she could. She aimed where the thing’s head should be, which was directly in line with Levac’s arm.
Rupe, twist to your right, she sent.
Levac spun out of the way and Raven fired left-handed. Two shots exited the Automag’s barrel at 1700 feet per second and punched through the doppelganger’s skull with enough force to take the top of its head off in a spray of blood and brain matter. She followed those shots with rounds to the creature’s heart and both knees, sending it to the ground in a bloody heap.
“What was that thing?” Levac asked.
“You’re asking me? Some bitch with my face is all I know,” Raven said.
She struggled to her feet with blood pouring down her right arm. The doppelganger lay a few feet away. As they watched, it shifted from Jack Cutter’s face to that of Caleb Walker, who should have still been lying comfortably in the morgue.
“That’s going to be hard to explain,” Levac said.
“Try real hard, Agent Levac,” Bobbi Kinnamon said.
Raven looked up to see her standing on the landing above, her Glock 19 held in both hands.
Raven leaned heavily against the wall. “Marvelous.”
BETH DEACON HOSPITAL
BOSTON, MA. 4:00 A.M.
RAVEN SET THE BLOOD BAG she’d been sucking on aside and flexed her arm. The bullet had pierced her chest, nicked a lung and broken one of her ribs on its way out. Three quarts of blood and a cup of coffee the size of her head and it wasn’t feeling too bad. It would be fine in another hour or so. Nothing was going to help the hospital room they’d put her in. The walls were Institution Green with half tile walls and linoleum floors that smelled like pine-based cleaner. The snack they’d brought her of fruity gelatin was the same color as the walls.
“How does it feel?” Aspen asked.
“Stiff, but it’s better than bleeding all over the place,” Raven said.
Aspen stood from the bright orange chair she’d been sitting and sat on the bed next to her. She held the blue velvet ring box in her hand.
“That’s the second time this week you would’ve been dead if you hadn’t been a dhampyr,” Aspen said. “And I’m still here, still happy. The only thing I’m afraid of is not being with you.”
Raven looked at Aspen and she could feel the emotions fighting inside her. Part of Aspen wanted to slap her for being careless, the other part wanted to hug her for almost dying.
“Asp, I thought we agreed to talk about this later,” Raven said.
Aspen sighed. �
��It is later, Ray. How many times do you have to get shot and wake up to find me by your side before you realize I’m not going anywhere?”
“I know you’re not going anywhere, Aspen,” Raven said.
She shrugged into the clean blouse Aspen had brought with her. The satin was cold against her skin and it made her shiver.
Aspen glared at her and Raven thought she was going to throw the ring at the wall. “You’re just being ornery because I asked your mother first.”
The anger rose behind Raven’s eyes.
“I’m being ornery because I don’t do relationships!” she roared. “I’ve had exactly three serious relationships in my life, only one with a woman. She’s trapped in her own mind because she and her little sister got addicted to Thirst. The two guys are long gone. Everyone I care about dies and if you’re the one who doesn’t, I’ll die on you just like Dad!”
“Excuse me, ladies,” King said from the door.
“People getting hurt is not your responsibility, Raven,” Aspen yelled. “People are capable of making decisions without Raven Storm’s permission!”
“Ladies—” King started.
“I didn’t say they weren’t!” Raven shot back. “But they never would have gotten into that shit if it hadn’t been for what I do for a living. They would have had normal lives.”
King rapped his cane on the floor. “Agent Storm—”
Aspen threw up her hands. “I can’t have a normal life! I’m a witch, I’m a forensic scientist who specializes in weird and I’m a psychopath’s familiar! Normal isn’t an option!”
She pushed past King leaving Raven staring after her.
“Agent Storm!” King said.
“What!” Raven growled.
King glared at her and she sat down, rubbing at her eyes. “Sorry, Agent King. How did it go with the locals?”
“Things have been explained to the locals and Walker is on his way to an FBI facility where he will be put on ice in case he rises again. I sent Levac with the team, he should be back in a few hours. You should both get some rest,” King said.
“What did I kill?”
King shrugged. “I have no idea. I’m not even certain it’s dead. The lab will figure it out. I’d like to send Kincaid to work on it when this investigation is done. She’s got a good head on her shoulders.”
“She’s good at everything,” Raven said with a hint of pride. “You could do worse than to put her in charge of her own team.”
“Indeed, that may happen,” King replied. “In time. For now I want the three of you to concentrate on wrapping this thing up. I’ve got five walking corpses and no suspects. Let’s bring this to an end before the powers that be start asking questions.”
“Yes, sir,” Raven said.
King turned away. “One more thing, Ravenel.”
“You sound like Levac,” Raven said.
“For what it’s worth, don’t let your fear prevent you from having the best things in life, the human things. You are useless to me if you are dead inside,” King said.
He started through the door without looking back.
“Do you have a family, King?”
He nodded. “I did. A wife, three children.”
When he didn’t say anything else Raven asked, “And?”
“I outlived my wife and have seventeen grand and great-grandchildren. I see them as often as I can. Get some rest.”
The door closed behind him and Raven was left alone.
She stepped outside a half hour later to find Aspen sitting on a bench near the illegally parked Rapide. She was holding a cup of hot chocolate that was now more like warm milk. She didn’t look up when Raven sat next to her.
“Asp?”
Aspen ignored her and continued to stare into her cup.
“Aspen, please. I’m sorry,” Raven said. “I don’t know what else to say, you know I don’t do emotions well—”
“You do just fine with anger,” Aspen said softly.
Raven looked away. “I know. Being angry is easy. I’m sorry.”
“Me, too,” Aspen said. “You aren’t the only one who can get angry, Ray.”
Raven met Aspen’s eyes. “I didn’t mean what I said. I just don’t want anything to happen to anyone. To you, especially.”
Aspen shook her head. “Bad things happen all the time, Raven. People deal with them and get on with things. It’s called living. You should try it sometime.”
She placed the ring box between them and stood. “Bobbi is giving me a ride back to the hotel.”
Raven felt uncharacteristic tears. “What? Why? Asp—”
Aspen smiled. “At least I know you can worry. I’m not going anywhere, Ray. I just need to talk to someone not you. I’ll see you back at the room, okay?”
She turned away toward the police cruiser that had pulled up at the curb. She took three steps then turned and walked backwards a few paces. “The ring is for you. Whenever you want it. I’m not going to keep asking you, you know how I feel.”
She turned away again and climbed into the cruiser. A moment later she was gone.
Raven picked up the velvet box and looked at the beautiful ring inside. She hated feeling pressured. It was one of the things she hated the most in the world, even more than the emotions she usually kept buried beneath duty and anger.
Maybe this time, she wasn’t being pressured. She was being asked, hell, begged, to make herself and someone she cared about happy.
She took the ring out of the box and glared at it. It was gorgeous and clearly made for her. Aspen had even taken the time to have their names engraved inside and the family crest embedded beneath the central stone. It would serve as both a family ring and a symbol of their relationship.
Levac had asked her once who she would be if they took away the duty, the anger and the righteous indignation that the world wasn’t perfect. He’d said he thought she was human, like everyone else. Raven had replied simply, “I’d be me,” then gone off to kill some big bad monster threatening her city. It had happened so many times she’d forgotten which thing it was she’d killed that night.
Now she had a whole country to look after, and Aspen wanted to marry her? That could very well be the definition of insanity. Levac had brains enough to find someone better, someone safer, surely Aspen would, as well.
She continued to glare at the ring as if she could make it go away. It was beautiful and perfect and carried with it what she knew Aspen carried in her heart and had since the night she’d betrayed Xavier to help save Levac. It carried love.
Raven shook her head and put the ring back in the box. She’d just slipped it into her pocket when she felt a wave of nausea and confusion. She looked up and immediately thought of Aspen. But no, that connection was strong, if distant. It was Levac. Something terrible had just happened.
She was behind the wheel of the Rapide in the blink of an eye, one hand on the wheel, the other dialing Levac. When by the fifth ring she hadn’t answered, Raven dialed King. He picked up almost immediately.
“What is it, Ravenel?”
“Where is the van Levac was escorting?” Raven asked.
“On its way to a facility upstate,” King replied.
Raven drifted the Rapide onto the main road and accelerated, wishing to God she had lightens and a siren. “Something’s happened. I can’t reach Levac and I have a really bad feeling.”
“Your familiar connection?” King asked.
“Yes. Get them on the phone and get some people out there as soon as possible. I think Walker woke up again,” Raven said.
“That should be impossible, Ravenel,” King said. “Even if he woke, he was strapped down, just in case. My team knows their business.”
The Rapide accelerated onto the highway and thundered past slower moving traffic, the speedometer edging past one hundred miles per hour. “Fine, get them on the phone, find out I’m wrong and Levac just ate too much and I’ll be happy!”
She ended the call and dialed Aspen. The
phone went straight to voicemail.
Dammit, Aspen, not a good time to be in a bad mood! Raven thought.
“Asp, it’s me. I think Rupert is in trouble, I’m heading to Springfield. Call me as soon as you get this,” she said.
She paused, and added. “I love you. Please be okay.”
POLICE PATROL
BOSTON, MA. 4:25 A.M.
ASPEN LOOKED AT HER PHONE. The screen read “Raven” on a background of hearts and faeries. She pushed the decline button and slid it back into her pocket.
“How long have you two been together?” Bobbi asked.
Aspen looked at her in surprise. “What?”
“You and Agent Storm, how long have you two been a couple?”
“Oh, um, yeah. Officially about a year a guess, why?” Aspen asked.
“Just curious,” Bobbi said. “I don’t see many agents who are partners outside of work, is all. Then again I don’t get to see many agents, so I guess that isn’t saying much.”
Aspen smiled. “I’m not her partner, Agent Levac is. I’m a technical specialist for Section 13. Raven asked me to come out and help her work on this case, that’s all.”
“Ah,” Bobbi said. “How often do you work with her?”
Aspen shrugged. “Every now and then. Usually on the weirdest cases. The rest of the time I’m a lab-rat.”
“I don’t think Agent Storm would like you to call yourself that,” Bobbi said. “She seems to value your input very highly.”
“We work well together,” Aspen said. “Most of the time. And no, she doesn’t like me to call myself a lab-rat.”
“So why did you just hang up on her?” Bobbi asked.
Aspen touched her phone. “We had a kind of argument.”
The cruiser turned another corner. “What about?”
Aspen paused and Bobbi smiled at her. “I know you didn’t pass up a ride back to your hotel in that Aston Martin just because you like the smell of a cop car, so talk to me.”