Blood Secrets-Valorian 1 (2 page)

“I don’t suppose we have an ID yet?” Jace asked.

“We don’t have access to the human AFIS, so no, we don’t have an ID yet.”

Caine looked down at the young woman on the table. Even tinged gray, he could tell that she had been very pretty once. Well-groomed, fingernails and toes manicured, legs and pubic area freshly waxed. This girl was no criminal. She had been wearing designer clothing and expensive shoes when they found her. Likely, she was a girl from the right side of town, looking for a thrill, something shocking to stick it to her parents and show off to her equally well-bred friends.

She found it all right. The shock of a lifetime. Death by vampire.

“Was there evidence of rape?” Jace inquired.

“I did a kit and sent it into the lab.” Givon’s eyes narrowed. “She had sex, but there’s no evidence that it was forced. No bruising or damage to her cervix.” He picked up one of her dainty hands. “There was no evidence of skin under her nails, and no defensive wounds.”

“So she willingly had sex with a vampire,” Jace stated.

Givon shook his head. “Maybe not. I sent her blood to tox for drugs.”

“Maybe she wanted to make a statement, piss off her parents. Who knows?” Caine offered. “We won’t know anything until we can identify her and speak to her family and friends.”

Jace snorted. “Oh, like the San Antonio Police Department will let that happen. We won’t get within two miles of the city before human cops will be all over us.”

Caine nodded, knowing Jace was right. The human populace on a whole wasn’t aware of the existence of any Otherworld community, let alone a city built just for them fifty miles outside of San Antonio, Texas, behind the chain-link fence of a supposed military installation.

Fondly, Caine could still remember when heartthrob and two-time Oscar nominee Liam Wolf revealed on David Letterman that he was indeed his namesake—a wolf. In front of millions, Liam shifted into his animal form. Then he went on to explain about the pros and cons of lycanthropy. It wasn’t long before it became cool to be a werewolf, and like magic, others stepped out of the shadows and declared that they too had the condition.

The government quickly contained the situation before anyone else could admit to being

“different.” News reports went out with scientific evidence of such a disorder, and cautioned people not to panic, as it was rare and not something from their nightmares and horror movies.

A few people with lycanthropy, especially one as famous and glamorous as Liam, the world could handle. However, a hundred thousand with rare, strange and even dangerous gifts proved way too treacherous to let roam around the world unguarded and unchecked.

Under pressure from a certain powerful U.S. senator, who was rumored to be hiding a witch son, the idea to create an Otherworld city, aptly named Necropolis, was spawned.

“For their safety,” the city’s supporters spouted. Although it was never determined which they was meant—the Otherworlders or the humans.

To this day, the city wasn’t on any map. Only those with their eyes wide open knew of the city’s existence. And that was very few people indeed.

“What else, Givon?”

“Her throat was cut with a serrated blade and her blood was siphoned with quarter-inch rubber tubing inserted into one of the bite holes.”

“Sounds like our guy is knowledgeable in blood handling,” Jace stated.

“All vampires know how to handle blood, Jace,” Caine said. “If we didn’t, we would die.”

“Have you received a call from the baron yet?” Givon asked as he prepared to start the Y

incision.

Caine patted his pants pocket to ensure that his dreaded cell phone was still there. He had it on vibrate, and so far nothing had hummed against his leg. “No.”

“You will.” Givon winced, as he cut into the young woman’s chest just below her left clavicle.

He knew why Givon cringed. No one liked getting calls from Baron Laal Bask. He was a young, wet-behind-the-ears vampire with delusions of grandeur who had been handpicked by the Mistress of the City, an overbearing, manipulative vampire a few hundred years older than Caine. Laal became her direct link to the crime unit and police force in Necropolis as a way to keep her thumb on the pulse of the city. A situation the baron continually pointed out every time he spoke with Caine, thinking that he had wanted the job for himself. The last person Caine had ever wanted to work directly for was Lady Ankara Jannali.

“Yes, well, eventually she will need to become involved. We’ll definitely need a liaison between our community and the human one if we want to solve this case.” Caine sighed, knowing somehow that he was going to carry the weight of this case around and deal with the consequences.

Three hours later, Caine sat in his small, cramped office and went over the evidence they had obtained so far. Haunting, melodious strains of a vampiric aria floated from the speakers of his office stereo. Sung by Nadja Devanshi, his preferred chanteuse, The Crimson Moon was his favorite opera. Everything seemed clearer when he listened to her poignant voice.

Right now, he had a need for some clarity.

Oddly enough, he hadn’t received a call from the baron’s office. Maybe the warnings he gave his people about keeping their mouths shut in the lab had worked this time around.

Maybe this time, if he prepared himself quickly, he could be the one calling the baron with the bad news, instead of the other way around.

He flipped through his pages of notes and through the evidence log. The autopsy had gone as planned, with nothing showing abnormal. The COD on the girl was exsanguination. No surprise there. Her carotid artery had been punctured, her throat then slit and she bled out. They were still waiting for the results on her rape kit and toxicology.

Caine suspected that they would find XYV, vampire sperm. Sex was very closely linked to bloodlust in the vampire community. For the most part, a vampire could control it. If a case of bloodlust came over a vampire, he or she could engage in sexual activity and the hunger would pass, replaced by rapturous sexual pleasure for both partners.

It had been over five years since they’d had a vampire slaying in Necropolis. And that case had been proven accidental. The perpetrator had been sentenced to three years in jail for the accidental killing of his witch lover.

Running a hand over his face, Caine wondered if they had a re-offender on their hands.

He’d have to check his case journal, look it over and call Mahina to look up the vampire and question him to see where he’d been over the past twenty-four hours. Caine hoped not. During the case, Caine had ended up liking the quirky vampire. He’d really hate to have to put the guy back in jail.

Perhaps the offending vampire had acquired some of his dead lover’s spells. The markings on the door frame of the hotel room and on the victim were definitely magical.

Lyra had gone through her texts she had packed into the small shelf in Caine’s office, but couldn’t find what she was looking for, so she asked to go home. She had archaic texts there in her extensive magical library. Some of her books, she claimed, were two thousand years old, and passed down to her from her grandmother. So far, Caine hadn’t heard back from Lyra.

Unfortunately, they weren’t able to get an accurate bite radius measurement. Therefore, they couldn’t hit the OBRN, Otherworld Bite Radius Network, a database with all former vampire and lycanthropy bite offenders—a system Caine had developed himself. When a perpetrator was arrested, their fang circumference was measured and their tip-to-tip length recorded. Just like fingerprints, vampires and lycanthropes had individualized bite marks. If they could’ve matched that, they would’ve had a suspect. However, as it stood, the knife wound ruined any chance of an accurate measurement. Maybe the perp’s bite was on record and that’s why he slit her throat?

This case definitely had the makings of a disaster. For all the communities. What did a vampire, human and witch possibly have in common? What was this young girl doing in Necropolis with a vampire?

It was illegal for a human to be in the city. The city crossings, all four of them, were like border controls, and everyone coming or going had to produce identification. But so far, there had been no record of a young human girl crossing the borders. Caine had them check every point of entry around the city. And no one reported seeing or recording anyone fitting the victim’s description. So how did she get into the city? Smuggled in?

Most likely. But why? For the sole purpose of killing her? If so, they had a larger problem than just one murder.

The pager on his desk by the stacks of paper suddenly buzzed. Caine picked it up and checked the number. It was the lab. Hopefully, it would be some good news. Maybe the lead they desperately needed.

Caine stepped out of his office and strode down the long, drab hallway to the lab. When he entered, Jace was already there, sitting on one of the vacant chairs.

“What do you have?” Caine asked.

Gwen McKinley, the lab technician, raised her plastic goggles and set them on top of her head. She turned her intense blue eyes to Caine and frowned. “I pulled two different strands of DNA from the kit Givon sent me.”

Jace nodded, excitedly. “So, there were two perps.”

The report that had been sitting on the printer suddenly lifted in the air and floated over to Caine. He snatched it from the air. Gwen had strong telekinetic power for a witch and often used it in the lab. Sometimes it was like having two separate techs doing the work.

Caine glanced over the report. XYV. Vampire sperm present. No surprise.

He handed the reports back to Gwen. “Okay, so we have two suspects that the victim willingly had sex with.”

“Well I wouldn’t say that.” Gwen handed him another report. “Tox came back.

Vampatamine and heparin.”

Caine glanced over the report. He shouldn’t have been surprised. The drug vampatamine, or street name V, was an illegal substance produced from vampire saliva. It had the power to sedate and paralyze the user. A person wouldn’t be able to move on V, but he or she would be completely aware of what was going on, or being done to them.

Heparin, on the other hand, did surprise him.

“They used the anticoagulant to make the blood flow faster,” Jace suggested. “They wanted to be out of there as quick as they could. Bleeding her out would’ve taken several hours if they hadn’t, even with the rubber tubing.”

“They wanted to keep the blood from clotting.” Caine paced the lab, the sheet of paper rattling in his hand. “They needed the blood for later. How they got it is what we need to know. Who would have access to heparin?”

“Pharmacists, paramedics, anyone that works in a hospital,” Gwen offered.

“That’s a lot of people,” Jace said. “Plus they could have stolen it.”

Caine nodded. “Check to see if there have been any pharmaceutical break-ins or hospital thefts reported.”

As Jace flipped open his phone to make the call, Caine thought about the implications of the information they just received. A human in Necropolis. Humans consorting with Otherworlders. The possibility of two vampires conspiring together to commit murder was baffling. It would be a first, as vampires were naturally solitary creatures. If that were the case, and he prayed that it wasn’t, how could they solve this crime when there was no possible way that Otherworlders and humans could work peacefully together?

There was too much fear there, too much hatred. From both sides.

His cell phone took that moment to vibrate in his pocket. He didn’t need to be psychic to know that Baron Laal Bask had beaten him to the punch again.

Caine flipped open the phone. “Valorian.”

He listened for a moment, not getting a chance to say anything. After a few minutes, he flipped his phone closed and slid it back into his pocket. The situation had just taken a turn from bad to disastrous.

“What’s the word, Chief? Do you have to make an appearance in the baron’s office?”

Jace asked, with a chuckle. He wouldn’t miss a chance to bug Caine about his ongoing feud with the baron.

Caine turned toward his team and rubbed his eyes with his fingers, a headache starting to brew. “Get ready, my friends.” He licked his lips and met their gazes. “They’re sending in a liaison on this case tomorrow. A transfer from another lab.”

Jace frowned. “But there isn’t another lab in Necropolis.”

“No, but there is in San Antonio.”

Jace jumped out of his chair. “We’re getting a human in our lab?”

Caine just nodded. He was too disconcerted to voice an opinion, as of yet. The news was still trying to sink in. He had thought he was finished dealing with the human race. Had hoped.

“Why don’t they just stick pins in our eyes? It would be easier to deal with.” Jace paced in front of Caine, his shoulders hunched and his hands clenched angrily.

“I’m sure it won’t be that bad, Jace,” Gwen commented.

“Like hell it won’t be.” Jace turned and snarled at Gwen. “I pity the poor sap that walks into this lab. He has to have some big balls to think he can just stroll in here and be welcome. Because I don’t play well with humans.”

Caine eyed his team member. No, none of them played well with humans. They all had their sad, sordid histories before coming to Necropolis. A human had wronged every single one of them in some way. However, they needed help if they were going to solve this case and avoid persecution from the outside world. If this human had the resources to help them, he would take it, regardless of how he felt.

E ve Grant walked down the drab hallway with her chin up. The soft clink of her high heels echoed off the graying walls. Tucking a stray blond hair behind her ear again, she tried not to stare at her two beefy lycan bodyguards and the vampire baron walking ahead of her.

He glanced over his shoulder at her and smiled, his straight, white, elongated fangs flashing at her. She gave him a half smile. Why did she ever volunteer for this job? She was not strong enough for this. No research in the world could have possibly prepared her for what she was getting herself into. Why did she have to open her big fat mouth at the emergency lab meeting and say that working in the OCU would be no big deal?