Blood of the Demon

Chapter 6

“You are worried.”

I nestled against Rhyzkahl’s chest, the weight of his arm around me a comfort. The sun pierced the broad canopy of the tree we sat beneath, casting a shifting lace of light across us. I could feel the warmth of his breath on the top of my head and I closed my eyes, relishing the exquisite peace of the moment. I didn’t want to respond to him, and besides, it didn’t feel like a question.

But he straightened, ignoring my little whine of protest as he pulled his arm away from me, and stood. I scowled up at him. “I was comfortable.”

“Comfort is a trap,” he responded.

I stood and brushed leaves from my dress. It was a lovely creation of dark-blue brocaded silk, with a scattering of jewels sewn onto a plunging bodice. I felt as if it was a favorite, though there was a faint part of me that knew I’d never seen it before. “Of course I’m worried. I miss my aunt, and something’s eating essence.”

“And I would be pleased to give you such aid as to ease your worry.”

I gave him a sour look. “Give? You don’t just give anything. You’re a demon.”

“Not all prices are onerous.” As if to prove his point, he moved to me, pushing me back against the tree and capturing my mouth in a kiss. His hands braceleted my wrists over my head as his lips shifted from my mouth to my throat. I dropped my head back, groaning as heat flushed through me.

“I do not ask for more than you can give, dear one,” he murmured against my skin. He continued to hold my wrists, tightening very slightly when I tried to shift his hold. His teeth grazed my neck, and a shiver raced through me. “I can show you what you are truly capable of.”

“Yes,” I whispered. “Show me.”

He lifted his head, triumph flashing in his eyes, then abruptly released me and straightened. “The sun is rising,” he said, which made no sense, since the sun was high in the sky. He frowned. “This will not be comfortable for you, but it will get easier.”

I came awake with a shuddering gasp as nausea twisted through my body. I sucked in my breath, hands tightening in the sheets as a sensation like the worst hangover I’d ever had rolled over me, literally feeling as if it started at my head and rolled down throughout my body to my toes. Nausea and headache and weakness, and then it was gone, leaving me sweating and shaking, even though it had lasted perhaps only half a dozen heartbeats.

I took an uneasy breath and slowly sat up, images and sensations from the dream shimmering through my head and already beginning to fade like fog under a rising sun. Had that really been just a dream? He’d seemed to know that I was about to feel like shit. But, then again, I could think of countless times when my alarm clock had been incorporated into my dream right before I’d woken, so maybe that was the same kind of thing.

Through my bedroom window I could see that dawn was turning the eastern sky orange and purple, and I abruptly realized what had happened. The potencies had shifted from lunar to solar, and my link with Kehlirik had to re-form. I took another deep breath, nausea all but gone now. Okay, that sucked major ass. Did Kehlirik feel that too?

I glanced at my clock and sighed. It was barely past six a.m., which meant that I’d managed to get only about four hours of sleep.

Complete with a dream about Rhyzkahl. I’m dreaming about him only because Kehlirik mentioned him. That’s all. He was just on my mind.

Suuuure.

I thought about sticking my head under the pillow and trying for more sleep, but the beeping of the pager on my nightstand derailed that line of thought.

I sighed and scrolled through the message: Signal 29, Ruby Est. A death—but at least not a murder, since the signal for that was a 30. So it was someone who had died from either an accident or illness. Hopefully that meant it would be a nice and simple open-and-shut case, but even as I thought it, I knew I was probably jinxing myself.

THE ADDRESS WAS for a section of Beaulac that I very seldom had cause to go into. Ruby Estates was the elite neighborhood for people who had more money than they knew what to do with. It was a gated community with its own security service—though, like any other security service, it was mostly staffed by the kind of people who could be hired for eight dollars an hour. All of the lots were on or near the lakefront, at least an acre in size, and the neighborhood in general was lovely, wooded, and quiet. I had no doubt that there was a fair measure of drug use and domestic violence within the walls in this subdivision, but it was kept quiet enough that we seldom got called out to deal with it.

The address wasn’t hard to find. It was the one with several police cars and an ambulance in front of it—far more attention than any regular person would ever get for a slip and fall. But this was the house of Parish Councilman Davis Sharp and a stunning example of what shit-loads of money could do for you. Davis Sharp had cleared the majority of the trees off his land so that everyone driving by could see his three-story mansion—complete with an absurdly broad staircase that swept up to the second level like some plantation gone mad. Personally, I thought it was a hideous waste of what was surely a few million dollars. But, then again, I lived in a house with peeling paint in the middle of nowhere, so who was I to judge?

In addition to being a parish councilman, Davis Sharp was a prominent restaurateur and had been making noises about running for the open congressional seat in the district. He was charismatic and well connected, and his restaurant, Sharp’s, was where people went to be seen in St. Long Parish.

It wasn’t technically a crime scene, but the front yard had been cordoned off anyway, yellow crime-scene tape flapping sluggishly in the dull breeze that drifted off the lake. I had to admit it was a lovely view, though the serenity of the lake stood in sharp contrast to the police vehicles lined up along the driveway. I also couldn’t help wishing that the breeze would pick up a bit. I’d thrown on my standard detective garb of dress slacks and tailored short-sleeved blouse, accessorized with gun and badge. No jacket. Not in this heat. It was barely eight a.m., and already I could feel sweat prickling under my arms.

I ducked under the tape, eager to get inside the house—more for the promise of air-conditioning than from a desire to get started on the investigation. A uniformed officer stood by the door with his arms crossed over his chest and an intensely bored expression on his tanned face. Allen Demma had close to twenty years with the department—a corporal who would probably never be promoted any higher. In fact, he’d been a corporal when I first started on the road. He was great at following orders and abiding by the rules, but he just didn’t have the drive to be a leader of others. Personally I didn’t think he’d be with the department much longer. I knew he was approaching burnout and was frustrated at being repeatedly passed over for promotion. On the other hand, he wasn’t old enough to draw retirement yet, and I had no idea what someone like him—who’d been a cop his entire life—would do for a living if he left law enforcement.

I didn’t like thinking about what I would do if I ever decided to stop being a cop. It was so much a part of who I was that I had a hard time imagining doing anything else.

“Hey, Allen,” I said. “Whatcha got?”

Allen gave me a small nod of greeting as he pulled his notebook out of the pocket in his shirt. “Davis Sharp was last seen alive by the maid, Auri Cordova, last night. She cooked dinner, then left at about six p.m.,” he recited, tone flat and clipped. “At approximately five this morning, she returned and let herself in and found Sharp on the floor of the shower in the master bathroom, the water still running. She shut the water off and realized that he was dead, at which time she called 911.”

I made notes of my own on my pad. “Thanks, Allen. Is there a Mrs. Sharp?”

He glanced at his notebook again. “The maid said that Mr. Sharp informed her that Elena Sharp left the day before yesterday to spend some time at their condo in Mandeville. The coroner’s office has already been in touch with Mrs. Sharp and made notification.”

I frowned. “Do you know if Mrs. Sharp is on her way back?”

“No idea. Sorry.”

“All right. Well, I appreciate it. You’ve been a big help.”

He gave a short nod of response. I bet he was recently passed over for promotion again. I couldn’t think of anything I could say to him, so I took the easy way out and said nothing as I continued on into the house.

There were a couple of uniformed officers inside, who directed me upstairs to the master bedroom, then returned to their deep discussion of LSU football. The house was even more impressive on the inside. Wallpaper that looked like expensive fabric, marble floors, dark-wood molding, and all of the lovely decorative pieces that were perfectly placed to draw the eye to the next lovely decorative piece. The stairs were grand and sweeping—the sort you see in movies where the beautiful woman comes slowly down while being admired by everyone below. I made my way up the stairs, feeling oddly conspicuous and out of place—grimacing at the way I clumped and certain that everyone was watching me. I even glanced back when I reached the top and was stupidly relieved to see that no one had paid the slightest bit of attention.

The second floor was more of the same as the first, with window dressings that matched the bedding in the master bedroom, and a bathroom that seemed to take up one entire side of the house. It was to that bathroom that I was directed now.

I’d never met Davis Sharp in person and had never been flush enough to be willing to drop the cash that an evening at his restaurant would cost me, but I’d seen enough pictures of him in the society section of the newspaper to know that he’d been a well-styled man with a very professional appearance, as one would expect of an aspiring politician. Which, of course, made his current situation all the more jarring and definitely snicker-inducing, though everyone on the scene was being exceedingly careful not to let their amusement show, at the risk of being slammed for it later.

It took me a few seconds of puzzled staring to figure out what had happened. I finally decided that Councilman Sharp had either slipped and hit his head or passed out in the shower, managing to fall so that he was facedown, wedged into the corner, with his chin nearly touching his chest and his ass sticking nearly straight up in the air. I’d seen a couple of cases of positional asphyxiation before, and this one pretty much fit the bill.

But I saw those details only peripherally. My gut dropped and a chill swept through me as I felt the discordant wrongness. I shifted quickly into othersight to verify, seeing the tattered remnants of essence clinging to the body. Another one, I thought in numb horror. What the hell could be doing this? I knew that it couldn’t be my ilius, since it wasn’t possible for a demon to stay in this sphere without some sort of binding. But whatever it was, it wasn’t an isolated event anymore.

Could it possibly be another summoner? But summoners were rare, and the chances of another one being in this area and summoning a demon that could eat essence seemed too high to even comprehend.

So was it something else entirely? Frustration gnawed at me, briefly chasing away the horror. There was far too much that I didn’t know.

And whatever it is, what if there’s more than one?

I mentally shied away from thinking about how disastrous that could be and forced myself to concentrate on the mundane aspects of the investigation. I stepped back and pulled my notebook out so that I could jot down the notes I needed to make about the scene. The bathroom and bedroom were neat and tidy, and when I opened a closet I saw orderly rows of shirts and slacks, with shoes lined up precisely along the floor. A second closet was empty save for a few wooden hangers—the kind I told myself I would someday buy to replace the cheap metal ones I got for free from the cleaners. I went back into the bathroom and peered through drawers, finding nothing unusual except for the lack of anything feminine.

His wife went to their condo in Mandeville? I mused. Apparently it wasn’t just a weekend getaway. That was an interesting—and important—detail. I gave the bedroom area one final scan, then went down the hall to a smaller bedroom to speak to the maid.

She was shaken but coherent. I asked her a few quick identification questions, ignoring my near certainty that she was an illegal immigrant and instead being grateful that she spoke damn good English. Auri had worked for the Sharps for the past two years—coming in to cook and clean on Mondays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. Except that this week she’d come Friday as well, at Davis Sharp’s request. She seemed terribly nervous, which I wrote off as concern that I would make an issue of her status, but when I gave her my standard “I’m far more interested in working this case than dealing with immigration issues” speech, she surprised me by shaking her head firmly.

“No. I no worry about that. It Mr. Sharp,” she said, gesturing with a fluttering hand toward the bedroom. “He bad upset yesterday.”

“Because of his wife?”

“Sí. Miss Elena go Thursday morning and take all her things. But that not all.”

“What else was there?”

“Another lady come over Thursday after Miss Elena go. I hear her talk to Mr. Sharp, then they go upstairs.” She pursed her lips in clear disapproval. “A few minute later he come down and tell me I can go, ask me to come back Friday because Miss Elena not coming back and he need laundry and cooking.”

I blinked. “Hold on. Have you ever seen this woman here before?”

She shook her head slowly. “No … I no think so. I come most time in morning and see Miss Elena go out for walks with ladies from neighborhood, but I no think this lady one of those. But yesterday I come here again. I clean house and cook dinner like Mr. Sharp want, but he no look happy. He stay upstairs most of day. This other lady come and let herself in back door, then she go upstairs like she live here.” Auri scowled and shook her head. “Mr. Sharp, he lean out bedroom door and shout down to me, tell me I can go early.” She spread her hands and shrugged. “I leave dinner in fridge and go.” Her lower lip trembled. “I come today, I see dinner still in fridge. Then I go to bedroom to pick up laundry. I hear water, so I think he in shower. I clean, start laundry, and water still running. It been almost hour, so I call for him, then I look … I think he hurt real bad. I see him in shower, on floor, and he no breathing.” Tears welled up in her eyes. “I turn off water and call police.”

I pressed her for any further details or a description of the woman, but Auri apparently had caught only a fleeting glimpse of the woman as she went upstairs. Light hair, slender figure, dressed in what looked like expensive clothes. And that describes half the female population of this subdivision, I thought in mild annoyance. I finally got as much contact information as I could from her and let her leave.

So, was Sharp getting some action on the side? If so, how long had it been going on? And was that why his wife left? And had this other woman come back later?

I returned to the bathroom, drawn back to the body despite the wrongness of it. I had to clench my hands to keep them from shaking. Could it just be me? Is it my judgment that’s out of whack?

I let out an unsteady breath as I took a mental step back, looking around the bathroom and the adjoining bedroom for any similarity at all to Brian Roth’s death. But nothing leaped out at me. Different neighborhoods, different class of victim.

Maybe a similar cause of death? Brian’s was an apparent suicide, but there were still a lot of questions, and until we found Carol we wouldn’t know anything for certain. And, on the surface, the Davis Sharp case looked as if it was going to be a garden-variety accident or possibly a heart attack, but the fact that his wife had apparently left him certainly added a twist. I had to keep in mind the possibility that this was a murder staged to look like an accident. I’d check with Jill later to see if Crime Scene found anything suspicious, and I’d also check the maid out as much as I could.

I heard Crawford come up behind me, making a noise in the back of his throat at the sight of Sharp’s still-damp rear end.

“Nice view. Got anything yet, Kara?” he asked as he took in the scene.

“Just some basics so far.” I gave him a quick rundown, then closed my notebook, my gaze inexorably drawn back to the body. The emptiness seemed to mock me, and now I couldn’t help but wonder if maybe I was seeing wrongness in something that wasn’t wrong. Maybe something had changed in the way essence was released after death? Changed in the universe in general? Maybe this was happening to all bodies, not just the ones I’d seen yesterday and today. I hadn’t been on any death calls—natural or homicide—since my own “death.” Maybe crossing through the spheres had changed something in my perception?

No, that didn’t make any sense. The essence had obviously been ripped away as soon as death had loosened its grip. I could see the trailing threads, and I couldn’t imagine any possible way for that to occur naturally.

“Kara?” Crawford’s voice jerked me out of my thoughts. “Are you with me?” he said, a mixture of annoyance and worry in his voice.

I flushed and gave a sharp nod. “Yeah, Sarge. Sorry. Well, this looks like an accident, but his wife left him, and he might have been getting some action on the side, so it’s possible that there was something hinky going on. I’ll check the wife’s alibi and see if I can find out who this other woman was.”

“Sounds good.” He snorted. “Well, this is a prominent local businessman and parish councilman, so we jump through all of the damn hoops to figure out exactly how this guy ended ass end up in the fucking shower.”

I gave him the amused smile he expected, but I didn’t feel amused. I felt shaken. Shit, I needed to figure out if this essence loss was happening all over or just to a few people. And, once again, just like in the Symbol Man case, I couldn’t tell my supervisors what was really going on. Yeah, Sarge, I’m looking for a link between these two utterly unrelated cases because someone has eaten their souls. Yeesh.

Crawford sighed gustily. “All right, Kara. I know you already have Brian’s case to work, but that should be only paperwork. And with luck you’ll be able to wash your hands of this one pretty soon.” Then he snickered. “No pun intended.” He looked at me with a crooked grin. “Get it? Shower … wash …”

I lowered my head and gave him a look. “Go. Away.”

He grinned. “Okay. This one is hopefully a dumb accident with a rich fuck who slipped on some soap.” His eyes slid to Sharp’s naked ass. “And I’ll be behind you the entire way.”

I groaned. “Somebody shoot me, please.”

It was well past mid-morning by the time the scene was completely processed and the body carted away by the coroner’s office. The heat had risen to the point where I was damp with sweat from the short walk from the house to my car. I climbed in, deeply grateful that, by pure happenstance, I’d parked under a tree. Still, I cranked the AC to arctic levels and allowed the vents to blast me with air that was nowhere near arctic but was a damn sight cooler than the air outside.

I was just about to put the car into drive when I saw Crawford jogging up, a grim look on his face. I rolled the window down as he approached.

He stooped to look in at me. “Brian’s wife has been found.”

I could tell by his expression that she hadn’t been found alive. “Where?”

“City Hotel.” An expression of distaste crossed his face.

“What the fuck was she doing there?”

He exhaled. “That’s what you’re going to find out. I have to finish up a couple of things here, and then I’ll meet you over there.”

“You got it, Sarge.”