Kiss of the Vampire(2)

Under the setting sun the blood appeared dark and dull on the victim’s face and streaked the once beautiful but now grimy blond hair. Vacant blue eyes, clouded over, still held a look of surprise in their depths. In death her fangs hadn’t retracted, the tips resting against her lower lip.

Nix’s heart gave a thump. She knew this victim. Amarinda Novellus. Nix would never have thought she would see her like this. She blew out a breath and lifted the tarp higher to see more of the body. What was once designer clothing hung in bloody tatters. The rib cage gaped open, some of the bones broken. Most of the victim’s internal organs were gone. One leg lay bent beneath her at an unnatural angle. Her right arm was at her side, palm down, while the left one was bent above her head. All of her fingers were gone; no doubt her attackers had removed them to hide the bits of flesh and blood Amarinda had gouged out of them with her nails. Deep slashes scored her forearms, her thighs. She hadn’t gone down easily.

There were any number of preternaturals with the capacity and the desire to do this sort of thing, but the suspects greatly decreased when victimology was taken into account. Vamps were strong. Really strong. And fast. Even alone, this one should have been able to defend herself against almost anything.

Except there’d obviously been no defense against whatever had done this to her. At this point it was difficult to tell whether she’d been gutted by claws or knives.

A pair of men’s scuffed brown shoes moved into Nix’s field of vision. She glanced up past a potbelly to the ruddy face of one of the assistant medical examiners. “George. How’re you doing?”

The porcine shifter scratched the side of his nose with a stubby finger. “Can’t complain. Wouldn’t do any good if I did.”

“Family all right?” she asked. “Your youngest just went off to college, right? How does she like it so far?”

A broad grin creased his face. “Family’s fine, and my baby’s lovin’ the college life. Worries me a little,” he muttered, his smile losing some of its brightness. Knees cracked as he squatted next to her. “Helluva thing,” he said with a slight gesture toward the body.

“Yeah.” Nix sighed. “What d’ya got?”

“Murder by person or persons unknown. Just like the one yesterday.” At her exasperated look he shrugged. “What do you want from me?” He gestured the length of the body. “She’s been cut open and disemboweled. The how of it I’ll know once I get her on the table. The why of it’s your job. I can tell you she fed within the last twenty-four hours. That’s determined by how soft and pink her skin is.” He reached out and lifted her upper lip. “See how red her gums are? That shows she’s fed recently, too.” He let her lip fall back into place. “’Course, it could be that she took a long draw from the bastards that did this to her. I can’t say for certain.” He paused, shaking his head, then blew out a sigh. “It’s a damned shame.” He stood with a groan and stretched his back. “The boys should be here shortly to collect her. I’ll let you know what I find out from the autopsy.”

Nix watched him amble off and then looked back down at Amarinda. As with the earlier victim, there weren’t any visual clues that she could see on the body, but maybe there was some scent left. Nix leaned forward slightly. Just as she started to draw a breath to focus on the various odors from the body, a spicy, woodsy scent tickled her nostrils. A man moved into her peripheral vision and hitched up his black slacks to hunker down beside her.

“Nice of you to come,” Detective Dante MacMillan murmured, shooting her a sidelong glance. Dante had been assigned to the Special Case Squad only a month ago. Even though it usually took her a while to warm up to people enough to call them friends, she and Dante had been on several cases together already and she knew he was a man of deep integrity and an abiding sense of justice. Plus he made her laugh. Nix wouldn’t hesitate to name him as a friend, even after such a short amount of time.

She grimaced. “I came as soon as I got the call.” Damned werebear dispatcher had a thing about demons, and he always waited until the very last minute to call her about a new case, making sure she strolled on to the scene later than everyone else. She’d probably hear about it from her bosses afterward.

“I’ve been here ten minutes. First officer on scene secured the site and started jotting down makes, models, and license plate numbers of cars on the street.” He clasped his hands between his knees. “I have uniforms doing a canvas of the area. So far no witnesses. At least none that want to tell us what they know.”