“We don’t know what it looks like, but we’ve seen enough of its victims.” In front of him, Sir Richard clicked on the pointer for the next slide to show up on the wall, revealing human corpses whose eyes were gouged out, ears torn from their heads, and their tongues ground into pieces. But the worst thing about it was that these wounds were not mortal, and autopsy reports had showed that they had been made to suffer the pain until they had finally bled to death.
The human enforcers in their midst looked fit to throw up. Beside him, he heard Lord Erou suck in a deep breath in reaction, which didn’t surprise him. The baby vampire’s experience with human warfare might be considerable, but humans could never be as evil as demons.
On his other side, Katarina was still and silent, a figure from the most buried part of his past. Even though a month had already passed since she had come to work in LSL, Alexandru was still unable to unbend in her presence.
Once, he had thought he would be the happiest person alive if he were ever to be with her again. But now that she was here?
Even just thinking about it didn’t feel right, and Alexandru forcibly shoved all such thoughts to the back of his mind. There would be time enough for it later.
His gaze returned to the images on the wall. Every death was a game to these demons, a way to taunt those who wanted to banish them back to the underworld. And always, even without meaning to, they would leave behind a clue because that was how demons were. Arrogant and believing they were as perfect as God.
“Based on the data we’ve gathered, we’ve come to the conclusion that this demon is relatively young and needs to feed every week.”
Young, which meant it had only seen its first century on Earth. Young, which meant it might even be under the command of one knowledgeable in the black arts. Young, which meant it had something to prove and thus was willing to go where the older demons wouldn’t dare.
Alexandru looked at the images again, rearranging them in his mind like puzzle pieces until it all came together. Finally, the demon’s message became clear, and he murmured, “See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.” The passage was supposed to be a moral lesson, but trust the demon to have twisted it into something evil.
Everyone turned towards Alexandru.
“The wounds symbolize it,” Alexandru elaborated. He walked forward and tapped the victim’s missing eyes, ears, and tongue.
Lord Erou’s eyes widened in realization. “Guilt.” He glanced at the vampire hunter with grudging admiration. Such an angle would never have occurred to him. The only thing he had gleaned from the photos was that the demon was another sadistic creature, but so was the rest of its race.
Alexandru nodded. “It’s targeting humans burdened by guilt.”
“And I suppose the heavier the burden, the stronger the demon becomes,” Katarina murmured. “The question is – why would it come here? Key West isn’t exactly in the running to be the next Sin City.”
A frown settled on Sir Richard’s round face. “You are saying the demon has deliberately chosen this place then?”
“I think it’s the only plausible explanation. It wants something, and it doesn’t care about the consequences of its actions to have what it wants.” She gestured to the photos. “The more corpses humans have to analyze, the closer they will be to figuring out the truth. It’s only a matter of time before they exhaust all human angles and start thinking about the non-human ones. About the possibility that we exist.”
“Then what do you propose?” one of the enforcers asked. “We figure out what it wants and if it’s worth giving up, then we strike a compromise and let the demon have it?”
Katarina paled. “No, of course not.” She glanced at Alexandru, and the cold light in his emerald green eyes made her swallow.
“Then what are you suggesting?” another enforcer demanded.
Before she could answer, Alexandru said, “I would like to know the same thing as well.” Alexandru faced her fully. “And I hope you speak plainly this time, hunter.”
He saw Katarina flinch, but his frigid gaze on her didn’t ease. This woman might have once owned his heart – might even own it still – but that did not mean he would let her speak ill of his pet. Ever.
“Alexandru, I—-” She started to reach for him, but her hand slowly fell back to her side when she felt it.
Everyone felt it.
The air in the headmaster’s room, dropping to sub-zero temperatures—-
“If you believe my pet is to blame…” Alexandru’s voice was velvety soft, almost musical. “Then say so.”
Katarina paled.
She had heard that tone innumerable times before, but he had never used it with her, and she had never thought he would because when Alexandru had used it in the past, it was always just before he killed.