Autopsy of a Fairytale by Nicole Scarano

Author:Nicole Scarano
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Tags: Mystery, Paranormal, Crime, Romance, Fantasy, Suspense, Thriller
Published: 2023-03-12T04:00:00+00:00

Bel stared at her phone, thumb hovering over her father’s number. She needed to call him. To tell him this case was drowning her in fear. He would understand. He wouldn’t judge her. Her dad was the person she trusted most. They were cut from the same cloth, and he would never betray her trust. But it wasn’t just her anxiety that kept her thumb from pressing his contact. The hesitation was darker, more complicated, and she was afraid of the truth. Unwilling to admit that the nightmares went beyond her fears.

Hiding in her terror was something else. Something new and equally unnerving. The black eyes. Their severity haunted her, and her instincts recognized Eamon Stone as evil. Every cell in her bones knew that a thirst for darkness simmered beneath his skin. With every molecule that vibrated within her heart, she knew he wanted her, but that was not the unsettling part. No, what shook Bel to her core was the fact that while Eamon Stone was the monster she was bred to hunt, she couldn’t resist his call. He was her siren, her song in the deep.

“Cerberus?” Bel tossed her phone onto the bed and grabbed her leggings. “Want to go for a walk?”

The pitbull raced to the front door, tail whipping as if it was a propeller readying to launch him into flight. Bel laughed and shimmied into a sports bra before grabbing a tank top. It was hot outside, and revealing sportswear never used to embarrass her, but even running alone in the woods did not assuage her new insecurities over the scars that ran from her neck, down her chest to her stomach. They were thin pink stripes now, hardly noticeable, but she still let no one see them, so despite the heat, she donned long leggings and a shirt as armor.

Clicking on the dog’s harness, Bel shoved her feet into sneakers, and then the two of them exploded into the early morning air. This was her favorite part of living in Bajka. A workout in the city meant traffic and sidewalks and crowds, but here, it was endless trails and peace behind her house. She loved these moments with her dog and couldn’t imagine how frustrating it would be to lug a seventy-pound pitbull down four flights of stairs to the sidewalk just for a potty break.

The detective and her best friend plunged into the forest, and watching Cerberus chase squirrels, Bel almost forgot about her nightmares until the fur on the dog’s neck bristled. His bulky muscles went rigid, and then she felt it prick her skin with icy awareness. Someone was following them.

Bel and Cerberus’ eyes scanned the trees, but they were alone. There was no sound save her thundering heart. “Hello?” She clutched his leash tighter, but only the sounds of the forest answered her. They stood motionless for a moment, but when nothing happened, she gave the dog a gentle tug. “Come on, buddy, let’s go home.”

They turned back toward her cabin, but a twig snapped.

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