Blood Is Forever by Asta Idonea

Author:Asta Idonea [Idonea, Asta]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: NineStar Press, LGBT, fantasy, Fae, vampires, witches, half-breed, demons, homicide, law enforcement
Publisher: NineStar Press
Published: 2019-04-15T00:00:00+00:00

IT TOOK NINE cans of energy drink to get Holden to London. By the time he’d made it home, got changed, and departed, he caught all the rush-hour traffic heading into the city. Sitting immobile in queues for minutes at a time wasn’t helping him keep tired eyes open. Hence the multiple caffeine shots. They did the trick—maybe too well. He was buzzing when he parked close to the address Owens had provided. Or maybe it was an adrenaline rush.

He knocked, surprised at the lack of activity around the building, thinking he’d made an error. However, he knew he was in the right place when Owens answered the door.

“Where is everybody?” He stepped inside and glanced around. The interior of the house was as deserted as the street.

“I sent them back to the office temporarily. I thought you’d prefer to take a look without being subject to scrutiny yourself.”

It was only as the wave of relief swept through him that Holden acknowledged how on edge he’d been. “Thanks, Captain.”

Owens suddenly lurched forward and enveloped him in a hug. She seemed as taken aback by the action as he was, however, for he had barely moved to return the embrace before she pulled away and focused on a point to the left of his head.

“I’m glad to see you looking well. Country air must agree with you. Come on. Let’s get this over with.”

Holden followed Owens down the hallway and up the stairs. The scene that greeted him in the bedroom was both familiar yet foreign. He saw at once what Raoul had meant when he’d called last month’s attack ‘sloppy’. That descriptor was apt for this scene too. Blood had sprayed everywhere, and the wound in the victim’s chest was jagged and messy.

“We already did the blood work,” Owens said, “but no luck on an ID. She saw the guy, but he wore a balaclava.”

“He doesn’t have a steady hand, whoever he is. Or else he doesn’t care.”

Something else occurred to him. “These are more like the Ripper murders—the added sense of aggression and pleasure in his task, the lack of precision. If we didn’t already have a killer for those, I would think this was our man.”

“We don’t.”

“But…Blackwood?”

“Never confessed to the human deaths. I’ve seen the interview transcripts. He denied knowledge of them the one time the question was put to him. No one bothered to mention it again. Those deaths weren’t even raised during the trial.”

“You think he was telling the truth?”

Owens shrugged. “You were closer to him than I was.” She quickly glanced away. “But I don’t see why he’d freely admit to the others and yet refute those, unless he really had nothing to do with them.”

“I agree.”

There was a pause. Holden knew they were both thinking about just how close he’d been to Blackwood, if only briefly. It wasn’t a subject upon which he wished to linger, so he returned his attention to the crime scene, focusing on what other clues the room had to offer.

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