Master of Shadows by Knight Angela

Author:Knight, Angela [Knight, Angela]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Berkley
Published: 2011-08-01T14:00:00+00:00

Belle stared down at what was left of Emma Jacobs, her stomach tying itself into a sick, sour knot. Morgana crouched beside the body, both hands spread wide as she conducted a magical autopsy, sensing both every injury the woman had suffered and when they’d occurred.

Justice stood just behind her, staring down at Emma with an appalled expression on his handsome face. Belle had brought him in so that he could report what he saw to his council, since they’d probably refuse to believe anything the Magekind had to say. Arthur stood next to the werewolf, looking grim as his hand rode Excalibur’s hilt. He’d sheathed the weapon, but he looked as if he badly wanted to draw it and start hacking at something.

Morgana’s fingers traced the air over the ragged edges of the hole in Emma’s abdomen. “This bite was postmortem,” she said, voicing the conclusion Belle had already drawn. “It appears this is the wound that killed her.” She gestured, indicating the woman’s forearm. It was crushed and mangled despite Emma’s armor.

“See those puncture wounds, Morgana?” Belle said. “It looks as though it bit her arm and just held on.”

“She fought back pretty hard,” Tristan said, gesturing at the arcs of blood that splashed across the room. “Judging by the smell, a lot of this blood is the creature’s.”

Justice crouched to eye the distance between the two puncture wounds the beast’s fangs had left. “Damn. That’s not a typical Direwolf bite. The thing must have a head the size of a grizzly’s.”

“No shit,” Tristan growled, in a thoroughly foul mood. “We told you it did.”

The werewolf leaned down over Morgana’s shoulder and sniffed, frowning. “Does that bite smell like the one that killed Cherise to you?”

Morgana rose to walk around the body, studying it. “Could be the same death spell, though it worked far more quickly. Otherwise, this wound would not have killed her so fast.”

“My human nose isn’t worth a damn.” Magic detonated around Justice as he shifted to Dire Wolf form. He didn’t appear to notice how everyone else tensed. Going to one knee, he lowered his head over Emma’s arm and drew in a deep breath.

He promptly jerked back his head, as if he’d smelled something rotten. “This wound smells corrupted, as if the bite was poison. And the magic is rank.”

“Death magic smells like that,” Tristan told him.

Belle turned away, grief weighing at her. Poor Noah. Both parents gone. She bent to pick up one of the books that lay scattered and crushed on the floor. As she opened it, she frowned. It was one of Emma’s spell books. “Where’s the magic?”

“What?” Arthur looked up at her.

“This is one of Emma’s spell books, but the magic is completely drained from it.” She traced the deep punctures in its cover. “It’s as if the wolf drank its magic like a vampire drinking blood.”

“You’re right.” Morgana’s eyes widened. “There should be magic lingering around Emma’s body even now, but there’s nothing. It drained her dry.”

“Remember how it seemed to bite into your shield?” Tristan asked.

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