Seven Faceless Saints by M. K. Lobb

Author:M. K. Lobb
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags:  
Publisher: Titan Books

21

ROZ

Roz sashayed through the long grass, avoiding the main path leading away from the Palazzo. Kiran and Noemi had let her go without ceremony, and although she’d given them a cheerful goodbye, inside she felt jittery. Full of restless energy.

Chief Magistrate Forte was involved in these murders. She knew it with a certainty rooted deep in her bones. His behavior had been odd—she could still remember his unusual anxiety at the Basilica. He wouldn’t show the coroner’s reports to anyone else, and parts of them had been redacted, likely at his request.

It was a good thing she’d decided to work without Damian. He never would have believed Forte was involved.

To Roz’s profound relief, she didn’t see anyone save a few unfavored citizens as she headed toward the city center. It was equal parts strange and disturbing to watch how they veered away from her—an instinctual reaction to the uniform she still wore. The soft morning light had faded, giving way to dark clouds threatening to release a torrent at any moment. Roz tilted her chin up as they crept across the sky. She needed to get home.

Tired of being gaped at, and worried she might come across a real security officer, she decided to take the less public route. Avoiding the main roads increased her likelihood of getting caught in the rain, but it was better than coming across someone who might recognize her.

Thunder rumbled in the distance, and Roz quickened her pace. This particular road took her directly past one of the public prayer gardens, but she couldn’t imagine anyone would be there given the impending storm. She ducked her head, intending to dart past, then stopped.

Roz had never paid much attention to the statues in the garden, though she knew they were meant to symbolize the six saints. She also knew there was a patch of dead grass where Chaos once stood.

Today, however, there was something occupying that patch of grass.

Something that looked horribly like a person, lying flat on their back.

Despite the jolt of panic that shot through her, Roz continued her approach, squinting at the figure. When she reached the center of the garden, her heart nearly leapt out of her chest.

“Shit,” she forced out, stumbling backward.

It was obvious the woman was dead. She was too perfectly still to be anything else. Her head was tilted back, as if to look up at the sky, though her eyelids were closed. Roz felt for the woman’s pulse nonetheless, unable to help herself.

Nothing. She couldn’t have been dead long, though—her color was still relatively normal. With that thought, Roz swallowed her disgust and peeled back one of the woman’s eyelids.

She was met with only blackness. Just like the rest of the victims.

She uttered another string of curses. She couldn’t leave the woman here—she needed to tell someone. Damian, though, was out of the question. Who did that leave?

Head spinning, Roz backed away from the body, only to step on something that crunched beneath her heel.

Intrigue and hope replacing her dismay, she knelt to pick it up.

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