The Poison Within: An Order Universe Short Story (Inspector Skaer Book 1) by Kasia Bacon

Author:Kasia Bacon [Bacon, Kasia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction
Publisher: Kasia Bacon
Published: 2017-03-17T18:30:00+00:00

CHAPTER THREE

THE NON-HUMAN ELEMENT

Since adolescence, people had judged me by the width of my shoulders, quick to deem me incapable of anything more than physical labour. Hard graft and living on the breadline never appealed to me; I had my share of it as a child. To escape my parents’ fate, I joined the gendarmes at fifteen.

But it wasn’t the only reason.

By nature, I’d always been an inquisitive sod, one to seek answers and ascertain motives. Besides, I liked the idea of justice served and balance restored. That sentiment prompted me, to a great extent, to become a lawman.

My fondness for asking questions explained why, after parting ways with Temper, I found myself heading towards Ÿben’s.

I encountered a few random checkpoints on my way to the town centre. The entire place bustled with Imperial soldiers looking purposeful.

Ÿben took his bloody time answering the door. I had my foot inside before he could blink. From the scowl he wore, I guessed my unannounced social call went unappreciated.

“Talk, elfling,” I barked at him. “About your Furia friend.”

“Inspector, you can’t—”

“Where is she?” I forced my way in and slammed the door behind me with the heel of my boot.

Ÿben stepped back and flattened himself against the wall.

The Furia’s tall figure appeared from around the back. She moved in the fluid, stealthy manner of a predator. Bloodstains marked the front of her clothes. Her upper lip lifted in warning and a display of teeth followed. The hair on the nape of my neck prickled at the bestial growl that came from her throat. I didn’t dare flex a muscle; I stood no chance if she chose to attack me.

Her luminous purple eyes clung to mine, and she spent a long moment examining me.

I wouldn’t say that her gaze made me shit myself exactly, but with three massacred bodies fresh in my memory, I drew damn near that territory.

Besides rage and hostility, something poignant lurked beneath her savage expression.

Despair.

“Tell me, human. Is there someone you love?” she rasped at last.

I blinked. The thought of Elly never slipped far from my mind.

Whatever emotions crossed my face must’ve satisfied her because her features mellowed. She summoned me with a jerky hand gesture. “Come.”

Wary and tense, I followed her.

Inside the dimly lit room, the Nymph lay on a makeshift bed, the side of her face a swollen mass of black and blue. A deep cut ran along her eyebrow, and a black sling covered her right arm. She looked frail and hardly conscious.

“They called her a forest whore. Then they took turns. Said it would teach her to appreciate men.” The Furia’s steel-cold voice lacked inflection. “I enjoyed killing them.”

I swallowed hard. I might’ve been a man of the law, but I understood her actions. At the thought of someone putting their hands on Elly that way, leaving him hurt and violated, a surge of rage iced over my veins. I stole another glimpse at the woman under the blankets.

Damn it all.

“Her name is Caylii,” supplied Ÿben, who’d slipped into the room.

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