An exquisite scent drifted to him, and it drew his attention back to his pet. Lavender, frangipani, and poison ivy. And when she came close, he saw that her eyes were soft and lustrous, and her cheeks flushed with color. Would it make him an arrogant arse to believe that this was because she was pleased to see him?
With any other girl, that would indeed be the case, but with his pet and her emotionally distant ways…
Probably not.
“Good afternoon, milord.” His pet’s voice was a sound that was still wonderfully and uniquely her own. Lace soft and hauntingly serene, innocent still, but something had changed, too. A whisper of allure, Mihail thought, that only a woman who knew the pleasures of flesh could only possess.
“Good afternoon, milady.” He waited for her to ask of his whereabouts last night, but she did not. She was indeed every inch the perfect pet, one he did not deserve…
Rhapsody was startled when the marquis suddenly cupped her chin and place a quick hard kiss on her mouth.
When Mihail pulled back, he saw that his pet was gazing up at him with wonder.
“How unexpected,” his pet marveled as she took the arm he offered, and they began to walk.
“What’s unexpected?”
“Your spontaneous kisses,” she explained. “I did not realize how strongly attracted you were to what’s Not Normal.”
Mihail was exasperated. “It’s not—-”
His pet looked up at him expectantly.
Ah, fuck it.
If such a thought was what gave his pet a sense of security as his pet and heartkeeper, then he was fine with having her think he was a pervert.
“Where are we going, milord?” Rhapsody thought to ask as the marquis helped her into a carriage, a sleek, black model with a discreet emblem of the House of Sangre’s coat of arms at the back.
“I received a message from the authorities,” Mihail murmured. “Their chief coroner has returned from Brimstone. He shall be performing the autopsy today. I thought you’d like to be present while he presents his findings.”
“It would be nice to have additional proof that I was not his killer,” his pet remarked.
Mihail casually turned his gaze towards the window so as not to be tempted to smile. While his pet had a point, the placid tone in which she uttered the words had made it seem as if she was discussing something as trivial as the weather.
It was a fairly short ride to the headquarters of the Enforcers, and its facade deceptively nondescript: an old stone building located across the Office of Citizen Affairs and with nary a signage to identify it.
The marquis’ coachman steered his horses towards a narrow passageway that led to the building’s side entrance, a sturdy-looking metal door illuminated by the torch burning brightly on each of its side. An Enforcer, his assignation made recognizable by the uniform he wore, came out while the marquis was helping Rhapsody out of the carriage.
After bowing to them in greeting, the officer wasted no time in escorting them straight to the mortuary, where the chief coroner was already busy dissecting the corpse.
“Come forward, milord…” The coroner’s bushy brows shot up when he saw Rhapsody. “Milady.”
Mihail’s pet curtsied in answer to the greeting, and the marquis could very well relate when the coroner started coughing. Here they were, surrounded by dead bodies, and yet his pet acted no different from how she usually was when being introduced in balls and such.
Seeing that the coroner was still in a laughing coughing fit, the marquis took over introductions and simply presented his pet as Lady Rhapsody Norwood.
“I am Sir Rudolph Mulligan, a baronet from one of Lunare’s bear packs.” The coroner, now recovered, responded in a gruff tone.
“Thank you for making time for us,” Mihail said, knowing that the man had yet to rest from his journey.
“It is of no trouble. I enjoy my job—-” Rudolph paused, realizing only at that moment how strange and suspicious this would sound, considering his line of work. But when he glanced at the marquis’ companion, the young lady was actually nodding in seeming assent.
How eccentric, Rudolph thought, but delightfully so, and it was nice to see a man such as the marquis appreciating a girl like her. Might be an interesting story there, too, he pondered, but that was something to think about for another day. For now, work beckoned.
“As you can see here…” The coroner used his scalpel to point at where the victim’s throat had been slit open. “I can say with absolute certainty that this isn’t self-inflicted. The slice is too clean, almost delicate in its precision, and such a manner requires time. If this were self-inflicted, you would not even reach the halfway mark before your hand starts shaking and the wound starts becoming a little jagged.”
Rudolph placed the scalpel back on the tray. “I have examined the rest of the victim’s body thoroughly but have found nothing of note. No bite marks from a shapeshifter, no puncture wounds to indicate the involvement of vampires…”