The Darkest Kiss (Riley Jenson Guardian 6)

"Friends don't use my first name."

And neither would his enemies, if that tone was anything to go by. "Thanks, Dobbs."

He nodded and got back to the gruesome task of collecting the smaller bits of flesh and fat globules that were still scattered about.

The wind hit me full force as I entered the top floor, blowing me back a step before I realized it. I shivered and collected the flyaway ends of my coat, quickly zipping it up. Thank God I'd had the chance to change - my blood-soaked dress would have left me frozen.

Kade and Cole were squatting near the rear of a blue Toyota four-wheel drive. Even from this distance, it was evident that neither man was happy.

I walked across, my boot heels clicking briefly against the concrete before the sound was rushed away by the wind. Neither man looked around, though both would have been aware of my presence.

"What's up?" I stopped behind Cole and bent to peer under the car. Something that resembled a bloody mess of flesh lay about halfway down.

Not the torso that matched the arm. That arm had been male. This mess was female.

Although I could really only tell that by the pretty gold charm bracelet that was somehow still attached to her visible arm.

"Two victims?" I said, hoping to God I was wrong.

"Two victims," Cole confirmed, rising and stripping off bloody gloves. "We think this one is unrelated."

I straightened and met the icy blue of his gaze. "As in wrong place, wrong time?"

"Unfortunately, yes."

"That's uncharacteristic, isn't it? I mean, she had witnesses when she did the shoe seller in the window, and she made no move against them."

"Given we are not dealing with anything remotely human, who's to say what is, and isn't, characteristic?" Cole motioned me to follow him.

I glanced at Kade, who was still studying the body intently, then spun and followed the wolf-shifter. I saw the second body long before we reached it. His torso was sprawled across the trunk of the sports car and there was a look of pure terror frozen on his face. Or what remained of it.

That expression said that this was a man who'd experienced the depths of hell in the midst of one of life's greatest pleasures.

I stopped and silently cataloged his injuries. The blood loss from the scratches alone would have been deadly enough, but she'd also ripped him apart limb by limb, leaving only his torso and head on top of the car's trunk.

I closed my eyes and fought the bile that rose up my throat. It wasn't as if I'd never seen bodies pulled apart like this before. I had, but that didn't mean seeing it again now made it any easier. I doubted it ever would.

"God," I said, voice thick.

"Yeah," Cole said. "I think she must have taken cat form to get out of here, because she would have been covered in blood after all this."

I dragged my gaze away from the body and looked around. "There would have to have been screams from both the victims. Surely someone heard them?"

Cole's expression was grim. "The local boys are interviewing the shopkeepers and the patrons. I doubt we're going to get anything."

"Then how was the body discovered?"

"A bit of the woman was flung over the side of the building. It hit a kitchen hand from the restaurant next door as he was dumping bags into the trash."

"Anyone talked to him yet?"

"I think he's been sedated." Cole grimaced. "He'll probably have nightmares for weeks, poor kid."

"He's not the only one." I rubbed my arms lightly, then stopped as power began to caress the air and an odd tingle raced across my skin.

Excitement surged. It wasn't just the escalation of the violence that was different with this crime scene.

"What?" Cole said softly.