Moon Sworn (Riley Jenson Guardian 9)

And that's when I felt it - the rush of power, the chill of death. There was a soul here.

I scanned the park again, trying to pinpoint the soul's location. There was nothing obvious - no wispy, insubstantial form, no obvious focal point for the energy that was washing across my skin.

"Have we got an ID on the victim yet?" I asked softly.

I felt rather than saw the sharpening of interest from Cole. "His name is Wayne Johnson. He was released from prison a week ago."

"His crime?"

"Murder. I requested the trial records, but they haven't been sent through yet. He served twenty-five years."

Then it had to be a nasty crime, because the average sentence wasn't usually that long - unless you were a nonhuman, and then the sentence was death.

"I'm betting he strangled his victim." It would certainly explain the method of his demise as well as the bitter taste in the air.

"I agree," Cole said, "and it would certainly be worth finding out who he killed, and where the victim's relatives were during the early hours of the morning. You never know; it might turn out to be an easily solved case for a change."

I snorted at the improbability of that and turned, my gaze moving to the strand of trees behind us. There in the softening shadows drifted a fragile wisp no bigger than a handkerchief.

The soul.

I walked toward it. My ability to communicate with the dead was still growing, and most souls could now gain shape and talk quite coherently. Of course, it was my strength they were drawing on to materialize, and it had reached the point where the mere act of talking to the spirit world could leave me weak both in body and mind. But it was a weakness I was willing to endure if it meant catching a break and solving a crime.

Not that this soul was drawing much energy at the moment. He might be here, but I had a feeling he was of two minds about speaking.

The closer I got to him, the colder it got, until it felt like fingers of ice were creeping into my bones. No one could really explain why these souls brought the chill of the underworld with them, but the general consensus was that it had something to do with them being in between - neither here nor in heaven or hell. Or wherever else it was that souls went to.

As I stepped into the ring of trees, his soul retreated, and fear swirled through the ice of the afterworld. I stopped.

"Why are you lingering here, Wayne Johnson, if not to speak?"

The wispiness that was the soul seemed to pause and then the energy flowing from me surged, the suddenness of it making me gasp.

Why? His voice was guttural, harsh, as it flowed through my mind. Why did this happen? I paid for my crime. They should have left me alone. It's not fair that I should pay twice.

I couldn't argue the validity of that without knowing who and how he'd killed. I'd learned over the years there were some crimes that deserved nothing less than death, but whether this man's did wasn't the point. "I'm here to find your killer, Mr. Johnson. But to do that, you need to talk to me."

For a moment he didn't answer, but the chill continued to grow until my fingers and nose ached with the fierceness of it. Energy continued to flow out of me, building in the air, giving him the strength to speak.

I didn't really see him, he admitted after a moment. He was wearing a mask.

"Are you sure it was a mask?"

Yeah. I saw the elastic around his head, like. He snorted, and the sound reverberated sharply inside my head. And he was wearing these weird things around his feet that made him run funny.

Cloven-shaped heels for his shoes, perhaps? But why would someone adopt such a disguise when it was only more likely to catch the attention of anyone who might be watching?

"Why didn't you fight him, Mr. Johnson?"

I couldn't. He sprayed something into my face. The next thing I know, I'm up in these trees with a wire around my neck and the bastard is choking me.

Weakness began to pull at my muscles, and that meant I'd better hurry before he drained me too far. That was the one big fear I had - that these souls would drag me into the shadowy depths with them if I wasn't careful. And that dark part inside of me whispered that it might be easier, that eternal darkness was better than eternal pain.

But I couldn't do that to my brother or to Quinn. No matter how tempting it might seem.

Besides, Jack kept reassuring me that it wasn't likely to happen, even if no one really knew how far this skill would develop, let alone what dangers might be involved.

"So, Mr. Johnson, he approached you from the front rather than behind?"