14. Chapter thirteen
Chapter thirteen:
Knox
“You heard the woman,” Maevin teased, leading the pair out of the bookstore. Knox leaned on his cane more as they stepped out into the evening sun. He replayed the encounter over in his head. She was there, she was real, she was within arm’s length. Like they’d never spent a moment apart, that spark was in his chest once more. This time, he wasn’t letting it get away. Not if she wanted him too, not if she felt the same spark. Fuck being a good guy, when had that ever gotten him anywhere? Knox wasn’t a good guy, and he wasn’t about to take the moral high road on this. Tonight, at the after party, if she said she felt it too…if she even gave him an inch, he was taking it.
“We’re going to the after party, but first…” he sighed, pulling out his phone. They had business to take care of first.
“Right, has Zavros found anything?” Maevin whirled to face the bookstore and watched as it began to lock up for the evening.
“Not yet, all of her records indicate he spent money on food. Just a whole bunch at grocery stores getting supplies, medical supplies, sheets, mattresses, etc. I had him look into Kyle’s house for those items but didn’t find anything. If he bought them for our vampire, he wasn’t staying at Kyle’s and we know Rick wasn’t buying it for Penny or the child, none of those items ended up at their house.” Knox scrolled through the updates Zavros had sent him. “I had him check for any housing or living spaces bought with Sandy’s identity, but I doubt it will be that easy.”
There was, however, one thing that bothered him. He pulled up Sandy’s home address and grabbed directions for it. Maevin furrowed his brow. “Why are we going to her place?”
“Zavros said it was ransacked, but it didn’t look like there was any struggle on her body, like he got her clean…so why rip up her place?” Knox cocked a brow, stepped off down the sidewalk. They had about two hours before the after party and Maevin had someone else following Amelia today, just in case. After he showed his hand, he was worried she would spot Maevin on spite alone.
“Fair,” Maevin sighed, clearly bemoaning his choice to follow Knox into the fray. Maevin tended to work best from the shadows. He looked like someone who enjoyed the limelight because that was part of the disguise. When he was working, no one could see him. Maevin was a chameleon.
They got to the apartment about thirty minutes later and ducked under bright orange tape from the Enforcers guild. Stepping inside, Knox crunched his boots over shattered glass. To his left, where a coffee table used to be, was a hollowed-out husk of pieces. To his right was a shattered mess of an apartment. The poor landlord would have to completely gut the place. There were shards of wood embedded in the ceiling and blood splashed everywhere in the living room. Where her body was found, blood soaked deep into the hardwood to the point it bubbled up. The kitchen was smashed to bits. Drawers were ripped out, silverware and plates were broken against the floor.
“He had to be desperately looking for something.” Maevin side stepped another pool of blood. The pair crept through the apartment to the back room. Sandy lived in a singular bedroom apartment on the top floor. Her living room had a window, and her bedroom had a window, other than that, she had no light . There was a massive lamp in every room. Knox walked up to her bedroom window and pulled the curtains. Maevin loudly gagged as he clicked on the floor lamp.
A foot sat rotting in the middle of the floor.
Knox grumbled, “The Enforcers can’t clean up all the body?”
The sound of crunching glass came from behind them and the pair whirled around. Maevin had a knife already out and at the ready. Knox held a ball of purple flames to his side and his cane in the other hand. That’s when Aravis Blightwood stepped into view of the room, blocking out all the light from the room previously. “That’s not Sandy’s foot. It’s why we left it.”
“Lord Commander,” Knox huffed, dropping the flames. Maevin edged away from the large Fowlst gentleman. “And what do I owe the pleasure?”
“I’m interested in why you’re traipsing through my crime scene, Mr. Zrazduel?” Aravis cocked a brow.
“Sandy was an employee of mine, and called out sick three days in a row, very unlike her. I had an associate come to check on her and found her apartment in a mess. I came to personally investigate it.” Knox motioned around the room.
“Was? Hmmm, so then you know that Ms. Little is dead?” He cocked his head to the right.
“I wouldn’t have come if she was alive.” Knox looked around the room. “Her killer was looking for something.”
“And left his snack behind,” Maevin gagged, pointing at the foot. Unlike Sandy’s head, the foot was detached with little care. Bone and gristle flopped over the top of it, like it had been sawed by someone without the arm strength to finish the job and then ripped off the rest of the way. Knox couldn’t argue it was unsettling. He stepped around the foot and headed for Sandy’s closet.
“What are you looking for, Mr. Zrazduel? I have half a mind to arrest you for trespassing.” Aravis leaned against the door frame that whined from the strain.
“A clue as to what our killer was looking for. Sandy wasn’t high up in my business, rather entry level, if I do say so myself. However, she got into an unfortunate scuffle with a vagrant and now was murdered? There’s a reason here somewhere.” Knox pushed aside tossed items and used his cane to wade through the sea of broken things. Clothes ripped apart; the closet was tossed well.
Not well enough, though. As he saw the charm on the bottom corner of the walls. A shimmering barely held together charm to cover up something. It was at the bottom of the closet, hidden in the wall trim. He crouched, hand igniting in purple flames again. Blowing on them, his spell attacked the protections. With a hiss and a sharp snap, like glass, the charm broke away and an already hard to see notch was exposed. Peeling off his glove, he used his fingernail to catch the lip of it and pulled a small wooden drawer from the trim. It was tiny, would have been ignored either way, but the spell was over kill. She didn’t want anyone to see it, including his vampire.
A simple ‘if you’re looking for the item, you can’t see it’ spell. He would have applauded her for getting away with it if she hadn’t been murdered for it. Since Knox wasn’t looking for anything specific, he caught the hint of the spell.
Inside the drawer was a flash drive. Knox stuffed it in his pocket before Aravis entered the closet.
Knox showed him the drawer. “Whatever our killer was after, they found it in here. Sandy was hiding something.”
“Hmm,” Aravis didn’t sound convinced, but Knox wasn’t in the mood or place to persuade him. He had a party to get to and an author to devour.
“I apologize, both our efforts seem to have been wasted, Lord Commander.” Knox rose to his feet and swiftly walked past the massive, black-feathered bird folk with a sour face.
“Mr. Zrazduel,” Aravis called after him. Both Maevin and Knox stopped, only Knox turned to face Aravis. The Lord Commander pointed to the foot. “The foot belongs to a Tony Broadsword, you know him?”
Knox knew him. Immediately, without having to think very hard. Tony was not only a grifter, a purveyor of services…but the very man who made Rick’s fake ID. Their vampire was cleaning house, it seemed.
“The two-bit, fake ID maker? No, he’s not mine. I would never hire anyone so…meager. I apologize, Lord Commander, I can’t help you there.” Knox ducked his head, hoping he gave enough to keep Aravis looking without giving away everything.
Knox intended to find his vampire. He would find and slaughter the beast for interfering in his affairs. However, having the Lord Commander on the prowl wasn’t a bad idea. If Blightwood figured him out first, it might help.
Maevin waited for Knox to get out into the hall before putting his hand out. Knox smirked to himself, slipping the flash drive from his pocket into his friend’s palm. Maevin tsked, shaking his head. “You’re such a little stinker.”
“I want to know what’s on that by the time I get home tonight.” He jabbed a finger in Maevin’s face.
“Yeah, yeah, got it,” Maevin snickered, plugging the flash drive into his crystal pad. “Just Amelia or is the whole family coming home with us?”
He exhaled heavily. That was the question, wasn’t it? If Amelia didn’t come willingly back to his home, it would be a struggle. He’d worked in harsher conditions, but he hated the idea of forcing her hand. It was for the best. “Everyone.”
Calling up Denver, he informed his butler to have at least three rooms ready for guests. He didn’t say the third was for Amelia, just in case she denied him. He didn’t want her unwilling. Knox craved her as she was with him that night. Daring, fiery, biting, and deliciously willing.
Knox fixed his collar and checked his clothing for stains from their investigation before they headed for the pub. On the other side of town, lit up with lights and music pumping from the pub, it was night and day from the place they left. Life poured out of the pub and warmth invited them in. Knox held up his invite at the door and watched it fizzle into dust as the pair passed through the front door.
A two story, wooden pub filled with the divine aroma of hot food and frosty beer. A pair of Kattos stood behind the bar, serving glasses while a ginger-haired human dished out food alongside triplet pixies. The owners, Minx and Eloise Mumford were stood at the back corner, talking with someone shrouded in the crowd. Knox knew all the big business owners in town. He made it his business to know who was likely an ally and who would be an enemy. Minx Mumford was neither. He was an honest, retired adventurer who settled in King’s Fall and built a pub. Can’t do much with an honest man who stays out of other people’s business. Rumor was he bought the bookstore that Amelia worked in as an engagement present for Eloise. Which would be the pink, curly-haired owner Knox saw countless times in his illusioned window talking with Amelia.
The crowd parted by the bar, and he was able to see who the couple spoke with. Amelia leaned against a bar, wine glass in hand, under the arm of a tall orc. The orc in beige slacks and an open, floral button down was laughing and raising a glass to the pair. Minx clinked beer steins with him.
As if Amelia could sense him, she glanced away from the conversation to Knox. She ripped the very air out of his chest. Slipping away, his pet excused herself from the couple. Her blue hair was loosely curled and pinned with shimmering gems. She wore a ruby dress that made her legs look endless. It clung to her chest while flowing out directly under her bust. The strappy heels around her ankles made Knox feel dangerous. They were the perfect height to get caught on the lapel of his jacket when he threw her legs over his shoulder. Her hips swung like pendulums, and he was mesmerized.
“Mr. Zrazduel?” She stepped up to the pair still loitering in the pocket of space near the front door.
“Ms. Armstrong…or shall I call you Darkwater tonight?” His lips curled mischievously.
Amelia rolled her eyes, chuckling, “Amelia is just fine. I’m not a masked vigilante, just an author with a day job.”
“Then Knox suits me just fine,” He retorted, leaning onto his cane. His eyes flickered up, past her head to the others watching her. “Your audience is staring?”
“That’s Martin, my editor, and I’m sure you know the Mumfords.” She twisted to Maevin, “Maevin.”
“Girlie, the drinks free too or just the grub?” He winked at her.
“First drink’s on the house, foods free.”
“You know, I always liked you.” Maevin sauntered past her, making sure to hip check her tenderly on his way to the bar.
Amelia returned her attention to Knox, “And for you?”
He tenderly took ahold of her wine glass and reveled in the flash of rage in her face when he took a quick swig of it. “I prefer water.”
“Presumptuous.” Amelia glared at him, taking her wine glass back.
“I assume nothing. You asked a question, I answered,” He winked at her. The red returned to her cheeks. He leaned in close, whispering near her cheek seconds before he kissed it. “Though, if that’s where your mind is?”
She let out a bark of a nervous laugh and ripped away from him. Knox followed her like the lovesick puppy he was to the bar. She bent over it and addressed one of the bartenders. A frosty glass of water was produced for Knox. He took it with an appreciative nod to the bartender. Amelia was staring at the wood beneath her fingers. Knox reached a cool finger to her chin and brought her gaze back to his. “What’s wrong?”
“I…” she sighed heavily before fully facing him. “Knox, I’m sorry about the book. I didn’t even think about how you would feel about it, I just…I just immediately started writing it and…”
She trailed off, leaving him sucking in a sharp breath. This was his chance. Knox did his best not to let the rattle in his lung show on his face. He pressed a thumb to her lower lip, holding her chin hostage with his fingers. “Pet, I don’t care about the book.”
Amelia shuddered, “But you said I’d been naughty?”
“I was looking for a reason, a good enough reason, to break my promise,” he confessed with a single breath. He stepped the small inch till their bodies were pressed, her eyes darkening as she stared up into his hungry stare. “I swore to you I’d stay out of your life, that you were done when you left, but I have been waiting for a reason, hoping you’d slip up and do something, begging the gods for some intervention that would end up with you at my feet. And here you are, pet…back in my hands again.”
Amelia’s mouth moved like she wanted to speak, but the only thing that left her lips was air. He leaned in, feeling her body melt against his. She was putty. He could feel her give in. Her eyes fluttering shut as their lips brushed. Her wine was set against the bar and her hands wrapped around his jacket lapels. She’s mine. And then, with a gasp, she ripped back from him.
“I…I…”
Amelia glanced at him once, her eyes lingering on his mouth before they jumped to his eyes. She jolted out of his grip and away from him, darting toward the bathrooms. Oh…you want a chase pet, I’ll gladly chase you.