I Am the Wild (The Night Firm Book 1) Read online

  "The child was killed first, while she watched, most likely," Elal says, soberly.

  "The child's head was ripped off and his blood drained," Ifi says, continuing. "Mary was then drained of her blood and left for dead."

  My eyebrow shoots up at that. "So the killer might have left before she died?"

  Sebastian looks at me and gives an imperceptible nod. Oh, did I finally do something to maybe impress him?

  "Or the killer watched her die slowly," Elal says. "But the creature who killed her didn't drain her entirely. They left enough so she could bleed out on her own, holding the pieces of her dead child in her arms as she did."

  Vomit burns the back of my throat and I swallow it down. This is heinous. "You said 'creature'. So it's not necessarily a vampire?" I ask.

  "A vampire would be the most likely culprit, but there are some unusual inconsistencies," Elal says.

  "Like what?" Sebastian asks.

  "Her blood not being entirely drained, for one. It would take a lot of self-control for a vampire to leave her alive like that," Ifi says. "And the bite wounds were slashed, so it's hard to tell exactly what killed her."

  "And what of paternity?" Sebastian asks. "Have you been able to confirm whether the child is Vlad's?"

  Elal shakes his head. "That test will take longer, I'm afraid. We will turn those results over to both you and the prosecution as soon as we have them."

  Sebastian doesn't look happy about that, but what can he do?

  "Were you able to extract her dying wish?" Sebastian asks, as if this is a totally normal and common request.

  "Dying wish?" I ask, when it seems clear no one is going to offer an explanation.

  "We are Ifrit," Elal says.

  "And?" I ask.

  Ifi grins and sashays over to me. "Oh darling, you're so new it's almost painful, in a delightful kind of way. We are Ifrits. Genies of the fire. Elal and I have the special gift of discovering the dying wish of the recently deceased."

  "What do you do with their wishes?" I ask, imagining the massive problems that could occur if every person's dying wish was granted.

  Ifi shrugs. "Usually nothing. Most beings are entirely uncreative and boring. Sometimes we pass it on to the authorities and let them handle things. And sometimes," he says, with a gleam in his eyes, "sometimes, if it's interesting enough, we grant them."

  "All legally, of course," Sebastian says gruffly.

  "Of course, Mr. Night," Ifi says, moving closer to Sebastian seductively. "Always legal."

  Ifi tweaks Sebastian's nose like a schoolboy then laughs and returns to Elal's side.

  "Alright, enough monkey housing," Elal says. "Show them the wish."

  Ifi sighs dramatically. "Fine, fine. Step back a moment. Wouldn't want to hurt anyone. Humans and vampires are so delicate when it comes to fire."

  Sebastian stiffens by my side and pulls me back as Ifi bursts into flames.

  The fire burns around us, and I sweat profusely, the air hot and heavy in my lungs.

  Ifi begins chanting in a language I've never heard. His voice seems powered with magic. It becomes layered with other voices, the vibration of them shaking the room. I clutch Sebastian's arm to avoid falling over, and he braces me as everything rattles. I worry the building will cave in on top of us. I glance at the vampire by my side with frantic eyes, but he looks calm, collected, like this is par for the course.

  I take a breath and calm myself. A loud screeching fills the air. Flames dance against the marble walls and ceilings. And then the body of Mary Dracule begins to shake as flames flow into her, animating her from within.

  She sits up and turns to us, color filling her cheeks, light and soul filling her eyes. She locks her gaze with mine, a plea on her face as she clutches her dead baby to her chest.

  "Save them. Save my babies. Please! Save them!"

  And with that, she drops back down to the table with a loud thunk. The fire leaves her body, flowing back into Ifi, who staggers to the side and is in turn caught by Elal. Ifi returns to his more human form and the temperature in the room drops about thirty degrees, though I'm still sweating profusely. I'm dizzy, too, though whether that's from the heat, the fire, or the dead woman coming back to life, I can't rightly say.

  With everything going on, it takes a moment for Mary's last words to register.

  "Are dying wishes considered reliable?" I ask.

  Elal nods. "Generally. We can tell if someone's spirit is too broken to make sense. Why do you ask?"

  "Because Mary only has one child. So why was her wish that her babies—plural—be saved?"

  The Crime Scene

  He who dares not grasp the thorn should never crave the rose. ~ Anne Bronte

  The cold air of the rainy evening hits me as we exit the mausoleum. The gargoyles, Okura and Akuro, do not come to life to greet us again, but I feel Okura's eyes on me as we walk away, and I swear she winks at me.

  "What do you think it means?" I ask, referring to the final wish of Mary Dracule.

  Sebastian shrugs. "Perhaps she had a child in the past no one knew about? We'll have to look into it. Maybe something at the crime scene will give us a clue."

  Lily greets us with a cheery smile when we return to the carriage. "Aren't they amazing?" she says, gushingly.

  "The gargoyles or the Ifrits?" I ask.

  She considers. "Well, both, but mostly I meant the Ifrits. The gargoyles don't talk much."

  "I've never met an Ifrit before," I say, which is true of all of them actually. First dryad, vampire, Ifrit and gargoyle. And whatever Matilda is.

  "They're fun. You should come clubbing with us sometime. They know the best spots for partying."

  Sebastian huffs at that, and this time I'm on the side of the boring vampire. "That's probably not my scene," I say, diplomatically.

  We climb into the carriage and Lily takes us through town towards Dracula's place.

  The tightly packed town becomes more spread out the longer we drive, turning into farmland and then larger estates.

  The carriage comes to a stop, and I look out the window and see a Spanish-style villa sprawled out over acres of beautiful land with a view to kill for. "This is incredible," I say. "Clearly Dracula lives on the right side of the tracks."

  "Tracks?" Sebastian asks.

  "It's an expression. He's rich."

  "Vampires get very good at acquiring wealth," he says.

  "I assume that applies to you as well?" I say, thinking about their freaking castle and cars and all the things.

  "Yes," he says, simply.

  "Then why do you still work as lawyers? You could just retire on your wealth, couldn't you?"

  "We could. But even vampires need purpose. Being immortal is a long time to live, and for that life to have meaning, we need work that fulfills us and makes a difference."

  "That makes sense," I say. "But why law? Specifically, why defense?"

  "The paranormal legal system can be finicky. Dragons are generally decent judges, since they are considered wise and long-lived even by our community standards. But their perspective can get skewed as a result and they can be overly harsh in their judgements. It's our job to make sure our clients get a fair trial. That they aren't unnecessarily punished beyond what is reasonable for the crime they committed, or, if innocent, that they are not punished at all."

  "And Dracula? Do you really believe he's innocent?" I ask.

  He shrugs. "I don't know. I don't think he would kill Mary, but then again, I can't be sure I'm being impartial when it comes to him. As I'm sure you've gathered, our history with him is complicated."

  "Yeah, that is pretty clear."

  Lily opens my door and I slide out, with Sebastian following. I notice a ruined cathedral opposite of Dracula’s manor. A mighty structure of gray stone, its two twin towers almost reaching the Dragon’s Breath. Half of its roof is caved in, and chipped Gargoyles perch on what remains, their gazes old and tired.

  Sebastian follows my eyes. “The place
has been in disrepair for so long, most call it the Broken Cathedral now,” he says.

  “What was it called before?”

  He shrugs. “I don’t partake much in religion.”

  Somehow that doesn’t surprise me. “And what sort of religions exist in the Otherworld?”

  “The same as in the mundane world. The cathedrals are open to all faiths carried over into this place.”

  I nod, and we make our way to the villa. It's even more stunning up close. There's a beautiful garden in the courtyard we pass, and Lily squeals at the flowers blooming under the shifting lights of the Dragon's Breath. "This place is amazing," she says, clearly delighted.

  "Remember, we're here to investigate a murder, not to have afternoon tea," Sebastian says.

  I frown at him. He really needs to learn to lighten up sometimes.

  Lilly doesn't take any offense. "I know, Uncle Seb. I just think it's pretty here. That's all."

  Yellow eyes peer at us from behind a bush, and I kneel and make a clicking sound, luring a beautiful Egyptian Mau out of hiding. The cat hisses at Sebastian but nuzzles against me purring. I give the sweet thing some love and then stand when someone comes out to greet us.

  The butler Dracula mentioned. "You must be from the Night Firm?" he asks.

  We nod.

  "The Count said to expect you. Please, follow me."

  The cat scurries away as the butler leads us through an open living room, and upstairs into a master suite larger than some apartments I've lived in. It would be a gorgeous room if not for the bloodstains soaking the bed and staining the white silk sheets.

  "This is where the mistress and her child were killed," the man says quietly.

  "What's your name?" I ask.

  He looks up in surprise. "Leonard," he replies.

  "Thank you, Leonard. Would it be possible to get some tea and blood? Lily can help you."

  He looks at me with an expression of relief. "Of course. Yes. I can do that. Will you two be okay here?"

  I nod, smiling, and he leaves Sebastian and I alone in the bloody bedroom with a look of relief. Lily follows him out.

  "We are going to need to Memory Catch him," Sebastian says, once they are gone.

  "He's human?"

  "No, so it can't be used in court, but it can give us useful information regardless. Even if his memory's been tampered with, that in itself can be a clue."

  "Can you tell if he's messed with it?"

  "We can, yes. Usually. Someone has to be really skilled at memory manipulation to deceive us. We've been doing this a very long time."

  I nod and study the room, imagining Mary's final moments of life, bleeding out on the bed, her dead baby in her arms. Who did this?

  "Are there no surveillance cameras?" I ask.

  "No, we don't use technology of that type here. That's why I said you wouldn't be needing a new phone. The Otherworld is… slow to change. Technology is frowned upon. There are no cell towers or electricity. Everything is powered by magic."

  "Huh. Wow. Do you prefer it here?" I ask.

  He shrugs. "There are advantages and disadvantages. Certain technology is useful and is considered contraband here. You can get into legal trouble for owning so much as an electric toothbrush. But, here I am not subject to the whims of the sun, and I do not have to hide who and what I am."

  "Good thing you have a magic castle that can go anywhere, then."

  He smirks. "Yes, good thing."

  I scan around the room, refocusing on our task. "So, what are we looking for?"

  "Anything that might give us a hint into Mary's life. Did she have other lovers? Other children? Enemies? Any letters? Journals?"

  I nod. "Do I need to wear gloves or avoid touching anything?"

  "No. The area's already been examined by the Enforcers."

  I head to her closet as Sebastian checks the dresser and bedside tables.

  Everything in this room and in the closet appears to belong to her. "Did Dracula sleep somewhere else?"

  "Yes. They had separate rooms. We can look there next."

  I shiver at the thought of going through the personal items of the Dracula. That's just so wild my head can't fully comprehend it. And yet, it's astonishing how quickly we can adapt to new life circumstances, no matter how outlandish they might be. We are remarkable at survival, for a species with so little physical protection.

  Mary has a lot of fancy dresses that show little to no wear, indicating that they were rarely used. Same with the shoes and hats I find. It's not until I get down to the bottom drawer of her dresser that I find the clothes she preferred. More casual clothing. Cotton pants and blouses. Comfortable clothes that aren't stylish, or appropriate for the Otherworld from what I've seen.

  "Did Mary like living here? Being with a vampire?" I ask, coming back into the bedroom holding jeans and a Grateful Dead band shirt.

  "I don't know. She and I weren't close. But she wouldn't have been allowed to wear those in public." He glances away, and I leave it at that for now.

  We continue searching her room for a few more hours. We find nothing and are about to give up when a flash gives me pause. I walk to the fireplace and run my hand over the stones, feeling for something but not sure what. So far nothing. Frustrated, I push a sitting chair over and stand on it, balancing myself against the wall as I feel the along the stones I couldn't reach on my own.

  "What in the blazes are you doing, woman?" Sebastian says, grabbing my hips and nearly causing me to topple from the chair.

  "I'm checking something."

  I ignore the warmth of his hands on my hips, his fingers digging into my flesh, as I strain to reach the top stones. Finally, my persistence pays off. One of the stones is loose. I struggle to pull it out and then reach into the dark hole and smile as my hand touches a box. I take it and replace the stone.

  Sebastian helps me down, and still has his hands on my waist as I hold up the box to show him. "She was hiding this. Let's find out why."

  It doesn't take us long to realize Mary was hiding a secret.

  I hold up a letter and read:

  My dearest love,

  It pains me to stay away for so long, to not hold you or caress you or see your face every day.

  When can we be together again?

  Yours,

  L

  We read through a few more, and they are similar. None are dated. None are signed with anything other than an L.

  "Who's L?" I ask, putting the letters back into the box.

  "I don't know," Sebastian says, frowning. "Given we don't know when these were written, they might not mean much."

  "Is there a way to determine how old they are? Science or magic or…" I shrug, still so new to this world that I don't know the right questions to ask yet. In the absence of knowing what is possible, I choose to believe nothing is impossible. It keeps more options open that way.

  "Elijah might have a contact that can help. We can check after we're done here."

  Having exhausted all options in Mary's room, we move to Dracula's. Despite there being less blood, I'm suddenly anxious about entering his space.

  His room is lighter than I expect, with grey and white the dominant color scheme, amidst splashes of turquoise. "I expected his go-to color would be red," I say.

  Sebastian chuckles. "That is the vibe he gives off."

  There are a few surprises in Dracula's room.

  First, we find a stack of romance novels by the bed. I raise an eyebrow. "Unusual reading preference for the most famous vampire in the world," I say.

  Sebastian shrugs. "He always did have a taste for the romantic. It would explain his success with women."

  We also find a journal written in his hand. I glance through it, then hold it up. "This could prove insightful," I say.

  Sebastian nods in response.

  Other than those two things, however, we find little else of note.

  Sebastian glances around one last time and seems to come to the same conclusion I
have. "Time for the butler."

  I have to admit I've been morbidly looking forward to this part of the investigation. How does a Memory Catcher work? What does it do? I've seen the final result, but I'm looking forward to learning the rest.

  We find Leonard in the kitchen with Lily, where the two of them are chatting over tea.

  He jumps up when we enter, his face paling. "Pardon me. I was just about to bring you refreshments," he says, wringing his hands, clearly stretching the truth as there are no refreshments prepared.

  I step forward. "I'm feeling a bit sick to my stomach after being in that room. I couldn't eat a thing. But thank you for your kindness."

  He smiles in relief, and the stress in the room palpably lowers as he sighs.

  "It has been hard living here since her death," he admits. "She was a fair and kind mistress. What happened to her is an abomination."

  Sebastian pulls a gold chain out his pocket. A clear crystal set in a base of gold hangs from it and I can see intricate designs etched into its various faces. "I assume you won't mind sharing your memories in hopes it will help us find who did this?" Sebastian says to Leonard.

  The butler nods. "Of course not. You may have everything in me. Though I don't know that it will prove useful. I wish I knew something helpful, but I'm useless. Absolutely useless." He wrings his hands again, his face crinkling in despair.

  I reach a hand out and place it on his. "You never know what little clue might lead to something. It might not even be a memory you realize is important. Don't give up hope. The light shall reveal the truth. In lumen et lumen."

  My words seem to soothe him and his agitation stills as he stands straighter. "I'm ready," he says, with as much bravery as he can seemingly muster.

  Sebastian places the crystal in front of George and steps back, then utters the word revelare.

  The crystal begins to glow, casting rainbow shards against the polished tile floor and countertops, and then an image appears before us, like the one I saw earlier. It's the perspective of the butler as he goes about his day, cleaning, acquiring blood, cooking and caring for Mary. It's startling to see her alive, to see her laughing and smiling and hear her voice through his mind and memories. It makes the memory of her corpse that much more tragic.