Griffin took out his gun, eased the door open a crack and stopped to listen. Paige motioned that she’d cast a sensing spell if she could get closer, but he pretended not to understand, threw the door open and wheeled in, gun raised.

After a slow look around, he waved telling us to stay put. When he’d turned away, I peered inside, then pulled back quickly. Beside me, Paige tensed, a spell flying to her lips. I shook my head. What I’d seen was no threat, merely something she didn’t need to witness. But, of course, she would—there was no way around it—so I opened the door again. I held up a hand, warning her.

She peered around me. Her breath caught.

The door opened directly into a bedroom. There, on the bed, lay a young woman, naked and spread-eagled, tied to the bedposts, a belt around her neck. Even from here, we could tell that rushing in with first aid would be pointless.

LUCAS 15

LUCAS

15

“I SUPPOSE COVERING HER UP isn’t a good idea,” Paige said.

I nodded. Cabal security would be handling this, not the Miami police, but they’d still want the scene left intact.

Paige was unable to tear her gaze from the dead woman. I knew she was wondering who she’d been, what her life had been like, now reduced to this—a naked corpse exposed to strangers who were too busy with other concerns to mourn her passing or even care about the circumstances of her death, except as it related to those larger concerns.

I struggled to see her as Paige did. As a person. But tonight all I could do was assess the facts. Though she looked college age, the amount of smeared makeup made it hard to tell. Dyed blond hair. Faded track marks on her arms. A tattoo on her ankle that might aid in identification.

I turned my attention to the articles of male clothing strewn about the bed. Socks, shoes, underwear, a shirt…No sign of pants. Whoever had been with her had likely fled half dressed. Clearly not the young man from downstairs. But had he killed her?

I bent to examine the shirt. I suspected it belonged to Carlos. The young woman hadn’t been hastily tied up by an experimenting amateur, but bound with leather straps. My brother’s sexual proclivities were no secret in the supernatural community.

“She’s been tortured.” Paige had begun examining the young woman. “There are knife wounds, but they look small and shallow, maybe from that.” She pointed to a penknife lying beside a condom wrapper, then leaned closer to the girl’s abdomen. “And I think these are…bite marks.”

While this could indeed be evidence of torture, it was not necessarily the case if Carlos had been involved. But I saw no need to enlighten her.