Lover's Betrayal: Misfits of the Lore Series (6 page)

“I get to put my CSI skills to use,” Corinne squealed with delight as she walked into the study. She was a sweaty mess dressed in her workout gear, yet she looked as beautiful as ever. Nothing could ruin Corinne’s sex appeal.

“Cori, don’t get too carried away. You do understand that TV is not quite the same as real life?” Olivia reminded her. “I doubt the TV techniques, no matter how good the show, would really be effective in real life.”

“You mock me now, but one day you’re going to marvel at my super skills. I’m going to figure all of this out. First, I need to know what exactly you’re investigating. I only heard the very end of your conversation.”

“Let’s sit down and Julian and I can explain what we know.” The three of them sat down while Julian provided them with a folder of his research. Through a contact at the police department, he was able to secure pictures of the seven victims.

The women appeared to be human, except for the latest victim. This diminutive creature had pointy ears, slanted eyes, and vibrant red hair. Her ethereal features were consistent with a fairy. Fairies were rare and the death of one would not go unnoticed by the Council. Corinne explained, “Fairies are like the Switzerland of the immortals.” They were nonviolent by nature. They remained neutral during immortal conflicts.

Fairies were the financiers of the Council. They served the Council with absolute loyalty. That loyalty earned them protection. To kill one was an automatic death sentence. “I wouldn’t be surprised if her death was already reported to the Council,” Corinne informed Olivia and Julian. “The brutal death of a fairy will result in the wrath of the Council. They will want blood and vengeance, and I doubt they will be patient with a long investigation. If enough evidence points to Kaden, they will stop there.”

Like all of the women, the fairy’s skin was marred by claw marks that were burrowed deeply in her neck. Just below her neck near her chest were two deep incisor bites—the mark of vampire fangs. Bite marks were also found on their femoral arteries; however, those bite marks were not as deep, nor did they resemble the vicious marks on the victims’ chests. All women were drained of their blood.

Olivia was horrified by the photos. These women suffered. Their pain resonated from the pictures of their lifeless bodies. Their faces were stained with fear of the imminent death. These women did not deserve to die in such a manner. They were the helpless victims of a soulless monster.

“I thought fairies were immortal. Why didn’t this one just heal?” Olivia questioned.

“Fairies are not really immortals,” Corinne replied. “They are generally referred to as eternals. Unlike other immortals, they can die like any other human, but not from human diseases. A bullet in the head, a knife wound, fracture, brain damage, anything like that can kill a fairy. They don’t have the power to regenerate or heal quickly. They heal faster than your average human, but not fast enough to overcome the right kind of wound. Witches are the same. Unless they can conjure a healing spell to expedite the healing process, they will die pretty fast. That’s why they generally keep to themselves and stay away from humans and other immortals. They’re too vulnerable.”

Olivia took a deep breath to compose her tattered nerves. She had to stay strong in order to prove her son’s innocence. “We have to figure out what these women had in common. There has to be some kind of link to connect them.”

“You’re thinking like a detective now. Have you been watching CSI?” Corinne joked.

Olivia refused to admit that her detective skills were credited to the one show she regularly watched, Law & Order. Corinne would never stop teasing her about that fact.

The lightness of the moment did not infect Julian. He was as serious as ever. “I can tell you what they have in common. They’re all pretty young women who died in the exact same brutal manner. And they all carried the scent of Kaden.”

Olivia was not going to rely solely on those facts to determine Kaden’s guilt. “You saw all the bodies?”

“Yes, except for the body in Las Vegas and the one in New Orleans. After I heard the news and the description of the nature of the bite marks, I went to the coroner’s office to take a look. I have a friend who works there and he let me in to examine the bodies. Obviously, I’m no CSI expert, but I was able to view the bite marks -- and most importantly, smell my brother’s scent. There was no mistaking his scent.”

“Did you notice any other scents on the body?” Olivia asked.

Julian reluctantly acknowledged, “There were other scents, which is not unusual, but they were unfamiliar to me. I could not tell you if they were vamp, human, or demon.”

“Could you tell if any of those scents were recognizable on all of the bodies? Maybe Kaden’s scent wasn’t the only one they had in common.”

Julian did not want to admit that he was so focused on Kaden’s scent that he did not take the time to make a possible connection with the other smells. “I didn’t make any connections like that. I was too caught up in Kaden’s scent to notice if there were other similar scents.”

“It’s possible that there was someone else involved. The bite marks on the chest were so much more vicious than the ones on the femoral artery. The latter looks pretty normal for us. There is no sign of violence or aggression on those bites. Maybe the vamp that bit them there was Kaden, but some other vamp is responsible for the claw marks and chest bite?”

Julian paced the room, frustration emanating from every step. “Mother, you can’t possibly believe that. Do you really think that Kaden bit these women, fed from them, and then left and shortly afterward, another mysterious vamp appeared and finished them off each time? We’re talking about seven dead bodies. Seven times this crazy scenario would have had to happen. It’s completely illogical and incredible.”

Olivia realized her theory certainly had some gaping holes of logic, but it was easier to believe that scenario than to believe her son could have committed these crimes. “I know that this isn’t the soundest theory, but we shouldn’t just dismiss it. We have to consider all possibilities, even those that are remote.”

“While we’re making up a million crazy possibilities of what could have happened, the truth is staring us in the face and we’re ignoring it, thereby risking the lives of other innocent women. We don’t have time for make believe. We have to deal with facts and logic. Right now, Kaden is the most likely suspect. Based on what Aunt Cori said, if the Council had these facts, they would sentence Kaden to death immediately. Your other fanciful explanations would not sway them.”

Council involvement was the one thing Olivia feared the most. They would jump to the most obvious conclusion without fully investigating the situation to be sure. The Council was all about punishment when it suited their needs. They were selective about when they interfered. Some immortals had enough political favor to avoid reproach for their crimes, while others suffered mercilessly without an opportunity to defend themselves. The Council was not about fairness or right and wrong. They were an overly powerful entity who forced all immortals to submit to their autonomy or face dire retribution. They were arrogant dictators, killers, and thieves—amoral liars who would destroy anyone that interfered with their continuous quest for power. And sitting at the helm of the corrupt Council throne was Anslaw Santoro, along with his only son, Lucian.

“We have to figure this out before the Council gets involved. They will destroy first and ask questions later,” Olivia warned.

The three of them continued to review the photos and discuss possible theories, but none were strong. All roads led back to Kaden.

“Something doesn’t make sense about this,” Corinne surmised. “If Kaden were guilty, why would he start doing something like this now? Why here? You would think there would be a trail of victims every place Kaden visited since he was an adult if he were the killer. What’s his motive to do this now? It’s remotely possible Kaden could have gone Son of Sam all of a sudden, but that doesn’t seem like Kaden. He’s a little crazy, but controlled crazy. This kind of reckless killing is not typical for him.”

Julian could not believe that Corinne was also trying to deny Kaden’s obvious guilt. He expected this from his mother, but had hoped Corinne would be more practical and would help convince Olivia of Kaden’s guilt. “Kaden has never had a problem with killing. He is not a choirboy. He can be as vicious and cruel as any vampire. Maybe he’s one of the deranged, non compos mentis. We all know that some vampires do not transform well and their minds fracture. Kaden’s transformation was difficult, to say the least. It’s possible that his mind has broken. He has finally embraced evil.”

Olivia knew that Kaden struggled through his transformation, but he showed no signs of the madness that plagued her husband. As she looked at those pictures, she could not help but think that Daughton would have been perfectly capable of committing these violent acts. Kaden was so much like him, but could he share in his father’s brutality toward women? No. Olivia knew Kaden’s devastation after finding out about his father’s evil deeds. There was no way he would emulate such cruelty.

“Kaden going mad all of a sudden makes no sense. He has never shown any tendency toward this kind of madness. As Cori said, these killings are too reckless and Kaden may be many things, but he’s not reckless. He would never kill and leave a body out in the open like this, risking exposure. He is too methodical about everything he does.”

“Your mom’s right, Julian. If Kaden were a serial killer, and I acknowledge that something like that would be possible, he would be the Dexter type serial killer and not a sloppy killer leaving his crimes so public. Even a mad Kaden would not be so stupid.”

Julian was livid. These two were determined to make excuses for why Kaden would not have committed these crimes, rather than focusing on the fact all of the evidence said he did it. “Aunt Cori, I don’t get you. I expect this from my mother, who’s too blind to see anything bad about her precious psycho son, but not you. You’re acknowledging that Kaden is capable of being a serial killer, but in the same breath you’re saying that he wouldn’t be this type of serial killer. That makes no sense. A killer is a killer.”

“It makes absolute sense. You’re just too thick to see it. Kaden is amoral and sometimes immoral, which is why I could believe that he would kill just for the sake of killing. He’s not deranged, though. If he were to experience any madness from the transformation, it would have happened much sooner. This type of sloppy murder could be committed by only two types of vamps—newly made who are not properly controlled and trained, or those who became deranged from transformation. Kaden is not either. You think this makes no sense, but trying to convince me that Kaden suddenly went nuts 155 years after his transformation makes even less sense. I do believe Kaden is very capable of such violence, but not of such stupidity.”

“I didn’t think you were capable of such stupidity, yet you surprised me.” Before he could blink, Julian found himself flying in the air and into one of his bookcases. Trying to shake off the blow, he swiftly scampered out of the way of the falling bookcase, barely escaping being crushed by his numerous rare books. Although this would not have killed him, the pain would have been severe.

He tried to recover his senses and figure out exactly what happened when Corinne grabbed him again and threw him on the couch as if he weighed no more than one of his fallen books. “Cori, please stop!” Olivia pleaded. “I think you’ve made your point.”

Corinne paused for a moment and walked over to Julian. He immediately put his hands up in a gesture of surrender. “You’ve got something to say to me, pup?” Corinne smugly asked.

“I apologize, Aunt Cori. I was out of line again.” As much as Julian hated to give in, he knew he was no match physically for Corinne. The older the vamp, the stronger, regardless of whether the vamp was male or female. Corinne was the oldest vamp he knew. Trying to fight her would result in many broken bones—for him.

“Yes, you were. You know what your problem is, pup? You have an irrational hatred of your brother. Maybe it’s not completely irrational, but it’s bordering on obsessive. You want him to be guilty -- as if that would prove some point or change things. It won’t. Your hatred of him is ruining your life. It’s the reason why you don’t have one. You sit here and mope about Kaden, while he’s out living his life, and you hate him for it. You want so much for him to be the bad brother and you the good one so that everyone will love you more than him. Get over it already. If you weren’t so full of hate, you would be able to see that we all love you just as much.”

Julian did not want to hear this psychobabble, but he would have to be careful about how he challenged Cori. He certainly did not want another flight into his bookcase. “I’m not jealous of Kaden. I actually like having a conscience and trying to do the right thing. Kaden cares nothing for rules, respect, or honor. He’s loyal to no one. He’s a selfish bastard, and despite all of that, you guys sit back and defend him like he’s a saint. I can’t understand any of you. There are plenty of reasons to despise Kaden, but both of you ignore them. Well, I can’t do that. I can’t ignore all that he has done to me, nor can I forgive him. If he’s guilty of these crimes, then I will help make sure he pays.”

“If he’s guilty, then he deserves to pay, but you’re trying to make him guilty. You’re so convinced of his guilt that you can’t see the potential for his innocence. Innocent until proven guilty. Does that sound familiar to you? You’re acting as if the options for Kaden are guilty and guiltier.”

Olivia could see how much this was torturing Julian. Although Corinne was probably right with her Dr. Phil psychology, Julian was not ready to deal with it. He was clearly in a lot of pain—pain which had nothing to do with the physical wounds Corinne had caused. This pain was deep within him and centered on Kaden. “Darling, we all just want the truth,” Olivia chimed in. “If the truth is what you suspect, then we will have to accept that and allow justice to be served. Let’s just get the truth first, before we sentence.”