Breaking the Nexus (Mythrian Realm) Read online

  Ian laughed. “Alright, you have a point. Want me to finish up here so you can head back to the precinct and interrogate her? I heard she refused medical treatment at the hospital when they asked her for insurance. She should be waiting in one of the interview rooms by now.”

  “Thanks, Ian. Talk to Tony about the body. I’m positive we now have a serial killer.” Connor watched Ian’s face sober.

  “Shit, I was afraid of that. Let’s hope that witness sheds some light on this.”

  “I don’t know how helpful she’ll be, but it should prove interesting. See you back at the precinct.” Connor walked back to his car, telling himself his only interest in talking to Sha was to pick her brain. Maybe if he repeated that enough, it would make it true.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Connor stared with disgust at the line of cars packed bumper-to-bumper as far as the eye could see. Horns blared, accompanied by shouts of disgruntled drivers as they spewed obscenities at other motorists. Ian hadn’t been kidding about traffic. What the hell was going on in the city? Impatient to get to the precinct and interview his witness—the witness, he corrected himself — he turned on the sirens hoping to expedite the trip and managed one freaking block.

  Resigned, he sat back, reviewing the case in his mind and searching for anything he may have missed. He kept circling back to Sha Phoenix; there was something compelling about her beyond her unconventional appearance. The streaks of blue in her blonde hair intrigued him. Normally it was an act of teenage rebellion and not as typical for a woman her age.

  No, it had been her behavior that had stood out most. She’d seemed confused at the scene and his gut told him it was more than just the blow to the head. Sure she lacked the physical strength required to subdue a man twice her size for even a few minutes, let alone long enough to sever his limbs. But she knew more than she’d let on, he was positive. Horns began blaring again, startling him from his thoughts. It looked like a mass exodus out of the city.

  Thirty minutes later, traffic finally began moving, albeit at a snail’s pace. It took almost four times longer than usual to reach the precinct, a definite anomaly for an otherwise typical November Saturday. The moment he stepped through the front doors, he was bombarded with the usual raucous den that was the bullpen. He grinned in amusement at the array of interesting characters seated next to desks, some sporting handcuffs, as they gave their statements. Connor reared back, narrowly missing a flying elbow courtesy of a strung out hooker trying to go after a rival who had been encroaching on her territory. Just your average day in the life.

  “Yo, Flynn!” He looked over to where one of the officers, Roger Jenkins, stood at the water cooler. “Got your girl over in Interview C. Man, she’s bizarre. You’d have thought she’d never seen a cell phone. Oh and the Cap’n wants your report this afternoon. Said to tell you no bullshitting him with excuses this time.”

  Connor sighed. He didn’t make excuses, he just felt his time was better spent doing other things. Like tracking down witnesses, leads, or apprehending suspects. Or watching paint dry. Paperwork was the worst part of police work. “Thanks for the heads up. Keep an eye out for Kendrick, he should be back within the hour unless traffic continues to be a bitch.”

  “Sure thing. If you need any help getting her to talk, let me know. I wouldn’t mind going a few rounds with her. You know what I’m sayin’.” Connor arched his eyebrow at the leer on the officer’s face.

  Rather than risk talking to him longer than necessary, Connor waved his acknowledgement and headed to his desk. Jenkins’ attitude rubbed him the wrong way. Despite creeping toward his forties, the officer acted like a teenager, and an immature one at that. It was no surprise the older man hadn’t made it to detective. Perhaps if he grew up and used his brain every once in awhile, he might have a chance at the promotion he desperately sought.

  Connor navigated through the chaos of the bullpen to the interview rooms, flipping through the files on the previous cases. It was a long shot, but confronting Sha with the details of the other scenes might shake something loose. He doubted she had a connection to the prior murders; he’d spent every waking moment for weeks pouring over the files so it would’ve been impossible to overlook someone like her. But you never knew, and if he didn’t bring it up now, he’d kick himself later. His head jerked at the sound of a throat clearing. What was the captain doing outside of Interview C? Today kept getting weirder and weirder.

  “Sir, didn’t expect to see you here.” Captain John Morrison was a tall man in his early fifties with sharp blue eyes and salt and pepper hair. Even after riding a desk for the past seven years, he was as lean and muscular as when he’d been a detective himself. He’d long ago earned Connor’s respect by emphasizing solid police work over playing politics.

  “I’m going to observe. With this being the first suspect in the ritual murders, the chief wants to make sure everything is by the book on this one.”

  Fury burst through Connor’s veins, but his tone remained level. “Is he implying my investigation would be anything else?”

  Morrison grimaced. “Try not to take it personally. You and I both know you’re more than capable of handling this. For the record, I think it’s bullshit. Sometimes we all have to play the game, even when you’d rather have your teeth pulled.”

  “Understood, sir.” He swallowed the anger, knowing it would do nothing to take it out on his captain. These murders had the public in a frenzy and all efforts to keep details from leaking had been in vain. Connor had deliberately ignored the radio on the way to the precinct, but he imagined it had only gotten worse with news of a witness and potential suspect.

  “Good. Do you think she’s our killer?”

  “Off the record?” He paused, waiting for Morrison’s nod. “No. You’ve seen her, sir. Would you say she’s capable of subduing and torturing full grown men?”

  “Stranger things have happened, but I agree. I expect your preliminary report on my desk tonight.”

  Judging by the pointed stare, Connor wasn’t going to be able to sneak out before filling out the damn thing. “Of course, sir.”

  “Anything I should know about this morning’s victim before you start?”

  “In the first two murders, the right hand was severed with a clean cut from an unknown implement postmortem. The guy from this morning? Before he died, the poor bastard suffered through having both of his feet cut off. The killer’s escalating. Fast.”

  *******

  Foot tapping a rapid little rhythm, Sha tried hard to maintain her composure. This small room with its too big table and uncomfortable chair was making her claustrophobic. She didn’t have issues with small spaces in general, it was the austere walls painted an unimaginative gray and stained by years of use that gave the impression they were closing in. Or maybe it was the fact she hadn’t sensed any Gateways during her transportation here meaning she was stranded for now. Lovely.

  She’d tried to study the city as the buildings zoomed by, but it hadn’t been easy. The blow to her head had dazed her more than she’d wanted to admit and everything was just so different from anything in Mythria. Most of the buildings were tall, rectangular structures with little imagination; nothing more than glass and metal thrown together. As fascinating as she found the humans, they lacked vision. Sure there was the occasional structure that was architecturally appealing, but what had happened to the gorgeous facades she’d read about? The intricate stone carvings and detail? It made her homesick for the beauty of her Mythrian cities.

  Nice job, Sha. You’re sitting in a box in unfamiliar territory and you’re obsessing because the buildings are uglier than you expected them to be. Brilliant show of prioritization skills. When would that detective get here? The sooner she could convince him she wasn’t a lunatic, the sooner she could tackle the issue of what had caused the Gate to collapse. The only answers she’d come up with so far didn’t bode well for the stability of the Nexus. It was a thought that sent a chill racing down her spine.
/>   “Cold in here?”

  She jumped at the unexpected question. Either she was losing her touch or that man had perfected the art of sneaking up on a person. His gruff, baritone voice sent another shiver through her body, though she felt anything but cold. It was surprise, not him, she assured herself. Right and gryphons are cowardly fools. Who was she kidding? The detective was getting under her skin without even trying.

  “Uh, no, it’s fine.”

  “Good. Did you kill the man in the alley?”

  Sneaky bastard was hoping to catch her off guard. She arched her brow at the brazen question. “No. Do I really look like I am capable of killing him?”

  “You’d be surprised at the things I’ve seen, Ms. Phoenix. How’s the head? Did you get checked out at the hospital?”

  She shrugged. “I’ve had worse.” It was true. As a trainee she’d had the brilliant plan to take on a juvenile Scray demon on her own. It may not have been full grown, but it had been twice her size and at least five time her strength. That was one lesson she never forgot. “And yes, the doctors said I may have a mild concussion. Nothing serious, though.”

  The hospital was an experience she hoped never to revisit. Riding in the vehicle—car— had been exhilarating and a vast improvement over the carriages in Mythria that were powered by either magic or beasts. However, once they’d arrived at the hospital, she’d been overwhelmed by fear, desperation, and death. Her empathy wasn’t one of her stronger talents but it was enough to ensure she’d told the doctors whatever she thought would get her out of there fastest. Back home, healers made house calls unless your injuries required multiple intense sessions, so she’d never had to deal with such oppressive feelings. How could people take their loved ones into a place such as that? Increasingly she was coming to realize the Human Realm wasn’t quite what she’d imagined after all.

  Fingers snapped in front of her, drawing her startled gaze. “Am I boring you, Ms. Phoenix?”

  Sha felt her cheeks begin to burn. “Sorry, Detective. I didn’t mean to let my mind wander off like that. My brain must still be addled.” A noncommittal grunt was his only response. Things were off to a wonderful start, she thought with a scowl.

  Long moments passed, the uncomfortable silence making her want to squirm. Oh, she knew exactly what he was doing. He wanted her agitated so she’d let something slip. They’d been taught a similar tactic during training; lucky for her, she didn’t have any knowledge to divulge. Squaring her shoulders, she met his gaze unflinchingly.

  “Wasn’t there something you wanted to ask, Detective? Or did you just want to have a staring contest?” A small part of her liked staring into his eyes, the intense gray seeming to shift subtly, almost like mercury. Intriguing. She filed that bit of information away to examine later.

  “You’re hiding something, aren’t you?”

  She decided to play dumb. “How can I hide anything when you haven’t asked a question?”

  “At first I thought you were as high as a kite at the scene, but you’re more intelligent than I thought.”

  Why did it sting that he’d thought she was high? “Is that a compliment or a question?”

  “A statement.” He set a rectangular device on the table and a red light began to blink. “I’ll be recording this if you don’t mind. You’ve already been advised of your rights, have you not?” He paused, waiting for her response.

  “Yes, I have.”

  “Good. You were found in an alley lying in a pool of blood. How did you end up there?”

  “I don’t know.” It was close enough to the truth. No reason to mention the bit about falling through an invisible, magical barrier.

  “Do you know this man?" A picture slapped down onto the table in front of her showed a man, his skin waxy with a grayish cast and large purple shadows around his eyes.

  “No, I’ve never seen him before.”

  “Really? I find that hard to believe when we found you within feet of his body. We’re waiting on DNA confirmation, but unless you have an explanation for where the blood in the alley originated, I’d say you and I both know it belongs to our victim here. Let me ask you one more time. Do you know this man?”

  Irritation flashed through her body. “As you pointed out, Detective, I was found unconscious and prior to that had never met the guy. I may have lain next to him, but that doesn’t mean I knew him. Who is he?”

  “I’m working on determining that. He’s lacking his fingerprints, so it’s not as simple to identify the body. What happened last night?”

  “I don’t know. All I remember is waking up, being confused, and being surrounded by strange people. You showed up a short time later.”

  “Where are you from?” That man just didn’t know when to drop the subject, did he?

  “I’m from out of town.”

  “Can you be more specific?”

  “A town so small, I’m sure you’ve never heard of it.” Not far from the truth. Fire Falls wasn’t tiny, but it wasn’t huge.

  “Do you take me for a fool? Stop lying, Ms. Phoenix. You had no ID on you, no credit or debit cards, no cell phone, and your prints aren’t in the system. Tell me the name of the town; it should be simple enough to verify it.”

  “Trust me Detective, you wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

  His eyes sparked at her words, the irises seeming to shift with increasing speed. If she didn’t know better, she’d think he had some Metallum ancestry. Only the metal crafters in Mythria had eyes like that, but there was no way he could share their blood.

  “I’m tired of your games. I have a body in the morgue and two other cases I believe are related to this one.” He pulled out pictures of two other crime scenes and placed them on the table in front of her. “This is your last chance. Answer me now or I’ll have you locked up for obstruction of justice.”

  Sha stared at the two other images, stunned. “It can’t be,” she whispered.

  He sat back in his chair, studying her. “What can’t be? You recognize one of them don’t you?”

  She didn’t know what compelled her to respond, however, she couldn’t halt the flow of words. “I don’t know who the men are, but I recognize those runes. It’s impossible you’d find them here.”

  “Three dead guys would beg to differ with you on that one. Where have you seen the runes before?”

  “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

  Connor’s palms slammed on the table, the sound reverberating through the cramped room. “Enough with the theatrics. Where…have…you…seen…these…runes?” He punctuated each word with a stab of his finger on the photographs.

  “In Mythria,” she blurted before she could stop herself. Mother Night. What had she just admitted?

  CHAPTER FIVE

  What the hell was she talking about? Mythria wasn’t a word he’d ever heard. Maybe his initial assessment of her state of mind had been right; Mythria sounded like something straight from a delusion. “I’ll bite, Ms. Phoenix. What’s ‘Mythria’?”

  “Will you stop calling me that?” Her voice was tinged with frost. Interesting reaction. Cheeks flushed, breath coming a little faster, she was definitely nervous now. When her tongue darted out to moisten her lips, his body tightened. Shit. Thank God he was sitting down and she couldn’t tell. He wasn’t some hormonal teenager, he should have better control than this.

  “What should I call you instead?”

  She hesitated a moment before answering. “Sha. Just, Sha.”

  “Alright, Sha it is.” He sat back, relaxing his posture while he considered his next move. “Ready to stop stalling?” She flinched a little at the harsh tone he’d used, at odds with his body language. Good, maybe it would push her off balance so he could get some real answers.

  “I’m not stalling, I’m wondering how to explain it without sounding insane.”

  Connor fought to stop the amusement he felt from spreading to his face. Sha’s tone reminded him of the one his teachers used when explaining an
obvious concept everyone had missed. Hoping his captain wasn’t picking up on his inexplicable reaction to her, he leaned forward and frowned. “So you’d rather go to jail? Sorry, that alone makes you sound crazy. Stop wasting my time. Either tell me what you know about the runes and this so called Mythria, or we’re done here and you can sit in lockup until you’re ready to talk. Your choice.”

  Anger blazed in her eyes. “Fine Detective, have it your way. I know these runes because I’ve worked with similar ones before. Not the exact same, but close enough that I recognized the style.”

  “What do you mean you’ve worked with them before? Are you an artist?”

  She leaned forward, her sapphire gaze locked on his. “Would you believe me if I told you they’re used for magic?”

  It was official. Not only was he attracted to a witness to a murder, she was also a lunatic. Today was not his day. “Magic? Are you on drugs? Or should you be?”

  “I’m as sane as you are, Detective.”

  This time he couldn’t stop the bark of laughter. “I doubt that.” A sudden thought struck him. “By magic, you mean Wicca, right?” That must be it, she was a Wiccan. One of his sisters had started practicing Wicca a few years back and believed she could perform spells and rituals to use magic. Connor didn’t put much stock into that sort of thing, but it made his sister happy and that’s what mattered.

  Sha’s brows furrowed in confusion. “What is ‘Wicca’?”

  That’s it, he’d had more than enough. Time to try a different tactic on her, one that was sure to startle her and with a little luck, elicit more of a response than she’d given him. Connor rose, slamming his hands on the table. “You enjoy playing these games, don’t you? I’m done with this. Maybe a few hours in a holding cell will persuade you to drop the act and cooperate.”