Dark bruises ringed Renee’s neck. Blood splattered the pretty flowered dress and a ragged hole showed where … Her heart. Her big, generous heart. Gone.
Jamie gagged, clapped a hand over her mouth. Oh God, her friend … died in pain, horribly. A boulder the size of Louisiana compressed her chest. Her bottom lip wobbled precariously as the burning rose in her throat.
Her parents. Mark. Would the streak of deaths ever end? Maybe the Grim Reaper was only a happy camper when he kept slaughtering everyone in her life.
She ignored the tightness in her throat. No grief. She tried to speak past the cotton dryness in her mouth. Damian put a hand on her shoulder, squeezed gently. His fingers trailed over her nape, stroking in soothing motions as if he tried calming her.
“Wh-who could have done this?”
“Someone with a great deal of strength.” The cop swept her with an even gaze. She guessed his thoughts. Small, slender hands, barely enough strength to rip open a cereal-box top.
But who did possess such strength? Draicon did.
“When did you last see her, Miss Walsh?”
Menace and anger rolled from Damian in thick, violent waves. He gave the cop a look cool enough to freeze burning coal. “She’s not up to answering questions now.”
“It’s okay,” she told Damian, then looked at the detective. “This morning, we had tea, and then she got customers.”
Each question tossed at her she answered steadily, her mind sharpening, her emotions dulled. Her mind raced. Who could want Renee dead? The woman had no enemies, nothing much of value to steal … The laptop. Jamie’s gaze darted over to the side table where Renee had last placed it. Gone.
“May I go into the back rooms, Detective? She was a good friend and I can tell you if anything is missing.”
“I’ll go with you,” Ryan said.
In the kitchen, the shiny new blue notebook sat on the table with a wireless Internet card tucked into the slot. Black fingerprint powder covered the surface.
“Nice notebook.” Ryan gestured to it. “Odd the killer took only the cash from the register and not this. She used it to send an e-mail to her granddaughter today.”
A chill fell over Jamie. She glanced up at Damian’s stoic expression.
“Maybe the killer didn’t want it tracked back to him,” Jamie said softly. She glanced around.
“Where is Renee’s cat?”
Ryan frowned. “We found no cat.” Archimedes must have escaped. He was a survivor, and probably out roaming the streets. The least of her worries now.
“Detective, is her diamond pendant missing? She loved it and it should be in her jewelry box upstairs. I’ll stay here. I’m feeling faint.”
Jamie slipped into the chair before the laptop, burying her face in her hands. No lie, for she was feeling sick. She waited until he left the kitchen, then lifted her head.
Damian leaned over the table. “I need to get you out of here.”
“No, wait, I have to check this out.” She glanced around. “Make sure no one comes in here, ‘kay?"
She powered up the laptop, scanned the files. An e-mail to Renee’s grandchild, just as the detective had said. Jamie pulled up the browsing history. Erased, of course. No matter.
She went into DOS and typed a program she’d written. A long list of Internet addresses scrolled down. Shocked dismay filled her as Jamie stared at the screen.
“What?”
“The computer,” she said dully. “Renee never touched it. Her fingerprints are all over it, but she didn’t use it. She didn’t know how to use the Internet. And these sites, they list antique shops in the French Quarter.”
“Antique shops?”
Jamie caught the note of alarm. Warm breath feathered against her cheek as Damian leaned over her and studied the screen. He muttered something in French. Jamie shut off the machine.
Damian waved his hand. “I just erased your fingerprints. Let’s go. I’ll tell the police you’re ill.”
Outside she gulped down lungfuls of fresh air, but Damian didn’t let her stop until they reached her house and were safely inside the gate. As Jamie sat in the courtyard, a small black cat darted out of the bushes.
“Archimedes!” Joy filled her as she went to pick him up.
The cat turned his back on her and sat by a dying potted palm. Jamie frowned. Not like him to be so unfriendly.
“I brought him back here for you.” Damian sighed.
“What is it? Tell me,” she demanded.
He ran a palm over the brick wall as if to assure himself the safeguards were still in place. “That’s why they killed her. She knew about the antique shop.”
“What shop?”
“The first clue to where the Book of Magick is hidden. It would be in my grandfather’s old house, which is now an antique shop.” He paced, his hands squeezed into fists.
“Renee knew my grandfather’s house held the first clue. My father adored games. He told me that when he hid the book, he planted clues all over the Vieux Carre and the first one was in my grandfather’s house. The Morphs must have gotten it out of her. Not the location. Just that it’s an antique shop now.”
“Renee couldn’t know where the book was hidden. She didn’t even know who you are. And even if she did, why would the Morphs murder her?"
Damian’s fingers relaxed as he stopped to regard her. “She did, Jamie. Renee knew my family well. She was a Draicon. That’s why they killed her—to ingest her energy and give them power. The dying fear of a Draicon is much more powerful than a human’s death fears.”
She sagged into the chair. Impossible. Draicon were evil. Uncaring, brutish werewolves, not sweet, motherly psychics.
“Years ago, Draicon here were outnumbered by Morphs and went into hiding. Renee was among them. I couldn’t tell because I didn’t recognize her scent. Renee used a chemical compound to disguise her scent from the Morphs. Very clever. Whoever did this must have realized her identity and her association with my family.”
Or tortured it out of her. It was too fantastic. Her emotions raced between heartbreaking grief and utter betrayal. “But her grandchild is human. She showed me pictures!”
“Draicon. The parents are from a pack in North Carolina.”
Even her friend had been the enemy. Jamie tried sorting it out. As she had with first her parents’ deaths and then Mark’s, she shoved grief into a dark corner. First came survival.
“I have to find the book. It contains a spell to remove the dark magick, and counteract the spell infecting you. The Morphs know where to start looking now and they won’t stop until they find it.”
Damian leaned against the wall, crossing his powerful arms across his chest. “I hate leaving you here to search for the book, but I have little choice. I’ll send Raphael’s guys to guard you.”
The hell with that. Damian would find the book and her solution to lifting the binding spell crippling her powers. He would wield it over her, always dominating her with his magick, and she’d be trapped. His, forever.
She gripped the chair’s armrests. Damian was the key to finding what she desperately needed. Trusting him was impossible, but for now, she had to join forces with him.
“I’m not staying here. I’m coming with you.”
“The hell you are.”
“The hell I am. My life is tied up in the book. Do you think I’ll sit here and wait? I’m