“This is fresh,” Niyla comments, moving around Alaric and coming to kneel beside the woman. “I’d say… a week, maybe two at most.” She runs a finger along the open gash, and brings the crimson to her tongue. The disgust in her expression disappears after a second, just as she comes to stand. “Yeah, two weeks is more like it.”
“What happened here didn’t occur two weeks ago. This building seems like it’s been decaying for decades.”
Alaric hums. “It’s possible that a Witch put a spell over this place. It’s my only educated guess.”
“The death that permeates this placeisfresh, regardless of the anything else. I suspect we will find more,” Niyla adds.
Nodding, I look past them. “We will most likely find Xeraphine’s mother dead, too.”
“Probably the only good news we will get until my Phiny is back with us.” Sydni moves around me to the computer, and just like the rest of the building, it’s ancient and broken down. She attempts to start it up, pressing the button on the tower, and getting nothing.
“Niyla.” I’m proud of her for addressing the Vampire. “Can you move her body? I’m going to work on getting the disk drive out of this, but I’d rather not be… stepping on her.”
“Sure.” As she begins to do as asked, I close my eyes and turn away from them.
This building is massive; a labyrinth of hallways and rooms that could take hours to navigate in search of the one housing Xeraphine’s mother.
But I don’t have to worry about that, it would seem. Sydni is alreadytwenty steps ahead of me. Her instincts are impeccable, and they aren’t due to her now being a Vampire.
“Patient X9918. Room 0229, unless they moved her. But Phiny never made mention of it.” When I look back at her, she is focused on beginning to open up the computer’s tower.
Looking at Niyla, who has just finished tossing the dead girl’s body aside, I give her a nod. It’s a silent command to stay with Sydni, and she seems to understand, returning the gesture.
As I turn and begin walking away, footsteps fall in line beside me.
“I’m capable of going to a room by myself,” I say, my tone carrying no hint of suggestion—just a firm demand.
“I know,” Alaric replies, slipping his hands into his pockets and matching my stride with an infuriating ease.
I roll my eyes and quicken my pace, moving ahead. If he wants to follow me like a dog, so be it. It doesn’t matter at this point. Arguing with this pretentious asshole will only waste time I can’t afford to lose.
As we move down the darkened hallway, the silence presses in, broken only by the soft creaking of open windows fluttering in the breeze. The occasional crack and crunch of debris under our boots fills the air, but otherwise, there's an eerie stillness.
I stop when I spot a map of the facility lazily tacked to the wall. Quickly scanning it, I pinpoint the room—second floor, not far from the entrance. How convenient.
We ascend the single flight of stairs to the second floor, only to be met by the sight of three more freshly deceased bodies sprawled in the hallway. The smell hits me—foul and overpowering. I've been around enough dead bodies to know the scent, but this? This is different. Maybe it’s the sheer volume of death, or perhaps something else. Either way, my instincts are on high alert.
“Something feels wrong,” he comments, drawing my attention to him. His eyes, that of an icy blue, begin to glow. “I don’t have a heightened sense of smell, but even I can smell that.”
Maybe it’s because mine is too sensitive that I can smelleverything,so I’ll need clarification. “What are you getting?”
“It’s sweet, citrus. Like oranges.”
“You can smell that over all this…” My words trail off as I focus on the aroma. Now that he’s pointed it out, it’s undeniable. The scent, almost like blood orange, is sharp, with a tartness that lingers in the back of my throat. Underneath that, there are subtle hints of berries and a delicate floral note, all weaving together like an exotic perfume that dances through my nose.
The air, as we move further down the hallway, almost tastes likeit—this mix of tangy and sweet. It isn’t the complexity of the flavor that unsettles me, it’s the sensation it evokes. Just like when I first caught Xeraphine's scent, it’s as if the aroma is teasing me, drawing me in. Flirting with me in a way that feels wrong, but is undeniable. It’s unsettling, and the feeling that accompanies it makes my stomach churn slightly.
“Demon.” He draws my attention to him. “Incubus, or Succubus?” I’m unsure if it’s rhetorical or not because I’ve never smelled an Incubus before, and Xera is the only Succubus I’ve come across.
The odor is getting stronger, and when we step in front of room 0229, there is no question that it’s coming from inside.
“Kairhyse, you know where that smell comes from.” It isn’t a question, but I shake my head. “Their Amoro. It’s like a pheromone, and even Mundanes who can’t smell it are drawn to it, like an invisible tether.”
Both of us are standing in front of the door, but neither of us moves to open it. I won’t comment to him that Xera tastes just like she smells, because he doesn’t need to know that.
“I’ve seen people deny her before. Can she turn it off? The pheromone.”
He shakes his head. “She’s a Hybrid, so it isn’t as strong. I imagine if her Amoro consumes her, it would draw everyone in, but I can’t be certain.”
