Fucking gods.
I placed my hand on Poppy’s lower back. “Where is Perry?”
“Three houses down,” he said, leading us the short distance.
There was little open space around the homes in Stonehill, with no front courtyards, only those in the back. The main door of the squat, stucco home sat right off the sidewalk. My gaze moved over the door, seeing that the sconce’s glass globe was blown, as was the one above the latticed windows.
The door opened before Malik could do it, and Naill walked out.
He pulled a Malik and stumbled to a halt. This time, Poppy stopped him before he could bow.
Naill clasped her hand without hesitation, and the only thing that stopped me from caving into the primitive urge to wrench her away was the knowledge that touch was important to her.
“I can’t even tell you how glad I am to see you,” Naill said, the deep-brown hue of his skin carrying an ashen undertone. “But I wish you were not here.” His gaze lifted to mine. “What’s inside is…”
“I need to see it,” Poppy said.
Exhaling softly, Naill nodded. “You should…” His chest rose sharply. “I would say prepare yourself, but I don’t believe that is possible.”
My jaw hardened as I nodded. He opened the door to a small foyer, and a scent slammed into us all at once. Lilacs—stale lilacs.
Delano’s hackles rose as he froze beside Poppy, his ears pinned back.
Yeah, that was a fucked-up sign if there ever was one.
“You don’t have to come in,” Poppy said to him, and then I felt faint stirrings of eather as their communication moved to something just between them. She finally sighed and moved forward with Delano at her side. Emil and Malik followed us as I lowered my hood, surveying the house’s dark interior.
Shoes had been placed by the door—boots dusty with dirt and a smaller pair of leather flats that were far less dirty.
Poppy tugged her hood down, eyeing the other sets. Two pairs of much, much smaller boots caked in mud.
“Most of the homes here are set up the same,” Malik explained as Naill led us into a tight, dark corridor. “The rooms are one after another. A sitting room—it’s empty. Then the bedchambers. They’re also empty.”
“Kitchen is in the back,” Naill said, pausing. “That’s where they are.”
Candlelight flickered at the end of the hall as we passed another blown sconce. “Are all the homes like this?” Kieran gestured to the shattered glass on the tile.
“From what I’ve seen? Yes,” Naill answered.
I filed that away as Perry stepped into our line of sight, holding what appeared to be a pale-yellow blanket. The expression etched into the brown skin of his face matched the others. It wasn’t often so many Elementals were so shaken.
“Cas.” Perry’s gaze jumped from me to the others, then behind me. He inhaled sharply. “M-my Queen—”
“Please, don’t,” she said, stopping him as I stepped around Naill. Several thick candles were lit on the kitchen counter.
And three bodies were laid out, the sheets covering them stained with blood. Two of them shared one covering. The sight of the smaller bodies would stop anyone in their tracks, but I knew the expression on the male’s face had robbed Poppy of her words.
Because it had stolen them from me, too.
Behind me, Emil cursed.
“I found another sheet,” Perry said, his voice low as we crowded into the small kitchen. “I just…I couldn’t look at their faces any longer.”
I couldn’t blame him for that.
Meanwhile, I couldn’t look away from the bloodless curve of the man’s lips.
The dead man, who had to be in his third or fourth decade of life, wassmiling.
