Sickened, Francesca dropped the girl’s hand, afraid she would awaken her with her violent reaction to the child’s ordeal. She pushed her hand against her throbbing temples and her palm came away smeared with blood.
“Breathe, Francesca, you can do her no good reliving these memories. Lucian may have sought to throw down the gauntlet but he is inadvertently aiding me in bringing about justice for this child. Our child. We will love her.” Gabriel flooded her with warmth and solace. She could feel the sensation of his arms around her, the strength of his body as if he were holding her close even though they were miles apart.
“Where are you? ” She caught a glimpse of a busy room – filled with desks and people, mostly men.
“At the police station. I am unseen at the moment. I need to know everything about this kill. I want to hear the personal comments and read the reports. I have already visited the site. I do not know what Lucian is up to, but I want you to be very careful. Scan Skyler’s memories each time you visit her.”
“She is asleep and becoming restless.”
“I want you safe, my love. Perhaps you should go back to the house and set safeguards. But do not think it will do more than slow him down if he attempts to come after you. Should you be in danger, you must call to me. Do not wait.”
“I have to see my lawyer. He has drawn up the papers and the judge will see me this night. It is a special favor he is doing me and I must attend. The judge will ask Skyler if she agrees and as soon as Brice okays it, we will be able to take her home with us. There has been a reply from Aidan Savage via e-mail. A few members of his household are in London at the moment. He will contact them and see if they would be willing to aid us, housekeeping for Skyler during the daylight hours.”
“Please be careful, Francesca,” Gabriel cautioned as he slowly allowed the connection between them to fade. He liked none of it. It could only be Lucian merging with Skyler. Gabriel knew he would easily detect any other of their kind or the undead. Everything pointed to the handiwork of his twin. This kill. It was classic Lucian. Neat. Tidy. Unidentifiable to anyone except Gabriel. The opening gambit in their game.
He considered an attempt to lead Lucian away from the city and the two women. Both of them were at risk.
Gabriel examined the pictures of the body from all angles. In a few minutes he would go to the morgue and make sure that there were no telltale signs of vampirism. Most vampires were messy with their kills and the remains usually had to be incinerated to a fine ash, leaving little for the human police to trace. Lucian had always been different. It was as if he deliberately kept the game between Gabriel and himself.
This body was Lucian’s kill. He was like a surgeon, never leaving so much as a pinprick behind. The blood was drained from the body, not a single drop spilled on the ground. Around the neck was a clean slice like a giant smile. The medical examiner could never quite figure out exactly what was used. The evidence pointed to a single razor-sharp claw like that of a long-extinct raptor. The only blood remaining in or on the victim was the thin line like a necklace around the throat. That macabre mystery was Lucian’s calling card, his idea of a joke. In the past no one had ever determined what had caused the injury or how the blood loss had occurred. When Gabriel was a step and a half behind Lucian, as he was now, and the police found the bodies, these kills always created a major sensation. Everyone liked a good mystery.
Right now they were all speculating about the injury. It was so precise they were betting it was done with a surgical instrument by a surgeon. Gabriel walked among them unseen to the human eye. As he moved through their midst, he noticed that some of the detectives were more sensitive than others. One or two of them shivered unexpectedly, looking around to see where the cold draft came from.