Undying Devotion
The Mingling of Scents.

The room’s walls had been cleaned down revealing a number of ritualistic-looking symbols, one on each wall face. Shannara didn’t like the grim look that had solidified on Arion’s stern face as each one was uncovered. His silence was also putting her on edge. Masie and the team were packing up, ready to head back to the office to start processing the evidence, eager to begin processing what they had found. Her best work was done in the field so she remained behind with the lord of demons. His eyes were staring holes into the symbols, it was unnerving.

“Talk to me.” She finally said when no one else was around.

Those beautiful grim eyes turned toward her and she felt her heart rate quicken. If he was acting, he was damn good at it.

“Very few humans know that demons actually exist.” He began.

That was a given since a normal person wouldn’t believe a word of her rather minor adventure the night prior. She waited, this appeared to be hard for him.

“This...” His eyes flicked to the symbols again. “This is very concerning for my realm. Someone is trying to summon something into this world, and if that happens I would have no control over the being that comes through.”

“You didn’t seem to have much control over your subordinate, how is this different?” She questioned a little too quickly, still sore about the copycat.

“I can’t deny that was my mistake. But I have control over who can leave and enter my realm. One of the perks of being king you might say. This, this is someone trying to rip a being from my world without permission, it would send them into a frenzy, and I wouldn’t be able to pull them back. It would break them, leave them unable to function correctly. They would be a monster.”

“Then we found this place just in time.” She added.

“No, you didn’t. You only think that you saved this town when in truth the culprit had been one stroke off from the correct summoning circle.” His gaze returned to the wall.

“But there are such things as demon worshipers, cults and other kinds of rituals that people do. How is this one so different? Most religions mention demons and hell, that information had to come from somewhere, if not your realm then where?”

“My family makes it a point to destroy anything to do with our realm in yours for this very reason. What you are left with is nonsensical ramblings of people that are likely insane. How they got their hands on this information is baffling and concerning.” His brows creased.

“If that were truly the case, I doubt the CIA would know you exist, the DNA we ran from your lackey wouldn’t have flagged, but it did.” She was watching his actions carefully.

His eyes widened slightly at her words, he frowned with a sigh. “I believe you may be correct, there is a good chance that this... CIA and your killer have the same knowledge.”

Her mind was racing, if that were true then her enemy would have inside knowledge of how crime scenes work, they would have an upper hand, and could even be following along with the investigation. It did make sense if he had known about the copycat victim at the same time as they were combing through and processing evidence.

“Holly shit.” She shook her head. “We can’t let anything go through the proper channels, we need to keep this within the team if we are to catch this guy.”

“You may want to inform the group from earlier.” He stated with a grim look.

She made a quick phone call. “Jessie, hey. Listen we need to keep all evidence in-house, and mostly on paper under lock and key, keep it out of the system.”

“Is there a leak?” He asked over the phone.

“It’s possible, I’ll fill you in later. For now, can you do it?”

“Leave it to me.” He hung up.

Turning back to Arion she nodded. “What else can you tell me?”

“Not much really. Though there are a number of scents in the room.” His fists clenched as his handsome face pondered the next move.

“Can you track the culprit?” She suddenly asked thinking about his so-called magical powers.

He raised a brow at her slightly confused. “Do I look like a hellhound?”

“How am I meant to know what you’re capable of?” She retorted crossing her arms over her chest.

“Fair point. I guess I could track this human...” He paused.

“But?” She pressed.

“Without something that belonged to this person, I would risk a lot of exposure to my kind and my realm. The power needed for a tracking spell without an anchor or a strong scent is quite substantial.” He added.

Her head shot up, the culprit had handed the phone in their custody. Sure there were no fingerprints, but... just maybe. “Can you use something he touched and used?” She queried.

He tilted his head. “I could, but that begs the question; How will you explain it to the other humans at the residence where you work?”

She cursed under her breath. Shaking her head, she was beginning to get a headache. She sighed frustrated. He was right, how would she explain suddenly finding the killer with no evidence that led to the culprit or the whereabouts. she couldn’t risk any evidence tampering, it would result in a misstrial for sure and the killer would be set free. She needed to do this the right way, with no shortcuts or risk this bastard being out on the street again.

He lifted his chin and sniffed at the air. “How many victims has there been?” He asked.

“This guy has four. The fifth victim was your mate the copycat.” She replied.

He frowned. “There are seven scents in this room. Two were alive, five are from the blood. The scents are thick in the room, but the air outside has made it impossible for me to follow the live ones.” He added knowing what she was about to ask.

“Are you sure you’re not part dog?” She retorted mulling over the information.

He grimaced but she soon realized it wasn’t from her comment she realized. “What is it?” she asked.

“The humans, they were fornicating in this room, It’s faint, heavily cleaned with chemicals but still there, to my nose at least.”

Her mind was reeling, they had taken the bedding to be tested, but this was a holiday inn, a motel. Who knows how many people had slept in that bed and done the nasty. “Can you tell if it was before, during, or after the blood bath started?”

“Most likely during, the bed was covered with a plastic substance, the blood sprayed and coated everywhere while they had each other. Then the plastic was removed and the blood was soaked into the bed. No plastic was found?” He asked.

She shook her head. “They most likely took it with them. But you’re certain that there are two?” She asked.

“On my life.” He responded. “I believe they entered some type of vehicle like your metal one. It makes it difficult for me to track their scents far outside.”

That made sense, once they entered a car the windows most likely would have been wound up, and they would have sped off. What didn’t make sense to her was the amount of blood that would have been carried into this room, the detail, precision and speed of the killings and the displays of the victims. The killers were a pair? Did one have medical knowledge while the other a police background, or was one of them simply along for the ride. No... That wasn’t it.

“The bodies of the victims were never abused...” She mumbled aloud. She had come to the conclusion that the killer found no sexual drive from these killings, this felt out of place. She looked up at him. “A ritual of this kind, would it call for the molding of bodies and blood?”

His mouth fell slightly ajar as though surprised she had deduced such a thing. “Generally yes.”

She face fell as she began to feel sick. “So, we have a victim we are yet to find. And a sixth woman who will likely be dead soon if we don’t act quickly.”

“It appears so.” He agreed grimly. “I would suggest that the woman that was used in the ritual had been close by, chosen hastily and likely offered currency. She would have been willing... in the beginning at least.”

“Then it looks as though I’m hitting the streets tonight.” This was a lead she couldn’t afford to let get away. “And you and your nose are coming with me.”

“Must I remind you, I am a demon, not a hound.” Shaking his head he reluctantly agreed.

Maybe he might prove useful yet. The hotel is often frequented by prostitutes, it would be a good way of finding out if anyone had seen anyone go with a lady on hire to the rooms. This being a small town there weren’t many, but there were still some. That’s what she’d use as her reason to investigate tonight at least. In truth, she was going to let Arion lead her to this woman that was hired, if that was indeed what had happened.

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