Apparently a dead immortal brought out all the freaks. It was a nice yard, vivid green bushes that continuously flowed to the mailbox in the front yard of the small green house. From the flowers and roses planted throughout the yard it was easy to tell that the Fae who lived here had been blessed with green thumbs—or was an actual Fairy.
The Guild had figured out that the difference between Fairies and the Fae was small, but there, the lines between the types of Fae often seemed blurred. Ryder and his merry men had more in common with the mythical Elves, minus the pointy ears and that they were not exactly gentle folk. These guys would kick your ass, mess with your head and then probably steal your soul just to liven things up a bit. Fairies on the other hand were gentle creatures that preferred to live alone unless mated. I was willing to bet that since I heard no pitter of wings, or crying from family, that this one had been alone and unmated. Fairies like Sprites and Dryads were connected to nature and drew from the earth and not the human race, which made them worth keeping around in my book. Myths and legends often had basis in fact, how many types of the Otherworld creatures were out there was uncertain and the Fae weren’t sharing that kind of information anytime soon.
I opened the van's door and stepped out waiting for Adam and Larissa to pile out of the beat up van designated for official Guild business since it had the Guilds name in red down the otherwise white side. My eyes searched the Dark Fae closest to us and found a pair of narrowed golden eyes watching as we moved closer to the scene.
"Here, put these on," the closest Fae said holding out a pair of cloth booties you would see in an operating room on a surgeon.
I kept my comment to myself as I took them and put them on over my sneakers. I'd changed into the black fatigues and tank top which was protocol for members of the Guild on a crime scene, or so Larissa said. "How many dead?" I asked taking in the broken window I could see from the front porch.
"One," Ryder replied moving over to where we stood. "It's gruesome, sure you can stomach it?" He questioned me.
"It’s a crime scene, I think we can handle it," I mumbled ignoring his hard stare as I looked around him to the glass shards on the porch. I narrowed my eyes considering it and then looked at the untouched flowerbed right in front of it.
Ryder turned to stand beside me, the electrical current of his power sizzling over my flesh reminding me of everything he had done to me today already. I dismissed him from my mind going into enforcer mode, blocking out every sound as I took in what the naked eye would miss. There was an aura trail leading around the back, it was faint but there none the less, the aura was green and was already fading.
"The body. Who's been in to see it so far?" I asked.
"We were waiting for your Guild, wasn’t aware they were sending you in to help us," Ryder didn’t sound any happier about me being here than I was.
"So no one has entered yet?" I said stopping and turning my head around as he ran into me.
He pulled back instantly as if I had burned his flesh. "No, we looked in through a window."
I nodded and started walking again. The trail around back was growing fainter with every second. "It's not a Witch, or Fae…I've never seen a green aura, has a slimy feel to it."
I could feel his penetrating gaze on my back as I followed the trail ignoring the house as I walked around to the back. It was as green as the front yard was with flower pots bursting with beautiful flowers in every hue of the rainbow.
My feet hit gravel and I stopped. The green trail from the aura was gone. "There was a car parked here for a quick getaway if needed, but the killer wasn't in a hurry," I scanned the gravel kneeling down to touch the rocks and measure out the tire print from where the killer had been parked, "There was at least one female in heels here," I said coming back up. "The car is most likely a Dodge Charger," I turned looking at the garage which had a small fleck of red paint on the corner which had been hit on the way out. "Red, blood red."
"Do you realize how many Red Charges there are in Spokane?" Adam whined.
"Yep, I'd say she was around one hundred and thirty pounds, maybe more."
"You got all that from following a trail?" Dristan asked coming up behind us.
I turned and gave him a leveled stare with a slight nod before turning back to the garage that besides the paint was otherwise in place, minus the obnoxious odor coming from inside. I chewed at my lip before looking closely at the lock for tampering, "You guys smell that?" I asked turning to take in the Fae's reaction to my question.
"Yeah, it's fertilizer from Faery," Ryder said crossing his arms over his immaculate white lawn shirt. He wore loose fitting jeans with off black boots that made him seem almost human—if he wasn’t glaring with his brutal air of authority.