Beacon Hill sat on the north side of Spokane. It was a lookout where couples came to make out. Friends would sneak up here and hang out or do other things. Today it was empty—minus the crime scene team Alden had beat us here with.
The grey clouds loomed over us, as a grim reminder of what had happened here. Belinda hadn't been home when she'd been caught. She'd been jogging if her workout clothes were anything to go off of. She was faceless, as if it had been peeled off, but unlike the pixie she had her eyes and no surgery had been performed.
The CSI team was looking green, one of them more than the others. His normally bronzed skin was pale and he was holding his stomach at bay—barely. Rex was his name and he was an earth Witch who'd been unable to tap a leyline. He'd spent most of his time digesting science before transferring over to the crime scene unit.
"Rex, breathe in through your mouth, out through your nose," I mumbled trying to help him as I took in the body through the helmet Ryder had demanded I wear. "I'm taking this off. I can't see shit with it on."
"Leave it on, just because we cannot see a bomb doesn’t mean there isn't one present Synthia." He grumbled from beside me.
"She isn't cut like the Fairy was, I don’t see anywhere a bomb could have been placed."
I looked closer. There was hair around the body in clumps. The smell around us was putrid and yet something sickly sweet covered the body as well. I closed my eyes and opened them with second sight looking for the green aura trail that had been at the first crime scene.
"Red?" I asked aloud, to myself.
"It's not green like you said the other one was and red is the color a newborn Vampire leaves in its wake. Is it crimson, or pinker?" Alden asked coming up to place his hand on my shoulder gently.
"It's bright red, like the color of fresh arterial blood."
"See anything else while you have your headlights on?" He asked with a serious face on.
"My sight works as well as your own Alden," I replied already looking around for anything else that would help us find the bastard responsible. "No heel marks like last time, no bomb. She wasn’t expecting anyone over for tea either," I said sarcastically.
"Tea?" He asked scratching his head as his blue eyes narrowed in confusion.
"I forgot you weren't at the last one, we almost died. Bomb blew up, with us standing inches away," I said already growing tired of the subject.
"Syn," he replied softly.
"Yeah?"
"I'm glad you lived and I'm glad you were there. Figured I should start with that. I'm glad you were there, but if you hadn't been we'd have a larger body count right now."
I smiled sadly. The guy had a way with words. "Me too Alden, too many died before you decided to bring me in on this."
He nodded and looked around the scene, his eyes scanning everything slowly, compiling it all to memory as he'd taught me. He'd been an asshole to have as a teacher. Hard on everyone one of us, but it had been because he'd wanted us to be prepared.
"Alden, nothing here makes sense. This scene is off compared to the others Larissa showed me. Everyone had something inside missing, an organ, tissue and other severely disturbing shit. But this girl?" I tossed my hands up in the air, "She isn't missing anything outside. And other than—wait, her neck," I stepped closer but it was too late.
I didn’t have time to throw the shield, or react more than saying "oh shit" the light that I'd seen in the body had turned from red to green and then the scene exploded. Everything stopped, the sound, the movement. Impending doom.
Knowing that you're going to die can put everything around you in slow motion. I could hear the animals running as if they too knew what was coming. The birds that had been flying over the scene had stopped chirping even. I had time to look for my coven and see that they were a safe distance from the explosion. Further than I was.
Rex was over the body, his eyes scanning the body with fear as he heard the click of the bomb before he exploded with it. The heat touched my face through the suit, kissing my flesh as I was thrown back against something hard and unmoving and then blackness took over my mind replacing the fear.
I was on my back when my eyes flew open, warm liquid was seeping from my nose and mouth and someone was shouting over the ringing inside my ears. Someone was hovering over the top of me, a dim shadow without a face. Shouting. The helmet was removed and everything grew louder.
"Syn!"
Others were screaming around me, some on the ground like I was. My eyes gained focus and Ryder's piercing stare was looking down at me as his mouth worked, his hands shaking me. I watched his eyes grow wide as more piercing screams were ripped from around us.
"My team," I whispered over the dirt and grime in my mouth. The coppery taste of blood thick as I tried swallowing past it to speak.