Page 44 (1/2)

Ryu flipped shut his phone and then turned tohere Anyan and I waited impatiently

"That was Stefan Silver’s body’s been found They’ve got him at the bunker In the meantime, Daoud’s and Caleb’s phones are shut off, so Julian and Camille are on their way to Edie’s I do think it’s odd that four of my people had their phones taken out of commission when they never have their phones off Are you sure you can trust this Terk creature, or the people he serves?"

Anyan snorted "I’ve known Cap her entire life She’s like a niece to me Don’t "

I felt a weird flash of relief when Anyan said Cap was like a niece to him, but at the same time, it confirirl under his care, and alould be

I tried not to let any eued Ryu was accusing Anyan of keeping secrets; Anyan was accusing Ryu of being overdra whether or not I should invest in a black-and-white-striped shirt, since I spent soreferee

"Boys," I interrupted wearily "Places to see, people to do…"

They both looked atout ood sense to look sheepish for a second, before we left to visit this mysterious bunker

The bunker wasn’t really a bunker, just a big basement facility that Stefan’s teaue

There was a blanketed form laid out on the table in the area they used for autopsies A long, lean figure loooblin was dressed in scrubs, the pale green of theout the yellow undertones in the creature’s own green scales

Ryu cleared his throat as we entered the lab

"Ah, Investigator," the goblin intoned, turning around only to blind us with the headlamp he wore strapped to his forehead

We all put a hand over our eyes as he fumbled around with the straps around his head

"Sorry, sorry… always forget about this daht shut off finally, leaving us blinking in the sudden darkness

When our eyes adjusted, wehand on the small of my back

"Where was he found?" asked Anyan

"Remote part of the state He wouldn’t have been found for months if it weren’t for a US Special Forces Co held this weekend They found the body while they were out placing duoblin peered down at us, and I kept oop spattering his scrubs "One of the troops is a nahual and a bed hioblin pointed to a tiie of photos, similar to the one we’d erected in Ryu’s office, that had all of Conleth’s known and suspected victiical order of their deaths and/or the dates they went"He stole the body before the huht back here"

"And you’re sure it’s Silver?" Ryu asked

"Oh, yes," the goblin said as he ushered us forward to the sheeted figure "It’s definitely your man," he said as he twitched the sheet down off Silver’s face

My breath caught and ht of the dead man Ryu’s arms went firmly around my waist, and I went ahead and hid my face in his arm

I’d seen death before, but not this sort of death Not the kind of death enacted by soht pain, anted to hear the victione, and the other was shut, swollen in a face defor and what appeared to be burn scars

For, yes, there was evidence of fire on Silver’s body But not Conleth’s all-consue-induced fire This was clever fire, used efficiently for oblin the file that Capitola had put together for hiht be connected to this one See any sioblin coroner read the report, occasionally nodding his head

"Yes, the two victi internal injuries So his eyes fro with tears for the oldkept Conleth a prisoner, never deserved to die in this manner