Blood & Bone

A thick, black plume of dust filled the air. My lungs burned as I staggered back, coughing. A bitter, chalky taste clung to my tongue. "Oh my gods, is that—"

"Bone ash," Kade grimaced, waving a hand in front of his face as gray and black flakes settled in his hair.

Movement flickered in the cloud.

"The ghoul!" I rasped.

Kade swung his sword, knocking a stack of barrels loose. They tumbled, rolling fast—smack. The ghoul screeched as they slammed into him, sending him hurtling over the railing.

I ran to the edge, Kade right beside me.

"Well, fuck," I swore.

I jammed my ShadowLink comm unit, darting back toward the stairs. "Isla, send medical. Code six, supernatural suspect down."

My wrist buzzed as her voice crackled in. "Roger that, dispatching now."

I leapt the last three stairs, boots skidding through the settling ash as I ran to where the ghoul lay twisted on the concrete, a jagged bone protruding from his chest. Rancid blue blood seeped into the soot beneath him.

"Gross, gross, gross." I dropped to my knees, pressing down on the wound. The pulse beneath my hands was slow, thick, acidic.

"The criminals—why did you kill them?" I demanded.

The ghoul's ruined chest hitched. A wet, rattling breath sucked through his teeth. "Mercy."

"You're dying," I said. "There's no mercy for you now."

A wet, rattling laugh tore from his throat—weak, broken. "Not for me." His bloodied lips trembled as they curled, desperation flickering in his hollow eyes. "Mercy… to save my friends from them."

My stomach tightened. He wasn't just crazed—he was terrified. Someone had shattered him, warped him into this desperate, broken thing and whatever horrors he'd endured had driven him to kill the very people he once swore to protect.

"Who is them?" I pressed.

The ghoul lifted a long, bony finger. It wavered, pointing over my shoulder. His rattling breath escaped in a whisper.

"Crimson."

I turned sharply, following the line of his papery gray digit—to Kade.

The air between us stretched thin. His sword glinting under the flash of lightning. My fingers tensed around my phaser.

He held my gaze for half a second—long enough for something cold to settle in my gut. Then, without hesitation, he raised his blade.

Steel flashed. Bone crunched.

The ghoul's head rolled off his shoulders, landing in the blackened ash with a wet thud.

"I told you not to kill him!" My voice echoed, raw and disbelieving.

Kade shrugged, flicking his sword. Dark blood sprayed onto the ground. "He was already dead. I just expedited the process."

"You just threw away our only chance to get answers!"

"Answers?" He let out a sharp, humorless laugh. A muscle twitched in his jaw, and for a fleeting moment, I thought I saw a flicker of regret in his eyes. "Case closed, detective. Murderer's dead. That's all the truth you need."

I took a step closer, fists clenched. "That thing could've told us—"

He cut me off. "Told you what? Some sob story? You think justice is about tying everything up in a neat little bow?" His voice dropped, sharp as a knife. "Not everyone gets the luxury of hiding behind a badge, Lacey. Some of us don't get to pick the way we survive."

I studied him, my gaze tracing the tension in his shoulders. He didn't want to kill the ghoul—he was ordered to. But why? Burying loose ends, perhaps?

Kade's jaw tightened, like he felt the weight of my judgement. He turned on his heel, stalking toward the exit, boots crunching over shattered ceramic and bone ash, each step sharp, deliberate.

I moved after him, not ready to let this go. "Are you working for the Crimson Syndicate? The ghoul pointed at you and said Crimson."

Kade's stride didn't falter. "Crimson? Never heard of it. Perhaps it's just the ghoul's favorite color?" His voice was flippant, dismissive—too dismissive.

"Liar." Everyone in Ebonspire knew of the Crimson Syndicate—especially these past few months. "I don't know who you are, but I'm starting to think I should find out."

I quickened my pace, reaching for my cuffs—then hesitated. Taking Kade down wouldn't be simple. He was fast—too fast, and had already proven he knew exactly how to put someone like me on the ground. Maybe if I caught him off guard, but if he fought back?

My pulse hammered as we stepped outside, sirens wailing through the night, red and blue flickering against the grime-streaked walls. The cavalry was closing in fast.

I tapped my comm. "Isla—"

A hand clamped around my wrist, yanking me off balance. My back hit cold concrete as Kade swept me into the shadows between two rusted-out cargo containers, his body pressing close, caging me in.

"Careful, detective," he murmured. "You're stepping into something you don't understand."

I swallowed hard, refusing to let him shake me. "I understand plenty. You're connected to Crimson. You're cleaning up their messes."

His jaw tightened. Again, that shadow flickered in his eyes—regret? Guilt? Fear? What does a man like Kade have to fear?

I braced my hands against his chest, ignoring how solid, how warm he felt beneath my palms. "You don't have to run," I said, softer now. "Tell me what you know."

His gaze darkened, a war playing out behind those burning amber eyes. Longing. Conflict.

For a moment, I thought he might actually say something. "Who are you, Kade?" I pressed.

And just like that, his walls slammed back down. He exhaled sharply, shaking his head. "Some questions are better left unanswered, sweetheart." His voice was quiet now, almost... tired. "Trust me when I say this is one of them."

"But—"

A fresh burst of sirens echoed off the buildings, closer now. Kade's grip on me loosened just a fraction, and I seized the moment—shoving forward, breaking free.

But he was already moving.

By the time I spun to chase, he was a blur of dark clothing slipping between the stacked crates. I took off after him, boots pounding against the loading dock, weaving between rusted-out machinery and discarded pallets.

"Kade!" My voice cut through the night.

He didn't stop. He hit a chain-link fence at a run, grabbing the top with one hand and swinging his body up and over in a single, fluid motion.

I reached the fence as he dropped onto the other side, sprinting away. I jumped up, but my grip slipped on the wet metal, sending me stumbling down. I grabbed the metal links again, but he had already vanished into the maze of alleyways beyond, swallowed by the city's shadows.

Gone.

Like a breath of wind, a shift of shadow, nothing left but the lingering warmth of his touch and the electric charge he left in my veins.

I slammed a fist against the fence.

This wasn't over. Not by a long shot.

"Lacey! Are you there?" My ShadowLink crackled to life, Isla's voice snapping me back. "Hale needs a report. Backup's on site."

I stalked back around the front of the warehouse. "Too late. Perp's dead."

A pause. Then Isla sighed. "Shit."

Yep. That about summed it up.

I scrubbed a hand over my face, flicking raindrops from my fingers before tapping a few buttons on my comm. "Tell the Fae High Council to get their asses down here and clean up this mess."

"Will do." Isla hesitated, then her voice softened. "You okay?"

I swallowed, my throat tight. I should be furious. And I was. But beneath the frustration, there was something else—a nagging, restless energy, a feeling I couldn't shake.

Kade had answers. He knew something. And I wasn't about to let this go.

"I'm fine," I lied, striding toward my hover bike—a cherry-red VoidRunner 650—where it whirred down the alley, responding to my call.

"Uh-huh. Sure," Isla said dryly. "Well, if you're done brooding, we've got a shapeshifter situation developing downtown. How soon can you get here?"

I grabbed my helmet, shoving it over my ponytail. Another crime. Another case. Another night chasing criminals ten steps ahead of me.

But maybe, just maybe, I'd stumbled on something bigger.

"I'm on my way." I swung a leg over my seat, my mind racing. "And Isla?"

"Yeah?"

"I need you to dig up everything you can on a merc."

"You got it. What's the name?"

I tightened my grip on the throttle. "Blackfyre. Kade Blackfyre."