Read Online Sin's Dark Caress by Tracey O'Hara - Free Book Online Page B

was technically her succubus side.”
    â€œNow I know why you get on so well with that incubus. By the way, what did she say to you just then?”
    Bianca scowled and looked away, blushing. “Nothing.”
    â€œCome on, you can tell me.”
    â€œI think I want to take another look at the murder scene,” she said, avoiding his question.
    Best not push.
    The mood in the room had turned rather anxious. The animal familiars picked up on their masters’ fear and confusion and chaos reigned. Squawking, screeching, and the general noise level increased as the animals got more and more agitated. The beginnings of a headache pinched behind his eyes.
    â€œI think I’ll come with you,” he said, following Bianca.
    Jones still stood guard beside the door, and he nodded as they came through. The alley was now a hive of activity, with forensics moving around, tagging evidence and taking photos.
    The air was ripe. Trash, rotting food, and fresh spilled blood assaulted the senses, but he could breathe much more easily than he did in a room full of magic wielders. He pulled the pack of cigarettes from his pocket and lit one.
    God, that’s good.
    â€œSo.” He dragged in another lungful of delicious smoke. “That Domina really has it in for you and your mom.”
    Bianca shrugged. “I don’t function properly, which reflects poorly on my family and their standing in the community. My people don’t really forgive failure. If not for me, my mother would probably be the Domina of New York, though she’s never held it against me.”
    â€œThou shalt not suffer a witch to fail?” he said as he exhaled a stream of smoke.
    She laughed. “Something like that.”
    Her smile totally transformed her face, into something almost angelic. He loved that smile. He took another drag on his cigarette and kept his eyes locked with hers. “I’d hardly call head of forensic thaumaturgy at the Academy of Parahuman Studies and top consultant to all the law enforcement agencies in the tristate area a failure.”
    A shade of pink flushed her cheeks. She was never good at taking compliments. “In my culture, any witch who can’t wield magic is a failure.”
    He placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. “It’s hardly your fault that your powers failed to manifest. Besides, you would never have been as good at your job if they had.”
    â€œNo—you misunderstand,” she said, locking eyes with his. “If my powers had failed to manifest it would’ve been a blessing. I wouldn’t be seen as a witch then. I have everything I need to be a practicing thaumaturgist—the power, the theory, and the knowledge to use it. The only thing stopping me is my inability to bond with a familiar.”
    He frowned. “I don’t understand.”
    She sighed. “For all intents and purposes I’m a fully functioning witch, but without a connection to an animal conduit I can’t draw on the thaumaturgic essence to weave it into spells. Some in my situation have been known to turn to black magic as a way to access their power.”
    â€œInstead, you turned it to good use as a forensic thaumaturgist. Win-win for us, I say.” He dropped the cigarette butt and ground it underfoot.
    The medical examiner, Tez O’Connor, stood up from beside the girl’s body and pulled off a pair of bloody latex gloves as she walked over to meet them. “It’s a real fecken messy one, this.”
    McManus looked at the wall brightly lit by the crime lamps where the same symbol as at the other two crime scenes was barely visible on the dirty brickwork.
    â€œWe’re pretty positive the girl was a virgin,” Bianca said to the M.E. “Can you check that when you’re doing the autopsy?”
    â€œYou’re fecken joking, right?” Tez said with her usual Irish lilt. “You know a wee babe was cut from her gut,