Read Online Tainted Blood: A Generation V Novel by M.L. Brennan - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: M.L. Brennan
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emergency line. The
karhu
of the
metsän kunigas
has been murdered. His niece discovered the body in his house, and they have requested an investigation.”
I was turning the dogs around before Loren Noka was halfway through. “Text me the details, please,” I said quickly, then disconnected as soon as we had exchanged good-byes. I tapped Suze’s number in and was relieved when she picked up on the second ring.
Halfway through whatever clever joke she was saying as a greeting, I broke in with, “The head bear was just found murdered. Chivalry’s still on bereavement, so this is all on me.”
One of the things that a lot of people didn’t realize about Suzume (probably because they had already fled in the other direction) was that when things got serious, she didn’t play around. Without a pause, she immediately dropped all the fun joking and said, “I’m working downtown today. Pick me up.” Then she rattled off the address and hung up. I shoved my phone back in my jacket pocket and pulled on the dogs’ leashes—Fawkes and Codex, sensing that their precious run was going to be cut short, were doing their best to tug me in the direction that lay
away
from home—and once I had snouts facing correctly, I broke into a full sprint.
While I dodged around pedestrians and avoided being run over at cross streets, my brain scrambled to get a handle on the hot mess that I’d just been deputized to deal with. Reported murders were very rare in the territory—in the months that I’d been officially a part of my family’s policing structure, I’d dealt with a few complaints and some minor disputes. Most things had been like my visit to the rusalka—fairly easy to look into and resolve. The most serious call to the emergency line that I’d been aware of was when I was still doing ride-alongs withChivalry over the summer, and a member of the territory had tipped us off that some kobolds had gone from eating stray animals to snatching people’s pets.
Murder was much different, and this one was serious. I’d done my best to learn about all the major species that my mother ruled over, but I still hadn’t met a lot of them. Unfortunately that included the
metsän kunigas
, and I tried to go over what I knew about them in my head as I returned two very disappointed dogs to their home and headed directly to my car.
The
metsän kunigas
were bears. Or, rather, they were humans who could turn into bears. Unlike the kitsune or the Ad-hene, which had specific and very localized points of species origin (Japan and Ireland, respectively), werebears, like both of their natural cousins, had developed in a lot of different places. The two communities (the larger in Providence, and a smaller one in Maine) that were in my mother’s territory were Finnish immigrants who had come over in the early eighteen hundreds, but apparently there was also a variety of werebear that was indigenous to the United States, and lived in a few areas out West. They used different terminology, but the logistics were essentially the same. The Providence group typically didn’t cause trouble for the vampires, operating within the rules that had been negotiated when they settled, and they delivered very healthy tithes, since the ruling family operated a thriving local insurance company that employed many members of the group. Their leader was called the
karhu
, and basically served as the group’s monarch for life. The current
karhu
had been, until a few minutes ago, Matias Kivela. That, unfortunately, capped off most of what I knew about them.
One thing that Chivalry had been very clear on was that they universally hated the term
werebear
. Naturally, that was the first word out of Suzume’s mouth as she hopped into my car.
“You smell worse than the werebears, Fort. Did you really have to let every single dog mark you?”
I’d pulled the car away from the curb the moment she pulled her door shut, and was already merging into the brewing
karhu
of the
metsän kunigas
has been murdered. His niece discovered the body in his house, and they have requested an investigation.”
I was turning the dogs around before Loren Noka was halfway through. “Text me the details, please,” I said quickly, then disconnected as soon as we had exchanged good-byes. I tapped Suze’s number in and was relieved when she picked up on the second ring.
Halfway through whatever clever joke she was saying as a greeting, I broke in with, “The head bear was just found murdered. Chivalry’s still on bereavement, so this is all on me.”
One of the things that a lot of people didn’t realize about Suzume (probably because they had already fled in the other direction) was that when things got serious, she didn’t play around. Without a pause, she immediately dropped all the fun joking and said, “I’m working downtown today. Pick me up.” Then she rattled off the address and hung up. I shoved my phone back in my jacket pocket and pulled on the dogs’ leashes—Fawkes and Codex, sensing that their precious run was going to be cut short, were doing their best to tug me in the direction that lay
away
from home—and once I had snouts facing correctly, I broke into a full sprint.
While I dodged around pedestrians and avoided being run over at cross streets, my brain scrambled to get a handle on the hot mess that I’d just been deputized to deal with. Reported murders were very rare in the territory—in the months that I’d been officially a part of my family’s policing structure, I’d dealt with a few complaints and some minor disputes. Most things had been like my visit to the rusalka—fairly easy to look into and resolve. The most serious call to the emergency line that I’d been aware of was when I was still doing ride-alongs withChivalry over the summer, and a member of the territory had tipped us off that some kobolds had gone from eating stray animals to snatching people’s pets.
Murder was much different, and this one was serious. I’d done my best to learn about all the major species that my mother ruled over, but I still hadn’t met a lot of them. Unfortunately that included the
metsän kunigas
, and I tried to go over what I knew about them in my head as I returned two very disappointed dogs to their home and headed directly to my car.
The
metsän kunigas
were bears. Or, rather, they were humans who could turn into bears. Unlike the kitsune or the Ad-hene, which had specific and very localized points of species origin (Japan and Ireland, respectively), werebears, like both of their natural cousins, had developed in a lot of different places. The two communities (the larger in Providence, and a smaller one in Maine) that were in my mother’s territory were Finnish immigrants who had come over in the early eighteen hundreds, but apparently there was also a variety of werebear that was indigenous to the United States, and lived in a few areas out West. They used different terminology, but the logistics were essentially the same. The Providence group typically didn’t cause trouble for the vampires, operating within the rules that had been negotiated when they settled, and they delivered very healthy tithes, since the ruling family operated a thriving local insurance company that employed many members of the group. Their leader was called the
karhu
, and basically served as the group’s monarch for life. The current
karhu
had been, until a few minutes ago, Matias Kivela. That, unfortunately, capped off most of what I knew about them.
One thing that Chivalry had been very clear on was that they universally hated the term
werebear
. Naturally, that was the first word out of Suzume’s mouth as she hopped into my car.
“You smell worse than the werebears, Fort. Did you really have to let every single dog mark you?”
I’d pulled the car away from the curb the moment she pulled her door shut, and was already merging into the brewing
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