Hungry Earth (Elemental Book 2) by Rain Oxford Read Free Book Online

of detecting that. Punishment for
breaking either law is usually the removal of the vampire’s fangs.”
    We covered ten more rooms before we came to another
where no one answered the door. Instead of moving on, Clara sniffed at the
door. Obviously not happy with what she smelled, she grabbed the handle and
turned it. I didn’t hear a lock break. Inside, I saw nothing unusual; it was a
basic room about eight-by-ten with a twin bed, a desk, two chairs, and a
dresser.
    So the vampires don’t have roommates.
    A man was lying on top of his covers in the bed I
knew something was wrong when he didn’t immediately wake. As if she wasn’t
already certain of the situation from the doorway, Clara went to him and
checked his pulse. “He’s dead,” she confirmed.
    “He’s a vampire; he can’t be dead,” I said.
    “Go get Hunt.”
    “What is going on here?” Kale asked, suddenly behind
us. “A vampire has been killed?” He looked slightly sick to his stomach.
“Stephen will not be happy about this.”
    “My father won’t jump to conclusions,” Clara said. “Get
Hunt and Dr. Martin.”
    “I’ll get the doctor,” Henry said and left.
    “Until we find the murderer, this school is on
lockdown. All students are to be confined to their rooms. Sanders and Mason,
that means you two as well.”
    Yeah, that wasn’t going to happen. Darwin and I both
ignored him. “Is there any blood or a wound?” I asked Clara. I would have
examined the vampire myself, but Darwin and I were blocking Kale and I got the
feeling it was a bad idea to let the council member enter the room. Darwin must
have picked up on it, because he didn’t move either.
    My roommate shook his head. “I’m not as good as a
shifter with my nose, but I smell nothing odd at all.”
    I moved aside as Henry returned with Dr. Martin.
Clara backed up to give Dr. Martin some space. He shined a small flashlight in
the vampire’s eyes. “Everyone out,” he said.
    We went out into the hall and closed the door. The
silence was awkward as Kale glanced between the three of us, his eyes narrow
with suspicion. I was fairly certain that he was hoping one of us was the
murderer. About ten minutes later, the door opened.
    “Who killed him?” Kale asked immediately.
    “That is difficult to say, for there was no cause of
death.”
    “He’s still alive?”
    “No, he is definitely dead. There just wasn’t any
cause. He simply stopped being alive.” We turned as Hunt arrived with Flagstone
in his shifted form. The wolf shoved his way into the room, sniffed the body,
and looked at Hunt.
    “There was a witness,” Hunt said.
    I glanced at Darwin and he nodded before taking off
down the hall. If anyone was talking about it, he would find them.
    “Kale, we are going to take care this,” Hunt said.
“You can get back to your work and we will let you know as soon as we have any
new information. Trust me; Rosin can track anyone.” The wolf in question sat in
front of the body and nodded.
    Kale glared. “You better have information for me
soon, Logan.” He left.
    Hunt turned back to Flagstone. “Now, what do you mean
there is no scent?” The wolf sniffed the body again for a moment and then backed
away. “Devon, someone saw what happened. I need you to find out who it was.”
    “We’re already on it.”
    “Good.”
    “What was his name?”
    Hunt looked at the body, ran his hand through his
hair, and sighed. “His name was Cooper. I know you still think vampires are all
killers, Devon, but even you must see this as a tragedy.”
    I did. Even knowing what he was, I couldn’t imagine
the guy ruthlessly killing someone. He was probably seventeen, thin, with dark
brown hair and laugh lines. He looked no different than any human teenager.
Then again, I couldn’t write him off as innocent just because of his age.
Astrid killed at least three people before she was thirteen. “How many people
has he killed?”
    “He never killed anyone. I was there when