When Passion Lies: A Shadow Keepers Novel by J. K. Beck Read Free Book Online

whoever was calling him, then snatched his cellphone from the bedside table. The caller ID showed Everil, and Gabriel didn’t think he’d ever been happier to hear from his smarmy excuse for a partner. “I’m here. What’s up?”
    “Humans caught one,” Everil said, his high, nasal voice grating on Gabriel’s already worn nerves. “An actual, bona fide homicide.”
    The little fae sounded excited by the prospect. Gabriel didn’t share his enthusiasm.
    “I assume there’s a reason you’re telling me this?”
    “Humans caught it, but it’s our jurisdiction. Victim’s a werewolf. Looks like he’s been dead a couple of hours. Apparently someone heard shots, but didn’t report it. Didn’t realize what they’d heard, I guess, until some teenagers decided to go out for a late-night hike and make-out session. They found the body, and then our earwitness came forward when they saw the cops.” He was talking a mile a minute, obviously thrilled as shit to be in the middle of an actual homicide investigation. “I’m heading to the scene now. Koller’s gonna do his liaisonthing and work it out with the human big shots at the Polizei,” he added, referring to Benjamin Koller, the subdirector of Division 12’s violent crimes unit.
    “Remember what we talked about. Make sure the scene is preserved. These guys don’t have a lot of experience with homicide. I don’t want someone’s rookie mistake destroying evidence.”
    “You got it, partner,” he said, then trilled, “Damn, but this is exciting.”
    Gabriel snapped the phone shut with a shake of his head.
Exciting
wouldn’t be his choice of words. But as he looked at the woman on the bed, he had to admit that
fortuitous
and
convenient
fit quite well.

    Moonlight spilled from the sky, the snow on the mountains magnifying it and painting the scene in shades of gray and white. It was a breathtakingly beautiful sight.
    Gabriel barely noticed.
    He found the scene easily enough. Even without Everil’s overly detailed directions, the path to the picnic area was obvious enough, having been well trampled by the authorities, both human and shadower. With a frown, he hurried forward, afraid the clods had mucked up the crime scene. He was pleased to discover that the area around the victim had been cordoned off with crime-scene tape. Gabriel would have preferred a wider perimeter, but it was too late now. That’s what happened when homicide came to paradise—mistakes were made and evidence was lost.
    He approached the scene, breathing in deep. Half hellhoundon his mother’s side, his sense of smell was as well attuned as any shadow creature’s. But if the perp had left a distinctive scent, it had been masked by all the activity. More than that, unless he was familiar with the suspect’s smell, catching a scent would hardly matter.
    He paused outside the tape and peered down at the victim. Male. Thin. Reasonably tall. Appeared to be in his late forties, though if he was weren he could just as easily be in his late four hundreds. The same biology that altered and then repaired their cellular structure every month also healed their cells as they aged. A neat trick, actually.
    A single bullet hole had penetrated the victim’s skull, and another had breached his chest. Now the snow around his head and torso was stained red, giving the odd impression of a fallen angel with crimson wings and halo.
    He saw Everil to one side, talking with a tall man who smelled human. Gabriel lifted his hand, signaling to his partner, who scurried over, his face prissy and his manner self-important.
    “I’ve got everything under control.”
    “Then why are the humans still here?”
    It was hard to imagine Everil’s already pinched face squeezing any tighter, but somehow the fae managed it. “There are procedures. They take time.”
    “Time we don’t have,” Gabriel said. “The images only last so long.”
    Everil blinked, his expression blank. Gabriel bit back a curse and tried