But I wasn’t going to give them voice. Not to Jaz. Not to anyone. Not until I talked to Katie. She’d already told me that the wild magic would never alter my DNA to the point where I’d be able to shift shape, so why had I suddenly developed a werewolf’s vulnerability to silver? It made no sense.
But then, that could be said about many things happening of late.
I drew in another breath that did little to ease the lingering remnants of pain and added, “Maybe I’ve been hanging around Aiden too long.”
She snorted. “Maybe. Do you want a hand up or are you happy to remain right where you are until the ambos get here?”
“I’d rather move away from the vomit. It’s rather odorous.”
“That it is.”
She tucked her hand under my good arm and gently helped me rise. Niggles of pain flared down my spine, but I suspected they were due more to bruising than anything serious.
“Ready to walk on?” Jaz asked softly.
I nodded and did so. My legs remained wobbly, but I made it over to her SUV without them giving way again.
“Right,” she said, once I was safely sitting on a rock. “You want to tell me what the hell happened here?”
“The van blew up.”
“Obviously.” Her voice was dry. “The question is, why?”
“The most logical reason would be to destroy evidence of the crime.”
“I thought you said you’d discovered human bones? That normally means the crime is an old one.”
“This reservation rarely does anything normally—at least not when it comes to murder.” I tugged out my phone and transferred all the video files across to her. “Despite the state of the victim’s body, he’d only been dead an hour or so. If it had been any longer, his fear and horror wouldn’t have lingered in the air.”
She opened the files and silently viewed them. “The way his flesh is hanging off his bones suggests he was drained.” Her gaze came to mine. “Could we be dealing with a vampire?”
“A variation of, possibly, though I’ve never heard of one that drains not only muscle and fat, but every single organ like this thing did.”
“Yeah, but as you’ve already said, this fucking reservation doesn’t do anything normal. Would Monty know?” She paused and frowned. “Why isn’t he here? It is his job, after all. You’re only supposed to be a part-time assistant.”
“Yes, but I had no idea what I’d find when my psychic senses tugged me out here. It might have been—”
“Nothing?” she cut in with a snort. “When has that ever been true of late?”
Almost never. “As to where he is, he and Belle went down to Melbourne for the evening. Even if I had called him, he wouldn’t have gotten back here in time.”
“Melbourne, you say?” Speculation glittered in her golden eyes. “Does that mean they’ve finally stopped the verbal foreplay and plunged into the more intimate phase of their relationship?”
A smile tugged at my lips. “That’s a rather polite way of asking if they’re finally fucking.”
She laughed. “And do we know the date of when it happened? I have a fiver riding on it.”
My smile grew. “You and half the damn town. You didn’t win.”
Her eyebrows rose. “And you know this how?”
“Mike’s running the betting book, remember? Seeing he banned me from participating thanks to the possibility of insider knowledge, I helped keep track of all the bets. Notification of the winning date will be going out later today.”
“Suggesting their relationship only progressed recently.”
I nodded. “You were out by three days.”
“Damn.” She put her phone away. “Will you be all right here until the ambulance arrives? I need to section off and record what’s left of the crime scene.”
“I promise I won’t fall off the rock or otherwise collapse on you.”
Her expression suggested she wasn’t convinced, but she nevertheless rose and walked away. I shifted in an effort to find a more comfortable position, without much success. My butt cheeks were as tender as my back, and both would no doubt be displaying a wide range of colorful bruises tomorrow.
The ambulance and the fire brigade arrived a few minutes later, their red and blue lights lending the caravan’s remnants a bloody glow.
While the firemen strode over toward the still smoking remains, the two paramedics helped me into the back of the ambulance and did a full check.
“It appears you’ve gotten away with nothing more serious than a few cuts and bruising,” the older of the two said. “But we’ll take you to the hospital so they can fully check—”
“No,” I cut in. “Definitely not.”
He frowned. “Aside from the fact we can’t be certain the blast didn’t cause any internal injuries, silver sickness is a real possibility.”
“What the hell is silver sickness?”
“It’s a type of blood poisoning that sometimes happens after wolves have been stabbed with silver.”
“I’m not a werewolf.”
He blinked. “Then the silver shouldn’t have affected you the way it has.”
“Tell me about it,” I muttered. “In the unlikely event that I do develop said sickness, what sort of symptoms should I be on the lookout for?”
“It mirrors the symptoms of sepsis, so dizziness, fast heartbeat or breathing, vomiting, slurred speech, that sort of stuff.”
“If anything like that happens, I’ll head straight to the hospital.”
He didn’t look at all pleased by this statement, but we both knew he couldn’t actually force me to seek further medical attention.
“Don’t drive yourself there,” he said, a slight bite in his voice. “Call us.”
I nodded. “I can drive home now, though, can’t I?”
“Yes.”
“Good.” I rose somewhat stiffly. “Thanks for patching me up.”
He nodded and helped me from the ambulance. I slowly walked over to Jaz, who was standing to one side of the van’s front end. All that actually remained of it was the floor substructure, two of the four tires, and the bed’s metal frame. The mattress and the body were nowhere to be seen. The spell had certainly done a damn fine job of getting rid of whatever evidence might have been here.
It would also have erased me if I’d been any slower.
“Whatever the hell caused this blast, it did a damn good job,” the darker-haired fireman was saying. “I doubt forensics are going to find much.”
“Which is exactly what the spell was designed to do.”
He glanced at me sharply. “I had no idea spells could do this sort of thing.”
“Spells can do just about anything you want them to.” I glanced at Jaz. “Do you need a statement or anything?”
A smile tugged at her lips. “Aside from the fact you recorded everything, Aiden would have my hide if I delayed you longer than necessary—especially when you’re obviously hurting like hell.”
“I’m not—”
“Liar. You want someone to drive you home?”
“I’d have to hang around and wait for that someone to arrive, and I honestly can’t be bothered. Besides, the painkillers should kick in soon and make everything better.”