Total pages in book: 119
Estimated words: 115860 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 579(@200wpm)___ 463(@250wpm)___ 386(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115860 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 579(@200wpm)___ 463(@250wpm)___ 386(@300wpm)
“Sorry it’s so early. New boyfriend?”
“Coworker with benefits.”
I hope that works out better for her than it did for me. “What’s your news?”
“Good morning to you, too,” Chloe shoots back. “Very unofficially, here’s what I know about the bodies discovered in the tunnel.”
“Following the November fourteenth skirmish I’ve been writing about? The magic thing?”
“Exactly. Tests have identified all the bodies. Are you sitting?”
“Yes. Out with it.”
“All the bodies were of servicemen—from all over the world, including seven of the eight American soldiers who mysteriously disappeared on September nineteen from a training exercise at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. They were all part of the Marines Special Operations Command.”
My jaw drops. “Special Forces… I remember hearing about the disappearance of those soldiers!”
“The higher-ups at the office are all being very hush-hush. But that in itself says something. Next of kin are being notified now, but their identities aren’t being released to the media yet, so I can’t give you that or my boss would be suspicious.”
Chloe has already delivered more than expected. I owe my old friend a pint or two at least. “Of course. Anything else you can give me?”
“You know from our previous conversation that the bodies were decomposed weeks beyond what their battle wounds suggested. Your grainy photos showed that several were decapitated, a few others shot or stabbed. But they bled as profusely as if they were alive. And here’s the kicker: they bled black.”
I couldn’t have heard her right. “Black?”
“Indeed. It’s a complete mystery. Their blood has no color and no type. Everyone was identified by fingerprints, distinguishing marks like tattoos, or dental records.”
What would cause such a thing? New disease? Black blood sounds crazy, but working at Out of this Realm, I’ve quickly learned that nothing is impossible. “Odd.”
“Very,” Chloe agrees. “Assuming your story is real, do you have any theories about which side the poor bastards fought for?”
“No. I’ve heard little about the other side, this Doomsday Brethren. My source swears they’re the good guys, but they’re fighting Mathias, who claims to be battling for equality. Still, he raped the woman until she was little more than a broken shell. But does his evil automatically make the Doomsday Brethren good? If I had to guess, I’d say the soldiers were Mathias’s. If he cares so little as to brutalize a woman, I doubt he’s above kidnapping a few well-trained soldiers and using them in his army.”
Chloe hesitates. “Do you think any of this magical war stuff is true? Maybe it’s a terrorized woman’s hallucinations?”
“That’s possible. But I’ve gathered enough evidence to give me pause. Call me if you hear any more.”
We ring off, and I jot down a few notes—which quickly grow frustrating. I have another story to crank out this week on the magical war, and I want it to be about Chloe’s information, slanted accurately, but I have so many questions.
How do these soldiers fit into the grand scheme of the war? Have they truly been used for magical purposes? How were they persuaded or forced to fight and give their lives for this cause? Perhaps I could run with the facts as they are and leave the rest to speculation, but the pieces of the puzzle don’t fit. I need to talk to my source again and see what else the witch might know.
I place a quick call to Aquarius. When my assistant doesn’t answer, I leave a voicemail, apologizing for the interruption of her holiday and asking for a ring back if her guest will talk again.
A few minutes later, I place the phone back in the cradle, and I feel a presence in the doorway.
Caden.
“Did you need something?” I steel myself and force a businesslike tone. “I’m off to a busy start, so spit it out.”
He steps in and shuts the door behind him, planting his fists on my desk and leaning closer. “Sydney, I’m—”
“Stop.” I put up a hand, hating the way he already has my blood pumping and my heart aching. If I think too much about last night, I’ll bloody cry. “I have a question. Why did you come over last night? What made you leave your flat in the middle of the night and come all the way across town to mine?”
Caden looks startled by my question. “Impulse. I admit I was attracted to you from the first. I tried to keep things professional because we work together, my life is complicated now, and I can’t give you a tomorrow. But I came over last night because I couldn’t stay away a minute more. I tried talking myself out of it, but every moment I was away from you, I became more obsessed with touching you.”
Was that the influence of the magical diary?
“You didn’t come to seduce me for the name of my magical source?”
“Of course not, but I would love it you made me a full partner in this story.”