Here Be Monsters [2] Read Free Page B

kill you.  
    Oberon and Aby had said the same thing. "It's complicated."  
    Yeah well…so am I . And there wasn't really an answer she didn't think she couldn't find. But this one was a doozy.
    Was it the blood? She and Aby had talked about his blood's ability—and he'd admitted it didn't matter who drank it—if they were a vampire they'd be able to withstand the day for a short period of time. Usually the span of a normal day of daylight.  
    "I'm not worried about Aby's safety—he can take care of himself. Quite accomplished at it as well. What I am worried about are all the other UnSeleighe who have no idea these wackos are after them—and by putting it out there on the news—"
    "I don't see your issue with that. It was a warning."  
    "Yeah—and a warning to all the other nut jobs that'll see that and figure, 'oh, if I can get me some UnSeleighe blood, I can sell it for a price.' Obviously there's a run on it."
    Miller looked upset. "I didn't even consider that."
    "No, you didn't. But those are the kind of morons I had to deal with when I was a detective." Siobhan didn't like pulling out the former "Top Detective" card, but damn it, Miller needed to listen to her. "You knock one head off the snake, and in this day and age with magic, twelve more are going to pop up. It's a cosmic game of wac-a-mole."
    He smiled, but he still looked worried. "What do I do?"
    "You kill any more stories about it. One thing the populace can be counted on is having no memory. If it's out of sight, they'll forget about it. But you have to make sure your people keep a low profile on this."  
    "Captain!" a uniformed man stepped up to the door. He looked at Siobhan and smiled before he pointed to the Captain's phone. "It's Rechert and Sivalis. They found another body. Elf. Drained of blood."  
    Miller closed his eyes and moaned.  
    Siobhan watched the uniform step out as the Captain picked up his blinking line. "Miller."  
    She listened in on the conversation with her heightened hearing. Not that she was nosy. It just happened. Couldn't be helped.
    "Captain. It's Sivalis. Got a call on a body found in an alley behind Pete's Gourmet. Definitely elven, and it's been drained of blood. And…we got a little problem."
    "You mean other than the dead elf?" Miller avoided Siobhan's eyes.
    "There was a reporter here when we got here. Chicago Sun Tribune. And he's already photographed the body."
    Miller cursed. "Lemme guess. Keith Song."  
    Siobhan had to stop herself from cursing aloud so Miller wouldn't know she was listening in. Keith Song. By far the worst of the sensationalist reporters in the city. His website and his affiliate's site were one of the top hits online. If he had the pictures, then he'd already made up his story. She needed to check the sites to see if something had gone up, and then she needed to have a little talk with Mr. Song.  
    But she needed to contact Aby first and have him look at the body. He'd be able to tell if the elf had been UnSeleighe.
    "Is the M.E. there?"  
    Yes. So's the bus. Anything you want me to do?  
    "Yeah, make sure you don't let any tall, leaf-eat'n red-headed freaks take a look—"  
    "Captain—you talk'n about Geld? No. There's been no sign of him. Which is weird since he's showed up at all the other scenes."  
    Siobhan turned quickly and looked at Miller. Abyssinian wasn't there? That was odd. The elf had a police scanner—he kept track of everything. And if an elf turned up drained of blood again—
    She reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out her phone. No texts. No voicemail.  
    She was done with the Captain and vanished before he could register he was alone in the office. She moved with an uncanny speed that made her invisible to the human eye. Once she reached her Ducati parked below, Siobhan checked the Tribune's website on her phone—no story up yet—only the promise of a breaking event. She checked Song's website. Nothing there as well—just the same promise.  
    After