Free eldritch files 07 - elemental blood by phaedra weldon Page A

stay out of the news. Even with a curfew being put into place, someone is going to leak this out there."
    "We can always have a press conference if they do," Tas said. "Debunk it."
    Prescott motioned behind her at the pile without looking at it. "You wanna try and debunk that?"
    Levi spoke up, "Has anyone reported missing children? Or was there a group of children, like this, out today?"
    "We're making inquiries and trying to do it without raising alarms."
    Crwys rubbed his bottom lip. "So you haven't received any missing persons? Nothing to account for twenty children?"
    "No."
    He moved away from the little clique up to the tape barrier the CDC had erected. A few of the hazmat suits tried to flag him down, but he glared at them and used a bit of his power to make sure they stayed the hell away from him.
    Getting closer to the flesh-and-stone horror, Crwys felt something twitch. A familiar pressure just on the periphery of his draconic senses. He mentally stretched out his wings as he stood before the statue and closed his eyes. He didn't have to touch the thing to hear it, feel it, and smell it. It was ripe with the scent of blood, but not on a level available to humans.
    And it wasn't human blood he sensed.
    Blinking, he backed up, nearly stumbling. He was surprised when a hand gripped his shoulder and he turned to see Tas beside him. "You shouldn't—"
    "This isn't what it looks like, is it?"
    Crwys shook his head and grabbed her arm, leading her back to the edge of the tape. "No. It's not. And you shouldn't get so close to it."
    "Why? It didn't harm you."
    "I'm not…" He bit back his words. "You know I'm not human."
    "Yes."
    "This thing—" He turned and nodded at it. "I think I know where it came from, but I can't prove it. Not yet."
    Tas looked at the statue. "This is Lethe's work, isn't it?"
    He stared at her. She was perceptive, but then, Tas had come in to the aftermath of Eliza's death two months ago. "I think it is."
    "Why do you think this?"
    Crwys watched her. She continued to surprise him, not just with her intelligence but with her knowledge. He still couldn't pinpoint if she was a Witch or something else. Or just a very well-informed human, as Ashur suggested. "Lethe was shot with an arrow that nearly turned to her stone."
    "Then you don’t think this is a part of that Quest."
    "I don't. I don’t think any of these bodies are part of that Quest. I’m not even sure a Quest was really triggered. I'd have to see the other bodies close up again to know. But with what Riven and his mother told us…Quests are just that. They're Quests. An individual triggers one by agreeing or accepting something. What could twenty kids have agreed to or accepted here on the golf course? Nothing. This was deliberately done to these kids."
    Tas stared at him. "Why? What for? Why do this? I thought she was in hiding."
    "Apparently, she's not. At least, not anymore. And I'm sure she did it to get my attention. She knows I can't stomach this kind of thing, especially done to innocents. But if it is her, that would mean…"
    Then it hit him, hard, and he staggered back. Sam filled his thoughts, his senses, and his body. She was everywhere around him in that instant. He could smell her perfume, feel her skin against his, and see himself reflected in her beautiful blue eyes. His heart leapt with joy that his mate was near!
    "Crwys?"
    Sam was near? What did that mean? He looked around the golf course, garnering the odd look from Levi and Prescott to their left. He didn't see Sam anywhere, nor did he sense her physical presence in the park. Now that she was in New Orleans, their link had re-established.
    His joy and apprehension dissolved into panic. But it wasn't his panic. It was Sam's. He felt overwhelming fear. Not the kind she experienced when she fought, the kind that fueled her passion, but the kind he'd sensed in her nightmares. It was a base fear of old haunts.
    Sam was in trouble, and she was afraid.
    Very afraid.
    He took off