Free Dead Ink: A Karma World Romance (Karma Series Book 4) by Donna Augustine Page B

could hear her heart rate.
    It was a leftover gift from his previous career as the Grim Reaper, when he used the sound to confirm the correct course of action. When a human was fated to die soon, there was a certain pattern to their heartbeat, a certain smell to their skin.
    All the guys had their strong points but he was the only one who knew how upset she truly was, whether she let on or not.
    Lars followed Cutty down the hall, thinking that they were heading to either his office or some other place for privacy.
    “We were playing cards, but Faith didn’t want to join in,” Cutty explained as he walked. “Said she was too tired, but I think she just needed some alone time. When she went to her room, we all gave her space.”
    Cutty stopped in front of his guest room, one Lars had crashed in many times himself.
    “It got delivered to her room? And you left the message in there?” Lars asked, thinking it was a strange action and so unlike Cutty.
    Cutty took a deep breath before he answered, “I didn’t have a choice.”
    Lars moved to open the door but Cutty put his hand up quickly to block him. “Try to keep it down when you see it,” Cutty said.
    Lars nodded. He was still buzzing at Cutty’s need to give him a warning like that when he swung open the door.
    On the ceiling, the words “You’re Mine,” were written in blood, blood that was still dripping down and forming puddles on the floor and bed.
    Cutty’s words made sense now, because he might have yelled in outrage if he hadn’t been forewarned. The idea of some sick bastard doing this, right above her head while she lay there sleeping, made his muscles tense and his jaw clench. He crossed his arms in front of his chest to keep them from ripping into the ceiling and tearing the sheet rock down just to get rid of the sight of it.
    “She woke up to this?” Lars eyed up the top pillow at the head of the bed. There was more blood on the edges than the center, where her head must have been. Her wet hair suddenly made sense. She’d been covered in blood.
    “Yes.”
    Cutty and Lars both stepped into the room but stayed to the perimeter to avoid where the blood was still dripping. 
    Cutty stopped moving, his hands shoved in his pockets. “We were downstairs and there was this inhuman howl that made us all jump from our seats. We didn’t know where to turn first, because it seemed to be coming from everywhere. Shattered the glasses we had on the table and busted my TV. And then we heard Faith’s scream.” Cutty waved his hand toward the ceiling. “You can figure that part out. We were lucky that the locals went home early, their wives nervous about them being out too late considering how ugly things are getting.”
    “Did she see anyone?” Lars asked, looking around the room.
    “She said she woke up and it was there.”
    “How did they get in here? Don’t you have this place protected?”
    “They didn’t get in. I don’t know how that was managed.” Cutty shook his head, clearly as befuddled as he was.
    “You’ve always been sloppy with your wards.” Lars shook his head, aggravated. “If you weren’t, this wouldn’t have happened.”
    “Not all of us have the same flair for the dark arts you do.” Cutty moved back, closer to the door where he was less likely to get dripped upon, and leaned a palm against the wall. “Nor do I have the desire to learn.”
    “And Angus couldn’t have? You’re telling me all the time he spends here, he couldn’t have done something to secure this place better?”
    Cutty straightened and waved the hand he’d just had on the wall. “I thought it was secure. Do you think I wanted this?”
    Cutty let out another long sigh, and Lars shook his head but dropped the issue.
    “Can you tell anything about the blood?” Cutty asked.
    Lars walked over to the tall dresser and an especially large puddle of blood and breathed in deeply. “Young human male, twenties. Healthy.” One of the perks of being Death was