Free God Save the Queen (The Immortal Empire) by Kate Locke

hoarsely.
    I shot him a sharp glance. “We don’t know that.”
    “Xandy.” He took my arm and pulled me aside. “It’s Dede. You know it and I know it.”
    I didn’t know it. One thing I did know, however, was that this “doctor” was watching us closely – too closely. He was listening to us as well, even though he pretended to be very interested in his clipboard. Someone wanted us to believe this poor soul was our sister – and they’d done a good job of selling it. Only not quite good enough.
    “Whatever you say, Val,” I murmured, turning away to examine the body once more. Dede was a natural copper-head – hair the colour of a brand-new penny, and just as shiny. But there wasn’t any hair left on this poor thing.
    My gaze drifted downwards. There was a small hoop in the corpse’s right nostril, just like Dede had. The surgical steel was slightly warped, the curve scorched. My stomach clenched, bittering my mouth. Could it be …?
    Then I looked at the teeth. Enamel would burn, same as bone – it just took longer than flesh and hair. Halvie bones and teeth were especially strong. The body’s teeth were in full view, the lips having been charred into ash. My heart kicked me in the ribs.
    This wasn’t Dede.
    A few years ago, when Dede had been a teenager, she’d had a huge crush on the lead singer of the halvie band Diamond Dogs. The singer – he was called Rufus or something – had a diamond embedded in his right front tooth. Dede had gone out and had a diamond put in hers as well. It hadn’t been all that noticeable unless the light caught it.
    The body on the slab did not have a diamond in its tooth.
    I lifted my gaze to the doctor’s. He was watching me, his broad shoulders rigid. I could sense his anxiety almost as though it was my own. There was something devious going on here. Something secretive enough that it was worth putting me, Val and Avery through hell thinking our sister was dead. And that meant it was something I wanted to get to the bottom of.
    Burning a corpse was the only way to destroy its scent as well as ruin any distinguishing features. It was a fantastic way of concealing identity. As efficient as it was, it was also very drastic. Someone truly wanted us to believe that Dede was gone. I hoped this poor girl had already been dead when they did this to her.
    “It’s her,” I said, low and careful. “It’s our sister.”
    Val put his arm around my shoulders and squeezed, turning slightly so that he held me against him. I hugged him back, but I kept my peripheral attention locked on the doctor and caught his barely perceptible sigh of relief.
    If I pounded his skull into the floor would he tell me the truth, or would he take it to his grave? I was tempted to find out, and I wasn’t bothered that murderous thoughts occurred to me with such careless ease.
    I stood back as Val thanked the doctor for his time and he went through all the motions of a professional. The more I watched him, the more I was convinced he was lying. I didn’t say anything to Val as we were escorted from the lab by the same security guard. I didn’t want anything to get back to the doctor – either via the guard or through listening devices that might be concealed nearby. Plus, Val wouldn’t believe me. He thought Dede was exactly the weak and broken kind of girl who would go mental and set herself on fire. Avery thought the same. Even if I told them about the tooth, they would fight me.
    They believed she’d killed herself because they’d seen her headed in that direction for years, and now they didn’t have to worry about her any more. They’d tell me I was the foolish one for thinking differently. They’d argue that she had had the tooth fixed.
    We took the lift back up to the ground floor. Val stopped at the security desk to retrieve his gun and I took a few moments to look around and get an idea of just how secure the building really was. I would be coming back soon. It still scared the