Free Dark Dealings by Kim Knox

rivalry between the two hands of the emperor had existed long before Reist and Heyerdar had held those offices. The strength of the sword against the power of flesh-hoarded magic.
    “You’re his pet. Not mine.”
    “I am not his pet. ”
    Heyerdar snorted and strode past her. Ava hated the way she shrank back from him, as if she were one of the scared tailors in the workshop. “We were due in the vaults an hour ago. I don’t like to keep the physician waiting.”
    * * *
    Chill air pricked her skin. It was old magic pressed into the walls of the vaults—the ancient crypts dug far beneath the main palace complex. She’d followed a few of her leads and reports down into the caverns, but the stone made her skin itch. It was not a place that welcomed her.
    The first of the vaults opened out from a short corridor. A white glow to the ceiling lit the curved stone like the winter sun. Stone benches rose up in a line in the hall’s center, and to the sides the darkened pits of the catacombs cut a series of holes. The air was surprisingly clean. Only a faint trace of rot threaded it.
    Staff moved between the stone slabs with silent efficiency, white overalls and stiff linen masks in place. All strange deaths were catalogued. Those in the city and confirmed thief kills from the empire were brought to the vaults for study. No one could risk a thief breaching the city. Save her.
    Again the strangeness of Reist fighting for her, keeping her, rose again. For the first time, an emotion other than lust-edged affection filled her. Did Reist have another motive in allowing her to remain in the Institute?
    One of the physicians broke away from her work and moved towards them. It cut Ava free of her uncomfortable thoughts.
    The small woman pulled her mask down from her face and rolled her neck. Sahar Fane, the head physician in the vault. “Captain, you’re late.”
    “Had to pick up a stray.” Heyerdar’s low voice rumbled over the stone, and the light from the ceiling flickered and grew.
    Sahar’s dark gaze moved over her. Ava caught the tick in her jaw. “The mages’ thief. Good morning, Ava Kalle.” Her attention returned to Heyerdar and she waved him towards the slab. Ava was left staring at her narrow back. “I have no answers for you, Captain. Only more problems.”
    Ava stopped herself from grinding her teeth. Sahar’s job was to search for the signs of a thief on a body. She hated a live one in her vaults. Her gaze narrowed. Five bodies on the marble slabs. She frowned. “You have a fresh kill?”
    Heyerdar stared at her before returning his attention to the slab. “Do you have a name?” He didn’t look up as Ava stood on the opposite side of the slab. “An occupation?”
    Sahar picked up a loose-leafed leather folder and turned over the pages. “Male. We estimate in his early thirties. His face is gone. This was an attack. Not a thief’s usual style.”
    Ava had seen a husk before. Reist had brought her down to the vault when she was seventeen, stood beside her, his hand firm and strong around hers and watched the detailed examination with her. Silent, steady, his fingers laced tight through hers, her fierce support. He’d held her hair as she threw up after.
    She could almost feel the ghost-touch of his skin against her palm as she ran her gaze along what remained of the man’s body on the slab. Wizened, brown, more powdery dust than flesh and bone. The impression of teeth marks formed circles at his neck, chest and groin. Three distinct mouths. Sahar was right. They hadn’t been careful with this man. They’d left something of themselves behind. She winced. They’d even eaten his dick before they devoured and drained his living essence.
    Her stomach growled and she cursed it, pressing a hard forearm against her belly. Fuck. She wasn’t eager for the meat of the man who’d suffered a vicious death. She was simply hungry. Very hungry.
    “A flusherman.” Sahar’s voice had a hard edge. “His body was