The Darkest Kiss

I walked toward the glass sliding door, and that’s when it hit.

The smell of death.

A death that was old and as rotten as hell.

Chapter 3

If the smell was this bad out here, I’d hate to think what it was like in the apartment.

Unfortunately, it was my job to find out.

I peered through the glass and tried not to breathe too deeply. The only thing I could see in the small living area was dusty furniture and yellowing newspapers sitting on the coffee table—both indicators that someone hadn’t been living in this apartment for quite a while.

So either Alana was no longer living here—and if she wasn’t, why had she answered Rosy’s phone call yesterday?—or she was here, and in a very bad way.

Which I guess went with what the smell was suggesting.

It also suggested that maybe it wasn’t Alana who’d dated our dead politician.

I blew out a breath, then gripped the handle of the sliding door and pulled back with all my might. I had the strength of both a werewolf and a vampire behind me, and the little metal clip holding the sliding door closed didn’t stand a chance. The door crashed back with enough noise to wake the dead, and the force of it sent a shudder recoiling up my arm.

But it was nothing compared to the smell that assaulted my senses. My stomach rose in a rush and I gagged. The stench was vile.

Whoever—whatever—was dead in this apartment had been that way for some time. Although the air rushing out of the apartment was hot—the heating had obviously been left on high, so maybe that had helped accelerate the decomposition of whatever it was lying inside.

I stepped back until I was breathing fresh air again, then took a deep breath and dashed inside. It was only ever going to be a quick look. I couldn’t hold my breath longer than a minute or so.

I ran into the first room off the living room. It turned out to be a spotless kitchen. No junk in the fridge, no unwashed dishes, no trash in the basket. Nothing that would account for the smell. The next room was a bathroom, and once again it was spotless.

The third room…

That’s where I found her, lying half-dressed on the bed with one arm still in the sleeve of a sweater—as if whoever had killed her had caught her in the middle of either taking it off or putting it on. She only wore panties on the bottom half, and her body was heavy and bloated and…horrible.

Bile burned up my throat, and I raced outside, gulping in fresh air and trying not to vomit. God, unpleasant didn’t even begin to describe that experience.

It wasn’t like I hadn’t smelled death before. I had. Hell, I was a wolf, and the wild part of me actually enjoyed rolling in stuff that would make my human half scream in revulsion. But I’d never smelled a death that old before. Or that deep into decay.

I shuddered, then got out my phone and rang Jack.

“Parnell here,” he said, voice neutral. The tone he reserved for official speaking moments like press conferences. Given who our dead man was, it was an even-money bet that was exactly where he was. “What can I do for you?”

“Jack, it’s Riley. I’m over at the apartment of Alana Burns, the woman Gerard James supposedly went out with last night. Only she’s dead, and has been that way for at least a week, if the putrefaction is anything to go by.”

“Hang on a sec.” A muffled conversation came down the phone line, then footsteps. “Okay, we’ll have to make this fast. I’ve got a room full of reporters waiting for an update. What’s this about a dead woman?”

“Her name is Alana Burns—if it is her body inside the apartment. According to the secretary, Gerard James went out with her last night.”

“Or someone pretending to be her.”

Exactly. “James’s secretary rang Alana to confirm the afternoon of the date. She mentioned Alana being in a snit, so she definitely talked to someone. And it very definitely wasn’t the woman dead in the apartment.”

“Interesting.” He paused, and I heard voices in the background. “Has Cole requested the security tapes?”

“Yes. He was still at Gerard’s office when I left, though. I think he’s going to be there awhile.”

“Get another cleanup team out to the apartment, then go talk to the people at Marrberry House. They were ru

“Will do.”

I hung up, then dialed the Directorate. A less-than-cheery Sal answered. “What?”

Her voice was flat, and didn’t even hold the usual spark of a

“That’s because I have to deal with assholes all day. What do you want?”

Okay, that jibe I could fully understand—and hey, I could be a pain in the ass when I wanted to be. Just as every other guardian on the books could be. “I need a cleanup team at my current location. I’ve found a ripe one.”

“Charming.” In the background came the sound of typing. “Okay, I’ve dispatched Mel and her team. Should be there in fifteen. Anything else?”

“Can you send me the address of Marrberry House? It hosts charity functions, apparently.”

“I know that, moron.” She paused. “Sending their details through to your car’s onboard now.”

I blinked. Sal was usually super-efficient, but this was brilliant service, even by her standards. And the bitch in me couldn’t resist commenting. “You’re horribly professional this evening. Maybe you need to get premenstrual more often.”

“I haven’t eaten,” she said and hung up.

I stared at my phone for a moment, eyebrow raised. Why hadn’t Sal eaten? The Directorate kept a supply of synth blood for the vampires in their employ, so there was no reason for her to go hungry. Although maybe she was one of those vamps who preferred their blood fresh, straight from the vein. She definitely seemed the fussy type. I was tempted to ring her back and see what was going on, but it wasn’t like we were friends or anything. Talking to me was the last thing she’d probably want.

I shrugged and put the phone away, then leaned on the balustrade again and waited for the cleanup team to arrive. Mel turned out to be a tall, dark-haired woman with a fabulous figure and who wore red stiletto boots underneath her more sensible jeans. A woman after my own heart, obviously.

She strode up the pathway, saw me waiting, and stopped. “Riley Jenson?”

I nodded. “I’m afraid I’ve a rather ripe one for you. The victim seems to have been dead for at least a week, but the heating has been on full, so that guess could be way off.”

“Any obvious signs of death?”

“I didn’t get close enough to find out.”

She smiled. “A guardian with a weak stomach. Nice to know there is such a beast.”

“Now that sounded like something Cole would say.”

Her smile grew. “He and I went to school together, and I’m best friends with his sister.” She looked around as her team—a potbellied man and a woman who was rake thin and almost insectlike—arrived, then added, “You want me to send you a copy of the report as soon as it’s done?”

“That would be great. Oh, and the building’s front doors are locked. I’ll unlock the apartment doors before I leave.”

“Marshall will get these doors easy enough. Anything else I need to know?”

“We need the ID ASAP. She may be linked to another case we’re investigating.”

“We’ll make it a priority.”

“Thanks.”

She nodded and disappeared from my view. I took a deep breath, then dashed inside and unlocked the front door. Then I ran back out, did a one-handed leap over the balcony, and dropped back down to the concrete.