Kill Switch (Blue-Eyed Bomb Book 2) Read online

  Long, wet blonde hair matted in blood hung limp by her face. Her soaking wet clothes clung to her, the red stains they displayed nearly washed out to pink. The gash that extended wide across her neck like a macabre smile explained it all.

  “Muses,” I said weakly, interrupting him. “I think we can go now.”

  “We will go when we have gotten—”

  “We have what we need,” I told him, jumping down off the platform to the hard-packed dirt below. I could hear him calling after me but I ignored him, walking toward the ghost on guided feet. She stood there by the car, unmoving.

  She was waiting for me.

  “Sapphira!”

  “I know where she is,” I said, still walking away from him and the troll. When Muses finally caught up to me, he grabbed my arm and spun me around to face him. The second he saw my expression, he knew. “We have to find the body. We have to find who did this.”

  I looked over my shoulder to find that she had already disappeared. The boy’s sister had met his same fate. She was dead. We were too late to save her. But I’d be damned if we couldn’t use her death to save the others, even if I had to comb the bottom of the Chicago River myself to find her corpse.

  It was time for Nico and Alek to get their asses home.

  We had a body to find and a death to relive.

  Chapter Five

  “Another one? Already?” Nico’s irritation came through the phone loud and clear. “You’re sure it was her?”

  “Yeah. Positive. She looked just like she did in the memory, only bloodier.”

  “This is going to get out of hand and fast if we can’t get things under wraps quietly.”

  “I know, Nico. Believe me, Muses and I are trying to figure out how to bring this to an end without raising suspicion.”

  “Sounds like we might have already.”

  The implications of that statement were not ones I wanted to entertain.

  “Right now we have to figure out where her body might be.”

  “She didn’t tell you?” he roared. I pulled the phone away from my ear, wincing.

  “She didn’t say anything. Neither did her brother for that matter. I realize that’s hugely inconvenient, but I don’t know how the fuck this all works, Nico. Until this morning, I didn’t know seeing the dead was even a thing for me.”

  He sighed heavily.

  “You’re right. I’m sorry.”

  “It’s fine. Just get back to the warehouse ASAP. We have to figure out a way to find the body. Who knows if there’s a statute of limitations on our ability to extract those final moments from the dead. We can’t risk losing that information. It’s all we have.”

  “We’ll be there soon.”

  The line went dead without so much as a goodbye. Nico was in business mode. He wouldn’t rest until he tracked down whoever was behind this mess.

  “I need you to tell me everything about what you saw, Phira. No detail is too small. Too minute to overlook,” Muses said, cutting off traffic as he turned left on an arguably too-red light.

  “I’ve told you this at least ten times. She was wet. Like soaking wet. Her throat had been slit open. Her hair and shirt had been stained with blood, but it was faded out. I’m assuming it was washed out with the water.”

  “So we know that she was submerged after the fact, then.”

  “Right, but that doesn’t narrow things down much.”

  “Perhaps. Perhaps not.” Muses turned to face me, taking his eyes off the road for far longer than I was comfortable with. “Was there anything else on her clothing? Her hair? Maybe in her hands?”

  I closed my eyes and tried to bring up every detail of the ghost I’d seen, but she’d been far enough away that even with my enhanced visual capabilities, it made it hard to see much beyond the obvious.

  “Her hair…” The words trailed off while I examined her matted locks in my mind. What I’d originally thought had been dried blood didn’t make sense the longer I considered that possibility. Had she still been underwater, that would have washed away. Instead, there were clumps of brownish-red caked in her hair, making it hang like dreads in places. “She’s not underwater, Muses,” I shouted, grabbing his arm. My action caused him to yank the wheel to the right, nearly landing us on the sidewalk. “Sorry!”

  “Why do you think this?” he asked, completely unfazed by our almost off-roading experience.

  “There’s something in her hair. Maybe dirt and blood? I’m not sure, but my guess is that she’s not underwater anymore. Maybe she was in the river but she washed up somewhere?”

  “That’s plausible.”

  “But where? How can we find this place?”

  “We’ll have to split up and search all the possibilities.”

  “But that will take too long!” My frustration had overtaken me—my patience had officially run out.

  “If you have another way, I am all ears. If not, then we will search for her in the manner that I’ve proposed and you will accept that, understand?”

  “Fine.” I turned my angry gaze out the passenger window and looked down the streets as they flew past. The enormity of what we were about to do really hit me. This girl was literally our best chance of finding at least a clue to what was happening. At best, she would lead us to the killer. I wished I knew how to communicate with her—with the dead.

  We rolled to a stop at a red light, and I continued to stare out the window, my eyes glazed over a bit, not really taking in what I was seeing. But when they fell upon a sopping wet girl walking down that road away from me, my mind snapped to attention.

  “This way!” I shouted, jerking the wheel to the right as Muses started to accelerate on the green light. As he drove, I scoured the surroundings, looking for clues as to where she was or maybe where she had once been. Her presence could have meant so many things that I did my best to take stock of all that I could. There was no way to know what might come in handy later.

  Just as before, she disappeared into the ether, leaving Muses and me driving aimlessly through downtown. I ignored Muses’ inquiries while we did, choosing instead to focus on her. I thought that maybe if I channeled hard enough, maybe I could draw her out. Recharge her somehow.

  “We’re nearing the river,” Muses announced, breaking my concentration.

  “Maybe that’s where she meant to take us.”

  “We can hope it is that simple.”

  We rode in silence until we dead-ended into the road running parallel to the river.

  “Which way?” I muttered under my breath, my eyes darting back and forth, hoping to find her somewhere.

  “Your call, Sapphira.”

  “I don’t know. I can’t see her.”

  “Left or right?”

  I sighed heavily.

  “Just go right.”

  He turned and continued along the river for far longer than I realized. As I accepted the reality that she wasn’t going to show herself again, my phone rang.

  “We’re back. Where are you?”

  “I thought we were tracking her, but we’ve lost her. The good news is that we’ve nailed down her whereabouts to somewhere along the banks of the river. The bad news is that we have to search the banks of the entire river. I think she washed up somewhere, and I have no clue where.”

  “It’s a start, Phira,” Nico said, his voice much gentler.

  “Yeah. I guess.”

  “Come home. We’ll set up a map and divide up the areas where she could possibly be.”

  “Okay, we’re on our—”

  I cut myself off abruptly, dropping the phone to the floor of the vehicle.

  “There!” I shouted, pointing at a driveway leading down toward a restaurant on the water. Without question, Muses jerked the car across traffic toward the parking lot. Once he stopped the car, I shot out of it, sprinting toward the retaining wall. Hopping up onto the structure, I looked down at the water running wildly below. The current was strong, and I wondered how she could possibly be there. I kne
w I’d seen her standing in the driveway—of that I was certain. But looking down at the lack of shore on the other side of the wall I stood upon, I couldn’t make sense of where her body had washed up. Where we’d find the evidence we needed to help identify her killer.

  “I don’t wish to point out the obvious,” Muses said from beside me. “But I do not see a body.”

  I growled in frustration.

  “I’m aware of that.”

  I closed my eyes and tried to focus on the ghost. Maybe she hadn’t brought me there because her body was there. Maybe she’d sent me there for another reason. If I could figure that out, we’d eventually find her.

  With a cleansing breath, I opened my eyes and lifted my gaze to the far side of the river. There, tangled up and barely visible in a small line of trees growing along the far wall, was a body. Her head was entrapped in the V of a trunk, held there by the rushing water.

  “There! She’s there.”

  “We need to remove her before anyone sees her.”

  “And how do you propose we drag a body from the river in broad daylight without being seen?’

  He looked over at me as if my question had no merit.

  “You have much to learn, Sapphira.”

  “That doesn’t answer my question.”

  “Call Nico. Get him and the others here now.”

  I wanted to argue, but instead I did as Muses demanded and called Nico.

  “We’ve found her. She’s in the river. No clue how we’re going to get her out, but I need you to get over here now. And bring the biggest SUV you can.”

  He never replied, only hung up as soon as I finished talking. I never even had a chance to tell him where ‘here’ was. But somehow I knew that wouldn’t be an issue.

  Maybe twenty minutes later, my brothers, TS, and the Fates arrived, all piling out of a black Suburban. Like a small army, they approached us, each one’s expression severe. They were all aware of how important retrieving the dead girl’s corpse was to solving the mystery. Failure was not a viable option.

  “What’s the plan?” Nico asked, hopping up onto the wall beside me.

  “I hope you’re not asking me because I haven’t a fucking clue how to pull this off.”

  “We do not need to recover the body, Sapphira,” Muses drawled, still sounding annoyed with me. “All we need is for you and your brother to touch it.” I looked at him with crazy eyes, which then fell on the rough water below. “We have no time for your theatrics. Go do what must be done and then return.”

  “We’ll be seen, Muses.”

  “No. You won’t.” He eyed me tightly. Something in his irritated expression begged me to trust him. As much as I wanted to argue, he was right. We didn’t have time.

  “It will be fine,” TS called from behind me. “Go now.”

  Nico nudged me with his elbow, drawing my attention. The mischievous smile on his face made him look like our father. The twinkle in his emerald green eyes did, too.

  “Race ya.”

  With that, he launched himself into the water.

  And I was not far behind.

  The swim across was anything but easy, but we both managed. Nico beat me to the body by a considerable margin—something I would hear about on the way home—but when I arrived, all he did was look at me expectantly, as if to ask if I was ready for what we both knew was coming. I thought about reliving the boy’s death and took a deep breath while I clung to the tree trunk.

  Then I nodded.

  With my free hand, I touched Nico’s shoulder. The second I did, he placed his on the girl’s neck, right over her wound.

  A jolt of pain rushed through my body. I felt like every bone was broken. She’d been beaten—badly—before she died.

  “Please…please no,” she said over and over again. Her eyes were covered with something, making it impossible to see what was happening around her. But I could feel her fear. It was a wonder she hadn’t died from that alone. “I’ll do whatever you want. I promise. I’ll do better. Try harder. And I won’t run this time.”

  “Of course you won’t,” a male said. His voice was unpleasantly familiar. I could feel his breath on my ear. His hand caressing my throat. “It’s too late for your obedience now.”

  Her final plea for mercy was cut short, the deep slice of his blade silencing her forever. Blood gurgled in her throat as she tried to scream—as I tried to scream—and she clutched for it with the desperation that only the dying could comprehend. And as she died, I relived every second of it alongside her. This time she was not alone in her suffering. I felt it as her life faded away. As her final breath was taken.

  Along with it, I took my own.

  The darkness came to take me and I floated away.

  Chapter Six

  “Sapphira!”

  The garbled sound reached me, but I could not fully make it out. I opened my eyes to find myself fully submerged underwater. It was then that I remembered where I was—what had just happened. In reliving her memory, I’d let go of the tree that was keeping my head above the river and started my journey down to the bottom. Thankfully, Nico and I had an audience, and one of them acted immediately. TS intercepted me as I drifted farther below the water. When he grabbed my jacket, it jostled me enough to fully wake me from my stupor. I thrashed and kicked, swimming toward the surface with him.

  My head shot up into the air and I inhaled a massive breath. I had no idea how long I’d been under, but judging by the way I was panting, it was longer than I should have been. I choked up water that I must have swallowed or inhaled as TS supported me, swimming against the current to reach Nico and the others.

  “Here,” Alek called out as we neared. He reached his hand out toward us, his body suspended as Muses and Ferris held his feet. He caught my arm first, pulling me out of the water. Once I was hauled up, they lowered him down for TS and Nico. Zale scooped me up and jumped down off the wall, running with me to the Suburban. I felt the concern coursing through him. He had feared for me. Maybe things had been far worse than I realized.

  “What was that?” he asked, placing me down in the back of the vehicle.

  “Our triplet gift. Pretty fancy, huh?”

  “You almost drowned!”

  “It’s complicated. I’ll explain in a minute.”

  “Sapphira!” TS was sprinting toward us. He did little to hide the concern in his expression.

  “I’m fine,” I replied, waving a dismissive hand at him. It did nothing to thwart his approach. I soon found him sitting beside me, his arm wrapped around my shoulders, turning me to face him.

  “Tell me how this happened,” he said, staring at me intently.

  “It happened just like last time. I relived the death. Unfortunately for me, that involved her clutching her throat while she bled out. I let go of the tree…the rest is history, as they say.”

  “But Nico remained.” There was a hollow sound to his voice as he spoke, as though he was just realizing something for the first time. Something he hadn’t expected.

  “Would you have preferred he nearly drown too?” I asked, watching as my brothers raced toward the SUV. “I mean, I know he can be a dick sometimes, but that seems pretty harsh, TS.” My attempt at humor was not appreciated judging by the look of disdain on his face.

  “My point is that you two do not need to be in contact for your gifts to work. Alek didn’t need to be in contact with you in Iowa. And you do not need to be in contact with Nico.”

  “Well,” I said with a sigh, “that will make my life a little easier.”

  Just then, Nico shoved Zale aside and ripped me from TS’ arms. He hugged me tightly for a moment before letting me go. His stern expression told me I was about to be read the riot act. Nico didn’t handle fear well. Never had. For him, fear quickly turned to anger.

  We all have coping mechanisms. That was his.

  “You are not doing this anymore, do you hear me? It’s too dangerous.”

  “Nico, we already have it—”
br />   “No! No arguing for once. I won’t let you. I forbid it!”

  “She doesn’t need to touch you for the gift to work,” TS said, standing up to face my brother.

  “Really? You think so?” Nico’s response was a clear challenge.

  “She let go of the tree before you came out of your vision. She was already sinking when it was finished. Unless you’re telling me that you were finished but didn’t find it necessary to go after her while she drowned.”

  Nico’s eyes grew darker by the second. If TS continued to push him, a war would begin. One that would only end in bloodshed.

  “What he’s saying,” I interjected, stepping between the two of them, “is that because of what just happened, we know that I don’t need to be in contact with you. That’s a good thing. It takes care of all your concerns, Nico. And though I know you’d like to tear his head off right now, we don’t have time for that. We need to get back to searching for clues as to who is doing this because I sure as hell didn’t see anything helpful. Did you?”

  “No.” The word was an exhale, a release of the tension mounting within him. The tension threatening to boil over.

  “Shit.”

  “Not quite.” I looked up at my brother with curious eyes. “I didn’t see anything more than you did. But when it was over—before I realized you were even gone—I saw something on her. Something you had not.”

  “What? What did you see?”

  “Glitter.”

  “Glitter? That’s your big fucking clue?”

  “That and the sparkly strap of her top underneath the bloodstained shirt.”

  “And her love of twinkly things is helpful how?”

  “It means she’s been put on display somehow,” TS inferred. “It means whoever is doing this isn’t hiding the girls at all.”

  “Am I right in assuming that you don’t think he’s turning them into chorus line dancers?”