The Scroll of Osiris: An Eva & Lilura Novel

Chapter 9 Eva

Chapter 9 Eva

I drove my Prius to K Brew, a popular coffee shop next to Krutch Park where I was meeting Lilura, Tyr, and Kodan to discuss the supernatural deaths. When I arrived, Lilura’s truck was already there. I parked and entered the coffee shop and found Lilura and Tyr sitting close together at a table in the back. From the angle I was looking I could see that they were holding hands.

I smiled and waved. As I approached them Lilura stood and I gave her a hug. I could smell Tyr’s nature scent all over her. It appears that Lilura should have told me she was only two percent sure she wouldn’t sleep with Tyr.

“This is Tyr. Tyr this is Eva.” She introduced us.

I shook Tyr’s hand, “It's nice to meet you Tyr.”

“And you Eva.”

Lilura and I sat around the table and waited for Kodan to arrive.

“I’m going to order coffee,” I told Lilura

“Why? You don’t even drink coffee?” She asked.

“Well the three of us are sitting here without any drinks, don’t you think the humans will be suspicious that we are just sitting at one of their tables without drinking coffee?”

“I guess you’re right. Can you order me some tea?”

“Of course. Tyr would you like something?”

“I’m fine thank you.” He said.

I stood in line and ordered a black coffee and Lilura’s favorite tea. By the time it was made, and I sat down, the door opened. A tall and sexy man walked in, his hair a light brown color and his eyes a warm golden brown. I smelled werewolf coming off him. This had to be Kodan. He noticed us and walked over. We all stood and Lilura introduced us all.

“Kodan, this is Eva and Tyr.”

We shook hands. When our hand touched, I could feel his wolf aura strongly flowing around him.

“It's nice to meet you, Eva,” He said as he shook my hand then turned to Tyr. “Nice to meet you Tyr.”

Damn that man is attractive! I was instantly attracted to him and his voice was even sexier in person than on the phone. I controlled my expression by putting on a pleasant happy face. We all sat, and I pushed the black coffee in front of Kodan.

“It's black coffee,” I told him. “Don’t worry I didn’t drink out of it.”

“Thanks.” Kodan looked down at it suspiciously.

“Eva suggested we order drinks, so the humans don’t wonder why we are here without drinks,” Lilura told him happily.

“I see,” Kodan said and took a sip of the coffee.

To the humans, it probably looked like the four of us were on a double date or catching up.

“Thank you for meeting here. As you know we have two dead witches and vampires, and a dead werewolf and fae. Kodan, what can you tell us about the dead werewolf?” Lilura asked.

“He was shifted in his wolf form and one of his eyes was missing. The alpha burned him as per our tradition, so I’m afraid that we won’t be able to do an autopsy or any tests.” Kodan told us.

“That’s unfortunate. The first vampire and witch victims both had Belladonna in their systems and the vampire also had a paralytic. It would have been nice to confirm if the wolf had the same thing in his system. Did any of the werewolves who found him smell anything like that?” I asked.

“They did say they smelled something but didn’t know what it was,” Kodan said.

“Probably the belladonna,” Lilura said.

“Have any other werewolves been murdered?” I asked.

“No, just the one,” Kodan told us.

“Tyr what can you tell us about the dead fae?” I asked.

“Well the blood was drained out of him then he turned into a tree. That’s usually what happens when we die, but his tree seems to be sick.” Tyr said.

“Could belladonna kill a plant?” I asked Tyr and Lilura, our resident plant experts.

“Not that I know of but since the fae wasn’t really a plant till after he died, it could be possible,” Lilura told me.

“So, we will work on the premise that all the first victims were injected or took belladonna and possibly also injected with a paralyzing agent. Tyr have there been any more fae murders?” I asked.

“No.” He said.

“Okay, well should we go to my lab, I can show you the evidence we have collected so far?” I asked.

Tyr nodded and Kodan said, “Yes, that would be a good start, then I would like to go to all the crime scenes to see if we can find anything else.”

“That’s a good idea,” Lilura said.

“Alright, follow me,” I said and we left, and I got in my car and waited for Lilura and Kodan to be ready.

I pulled into traffic and drove to my buildings parking lot, making sure Lilura and Kodan followed me. I got out and took them down to the lab. Misty and Lauren were there still working on Mary-Beth. When Misty saw us, she quickly covered Mary-Beth.

“Eva, Lilura, you're back and you brought friends. What can I help you with?” Misty asked.

“This is Kodan and Tyr. Can you show us all the evidence from Andrew, Sergio, and Mary-Beth?” I asked.

“Yes, of course!” Misty said.

Misty and Lauren gathered the evidence and presented it to us. They showed us the fibers they had found and the male hair. And a knife that was consistent with the cut of the wound.

“Can I see the hair?” Kodan asked.

Lauren handed him the hair in a sample jar. Kodan opened it and smelled.

“There’s a faint smell on this. Maybe I can get a better smell at the crime scenes.” Kodan told us and handed the hair sample back to Lauren. “Is this all?”

“No, I found a video of the killer entering and exiting Krutch Park. I recorded it on my phone. The quality of the video is terrible though.” I said and pulled out my phone.

I played the video for Lilura, Kodan, and Tyr. They each leaned in over my phone and watched the security video.

“You're right, that is terrible quality. You can’t tell anything from it.” Kodan said.

I put my phone back in my pocket.

“I know. After I saw the security video I went to that same place in the park and tried to see if I could catch the scent of our killer, but too many humans had already been passed. Maybe you can get a scent.” I told Kodan.

“Maybe. Let’s go to the crime scenes.” Kodan said.

We ride the elevator back upstairs and walk out to the parking lot.

“We should all ride together,” Lilura suggested.

“Let’s take my car, it’s the least likely to drain Tyr,” I said as I led them to my Prius.

“You drive a Prius?” Kodan asked, surprised.

“Yes, it's very fuel-efficient and good for the environment. Besides, it's easy to blend in with the humans, and I never drive farther than an hour out of the city.” I tell him.

“I guess I was expecting you to drive some fancy sports car,” Kodan told me.

“I do, it's just not here. It’s at the Clan house in California.” I say and get in my car.

Lilura gets in the front seat with me leaving Kodan and Tyr to sit in the back. I drive to Krutch Park and take them to the place Andrew was found dead. Kodan sniffs the air and scrunches his nose. There are a lot of human and supernatural scents around overlapping each other. It was difficult for me to separate them out, I was sure Kodan was having just as difficult of a time.

“This is where the murder cut through,” I told them as I showed them the path the killer used. “Are you getting anything?” I asked Kodan.

“No, there are too many scents and anything that was here is probably faded,” Kodan told us.

“Okay, well Sergio was found just up the road on the other side of Market Square around Chivo Taqueria. It’s a few minutes walk.” I tell them.

I led them up Gay Street to the parking lot of Chivo Taqueria. Sergio was found by a dumpster. Kodan did the same thing and sniffed around.

“Nothing, it smells like food, garbage, and humans.” He told us. “Let’s go to the World’s Fair Park by the veteran’s memorial. That is where my packmate Jason was killed.”

We walked back to my car at Krutch park and I drove us to World’s Fair Park and found a spot close to the veteran’s memorial. Kodan took us to where he was told Jason was found and explained where and how he was placed. I tried smelling for the human, but there were already many human scents here and lots of wolf scent.

“Do you smell a human scent that is similar to the hair and the other crime scenes?” I ask Kodan.

“No. I am beginning to wonder if this human knows how to cover his scent. Surly a vampire and werewolf would have smelled him coming. Or even heard him coming.” Kodan said.

“He could be using a distraction of some kind so werewolves and vampires do hear or see him coming,” I say.

“Could be, but that is very elaborate. Maybe he has a partner?” He said.

“There’s no evidence of that and the video clearly shows one man entering and exiting Krutch park,” I tell him.

“It's just a theory,” Kodan tells me. “It's also strange that he seems to switch his MO from belladonna and a paralyzing agent to a knife.”

“It is strange, but maybe switching to a knife gives him a better adrenaline rush than when he knows his victims are paralyzed,” I say. “Maybe it's all about the killing.”

“If it's all about the killing why take vampire fangs, and cut off the hands of a witch?” Lilura asks.

“Trophies?” I suggest.

“Let’s stick to the facts for now,” Kodan says.

I agree, but he was the one to start spinning theories first. “Okay Tyr, where was the fae found?”

“He was found in Ijams Nature Center,” Tyr tells us.

“Alright, we should go there next and then I will take you to Sadie’s house. Only my Coven has been inside, so hopefully, you will be able to get a scent from inside.” Lilura told Kodan.

We walked back to my car and I put my arm around Lilura’s shoulders and gave her a hug as we walked. I knew it would be very difficult for her to go back to Sadie's house after what she had seen.

I drove to Ijams Nature Center located in southern Knoxville right along the Tennessee River. Ijams is an outdoor oasis close to downtown that has twelve miles of hiking trails and sits on a three hundred- and fifteen-acre natural area. If a fae was to be found and murdered this would have definitely been my first spot to look for a potential fae victim. I parked in the almost empty parking lot and we followed Tyr down one of the trails at one point he stopped and led us off-trail about three hundred feet. He pointed to a dying tree.

“This is the spot,” Tyr told us.

Kodan sniffed around and I followed him trying my best to get a human smell. I caught a lot of fae smells and an underlying human smell.

“Do you smell that?” I whisper to Kodan.

“Yes, but I’m not sure if it matches the hair. I need to see if I can smell him at Sadie’s house or Mary-Beth’s.” He told me quietly.

We went back to where Lilura and Tyr were chatting.

“Okay, we are ready to go to Sadie’s house,” I told Lilura.

We went back to my car and I followed Lilura’s instructions on how to get to Sadie’s house. When we arrived, I could smell Lilura’s sadness and anxiety about going into the house.

“Why don’t you stay in the car Lilura,” I suggested.