Shaded Vision Excerpt #2

We’re counting down to SHADED VISION’s February release with a snippet from Chapter 2!

You can read the first chapter of SHADED VISION in the back of COURTING DARKNESS, or up on Yasmine's site. So we'll be posting snippets from chapter 2 each Monday until the release date. If we find anybody reproducing this on other sites we'll stop and everybody loses out. That means: NO cutting/pasting/copying/sending through email.

Remember, you can pre-order SHADED VISION from Amazon.com or BN.com!

SHADED VISION
CHAPTER TWO Excerpt #2
copyright 2011 Yasmine Galenorn, all rights reserved, do not reproduce
First Chapter
Excerpts Already Posted

“It’s bad.” Yugi saw us and hurried over. Second in command to Chase, the Swedish hulk of a detective had grown into a friend— he’d always been helpful to us. He was an FBH, but he was also an empath, and now he looked into my eyes and I saw him shiver. He turned to Chase, who stepped up.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t here—” Chase started to say, remorse filling his voice.

“You can’t be on duty twenty-four-seven, boss. Nobody knew this was going to happen. We didn’t have any warning. Sure, hate crimes have been up, but nobody expected anything like this.” Yugi handed him a file. “Here are the details we have so far.”

“Run it down for us, please.” Chase fl ipped through the file, but it was too dark to read, even under the streetlamp.

Yugi nodded. “Sure thing. We got a call at ten forty-five p. m. that there had been an explosion, but we weren’t sure how big or bad. Fire trucks were on the way. Team assembled and headed out. We got here to find the building engulfed by flames, and the firemen weren’t able to put a dent in the fire. I noticed an odd smell, and I still can’t place it— it might be gone, but I can’t say for sure. By now my nose is filled with the smell of smoke.”

Camille and I stepped forward and began to sniff around. Shamas did the same. After a moment Shamas let out a shout, and we looked at him.

He turned to Chase. “Explosive all right, but not from Earthside. This is canya, a volatile magical mixture. Liquid— but it’s usually mixed in small amounts into a bigger bomb. While it’s sold in the back alleys of Otherworld, it’s illegal in most of the cities there.”

“Canya? Are you sure?”

“Trust me. I know that scent.”

Camille let out a long sigh. “The one place in Otherworld you could find it in any great measure would be the Southern Wastes.” She frowned. “And the Southern Wastes are controlled by sorcerers, goblins, and the Goldunsan Fae— who work their way into some of the northern mountains. The Goldunsan aren’t like us. They’re alien, a little like the seers of Aladril.”

“That’s the second time the mention of sorcerers has come up tonight. You think Van or Jaycee had something to do with this?” I stared at her.

Two sorcerers had escaped our net a few months back after seriously putting the bite on a bunch of local werewolves, and they’d done some heavy damage to Camille in the process. We’d done our best to capture them, but they managed to vanish. We couldn’t win them all, and we’d taken down their illegal drug operation and saved several werewolves from a horrible death. So, we’d counted ourselves lucky.

Sucking in a deep breath, she caught my gaze. “I don’t want to go there. I really don’t, but we’d better put that down as a possibility. Revenge, perhaps, for shutting down their Wolf Briar business?”

Wolf Briar was a skanky drug used to subdue werewolves. And the production of it required the torture and dissection of werewolves. We’d put a stop to an underground production line, but the main players had managed to escape and were still out there.

“Good possibility. They’re Tregarts, so they’d have access to the explosive.” I rubbed my head. Tregarts— humanoid demons who could pass easily in society— were becoming a constant issue. We weren’t sure how they were getting in from the Subterranean Realms, but since Shadow Wing had one of the spirit seals, chances were he’d figured out a way to make it work for him.

“There’s one other possibility that we can’t overlook: Telazhar.” She pressed her lips together.

We’d gotten word that Telazhar, the necromancer who’d trained Stacia Bonecrusher— a rogue demon general whom we’d barely managed to put an end to— had escaped from the Sub-Realms. He’d been deported there when he was kicked out of Otherworld. We had reason to believe he might be Earthside now.

“What if somehow he hooked up with Van and Jaycee?” I didn’t even want to entertain the thought, but we had to.

Camille shook her head. “If he does, we’re fucked. Sorcerers and necromancers together? They’d be such powerful allies, they’d rival a demon general. But since Van and Jaycee were connected to Stacia, that’s not a wild- card bet. We’d better check it out.”

Chase cleared his throat. “Keep it in mind, but let’s not start on that assumption. One thing I’ve learned: Never assume. Go by the facts, and conjecture all you like, but remember it’s just speculation until proven.” He let out a long sigh. “You say four died?”

Yugi’s jaw tightened. “Five. We found another body after I called you. Two are on the cusp— Mallen’s taking care of them back at headquarters. Sharah, you need to get over there. Mallen needs your help.”

As he moved to call an officer to drive her, I stopped him. “Can we go poke around the building?”

Yugi shook his head. “Not till morning. Still too dangerous to go in. The rest of the roof could easily cave, and then where would you be? The flames aren’t even doused yet. And we have to go through it with a fine-tooth comb for evidence, and also to look for . . .”

“For more bodies.” I clenched my teeth. I had too many friends from the Supe Community. Chances were, I knew at least one of the victims. “We’ll take Sharah to HQ. I need to see the victims, to see if any of them are . . .” I couldn’t finish the sentence. Instead, I asked, “Has anybody called yet wondering if the victims are okay? I imagine word about the explosion has made the news already.”

He nodded. “Yeah, a bunch of family members are waiting at the station. I was hoping you’d volunteer to come help. The news might come better from . . .” Pausing, Yugi ducked his head.

“From one of their own?” My voice was soft; I knew what he meant and there was no disrespect there. As I spoke, I felt an arm snake around my waist and Shade pressed against me, his lips brushing against the side of my head.