A Ritual of Fire Read online

  Table of Contents

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  Also by J.L. Hendricks

  Also by J.A. Cipriano

  Alyson

  Vlad

  Thank You for reading!

  Author’s Note

  A word from J.L.

  A Ritual of Fire

  The FBI Dragon Chronicles Book 1

  J. L. Hendricks

  J. A. Cipriano

  Copyright © 2017 by J. L. Hendricks & J.A. Cipriano

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

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  Contents

  Want to get this FREE?

  Also by J.L. Hendricks

  Also by J.A. Cipriano

  1. Alyson

  2. Vlad

  3. Vlad

  4. Alyson

  5. Alyson

  6. Vlad

  7. Vlad

  8. Alyson

  9. Alyson

  10. Alyson

  11. Alyson

  12. Vlad

  13. Alyson

  14. Alyson

  15. Alyson

  16. Alyson

  17. Vlad

  18. Alyson

  19. Alyson

  20. Alyson

  21. Alyson

  22. Alyson

  23. Vlad

  24. Alyson

  25. Alyson

  26. Vlad

  27. Alyson

  28. Alyson

  Thank You for reading!

  Author’s Note

  A word from J.L.

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  Visit J.A. on Facebook or on the web at JACipriano.com or visit J.L. on Facebook for all the latest updates.

  Also by J.L. Hendricks

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  The Voodoo That You Do

  New Orleans Magic

  Hurricane of Magic

  Council of Magic

  Alpha Alien Abduction Tales Series

  Worlds Revealed

  Worlds Away

  Worlds Collide

  Worlds Explode

  Worlds Entwined

  A Shifter Christmas Romance Series

  Santa Meets Mrs. Claus

  Miss Claus and the Secret Santa

  Miss Claus Under the Mistletoe

  Miss Claus and the Christmas Wedding

  The Original Eclipse Series

  Eclipse of the Beginning

  Eclipse of the Warrior

  Eclipse of Power

  Eclipse of Heart

  Origins of the Eclipse Series

  Also by J.A. Cipriano

  World of Ruul

  Soulstone: Awakening

  Soulstone: The Skeleton King

  Bug Wars

  Doomed Infinity Marine

  The Legendary Builder

  The Builder’s Sword

  The Builder’s Greed

  The Builder’s Pride

  Elements of Wrath Online

  Ring of Promise

  The Vale of Three Wolves

  Kingdom of Heaven

  The Skull Throne

  Escape From Hell

  The Thrice Cursed Mage

  Cursed

  Marked

  Burned

  Seized

  Claimed

  Hellbound

  The Half-Demon Warlock

  Pound of Flesh

  Flesh and Blood

  Blood and Treasure

  The Lillim Callina Chronicles

  Wardbreaker

  Kill it with Magic

  The Hatter is Mad

  Fairy Tale

  Pursuit

  Hardboiled

  Mind Games

  Fatal Ties

  Clans of Shadow

  Heart of Gold

  Feet of Clay

  Fists of Iron

  The Spellslinger Chronicles

  Throne to the Wolves

  Prince of Blood and Thunder

  Found Magic

  May Contain Magic

  The Magic Within

  Magic for Hire

  Witching on a Starship

  Maverick

  Planet Breaker

  1

  Alyson

  As I walked into the living room, the actual site of the murder, I noticed a local crime scene guy puking into a bucket off in one corner. There were several more buckets around the room at the edges of the marked off scene.

  Blood covered all the walls and pooled on the floor, making me think the victim had been drained dry before her blood was used… for something.

  I stopped in the middle of the door after putting on my blue booties, the standard type we were issued to keep our feet from tracking in contaminants into the crime scene proper and looked around. The smell was already starting to get to me, and from the look of those buckets, I wouldn’t be the first, nor the last to need them.

  To be honest, the blood didn’t bother me so much as the scene as a whole did. Why did they use such a large pentagram? Why was the blood painted on the walls? Why had they moved the table to that corner?

  More importantly though, I wondered what the missing piece would be. The previous crime scenes had something missing, some piece of the puzzle denied to us by the killers.

  In this one, part of the pentagram had been wiped away. Part of me hoped it had been done by the perpetrators and not some incompetent local. If it was a result of a forensic screw up and not a clue, I might blow a gasket. Chances were good that if it had been done by the murderer, finding out why would give me a clue as to who was doing this and why.

  We needed to get this scene processed and fast. I’d already been waiting an hour, and while I’d used the time to interview a neighbor who claimed to see vampires, I was running out of patience. As I watched them shimmy around the scene, annoyance flooded through me. I was ready to walk around and see the crime scene from the different angles.

  As I took a step closer and inhaled through my nose, I caught the tinge of something strange. It was faint, barely noticeable above the smell of blood and gore. Worse, that something had triggered my reflex to shift. That was the last thing I needed.

  Shutting my eyes, I concentrated on my beast, on keeping her well below the surface. Once I was satisfied she wouldn’t come out to play, I opened my eyes and looked across the room toward the human CSI guy mucking about next to the source of the scent.

  There was no way he would smell it, and as I watched him, I began to worry it would fade away, or worse, he’d destroy it, before I could get close enough to get a better whiff.

  “Hey, how much longer before you’re done here?” I called out to the tech. “I need to get over there and check something.” I gestured toward the spot. “My Spidey-sense is tingling.”

  The tech scraping some fresh blood off the ground into a tube looked up. “It will take as long as it takes. Leave us alone and we will be done faster. Keep pushing us and it will just take us longer.”

  Shutting my eyes for a second, I bit off my reply. After all, someone here had to be the professional. Besides, while I respected the work the local teams did, considering they had found us one of our first clues about shifter involvement, I was getting anxious about that strange scent. That anxiety was starting to make me a bit testy.

  “Alyson, just do what you can from here,” my partner Vlad soothed. “Leave the poor kids alone. We will find these killers. You know we will.”

  I gl
anced over at him and sighed. We had only been partnered for about six months, a very intense six months, and I would be lying if I didn’t say he was a very handsome man. Not that I would ever mention it to him.

  Vlad was about six feet four inches, but if you asked him, he was six feet five inches. His olive complexion complemented his dark, brown hair with a few auburn highlights, and if I didn’t know any better, I would have guessed he dyed his hair. Only, being a vampire, he would never go gray, just like he would never grow old.

  None of that really surprised me though, since I myself was a shifter, albeit one who was trying to hide what she was. No, what I found most intriguing about my sexy partner was his scent.

  He smelled like Red Hots, those little cinnamon candies. His scent drew everyone in but it affected women most of all. Most licked their lips hungrily when they got close enough to smell him. Shoot, I did a few times when until I got used to it.

  Still, the vampire was a good partner if only because when I was impatient, he was calm and collected.

  I hated to say it, but I relied on his calming presence more often than I should because he knew who and what I really was. I could be myself in front of him and in return he got a trustworthy partner to watch over him during the day. That, among many things, was why we were such great partners. It was rather refreshing.

  “Fine,” I muttered, pointing toward the smeared break in the pentagram. “They removed something from this scene as well.” The more I looked at it, the more I was certain the killers were responsible for the defacement. “My guess is that there was either something sitting in that spot or they used an uncommon symbol when they created the pentagram and wiped it. What do you think?”

  Vlad’s eyesight was just as good as mine but he could sometimes see things I missed. It was one more reason we worked so well together.

  “Yes, I think they had a stand or something on that spot. If they were wiping away a symbol, it would look more like a smear. This looks like something was dragged through the blood. I see jagged lines along the borders of the smear instead of straight marks.” He pointed to the far edge of the area in question.

  “You’re right.” Now that he pointed it out, I could see it clearly. “We know they had a stand or box at one of the other scenes. There, it must have picked up and left that rectangular clean spot in the middle of their ritual area. This time, they weren’t as careful. My gut instinct is that it’s a stand or something larger than a box, something awkward enough a lazy perp might want to drag it instead of picking it up properly.”

  While Vlad chewed over his thoughts, I decided to give the room another good sniff. Maybe now that I was calmer, I could identify the strange scent.

  Even though Vlad had recently fed, a sufficiently bloody crime scene would make it almost impossible for him to focus. Worse, I’d seen him dab his lip with the little bottle of menthol he often used when the scent of blood was too overwhelming. In most cases, the menthol would overwhelm the bloody smell. The fact that he hadn’t entered the room and had already dabbed his upper lip twice meant it was down to me to get this one.

  Shifting my focus back to the scene I inhaled. This time, I started to pick out other scents. I smelled sulfur, which wasn’t all that uncommon in a magical ritual of this caliber. There was something else though. Wolfsbane? Yes, definitely. Some ginger root for sure. Those were all among the usual ingredients when casting a spell, but there was one scent which has me puzzled. It couldn't be what I suspected, but if it was, I understood why my instincts went haywire.

  It was still too indistinct from where we were at the edge of the ritual area. I needed to get closer to the smeared spot. The scent was starting to dissipate and if I didn’t get to it soon, I would never figure it out.

  “Distract the kids. I need to get closer,” I whispered to Vlad so softly only he would be able to hear it.

  “Why?” Vlad replied with equal softness. “Let them collect their evidence, it will only help us in the end. You can wait a little bit longer.”

  “Actually, I can’t. A scent is evaporating. If I don’t get closer, I could lose it. So, just create a distraction so I can get a bit closer and see if it’s what I suspect.”

  “Alyson, don’t cause a scene. If you suspect it’s something, then it is. Take a deep breath and just breathe. Close your eyes and let me know what you sense.” Vlad could be so infuriating at times, so calm and collected.

  “Don’t you think I already tried that? I just need to get a little bit closer to the smeared spot. That’s it. I’ve got my booties on. I can tip-toe and not step into any blood.”

  Impatience was something I was working on. Maybe if I lived to be a few hundred years old like Vlad, I could master it. Until then, well, impulsiveness ruled me, it was just how I was. Disregarding Vlad’s advice, I stood up on my tiptoes and slowly moved through the labyrinth of the blood and empty spots on the ground. I took four steps before I was caught.

  “Hey! You can’t walk in here yet.” The tech I spoke with earlier stood up and put his hands on his hips. “I told you guys it would take as long as it takes. Stop right where you are. Stupid feds. You think you own all of the scenes. Well, you don’t! If you aren’t careful, you will contaminate the scene and we won’t be able to help you.”

  His evil eye didn’t scare me. The boy was just a young human. Too bad I couldn’t shift. My full-blown dragon senses could pick up the trail of the herb easier than my human ones.

  “Tim? Is that your name?” It was, of course, as I could see from the ID hanging off of his jacket pocket.

  “Yes, and I’m in charge of the scene until I am finished. Get off of my evidence!” The boy was in a mood for sure.

  Fortunately, those four steps and the extra moments arguing were enough to let me get a proper whiff, enough to confirm my suspicions. “Fine, fine,” I relented. “I have what I need anyway.”

  I carefully made my way back to where I had been standing before I violated the poor tech’s scene. Since this was the eleventh crime scene, I doubted he would find anything we hadn’t already seen. My evidence, on the other hand, was new. What I picked up via scent wasn’t something his mass spectrometer would identify.

  “What were you thinking? Oh wait, you weren’t.” Vlad scowled as he led me out of the house.

  “You’ll be happy I didn’t listen when you hear what I discovered.” My Cheshire Cat smile was from ear to ear. I could be a bit overly dramatic when I was right.

  “Well, what did you find that was so important you had to possibly ruin uncollected evidence?” He narrowed his eyes, a stunt that never intimidated me as he hoped.

  I licked my lips and looked around to make sure no one was watching or eavesdropping. It was all clear in the victim’s front yard. “It was asphodel.”

  “Asphodel? Like the component in a death spell? The black magic component? Are you certain?” Even though Vlad didn’t need to breathe, he took in a deep breath and rubbed his face.

  “Yes, they were performing black magic. We’ve both suspected it since the start of this case, but this proves it. There are no uses of asphodel outside of the black arts. It’s only used in a handful of death spells, one of which is so heinous, the magical community will kill you on the spot for performing it.”

  “The Death Drought hasn’t been used for centuries,” Vlad assured me. “I was told the spell has been lost. No one today can perform it.”

  Vlad knew a lot of witches, including some very powerful ones. If they told him the knowledge had been lost, they were either right or very good liars. Well, there was a third option. If this was the spell being used, it might have been recently recovered, unknown to the general witch community. After all, none of the paranormals that could use magic lived for more than a hundred years. Well, dragons could, but I was the last, so that was irrelevant unless I was going to arrest myself.

  “I think it’s time you paid a visit to your witchy friends.” I raised an eyebrow and waited for his response.
/>   “Alyson, be nice. They can be a little … strange, but overall, they are very nice. They have even helped me with my cases over the years.”

  “You know I’ve never been a big fan of witches.” While I didn’t know for sure who had killed my family, all the signs pointed toward witches. Worse, a powerful enough witch would be able to tell exactly what kind of shifter I was, and when you were trying to keep a secret like mine, well, let’s just say, that double-whammy made me want to avoid them like the plague.

  That said, I was a professional, or as professional as a member of a branch of the FBI that didn’t technically exist could be. If the witches could help, we should visit them.

  “I am aware of your dislike for them.” He swept his gaze over my face like he was trying to find understanding in my features. “That is why you wanting to see them is… curious.”

  “Look, if you vouch for these particular witches, they have to be half-way decent.” I gestured at the scene. “We need to stop this from happening again, so let’s ask them for their expertise.”

  2

  Vlad

  “Before we leave, I want to call this in to command,” I said as we walked to the car. “I think they need to be aware of the dangers. I doubt they have ever come up against dark magic like this before.” He shrugged. “That’s why they have us, after all.”