Banshee Charmer (Files from the Otherworlder Enforcement Agency, #1) Read Online Free PDF Page B

an odd question, but did she specifically say she’d met a new guy?” Aidan asked.
    Jason jerked out of his reverie. “I—” He stared into space for a few moments. “I guess not. She said she had someone new in her life. I didn’t think to ask…I mean she wasn’t into chicks, you know?”
    Jason started sobbing into his hands. I patted him on the shoulder again and told him to cry it out.
    I glanced over my shoulder as the man shook against me. Sorrow laced Aidan’s features. His eyes met mine and he stiffened. Then his face relaxed into its normal expression. A slight grin, and eyes that revealed nothing.
    …
    By the time we left Jason Hill’s house,the material of my blouse clung to my shoulder, soaked with the man’s tears. It would dry stiff and odd-looking. And now most of the afternoon was gone. Mentally drained, all I wanted to do was go home and knock back enough beers to make this day disappear for a while.
    Aidan said something about double-checking one of the crime scenes and then disappeared into his rented Jeep. I tried Amanda’s cell again and left her a less-than-civil message. I wasn’t her keeper or her boss; she didn’t have to report in to me, but it was still irritating.
    I downed a beer when I got home, and then nursed the second one. This case was a mystery, and unlike most people I didn’t like a good mystery until I had it solved. I flipped open my laptop, waiting a moment for the screen to brighten. My cell phone rang, and I answered it without looking at the number.
    “McLoughlin.”
    “Mac, Astrid here.” Her voice was gruffer than normal, like she was angry about something. I couldn’t recall the last time I’d heard her angry. Hell, I was pretty sure I’d never seen the woman’s temper well enough to know for sure she had one.
    “Shit, you back in town already?” I couldn’t keep the happiness out of my voice. Our department had access to exactly one sensitive, and I couldn’t pretend I wasn’t thrilled to hear from her.
    “Look Mac, I can’t really chat right now.” Oh yeah, definite irritation dripped from the normally placid woman’s tone. “I got a look at one of your vics, Rebecca Anderson.”
    “And?” I asked, losing all interest in what could have irritated our mousy little sensitive enough to make her angry.
    “And she’s been drained of nearly all of her psychic energy. Her life force. Tentatively, I’d say that’s your COD.”
    I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Doesn’t the body naturally lose energy after death?”
    “Yes, but that process takes weeks, not days. I couldn’t get a feel for what kind of OW might have done it. There wasn’t enough psychic energy left in her for any magic to cling to.” A loud crash sounded and yelling followed it. “Look Mac, I gotta go. That’s all I know. Good luck.”
    The line went dead before I could spit out any more questions. I gave the phone a final glare and then turned my attention to the laptop.
    I typed in my password and then clicked the icon for the Otherworlder Information Database. The OWID held data on general otherworlder statistics, not information on specific criminals. Facts like when certain species were seen last and where, their abilities and danger levels, and how to subdue them.
    I searched for “psychic draining” and watched the ticker bar fill on my screen. I downed the rest of beer number two, and seriously considered standing up to get another before the page drove me mad with its slowly loading bar.
    The list made me frown. Wraiths didn’t explain the sex issue, unless one somehow became corporeal. That didn’t make sense. Wraiths were mindless and had no self-control. We’d be seeing a lot more victims. Baku fed psychically but focused on dreams. They could drive a person insane but they wouldn’t kill them outright. And again, the sex angle made no sense.
    Incubi were on the list as well. Although they had been extinct for over a hundred and sixty years, everything