Wingless (The Lia Hunter Chronicles #1)

Chapter Five

I wasn't surprised they wanted to handle it themselves. Despite being born and raised on Earth for centuries now, the Jaxai had their own ideas of justice that they passed down through the generations. To them, the punishment of locking up the perpetrator would be too lenient. They would settle for nothing less than his or her death. It was a matter of honor and respect, to do anything less would come across as weak. While their methods were no means legal, everyone turned a blind eye when it came to Jaxai royalty. They wielded an insane amount of power and because of that, they were practically untouchable.

"Do you know who's behind the attacks?" I asked.

A flicker of something dark swept through Jehiel's eyes. Shivers danced across my spine in warning. Turning to face Levi, Jehiel gave a small nod. Levi slowly extracted a photograph from inside his jacket, placing it on the table.

"This symbol was found on the bodies of all the victims." He said, his voice deep and rumbling, filling the room like smoke.

He pushed the photograph across the table and every muscle in my body clenched at the sight of the symbol.

The image was a crude compilation of lines, forcing your brain to take a second to decipher the marks. A sword rose out of a body, its blade buried deep in the chest, and spread out on either side of the body were wings. Everyone knew what that symbol meant.

The purists.

While it wasn't a surprise they were behind the murders it was still a blow to see the damning evidence so indisputably planted in front of me. The purists were killing Seraphim, and they expected me to hunt down the killer.

I was torn in indecision, no doubt this case would be the adrenaline rush I was craving, but to go up against the purists was to put yourself in the firing line. If you had managed to slip under their radar, taking down one of their own was a sure fire way to jump to the top of their shit list.

"Despite this, we believe the murders are the work of just one man rather than a group of people," Jehiel said.

"An aspiring purist?" I asked.

"Possibly," He said solemnly. Glancing over at Levi briefly Jehiel straightened his shoulders. "I know PeaceKeepers typically operate in pairs," He began hesitantly, and I shot Hutch a look, wondering for the first time why Tess wasn't here, "but we were hoping for this case, given the circumstances if you could be persuaded to work with one of my men instead."

Frowning, Hutch leaned back in his chair. "That is against procedure, your highness. That rule is put into place in order to protect our agents so that they will always have a fellow agent who has been fully trained guarding their backs."

Smiling Jehiel nodded his head. "I can assure you Agent Hunter's safety is at the forefront of my mind; however, I think you'll find Levi is more than adequately trained to assist and protect in the case of an emergency."

Levi grunted slightly as if annoyed with Jehiel's words, and once more he pinned me with that green gaze. Staring down my would-be partner I let him see my indecision. There was doubt in my mind Levi knew how to fight, but I wasn't sure I trusted him to have my back should things get sticky, and there was no doubt in my mind they would.

Hutch's scowl deepened and I could tell he wanted to refuse their request outright, holding out for diplomacy's sake. He caught my eye, the question burning there laced with a hint of warning. We were both aware the Seraphim wanted Tess out of the picture so there'd be one less PK around to interfere in their own justice seeking. I would be battling them the whole way in an attempt to bring the killer in legally. Giving Hutch a small nod, I focused on the image in front of me once more.