Chapter 1 The Murder Case & A Billionaire

POV: Seraphina Vale

"Why is his skin healing?" I asked, crouched beside the body.

The air was misty and cold, but the alley smelled like the smell of the dead person staring at us.

Marcus knelt beside me, brushing blonde curls from his face. "That's... not possible, right?" he said, blinking at the corpse's arm.

There were deep claw marks that was still open, but I could see the tissue moving, slowly knitting together.

"Ahhhhhhhhh!" I screamed jerking backwards. Marcus did the same as well. Both of us hugging each other scared. Seeing no reaction from the body, I stood up and kicked the leg of the body a few times; Marcus hiding behind me. "Is he DEAD or ALIVE?"

I crouched beside the body again, checking it. "He's dead. The body doesn't heal after death," I mumbled, grabbing my gloves tighter. "Unless it's not just a body."

Marcus tilted his head. "You think this is one of those rare infection cases? Or maybe synthetic enhancers?" His voice always had that hopeful, bouncy rhythm in it. Almost like he was trying to make something terrifying feel normal and less scary.

"Maybe," I said, standing slowly, scanning the alley. There were trash cans, crushed cans, wet walls and then an obvious but faint imprint on a brick like a handprint. It didn't look like that of a human, because it was too long and too clawed. I took a picture with my camera and then brought out my phone to record the scene.

"Boooo!" Marcus jumped into the front of my phone recording; scaring me.

"Oh my God!" I gasped, then started hitting Marcus. "Are you out of your damn mind? This isn't a time to do that kind of joke...prank..whatever you call it."

"Okay! Okay! Stop hitting me...it hurts." Marcus pleaded.

I stopped then glared at him. "Still no ID?" I asked.

" Nope! Just a name on the phone in his pocket," Marcus said, holding it up in a plastic bag. "Ben Sorrel. But the call log's wiped. Weird, right?"

Weird didn't begin to cover it. This was not normal at all.

"Get the lab to run the bloood scan again. Something's off. And not just the way the blood's drying," I said.

He nodded and stepped a little closer. "You okay? You look pale."

"Just tired." I lied.

He smiled. "You always say that."

"Because I'm always tired."

He didn't laugh like I thought he would. Just smiled again, softer. "Well... if you ever want company for coffee that actually tastes like coffee... you know."

I blinked at him. "Are you asking me out on a murder scene?"

He started panicking. "No! I mean...yes? Not now! Obviously. Just... never mind." He laughed at himself and rubbed the back of his neck.

For a second, he looked so gentle and cute. He looked attractive, and I wanted to hug him so bad. I snapped myself out of my thoughts quickly. Then I tried to change the subject. I first cleared my throat then spoke.

"Check the perimeter cams," I said, kneeling back beside the body.

"Already sent the request. I know your next five moves, Vale."

"You've been watching me that long?"

He grinned and turned to walk back toward the van. "Maybe."

Fifteen minutes later, the rest of the forensics team was sweeping the scene. I kept going back to the body because it actually had a scent. I couldn't describe it exactly. But everyone said they could only smell cold bold. Maybe my nose was playing

tricks on me.

Until now, we had no clues, but I wasn't ready to give up yet. I pulled out my light scanner. Luckily, I saw something. Near the edge of the alley wall, beneath a crumpled cardboard box, something gleamed faintly. I moved closer and saw a gold cufflink. It looked shiny, clean, expensive and definitely out of place.

I bagged it carefully and examined the insignia: a black wolf's head surrounded by a circle of gold. I had seen it before...somewhere...but where? Nothing clicked in my head. So I pulled out my phone, took a picture of it and used the internet lens.

The results made me gasps. It belonged to a big corporation and only one man in that corporation wore it. He was even famous for it. His executives had grey wolfs while he had black. He is a man who never should've shown up at a crime scene.

" OMG! Lucien Kael." I gasped.

He is a Tech tycoon, into global real estate, made it to Top 10 Porbes list, had politicians under his control. He was basically untouchable and adored by everyone. Especially because of his extreme handsome and attractive looks.

Like come on, he has been No.1 Most Handsome man in the world for 10 years straight. Yet somehow he was always near the ugliest events, murders and scandals but nothing changes...he is never charged and never questioned.

And now? His mark is found near a dead body that shouldn't heal. I stood frozen in thoughts, with goosebumps coming on my skin.

"What is it?" Marcus asked, returning with two coffee cups.

I held up the evidence bag. "This case just got very, very interesting and political."

He squinted. "That's Kael's symbol, right? The guy who owns like half the city?"

"Yep."

"He's not gonna like you poking around his circle."

I sipped the coffee, smiling mischievously. "Good, all more reason to do so." I said. "Let's poke harder."

By noon, the coroner's report was ready. We quickly drove there.

Official cause of death:

1. Exsanguination due to deep lacerations.

2. Blood loss, but the tissue samples showed something else; an unusual cellular regeneration.

I paced the lab, trying to figure it out. They only told me that it seems like an animal attack.

I wondered. Did Lucien Kael buy a wild animal to use for murder?

I stopped midway my pacing because my head felt fuzzy and my skin and body was getting warmer and warmer. I summed it up to the lack of sleep, but I caught Marcus watching me with concern again with two plastic cups of coffee still in his hands.

"You sure you're okay?" he asked, stepping into my space again.

"I said I'm fine," I snapped, too fast.

He didn't flinch, rather he just looked sad. "You don't have to figure it out all alone, Sera. We're a team remember."

I sighed. "You're too soft for this world, Marcus."

"Or maybe I just haven't let it make me hard. I'm more of an optimistic person unlike you."

"Just let me be." I replied. He placed the coffee down and left me in silence.

Back at the station, I ran the symbol against private databases just to be extra sure. Kael's connections came up again... his VIP clubs, hotels elite parties, places you didn't enter unless you were somebody or selling something. However, one location came up again and again.

Club Umbra - Exclusive - High security and known for its silence. It was a place where secrets got buried and bodies vanished. But it wasn't on any police list.

So why did I find his cufflink near a healing corpse?

Why did the scent at the scene remind me of something warm...nice but dangerous... and deeply wrong?

I wrote my questions down on my sketch book. At the center of it all was Club Umbra. I needed to find a way to get in and find proof to put that beast of a human being Lucien Kael behind bars...and make him pay for all his sins.

I smiled like a psychopath about to carry out her next crazy plan.

"Lucien Kael, watch your back!"