Page 106 of A Taste of Bliss

But no other sounds follow it.

We hit a T in the maze. “Which way?” I ask.

Pisces looks down both ways and pulls me to the left. The path cuts to the right a few yards afterwards and we’re led into a little dead end, where?—

Oh stars.

I recognize her instantly.

Her blue-streaked blonde hair is splayed out around her head, almost like a halo, and her limbs are limp next to her, covered in blood. I try not to focus on how deep her wounds are. At how many of them there are.

She’s wearing the Voracious Maw shirt we handed out to her a couple days ago.

Pisces draws me close into his body, looking over my head behind me, probably searching for whoever did this.

I pull out of his grasp and go check her pulse. There’s nothing. Her artery is still beneath my fingers.

Pisces keeps his eyes on the entrance to the maze. I wonder if the sight of blood does anything to him. I still don’t know what type of fae he is, and he doesn’t smell like a vampire, but maybe I’m wrong.

He pulls out his phone, dialing something quickly, and speaks quietly to the person on the other end. While he still has his phone to his ear, he reaches for me. “Come on, Bliss, we need to get out of here.”

He pulls me after him, while continuing to talk on the phone. I gather quickly that he’s talking to an emergency dispatcher. We come out the entrance in front of the maze. Police lights are already making their way towards us as cop cars drive carefully onto the grassy lawn surrounding the maze.

Pisces tells one of the officers where we found the body and then his arms close around me again, as he leads me to a picnic table. We sit with our legs on the outside of the bench, and Pisces runs his hand up and down my arm to keep me warm as I settle into his side.

I can’t seem to get the images of the girl out of my head.

“We met her.”

“I know,” he responds quietly, lowering his cheek to rest on the top of my head. “I know.”

“Do you think it was a warlock?” I finally ask after a long pause. My mind can’t help but compare the blonde girl with the woman in the green dress. The similarities are too much. We watch the rest of the police close down the scene with tape and police gates. The swirling blue and red lights take over my vision until it’s the only thing I can see.

“I’m not sure,” is all he says.

But something doesn’t seem right. The attacks I heard about on the news were more public and random. This felt more purposeful.

Like maybe she was lured here.

Or herded,my mind points out.

A silhouette approaches us, but I can’t make out who it is until he’s only a few feet in front of us, the streetlamp nearby shedding its glow on his face.

“Bliss, you were the one who found the body?” Grim asks, looking from Pisces to me.

“Yeah, we both did.” Pisces gets up, as members from Voracious Maw, Goddess’ Trance and the Phantoms all converge on us.

“We heard a scream and found her. It— It looks like the other attack,” I tell Grim, as he comes and sits down next to me.

Grim glances at Pisces. “Can you give us a minute?”

Pisces looks between us, an unreadable expression crossing his face, but he nods and heads off to his friends, giving me one last look over his shoulder.

“Do you know who she was?” Grim asks.

I shake my head. “No, not really. Pisces and I met her during the scavenger hunt. She was here with her friends to see Voracious Maw. She couldn’t have been more than twenty. I can’t believe this.” Tears start falling again and I wipe furiously at them. I said no more tears, but this feels like the only thing I can do in this moment.

Grim puts his arm around me. “I’m so sorry you were the one to find her.”