Knox stared at me for a second, his blond brows bunched together over his nose. “You think the killer knew exactly where to find him?”

“Maybe. We won’t know until we get in there and look around.”

“What should I do?” Heather asked.

“Go with Knox. Help him, but stay out of his way.”

Heather quickly nodded, her arms wrapped around her middle as she moved to follow after the other nightwalker. I mounted the warped stairs to the front porch, watching Knox out of the corner of my eye as he circled around the porch and headed toward the back door. A mechanical whir caught my attention, drawing my gaze toward the ceiling above the door. The tiny red light on the remote video camera blinked once.

The world around me exploded. I flew backward through the air and bounced once before finally landing on my back in the yard. Bricks, chunks of flaming wood, and other bits of debris followed me, crashing to the ground and on top of me. My head throbbed and there was an annoying ringing in my ears. A hundred different pains radiated through my body. Groaning, I rolled over onto my side to find most of the house in the yard with me, while what remained on the foundation was engulfed in flames. So much for our investigation.

Reaching out with my powers, I searched for Knox. He was still alive, but his thoughts were consumed with terror. He was on fire. Pushing to my feet, I ran as fast as my protesting body would allow. My vision blurred as I ran around the side of the house, blood flowing into my left eye from a gash on my forehead.

I found Knox rolling on the ground, struggling to put out the fire on his right arm and on his pant legs. Panic overwhelmed him. With a wave of my hand, the fire immediately went out, but he continued to roll. Kneeling next to him, I grabbed his shoulders and forced him to sit up.

“Fire! I’m burning! Please! Stop it! Help!” Knox babbled desperately, still trying to pat his legs.

“The fire’s out!” I shouted at him, giving him a hard shake.

The nightwalker blinked a couple times before his gaze focused on me. His whole body was trembling, and tears had begun to streak down his cut, bloody face. Some distant part of me could understand his fears. Most nightwalkers burned so easily, like dry kindling, and the moment Knox had caught fire he was sure that he was dead. And maybe he would have been if I hadn’t been here to control the fire.

“You’re going to be okay,” I murmured, relaxing my hold on his shoulders. My stomach twisted at the feeling of him shaking violently in my hands. Knox nodded his head slowly and looked down at the palms of his hands. They were blistered and burned from where he had tried to beat the fire out. “It could be worse,” I announced, drawing his gaze up to my face. “The fire could have started at your crotch.”

“You’re sick,” he snapped. He scowled at me, which was better than the terror that had gripped him earlier. “What happened?”

“A bomb.”

“No kidding. I mean, what set it off?”

That was the real question. I wagged my eyebrows at him once before pushing to my feet.

“Where’s Heather?” I asked as I helped Knox rise as well. We found her lying dead a few feet away from where Knox had landed. A brick from the house had crushed the back of her skull, splattering her brains. There was no recovering from such a wound in our world. She was gone so quickly, and only because she was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

This was not going to go over well with Justin. First, a member of his family is murdered by some unknown killer. Then a second member is killed while kindly helping me in the investigation. If I had any sense, I would have sent her away, but as a member of the Ravana family, she had a right to be there as well.

The cry of a fire engine off in the distance seeped into my thoughts. It was getting closer. We needed to get out of here before too large of a crowd gathered—we’d have to alter the memories of a handful of humans as it was. Picking up Heather, I tossed her into the fire that was growing in the remains of the house. She would be incinerated along with the rest of the evidence of Bryce’s existence and any evidence related to his killer.

With Knox hobbling along beside me, I increased the fire eating away at the remains of the house once we were in the street. If I wasn’t going to be able to get into the house then no one would. By the time the fire department got this fire out, there would be nothing left but hot ash.

We were speeding back to the city when Knox started speaking again. However, his brain wasn’t totally functioning yet. “I don’t understand,” he muttered. “Why destroy the evidence after the police had gone through the place during the day?”

“That wasn’t the purpose of the explosion.”

“What do you mean?”

“You think it was a coincidence that the place blew up when we just happened to be there?” I laughed.

“You think someone was trying to kill us?” Knox twisted in his seat, sending his blond hair flying in wild disarray in the wind.

I was beginning to think that someone was trying to kill me. First the Coven flunky’s arrival, and now the explosion just as I was entering the house. The timing was too perfect.

“There was a camera on the front porch,” I explained, keeping my theory to myself for now. No reason to upset Knox just yet. “The same person that killed Bryce knew someone would be by to investigate. I think this person was waiting for someone that didn’t look like a cop.” And for the murderer, I fit the bill. I didn’t look like a police officer in my blue jeans and black button-up shirt. But then, there was enough otherness in my lavender eyes and ultra pale skin to make some people wonder if I was even human.

“But I didn’t sense anyone…I mean, I scanned the area and no one wanted us dead.”

“It could have been done by remote, allowing the person to be miles away.”

“And now he knows you’re associated with Bryce. If he knew Bryce was a nightwalker, he’s going to assume you’re…”

“Yeah, I’ve got a brand-new problem,” I grumbled. It had now become even more imperative that I find Bryce’s murderer. This person had seen my face. If the murderer knew Bryce was a nightwalker, I now fell under that same classification. As a result, anyone I associated with would now come under scrutiny. I slowed the car to a stop at a red light. We were just outside of town, driving along the Savannah River headed toward the riverfront district. “I think a member of the Daylight Coalition killed Bryce and tried to kill us tonight.”

“Because of how he was killed?”

“As well as the timing and the call to the police. Regardless of the reasons for killing Bryce, no nightwalker would risk a human discovering the corpse. Someone knew he was a nightwalker and wanted proof to get out to the rest of the world. This murder was done during the daylight hours when Bryce wouldn’t have been able to fight back.”

“Then why not a shapeshifter? They can walk around during the day,” Knox argued, drumming his fingers on the armrest. I doubted he actually believed it, but he was doing his job and playing devil’s advocate.

“A lycan would have the opportunity, but the risk of exposure is too great. No matter how pissed you are, we all know not to reveal our secret to another human. If the lycan was discovered, not only would his life be forfeit but there’s a good chance that the whole pack would be destroyed.” I shifted the car into first and pushed on the accelerator as the light changed to green. “You’re right that it is a possibility, just not a very strong one,” I conceded. “I’ll check in with Barrett and see if he knows anything about Bryce or if the nightwalker was known to associate with any shifter. At the same time, I want you to check among the nightwalkers. I want to know who he associated with.”

“You think someone tipped off the Coalition?”