“Who called this in?” Amira asked slipping her jacket on.

“Some guy named Paulson. He’s that writer guy that had a stalker chasing him last year. You remember him, don’t you?” Holden glanced at his notes.

Amira’s heart thudded in her chest.

“Jax Paulson? He found a body?”

Holden shrugged nodding.

“Seems like it. Says it was in the woods not too far from his house.”

“What? How did he find it?”

“Don’t know. His fiancé called. Seems he was too upset to talk about it. We’re on the case so figured we should go check it out.”

“Of course.”

When they arrived at the lavish home, Amira felt a pang of guilt. It was her job to watch Jax and she wasn’t doing it. Now another body had come up.

He’s evil.

Flashes of Chelsea Goldstein flickered in her mind.

Driving out to Jax’s home, Amira shifted uncomfortably in her seat. She knew something linked the three of them: Chelsea, Jax, and herself. She just wasn’t ready to disclose that to Holden.

“So that’s eight now, right?” Holden asked as he pulled into the long, winding driveway.

“Huh?”

“Eight murders. Brianna Jaynes, Melanie Wright, Stephanie Waters, Victoria Jensen, Amy Snyder, Liz Walden, LJ Simmons, and now this one.”

“And Jessica Pierce.”

“The publicist. I forgot about that one.” Holden rolled his eyes at her as they pulled up to the house.

“Wow, I didn’t know writers did so well.” He whistled at the huge, sprawling home.

“It does if you have a book at number one on the NYT.” Amira smirked jumping out of the car.

Brooke met them at the door. She was pale and shaken. Her eyes were red rimmed from crying.

“He’s in there.” She gestured towards the sunroom.

Amira and Holden sat down across from a motionless Jax. The forensics team were headed out to the woods to find the body.

“Hi, Jax. I’m Detective Amira Faraday. This is my partner, Holden James.”

Jax glanced up and nodded. He still appeared stunned by what he’d seen.

“We need to ask you a few questions. This isn’t an interrogation and you’re free to refuse to answer anything.” Holden explained. Amira took out a notepad.

“I understand.” He murmured. He was still in a daze.

“You found the body of a white female this afternoon on your property, is that correct?”

“Yes.”

“And what was her condition?”

“She was dead.”

“How do you know?”

“She was blue, stiff appearing, her eyes blank. It was obvious to me she was deceased.”

“Did you notice obvious trauma to the body? Stab wounds? Bullet holes?”

“It appeared she’d been stabbed. The back of her head was also caved in.”

“How do you know?” Holden asked.

“I turned her over slightly.”

“With what? Your hand?”

Jax shook his head.

“No, my foot.”

“Why were you out in the woods today?”

“I was deer hunting.”

“Did you see anyone or anything out of the ordinary?”

“Other than a dead woman, no.” Jax crossed his arms over his chest.

“When was the last time you were out there?”

“Hunting or just any time?”

“Any time.”

Jax thought a moment.

“Not for at least a month or more. It’s an area that borders a neighbor’s property.”

“And your fiance hasn’t noticed anything out of the ordinary either?”

“No.”

They finished making their notes.

“Okay, Jax, after we make a positive ID on the woman we will be contacting you with more questions.”

He nodded barely acknowledging their departure.

He took the bottle of whiskey sitting next to him and downed a shot.

* * *

Amira sat on the floor of her living room with crime scene photos scattered all around her. A fire crackled merrily in the fireplace as she sipped the last of her whiskey. Snow steadily fell outside her window covering her yard in a thick white blanket.

She was all alone in her cozy home that set just outside the city limits. Her gray and white cat purred from his place on the couch.

She was desperate to find a link between the murders. She knew in her heart who was doing this, but she couldn’t tell Holden until she had some solid evidence.

Jax.

Sighing, she stared at the fire quickly consuming the logs she’d just placed in it. The fire roared and demanded constant fuel to feed its’ voracious appetite.

Just like the U.

Amira reached beneath her top feeling for the amulet she wore around a gold chain.

Her birthright. She recalled the day her grandfather had given it to her. He’d been so proud.

“It is on this eve of the Winter Solstice, we declare my granddaughter, Amira the watcher of the U. She is the chosen one. The one who will bring the U back to us and regain all that we have lost.” Her grandfather stood over her wearing his ceremonial robes as she laid on the altar surrounded by her grandfather’s ‘circle’.

Amira shook with fear and excitement wearing a long white robe with a golden hood covering her body. It was her eighteenth year and as promised her grandfather was passing the leadership of the ‘circle’ to her.

Amira’s young brothers stood there as well now aged fourteen and sixteen wearing the black robes. They stood silently as they bowed their heads in respect of her.

Her grandfather took her hands and pulled her up off of the altar. He took the precious amulet he was wearing off of his own neck and put it around hers. Amira felt a jolt go through her body.

Was it her imagination?

Or was there really power in the amulet?

“Amira, do you solemnly swear to be the sole Watcher of the U once you have found the current Watcher of the U?”

“Yes.”

“And do you promise to do everything in your power to retrieve the U from its’ current owner?”

“Yes.”

“Are you aware of the dangers of the U? You cannot simply just take the U from its’ current owner. The owner must die. You cannot directly kill the owner to get it back. If you try and steal it from him, great harm will befall you.”

“Yes, Grandfather.”

“Then vow, my beautiful Amira to find a way to get the U back to our family.”

She bent down as he kissed her head.

And so had been her mission ever since that day-to retrieve the treasured U pin.

“Grandfather, are you okay?” Amira rushed to the aging man’s side. She brushed his silvery hair from his fevered brow. His color was ashen. His skin clammy to the touch.

“Amira, I’m not long for this world. I don’t have much time.” His hands shook as he tried to take her hand.

“What are you talking about? The doctor said you were doing so much better. That’s what you told me after your appointment.” Amira held fast to his hand.

“I just told you that so that you wouldn’t worry. I have cancer.” He whispered. Amira gasped as she met his dark eyes. They were full of pain.

“What…what kind of cancer?”

He sighed then bit his lower lip.

“Pancreas. It’s in my pancreas.” His voice was shaky and low. Amira had always known her grandfather to be a man of great strength. To see him so weak, pale, and shaking was heartbreaking.

“I’m sure there are treatments, Grandfather---“

“---No! I won’t have it. I’m not going to die in some hospital bed hooked up to all kinds of machines.” His voice regained strength as he tried to sit up.

“What about going to the Circle? I’m sure there are incantations we could perform, something to make you better.”

He shook his head.

“No, Amira. I’ve tried that already. I’m an old man. It’s time for me to go.” He stated with sad resolution.

“Not yet.” She sobbed tears spilling down her face. Her grandfather was her world. He’d raised her and her brothers. He was the only parents she’d known since her mother left.

“The only thing that could make me well is the U.” He whispered his eyes taking on a faraway look.

“Then I’ll get it for you.” Amira gritted her teeth.

“You know we can’t just take it. If it’s keeper is still alive it can’t come back to us.”

“But what if we just….killed him?” Amira dared to speak the words she’d been thinking about for years out loud.

“No, it can’t be by our hands. He has to die naturally or be killed due to other circumstances.”

“We can’t just steal it either, I suppose.”

“If that was the case we’d have taken it years ago when the young boy stole it from the Pharaoh’s tomb. No, Amira, there are rules. If we just take it then the curse falls upon us too. In order to receive all the powers of the U, it has to come to us after the keeper dies.”

Frustration filled her. She turned and smashed her fist into the wall. Pain exploded through her hand.

“Your job now, Amira, is to hold the circle together. You are to take my place.” His old, gnarled hand brushed her long hair back. Fear overwhelmed her as she watched him seem to dissolve before her eyes.

“Surely there’s something I can do.”

He shook his head. He seemed to be fading away as she watched powerless to do anything.

“That’s why I called you in here. My mantle is falling upon you. It’s time for me to venture into the afterlife.”

“What can I do? Please there must be something.”

“Help me into the bed.”

Amira swept her arms beneath his to drag him up onto the bed. She was shocked at how little effort it took to pick him up. He’d lost a tremendous amount of weight in just the past few weeks. How could he have been so sick and she hadn’t known?

She placed him onto his bed and fluffed the pillow behind his head. She picked his legs up and slipped them under the covers. She pulled the blanket over his body tucking him in. When she was finished she stood back appalled at how small and frail he looked in the bed. His once thick black hair was now thin wisps of silver. Patches of his bare scalp were visible. His eyes looked like two black orbs in his pale face. Heavy wrinkles deeply creased his skin.

“Are you comfortable now?” She stood biting her lip wondering if she should call her brothers. They were away at school and it would take several hours for them to come home.

“Yes, my darling.”

“Should I call Aleister and Anthony?”

“There isn’t time. I’ve left my final wishes in a letter inside my desk. My will is with my attorney.” He spoke slowly as if speaking took a great deal of effort. His eyes watered as she sat down next to him on the bed.

“As soon as I pass, I want you to take the letter from my desk. Read it and then call your brothers. Call the Circle and do an incantation for me within 24 hours. Remember how we did Cecelia’s after she passed?”

Tears flowed freely down her face as she nodded.

“That’s what you need to do for me. The elders will help you. Amira, I have faith in you. You will be the one to obtain the U for us and restore all the power to our family.” His chin quivered as he began to cry.

“I love you, Grandfather.” She whispered.

“I love you, my darling.” His words were so faint she could barely hear him. She watched as his chest rasped in and out. His breathing was so labored. She placed her hand over his.

Several minutes passed as he took a deep breath. The ceiling fan whirred quietly above them. She waited to hear him exhale.

There was nothing.

Her heart stopped as she brought her fingers to his neck to check his pulse.

Nothing.

“Grandfather? Grandfather!” Amira began to scream.

He was gone.

Her heart ached as she pressed her lips to his forehead which was already cool. How could it have happened so quickly?

Remembering his instructions, she stood up and walked into his office. She threw open the drawer and pulled out a long piece of white stationary. She scanned it and then dropped the paper. She knew what she had to do.

And she was more than willing to do it.