Fifteen days, twelve hours, fifty minutes and nine seconds.
The sun was blazing hot enough to cook an egg on the asphalt. New York didn't care though. The city buzzed with its usual indifference, cars blazed through the intersections, and people crowded the sidewalks, hooked to the rhythm of their lives..
"You sure this is where she lives." Joshua asked, his eyes on the apartment building In front of us. He was in better shape. The only evidence of our time in that green wilderness was a little purple patch under his right eye.
I nodded. I understood his skepticism. The building before us was a seven storey typical New York apartment complex, but it was old, several of the windows broken. A rusty fire escape clung to the brickwork near a narrow, shadow-drenched alleyway.
The neighboring buildings were covered with graffiti. Nearby, a couple of kids played tag, their laughter cutting through the heavy air, while a homeless man sat slumped against a dumpster, mumbling incoherent words to himself.
This hardly looked like the residence of a billionaire's goddaughter. Especially when that billionaire happened to be an immortal Fire God.
But we had orders, and most importantly, we had information. Askarion had identified this as the home of Catherine Hedger. The woman was currently tied up and under interrogation in father's safe house, but she was proving very uncooperative. Joshua had suggested torture, and as much as I agreed with him, we couldn't kill the only person who knew what the fuck was actually going on.
"We should probably get out." I said, checking the mirrors.
"Why?" Joshua asked.
I pointed at a man in a corner who had been watching our vehicle for twenty minutes.
"A supercar in a place like this draws too much attention."
"So? They're only mortals." Joshua said casually, his legs swinging up to the dash board.
I immediately slapped them down, and proceeded to clean the dust he had gotten on it. "The last few 'mortals' we encountered came within a hair's breadth of killing us. Do not underestimate anyone."
Joshua sighed and stepped out of the vehicle and I did the same. Stepping out of the air conditioning of the Fenris felt like stepping into hell. The sun seemed to be blazing with a fresh fury.
The kids stopped their game and turned to me and my brother. The homeless man stopped his mumbling and turned his eyes. Every eye on the street seemed to be on us.
Joshua looked around, "is it because of the suits?"
It was definitely not because of the suits. We were stepping into enemy territory, and one of these people present was waiting for the chance to run back to relay information.
We had to be fast.
We made our way to the top floor, the air growing thick as we climbed. On the landing of the final door, we found a weird assortment of deliveries. Several bottles of curdled milk stood in a neat row. A heap of packages was stacked haphazardly against the wall, and an Uber Eats bag lay slumped next to them.
Joshua put his hand to his nose, his face squeezed."How long has it been since someone stepped in here?"
I bent down and studied the bottles. A few of them had lumps, but one had already begun to turn green. "At least a week. Maybe more." I frowned, looking at the newest bottle. "Why did the milkman keep leaving them?"
"And how the hell did the neighbours not notice this smell?" Joshua added, forcing a retch back into his throat.
As confusing as it was, we had work to do. I stepped over the litter and gripped the doorknob. It was locked. I sighed and shoved, breaking the knob with minimal effort. The door slid back with the loud creaking of wood.
That was when the real smell hit us.
"Ughh." Joshua gagged, his hands clamped over his nose. The air was thick with the bitter sweet smell of decay.
Every single piece of furniture in the living room was covered in dust.
I walked inside, the floorboards creaking under my boots.
"You know what to do Joshua."
"I wish I didn't." He said, and immediately fought a vomit back. We searched through everything in the living room, through shelves and drawers. We opened cabinets and even tore the TV stand apart but the most incriminating thing we found was a homosexual magazine.
"Where's the smell coming from though?" Joshua asked, his voice muffled by his hand.
We turned towards the bedroom door. For some strange reason, one I couldn't understand, I did not feel like searching it.
But that didn't make sense. If anything incriminating was to be found, it would definitely be in the bedroom, but still, I did not want to go into it.
It wasn't because I was afraid, but my mind kept shutting it out, like something or somebody was pressing a forget button anytime I thought of it. A continuous mental edit.
"Uhh maybe we shouldn't go in there." Joshua said, already turning towards the door. "We found nothing. Let's go back."
I was fighting the urge to agree with him, but I knew that was not what I wanted.
Witchcraft.
I forced one foot forward, and then forced the other. The closer I got, the stronger the smell of death and decay was. Step by step, I forcefully made my way until I was at the door.
"Brother, leave it." Joshua said, his voice sounding like it was coming from a hundred miles away.
I ignored the suggestion, and turned the knob. The door swung open and my mouth fell open along with it.
Lying on a huge king sized bed, was the dead body of a brown haired girl. One that looked exactly like…
"That doesn't make sense," Joshua whispered, his presence startling me. The fog had finally cleared for him, too. "Catherine's with Father."
I nodded. If Catherine's dead body was here, then who was the person we had at the manor?