Page 22 of The Vampire and the Case of the Baleful Banshee

That made no sense. I leaned back in my chair. ‘How is stealing the thing that keeps us safe going to keep us safe? I don’t understand, Luke. Stealing it puts everyone at risk.’

His head was back down. He wasn’t going to answer me. Sidnee opened the door and put a bottle of water in front of him then looked at me to see if I wanted one. I shook my head and she left again.

Luke unscrewed the top and gulped down half the bottle. ‘Thanks,’ he muttered, screwing the lid back on.

‘What kind of supernatural are you and your family, Luke?’ Their supernat species hadn’t been listed in Akiak’s or Lukas’ files – for all I knew they were human. One sure way to piss off any supernat in this town was to suggest that they were human, whereas the reverse wasn’t true. Maybe if I built a rapport with Luke he’d be comfortable enough to answer my questions about Aoife.

He looked up. ‘We’re Tariaksuq.’

Taria-what-now? ‘I’m sorry, I’m not familiar with that.’

He shrugged. ‘We’re Inuit.’

That was clear as mud. ‘Pretend I’m British and I’ve known about supernats for only a few months,’ I said drily.

He smiled for the first time and straightened up a little; he knew more than me and that was a confidence booster. ‘We’re not that much different from humans, but we can dissolve into smoke for short amounts of time.’

I thought of his dead father and uncle; if they could dissolve into smoke, how had the beast killed them? But then the beast had smoke too, so maybe it hadn’t helped them much.

Luke must have read my confusion on my face because he elucidated. ‘Most of us can only do it for a few seconds, and not that often.’ He looked down at his hands again. ‘It’s a stupid power,’ he muttered.

I didn’t know what to say about that, so I let the silence stretch a little. ‘Did you know Aoife could teleport?’ I asked finally.

He didn’t answer. I waited a second and prodded again. ‘Why did she think stealing the gem would make us safer?’

He blew out a harsh breath. ‘Because if the barrier haters get it, they’ll destroy it and we’ll all be fucked!’ His eyes drifted down to the left. I had no doubt that what he’d told me was true, but he was still hiding something. Was he protecting Aoife in some way?

Aoife had shown some wonderful teen logic. Rather than approach an adult in authority, such as a council member or the Nomo, she’d decided she could do better than anyone else. She’d stolen the gem and in doing so had helped to bring about the one thing she was trying to prevent. Save me from well-intentioned idiots.

I tried not to let my irritation show. ‘Does Aoife know who wants to destroy it?’

‘She hasn’t said,’ he admitted, then leaned forward and dropped his voice. ‘I wonder about her mom.’

‘Why is that?’

‘Because her mom hates the barrier. She doesn’t believe in the monster and she thinks everyone is trying to screw her over! She thinks banshees are treated as second-class citizens and she wants to put them on the map by bringing the barrier down.’ He wrapped his arms around his middle. ‘We have to do something. We can’t let it fall.’

Now that I understood his reasoning, I could see the weight of the world on his shoulders. Luke was trying to honour his dad by helping Aoife, though all they’d done was put the town in more danger. But they’d conspired to save Portlock; there were worse crimes.

I changed tack. ‘When did you last see the gem?’

‘I never did, I only saw the box. Aoife said she’d put it somewhere safe and she watches it. That’s all I know.’ He sounded sincere and I found that I believed him.

I stood up. ‘You’re free to go,’ I said.

Luke looked up in surprise. ‘I am? I mean, you’re not gonna lock me up?’

‘Did you steal the gem?’

‘No.’

‘Did you conspire to steal it?’

‘No, I only found out after Aoife had already taken it.’

‘Then you’re free to go, though we’d appreciate it if you let us know where Aoife or the gem are if you find them. Let us deal with it. The barrier is in danger until the gem is back in its rightful place.’

‘Okay.’ He looked uncertain as I uncuffed him and let him go.

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