Page 50 of The Vampire and the Case of the Baleful Banshee

‘I thought they were illusion witches?’

He laughed. ‘They are – some of the most powerful I’ve ever run into. But that doesn’t mean they can’t muster enough “real” magic to give us time to get someone out here if the patch fails.’

That was a relief: this was a remote spot and it had taken almost thirty minutes to drive here. ‘We need more eyes. Should we warn the public?’ I asked.

He tensed. ‘In some ways that’s a good idea, but we also have to protect the citizens from themselves. People will panic if they know the barrier is failing, and we can’t have them getting hurt. I’ve seen many a mob in my time and they’re never pretty.’

‘But the alternative is that the beast might break free and people get killed!’ I pointed out.

‘I know. This is one of the aspects of the job that will give you heartburn and, if you’re human, a stress-related heart attack. We have to find a balance, and that relies on choosing what looks like the best path. My gut is saying we still have time to find the gems before we have to warn the townsfolk – though we don’t have a lot of it.’

I nodded reluctantly. I hated people not knowing, but if we found the gems tonight we’d have started a huge panic over nothing. I guess doing my job – finding Aoife’s murderer and the gems – was the best I could do for now.

We turned to leave but before we got in the vehicle Liv stopped us one more time. She was visibly stressed. ‘Gunnar, Bunny, you must make finding those gems your priority. My people are drained and overworked, and I don’t know how much more we’ve got in the tank. You understand?’

Gunnar nodded abruptly. ‘We’re trying, Liv.’

‘Try harder.’ She eyed Shadow. ‘And find us more of those damned cats.’

Chapter 29

By the time we’d wrapped up and left the area I was almost due to go off-shift, so Gunnar dropped Fluffy, Shadow and me home. I felt like I’d spent most of my time chasing my tail. We still had very few leads and no hard evidence, but I wouldn’t be much help during the morning hours because the daylight exhaustion was unreal. I could battle through it as best I could, but I definitely wouldn’t be at my best.

Plus, there was a new mystery: Shadow. I looked at my feline, who was extending his leg into the air and cleaning his asshole with zero embarrassment. What freaky power did he have – and where the hell did it come from?

He put his leg down and curled up into a ball; the poor little thing was still exhausted. So was I.

I made some food and put a video of a roaring fire on the TV. The crackle of the flames relaxed me; fire had always soothed me, though it had taken a momentary hit after my home had burned down. There was something reassuring about it, even when it was only on a video. Like a caveman, part of my brain knew that flames would ward off the monsters and tonight that was exactly what I needed.

As I stared into the dancing flames, my thoughts inevitably turned to the fire within me. Despite snooping through Gunnar and Sigrid’s books, I knew very little about my fire magic. If Kostas had been less of a frosty asshole perhaps I would have spoken to him about it, but something about him had set my teeth on edge. I certainly didn’t trust him enough to share my secret.

Franklin had turned me – but into what? I wished I could remember what had happened that night but there were only flashes of memory. Was this how ordinary people remembered things, in little fragments? I didn’t know, but I knew that I didn’t like it.

It was frustrating not to be able to recall that night as perfectly as I could remember almost everything else, but I’d been drunk and then dead. Maybe that was why my memory wasn’t as sharp about my turning, or maybe someone had cast some kind of memory spell? Here in Portlock I was learning that anything was possible.

John had said that a witch had hired Franklin to turn me. Had the witch been there that night and spelled me? I’d never know – and I wasn’t going to call up Franklin and ask. He hadn’t made my Christmas card list.

But elemental fire magic? That was crazy. I took a moment to search within, and as I concentrated I felt a ball of energy at my centre. Anytime I felt angry, it instantly became more evident that I was a ticking bomb that could blow up at any second. I needed to learn how to control it or there was a real risk I’d raze Portlock to the ground. What I’d done to Virginia and Jim would seem like child’s play in comparison.

To distract myself from my dark thoughts, I did some cleaning and tidying. I stopped only when I was satisfied I was guest-ready – bar the red threat splashed across my wall by Nora. But that was a job for another day.

The sun was rising and daylight exhaustion was tugging at me. I pulled down the metal shutters, locked the windows and doors and dragged myself off to bed.

Pain flared in my shoulder. I was bleary and disorientated – and I was also on the floor. What the fuck?

I sat up, and that was when I registered that the whole house was shaking. I used the mattress to steady myself and stand up, then teetered around holding onto the furniture until I could open my bedroom door. The house continued to tremble. I heard the kitchen cabinet doors rattling, things falling and smashing. I braced myself in the doorway.

Fluffy’s tail was sticking out from under the bed. I had no idea where Shadow was but, knowing the cat, he was probably under there with Fluffy. At least they were safe.

The quake kept on going; this was way stronger than the last one. The glass of water on my bedside table was juddering around like a drunk on a stag-do.

I took a shuddering breath as it finally stopped. I had no idea how long it had lasted but it felt like at least thirty seconds, maybe more since I hadn’t woken up immediately. My vampire ass had been dead to the world.

I grabbed my phone and checked for messages. Nothing yet. It was close to the time for me to wake up, so I dialled Sidnee.

‘Bunny, that was a big one!’ she said before I could even greet her.

‘How big?’

---