Page 86 of The Vampire and the Case of the Baleful Banshee

Both Gunnar and I leapt into the bedroom that the family had just left. The fire tornado exploded, throwing us further inside. I hit the far wall; Gunnar hit the dresser. An inferno was raging in the doorway.

‘We’ve got to get out of here, Bunny!’ Gunnar said urgently as he picked himself up.

I looked around but there was no way in hell we could leave through the door. The fire had caught, and it was burning hard and fast. I remembered the other buildings that the fire gem had burned down: they’d all burnt to ashes so quickly.

I whipped out my phone and dialled Liv. ‘Got her?’ she asked in lieu of a hello.

‘Not quite. I’d say she’s got us,’ I said grimly. ‘Elsa’s definitely your girl. She’s got both gems and they’ve possessed her. You need to do everything you can to stop her.’ I rattled off the address. Leaving out Liv had been an oversight on my part; we should have made her come with us to carry out the arrest. Live and learn – if we survived. ‘Gotta go. We’re on fire!’

I cut the call and looked around the bedroom, then I picked up a bedside table and threw it with all my might towards the triple-glazed window. My vampire strength – and the solid oak – did the trick and the glass shattered. I used the table to clear away the shards still hanging in the window frame then grabbed the duvet from the bed. I put it over the window frame to protect us from any sharp bits of glass that I’d missed.

The room was getting warm. Looking over my shoulder, I saw that the flames were now inside the bedroom. We had only seconds left before the fire consumed us. ‘Can you jump from here?’ I asked Gunnar. From this height I figured we were looking at some broken limbs; being a vampire, I’d definitely survive those though the pain was going to suck. Gunnar didn’t have that same certainty.

‘We don’t have much of a choice, do we?’ he said.

‘Do you want me to go down first and catch you?’ I offered.

‘Don’t be cheeky, Bunny Rabbit. But yes – ladies first.’

‘I’m not a lady,’ I protested instinctively.

‘Just go, Bunny,’ he urged. He was right: it was now or never. The flames were only a couple of feet away.

‘Fine.’ I threw my leg over the windowsill, lowered myself until I was hanging from the sill then pushed myself out and down, aiming for the flattest spot I could see.

As I landed, I relaxed my knees and let myself fall into a roll to lessen the impact. Nothing broken. I scrambled aside so Gunnar could land. Looking up, I saw that he was dangling by his hands as I had done. He hit the ground hard and grunted, then he lay scarily still.

‘Gunnar!’ I ran up to him. ‘Are you all right?’ I dropped to my knees beside him.

He gasped as he rolled on his side. ‘I’m okay. I dislocated my left shoulder again while I was hanging, and the fall knocked the wind out of me.’ He sat up with an effort, his left arm hanging limply by his side. ‘I need you to put it back in.’

I baulked at the thought but nodded. I’d seen Thomas do it once before, so I closed my eyes and drew up the memory. I watched it twice over carefully then copied Thomas’s movements exactly. Gunnar let out a strangled cry as it snapped back into place. ‘Okay?’ I asked.

‘Peachy,’ he panted. ‘Give me a second.’ He breathed through the pain then struggled to his knees. He limped for a few steps but seemed okay.

To the side of the house the garage door was open and the Wintersteens’ car was still inside. I wondered why – until I looked around and saw Fluffy with a set of car keys dangling from his mouth. That must have been what Gunnar had instructed him to do.

‘Good boy!’ I patted him, relieved he’d managed to get safely out of the inferno.

We hastily headed to our SUV. In the distance we could see the Wintersteens struggling up the hill towards Vitus Vogler’s house.

Fuck.

Chapter 55

Gunnar and I climbed into our vehicle and drove up the hill in pursuit. Once we were behind them, Gunnar did a handbrake turn and stopped. We slid out, using the vehicle as our shield.

Elsa was carrying both gems in one of their protective metal boxes. Her eyes were a normal colour; she wasn’t possessed any longer and she had put the gems away so maybe we had a slim chance of surviving the encounter.

Her husband and kids hid behind a bush; they were staying out of the coming conflict so at least we didn’t have to worry about accidentally harming civilians.

‘You should have died in the house,’ Elsa said grimly. ‘You’ll wish you had.’ She sent an insanely strong blast of wind towards our vehicle and we scrambled out of the way as it was pushed over. It tumbled down the hill and landed with an audible crunch. First the Nomo’s boat, now the SUV; things were going to heck in a handbasket.

While we were distracted, Elsa covered the remaining distance to Vogler’s house. Unfortunately for her, she’d threatened me enough times and I was now officially grumpy. I used my vampire speed to gain ground on the bitch of a witch. My anger was roused and this time I released my fire with all the strength I could muster when she was in range.

She turned before my fireball hit her and used air magic to create another shield, funnelling the fire either side of her. Thankfully it went into the damp woods where it spluttered and died.

She threw the box down to the ground and the gems tumbled out. I hurled another fireball at her to stop her picking them up. If she took hold of the cursed stones, she’d kill us.

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