Page 87 of The Vampire and the Case of the Baleful Banshee

I threw fireball after fireball, keeping her focus on me until Fluffy and Gunnar were close to her. At a signal from Gunnar, Fluffy leapt up, grabbed her wrist between his jaws and hauled her down to the ground. She cried out: he wasn’t being all that gentle with his teeth. I didn’t blame him.

Gunnar grabbed her hands and I threw him the magic-cancelling cuffs. Elsa’s husband had seized some courage and he stood up from behind the bush to point the shotgun at me. Remembering Gunnar’s lessons, I turned and ran as fast as I could to put some distance between us. Birdshot didn’t have great range and I had plenty of speed.

Luckily, Larry was neither in close range nor a good shot. He missed my torso but hit a juicier target and I screeched as the pellets bit into my butt. Son of a bitch! Too bad my fancy vest only covered my vitals. The wounds wouldn’t heal until I’d glugged down some blood. The ride home was going to suck.

I turned and glared at him. Larry had run out of ammo and he was trying to reload with his shaking hands. I closed the distance between us; my fangs were out, and my rage was high. ‘Give me a reason not to bite you,’ I snarled.

‘Please,’ his daughter said, ‘don’t hurt him! He’s trying to protect Mom. He didn’t mean to hurt you.’

‘Yes, he did,’ I snarled back.

Gunnar had raised his service pistol. ‘Drop the shotgun or I’ll drop you.’ His threats sounded way cooler than mine. I needed to work on my threat game.

Since Gunnar’s weapon had a longer range than the shotgun, and since his wife was face down in the mud and his kids were quaking next to him, Larry dropped his weapon and raised his hands. As Gunnar cuffed him, I forced back my fangs. I was itching to bite him. He’d drawn my blood and something hot and heady within me wanted to return the favour. I pushed it down with a real effort and turned my attention to the cursed stones.

They were still loose on the ground, throbbing with a dark light. ‘Free us,’ they whispered together. ‘Let us be free.’

In truth, I felt bad for them – but freeing them wasn’t my call. I grasped the diamond wind stone, intending to put it in the box, but it felt icy in my grip. Its cold was so absolute that I almost dropped it.

‘Don’t do this,’ the stones entreated. ‘Just leave us on the ground if you must, but don’t put us in THERE.’

I swallowed hard because suddenly I wanted to obey them. But the thing was that I really struggled with orders – from anyone. Wanting to obey was such an alien feeling that I knew it wasn’t mine, and that was enough to resist the compulsion.

I placed the wind gem into its box and it fell silent. However, the fire gem ramped up its pleadings. ‘You don’t want to do this, child. I sense the fire within you. Together we could be the greatest fire magus to walk the earth! Your name will be remembered through the ages!’ It’s voice swelled with triumph. ‘Burn those in our way. Let our destiny commence.’

I grasped the gem, intending to tell it that I had no desire to be renowned, but the connection I felt with it was instant and deep. The fire ignited inside my chest and roared forth until I was a living flame, a beacon in the night. I wanted to expand and fill the earth. I raised my hand, baring the gem to the sky, and screamed my flames higher and higher.

A car rumbled up and a man and a woman got out. ‘Bunny!’ The man called my name, but his voice was very far away and it couldn’t touch me. I was a goddess of fire; all would worship me or they would burn.

A dog’s frantic barks caught my attention. I glanced towards the annoying sound and frowned at the beast; it was oddly familiar. A large, bearded man was standing next to the dog; they were cringing away from me, looking scared.

The man who’d arrived in the car ran to me. He had black curly hair and ice-blue eyes; eyes that made me pause for a moment. He took advantage of my hesitation to reach out and touch me. A powerful zing ran through me, momentarily displacing the fire gem’s grip.

I knew these humans, didn’t I? No, they weren’t human – they were supernats and so was I. As I’d done a million times, I turned my attention inwards to search my memories, and in doing so I unknowingly broke the connection between the gem and me. Memories rushed me: Fluffy! Gunnar! Connor!

For a moment I was dazed, but then I remembered who I was and, more importantly, what I was: an officer of the law. That crooning voice inside my head was not my friend.

I looked at my clenched fist that was holding the gem, then with all my might I shoved it into its box. It took every scrap of will I had to shut the lid but, as soon as I did, the voice fell blessedly silent. My fire dropped away and I fell to my knees in the cool mud.

My throat felt like I’d swallowed glass: I must have been screaming the entire time. I was shaking with exhaustion, but even so I could feel rage. The gem had tried to make me burn my friends! Whatever sympathy I’d had for the trapped banshee spirits was gone. I was furious, but for now my rage couldn’t spark a thing. My powers were as depleted as I was.

Liv was watching me, fascinated. ‘What are you?’

‘She’s a vampire,’ Connor snarled. ‘And my mate. She is nothing to you. You hear me, Fox?’

A smile curled her lips. ‘Your mate? Oh, I hear you, Mackenzie. Loud and clear.’ She smirked.

‘Focus on the problem at hand,’ he barked, gesturing to Wintersteen who was still face down in the mud.

Liv looked at the wrecked Nomo’s vehicle. ‘I guess we can transport them in my car,’ she offered begrudgingly.

‘Elsa was under the influence of the stones,’ I said wearily. ‘I don’t know about her husband. The kids are innocent.’

‘I’ll arrange someone to pick them up.’ Liv sounded calm but her eyes still glowed with a covetous light when she looked at me, and I didn’t like it one bit.

The teenagers were watching us from the bush; someone needed to reassure them. I walked carefully towards them, my birdshot arse aching and making me limp. Connor stuck to my side like glue. ‘Okay?’ I asked him.

He smiled tightly. ‘I’ve been better. We’ll talk later.’

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