Page 42 of The Vampire and the Case of the Cursed Canine

Connor’s eyes narrowed. ‘It’s odd that you missed seeing a bus because you’re very aware of your surroundings.’

I shrugged. ‘Yeah, maybe. I was probably thinking about something and not paying attention. My memory is weirdly hazy about the whole thing. I guess it was the pain – I remember the pain.’

‘What else? You said you were sick and injured a lot?’

‘The usual childhood things – colds, flu, food poisoning, measles. I fell out of a swing and broke my arm. I tripped on a log in the back garden and rolled down a hill and fell into the pond. I nearly drowned that time.’ I brightened. ‘One time there was even an escaped lion.’

His jaw clenched. ‘A lion?’

‘One of our posher neighbours had exotic animals in a private menagerie. They had an African lion that got loose and onto our property. I was playing in the garden and it scared me so badly I peed my pants. It stalked towards me growling and I thought I was a goner, but then it went away, thank God.’

Connor licked his lips. ‘Bunny, honey, those weren’t normal childhood problems.’

I shrugged. ‘I had a privileged childhood. It came with some weirder problems, I guess.’

‘Who was watching you when you were growing up? Who was supposed to keep you safe?’

‘The staff – nannies and tutors. I had a lot of free time to play, too.’

He shook his head. ‘Your parents should have taken better care of you.’ Anger was crackling on his skin and he was struggling to keep calm. He blew out a breath then studied me intensely. I knew that look: he was weighing something up.

‘What? Tell me,’ I insisted.

His frown deepened and he hesitated for a second before taking my hand. ‘Bunny, I’ve heard tales from the supernat community. Most magic users manifest their magic when they’re afraid.’

A cold chill ran down my spine and I swallowed hard. ‘You think these events were manufactured to get my magic to manifest?’

‘Two strong witches expect a strong witch daughter.’

‘And they got a ped,’ I whispered.

‘They got you,’ he snarled. ‘And they should have been fucking grateful!’

‘But they weren’t.’ The words were pulled from me and my heart started breaking all over again. Mum hadn’t told me that she was a witch and that had hurt, but this…? They’d allowed me to get injured. How could any parent do that? Bewildered, I looked at Connor. ‘How could they?’

‘It’s conjecture…’

‘It is, but it’s solid. The wild lion … it was a shifter, wasn’t it?’

He nodded. ‘I think so. That cinched it for me because it didn’t attack you, it just scared you shitless.’

I didn’t know what to say, so I did what any good Barrington did: I shoved it deep in a box to deal with another day. ‘I need to go to work.’

‘Bunny…’

‘Give me time, Connor. I need to process this.’ I paused. ‘Don’t talk to my mother about it, not until I’ve had a chance to speak to her, okay?’

‘I wouldn’t trust myself around her right now. I’d rip her head off.’

I shot him a bittersweet smile. ‘You say the nicest things.’

Chapter 26

I let myself in through the back door. Connor had dropped me off and he said he was going to a library for some light reading, though his tone had suggested the reading would be heavy and boring. As he kissed me goodbye, I cursed myself for falling asleep so early last night.

I heard a noise in the office and I froze. ‘Hello?’ I called.

‘It’s me,’ Gunnar called. ‘I see you rearranged the place. Very Marie Kondo.’

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