Page 5 of The Vampire and the Case of the Cursed Canine

Fluffy must have sensed my distress because he stiffened and growled again, a quiet rumble that I felt against my legs than a sound Mum would hear.

She was taking calm, leisurely sips of tea whilst she shattered the foundations of my entire being. Anger and hurt warred inside me, both wrestling to be the dominant emotion in my broken heart. They writhed like poisonous snakes, slithering through my shocked body. How had she kept something like that from me for my entire life?

Instead of jumping up and slapping her, or running to Connor to cry, I asked, ‘Does Dad know?’

Mum gave a very unladylike snort before she hastily held a tissue to her nose as if that could suppress her uncouth noise. ‘Excuse me,’ she murmured, dabbing her nose. She cleared her throat. ‘Of course he knows, Elizabeth. He’s a fire witch as well. That’s how we met.’

That was too much. Both of them had kept this from me, a joint effort to keep their poor ped daughter ignorant. No wonder I’d always been forbidden to enter my dad’s office – no doubt it was full of grimoires and crystals and other witchy things.

I tried to hold it together but the shock forced tears to spill. ‘I bet you loved making a fool of me, didn’t you?’ I spat then burst into uncontrollable sobs that were not even slightly pretty.

Mum looked shocked for a second then grimaced. ‘Oh dear,’ she murmured. ‘This hasn’t gone well.’ She looked flustered as she put down her tea and popped Arabella on the floor. She came over and rubbed my back awkwardly. ‘We weren’t being malicious, darling – we didn’t keep it from you to mock you. We couldn’t tell you because you weren’t supernatural and it’s the law.’

‘To you I was your awful ped daughter, a constant source of disappointment,’ I sobbed bitterly. ‘At least now I understand why I disappointed you so damned much.’

‘That’s not true, Elizabeth! We’ve always been proud of your various – achievements.’ Even as she said it, her tone was dubious as if she couldn’t quite remember what they were.

My heart was aching and I felt so raw that every instinct told me to flee from the person who had caused me so much pain. I scrubbed the tears from my face.

‘Elizabeth—’ my mother started.

‘Don’t,’ I snapped, holding up a hand. I wasn’t sure what I was going to say next but before I could work it out, the phone rang.

Saved by the bell.

Chapter 4

It was Gunnar. I dug deep to find Portlock Bunny. Work Bunny. Professional Bunny. I wiped my eyes again and cleared my throat. ‘I have to take this, it’s work,’ I said firmly. My mother waved her hand, giving me permission that I didn’t damn well need to answer my own bloody phone.

She picked up Arabella and settled back at the kitchen table, sipping her tea again like she hadn’t ripped my world in two.

‘Gunnar,’ I answered a shade hoarsely. ‘What’s up?’

‘Sorry, Bunny. I know your mom arrived and it’s your day off, but I could use your help on a case.’ His voice dropped an octave. ‘Plus, Connor kind of suggested you’d be more than happy to be summoned.’

Despite everything, that made me smile. Even though he wasn’t by my side, Connor was still trying to ride to my rescue. In this case the monster I was being rescued from was my own mother, but he’d been right: I was more than happy to be rescued.

It said something about my psyche that a part of me was hoping Gunnar had a juicy murder case that would keep me out of my house for days on end. ‘I’ll be in ASAP,’ I promised. ‘Give me a few.’ We hung up.

I turned to face She-That-Had-Birthed-Me. ‘I have to go in to work,’ I said bluntly.

‘But I just arrived,’ she protested. ‘I wanted to talk.’

‘I think you’ve said enough, don’t you?’ My voice was brittle; I hoped my broken heart wasn’t on my sleeve for everyone to see. I gritted my teeth and cast around for something to say that was a little more polite than the ‘fuck off’ that wanted to leap out. ‘Why don’t you get cleaned up and grab some rest?’ I offered lamely.

My mother looked subdued and her eyes were downcast. I felt a stab of guilt; she’d come all of this way to see me, flown thousands of miles to be with her daughter, and come clean about a huge secret that must have weighed on her for years. Was I being unfair?

I tried to think about it objectively but I was in it too deep to see anything clearly. Later, when I had some time alone, I’d drown in my childhood memories and see everything in a new light, but for now I tried to set it aside. I had work to do.

Mum gave me a tremulous smile. ‘All right, darling, I am a bit tired. Rest sounds good.’

I managed my own tight smile. ‘Maybe we can grab some food together later.’ I offered the olive branch stiffly. Before she could reply, I grabbed Fluffy’s lead, stuffed Shadow in his pram and stalked out.

I had a five-minute walk to clear my head. To be honest, even a five-mile hike wouldn’t have cleared the detritus in my mind, but I had to try. The fresh air would help. Yeah, and pigs would fly.

I stalked to work, trying to quell my tumultuous emotions, push the feelings down, lock them in a box and focus on work. What a relief work was. God I hoped someone was dead.

I opened the door of the Nomo’s office to find April Arctos seated at my desk. I’d forgotten that she was due to start today, and seeing someone usurping my seat gave me another wobble I didn’t need. Suddenly I felt utterly replaceable, though I had enough self-awareness to know that was nothing to do with April Arctos.

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