Page 13 of The Vampire and the Case of the Cursed Canine

‘Arabella weighs 1.5 kilos. Most normal house cats are larger than her,’ I pointed out.

‘That menace is going to kill my darling!’ Mum squawked.

‘He’s playing. It’ll be fine.’ She wasn’t buying it. ‘I’ll take him and Fluffy with me to work, give them time to cool off. Don’t forget we’re invited to dinner at my boss’s tonight. We usually go at midnight, which is around my lunchtime. I’ll pick you up.’

‘All right,’ she said tightly, still unhappy about Shadow. ‘It’ll take me a while to get used to a night regime. I keep largely to daylight hours in London – except when I’m dealing with other supernats, of course.’

‘Of course,’ I said flatly. I knew nothing of her secret meetings with other supernats and that chafed.

The atmosphere was still a little frosty, and I’d never been happier to go in early to work. Sidnee looked up at me in surprise when I arrived, then at the clock then back at me. Yep, I was two hours early. ‘Did something happen?’ she asked.

‘Yes, my mother happened. She’s been here one full day and I’m ready to move out.’

‘It’s your house,’ she pointed out.

‘Desperate times and all that.’

I pushed Shadow’s pram into its spot and lifted him out. He gave his kitten squeak and marched over to rub against Sidnee’s legs. I’d never had a cat before and I wasn’t sure if he was behaving like a normal one. Kitten or not, he was some kind of cool superhero creature that could drive back the beast beyond the barrier. I pictured him with a cape – then laughed. He’d probably tear it to shreds to play with.

I made some tea and coffee and took them to Sidnee’s desk. ‘Guess what?’ I started.

‘What?’ she replied dutifully.

‘My mum didn’t come all this way to see me.’

Sidnee frowned. ‘Why did she come then?’

‘Well, that’s the real kicker. She’s a witch.’

‘What?’

‘A fire witch,’ I continued, satisfied with the way I’d shocked her. ‘She’s a High Priestix, a powerful fire elemental, and Liv invited her here to help with the barrier issues. Mum dropped that bomb on me right after she arrived. Can you believe it?’

Sidnee stared at me for a long minute with her mouth open until she realised and closed it with a clack. ‘Oh my gosh. I’m so sorry, Bunny. That’s a lot to take in, and I know from what you’ve said before that she was never an award-winning mum.’

‘She wasn’t an anything mum,’ I admitted. ‘I had a host of nannies and she was never there. Now I know why – she was working her way up the coven ladder. She rules all the covens in the UK.’

‘Wow.’

‘Yeah. A part of me thinks I should be proud of all that she’s achieved, but I laid in bed looking through a tonne of my childhood memories and there are so many times she wasn’t there. She chose her career over me – her secret, supernatural career. That she’s successful doesn’t make it any less shitty for me.’

‘No, I guess not. I think we’re told now that as women we can have it all, and I’m sure plenty can, but it’s an awful lot to juggle.’

I sighed. ‘Yeah, and she dropped some balls. Anyway, she’s a fire witch and she’s here to save the barrier. My dad is a witch, too. They’ve been lying to me my whole life.’

‘Fuck.’ Sidnee reached out to squeeze my hand. It was rare for her to swear so I really appreciated her use of foul language on my behalf.

I paused for a moment and decided to change the subject back to work. ‘Okay, I can’t wallow more. Any calls?’ I really meant cases: I needed something big to take my mind off my mother and our whole raft of issues.

‘I picked up a kid for shoplifting a candy bar and a box of condoms at the grocery store,’ Sidnee said proudly.

‘Nice one. How old was the kid?’

‘Fifteen. I brought him back to the station for processing and to call his parents, but Gunnar decided to have words with him. He won’t be stealing again after the Nomo got through with him. The kiddo said he was too nervous to buy the condoms, and Gunnar said if he was too embarrassed to buy penis coats then he definitely shouldn’t be using them.’

I bust out laughing. ‘Penis coats? He said that?’

‘Well, no. I’m paraphrasing,’ Sidnee admitted, making me laugh even harder.

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