Page 25 of The Vampire and the Case of the Cursed Canine

‘Go ahead!’ Gunnar grinned.

I excused myself to call Connor and he answered straight away. ‘Hey, Bunny, how’s it going?’

I blew out a breath. ‘I’ve had better days. I’ve been rolling around the black market and stepped on Soapy’s toes a little. And I found out Fluffy is cursed.’

‘Fluffy is cursed? With what?’

‘We’re not sure. It’s not a simple rune curse because he’s been washed plenty of times. Anissa is working on it – but I have to go beyond the barrier for an ingredient.’

‘I’ll come with you,’ he said firmly.

‘I appreciate the offer but we’re going to keep it small. In and out. The fewer people there are, the less chance we have of being spotted by the creature.’

‘You’ll wear your vest?’

I wanted to say it wasn’t going to protect me from having my head ripped off but he probably knew that. ‘Sure I’ll wear it. Anyway, I’m going to Sigrid’s for dinner to introduce Mum to Gunnar, Sigrid, Stan and Sidnee. You want to come?’

‘Of course. I need to see you anyway.’

‘Why? What’s up?’ I asked, worried.

‘Nothing. I just need to see you.’

‘Aww.’ I melted. ‘You’re so cute.’

‘Cute?’ Outrage crackled in his voice. ‘I am not cute. I am sexy and debonair.’

I giggled. ‘Yup, those things, too. See you in half an hour at Sig’s?’

‘Wild horses wouldn’t drag me away.’

We rang off and I felt lighter. I loved that he’d offered to come with me beyond the barrier, and I also loved that he trusted me enough to let me go without him.

‘Connor’s in,’ I called to Gunnar.

‘Great. Why don’t you head home and I’ll swing by to pick you up in thirty minutes? That way you can warn your mom.’

I smiled. ‘Yeah, I should warn her it’s not quite the cosy dinner she’s expecting. Thanks.’ I collected Shadow and Fluffy and we headed out. This was either going to be an epic disaster or a mild disaster – but definitely a disaster.

I walked into my house and found my mother sitting on the sofa watching TV. I didn’t think I’d ever seen her watch TV – that had been something I’d done with my nana. It was oddly humanising – not that I thought she wasn’t human now I knew that she was a witch. She was still my mum, my cold and aloof mum.

She clicked the TV off hurriedly before I could see what she was watching. It had sounded suspiciously like a soap opera. ‘How was your evening, darling?’ she asked.

‘It was fine,’ I said, brushing over the curses and the market. ‘Gunnar invited a couple of my friends to dinner with us. He’s going to pick us up in about thirty minutes. Are you ready?’ I asked to be polite because she was sitting there fully made-up and dressed for dinner.

‘Yes, dear, I’m ready. What do you do with your animals? Do you take them? I don’t know the customs here.’

‘Gunnar loves animals – he has a husky. I usually take Fluffy so he and Loki can play. I’ll let you decide about Arabella.’

‘Well, I can’t leave her alone with that cat.’ She glared at my innocent looking lynx kitten.

‘If you want to leave Arabella behind, I’ll lock Shadow in my bedroom before we leave,’ I offered, keeping my eye roll to myself. I couldn’t imagine Arabella would get on with Loki any more than she got on with my pets.

‘Fine, I’ll leave her here. She’d feel overwhelmed with two large dogs, poor darling.’ She stroked her pooch, which was reclining on her lap. Uh-huh.

I prepared a cup of blood so I could enjoy my meal later. When the timer on the microwave dinged, I plugged my nose and downed the stuff that kept me alive. As I walked back into the lounge, Mum stopped talking. Fluffy was a few feet away from her, his gaze locked on Arabella. ‘Who were you talking to?’ I asked, looking around.

‘Oh, you know me. I was blathering to Arabella.’

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