Page 80 of The Vampire and the Case of the Cursed Canine

‘Connor knows what I am. I have nothing to fear from him. We’re fated mates.’

‘Oh!’ Tears filled her eyes. ‘I’m so happy for you.’ She moved as if to hug me but stopped and let her arms drop. ‘Well, that’s lovely news.’

‘I don’t want you telling Dad,’ I said firmly. ‘I don’t trust him.’

She blanched but nodded. ‘If he could come here and explain himself, maybe you could start to repair things.’ She paused. ‘I’d love to come back, if you’d let me.’

She sounded so hopeful that I couldn’t quite bear to quash her. ‘Maybe. Give me a bit of time to get over all of this.’

‘Of course.’ She gave a tremulous smile. ‘Oh!’ She patted her pocket then drew out a piece of paper. ‘I called some people when I got back here. This is the spell to uncurse the werewolf.’

I put it into my own pocket; I’d give it to Anissa tomorrow. I was running on empty and I had nothing left to give for today.

‘Is there anything else I can do to make it up to you?’ Mum asked quietly.

I shook my head. I honestly didn’t know. This would take time. She’d hurt me as a child and I understood why; in her mind she’d thought she was justified. But the truth was that I had deep psychological scars.

‘You can’t.’ I said simply. ‘I have to deal with your choices – you have to deal with your choices. Right now, I’m still deciding if having you and my father in my life is a choice I want to make.’

Mum looked like I’d punched her. She stifled a sob. ‘I wanted you to have everything.’

‘I know, Mum, and that’s why we’re talking now. I understand that.’

‘Elizabeth…’

I put up a finger to stop her. ‘You can start by calling me by my name.’

‘I’ve been trying but it’s hard to remember. Bunny, I do love you. It’s taken me a lot of therapy to realise how damaging it must have been that I hardly ever told you that, let alone showed it.’

‘I love you too, Mum. That’s never been in question.’ I had always loved her, despite her many and varied flaws.

‘Forgive me,’ she begged.

I took a deep breath. ‘I don’t know if I can. Like I keep saying, I need time.’

She slumped and looked away. ‘I never knew why Nana called you Bunny. It hurt to know you two had secrets – you had a far closer relationship than we did and I was jealous. It was petty and I’m sorry, but it’s the truth.’

I looked at her in surprise. She’d never asked me or her own mother, and she was hurt?

‘It’s simple, really. Nana read Peter Rabbit to me when I was very small and she said that Peter was like me, unrepentantly curious. She started calling me her little Bunny Rabbit, which morphed to Bunny.’ It was a lot simpler than all the elaborate stories I gave everyone else, a pet name between a grandmother and her granddaughter, a name filled with love and laughter in a home with none of those things. The name that reminded me that I was loved.

Mum’s eyes filled with tears again. ‘I should have been there, darling. That should have been me reading to you, concocting pet names. I’m so sorry.’

I could tell that she was. It was a first step, a baby step, but still... ‘I’m sorry too, Mum. I’ve got to go to bed. I’m exhausted. Talk to you tomorrow, okay?’

She nodded regretfully. ‘Goodnight, darling. Sleep well.’ She took Arabella and went to her room.

I fed my animals and let Fluffy out. After that I showered and climbed into bed with my pets snuggled close. I tugged out the book on fire elementals and started to read the introductory chapter, but it was an old grimoire and it was heavy going, not really bedtime reading. I was struggling to keep my eyes open.

I was relieved when my phone rang and I had an excuse to put down the book. Connor calling. That was exactly what I needed. ‘Hi!’ I answered happily.

‘Hi, doe.’

‘I’m tired,’ I warned him.

‘That’s okay. I’m tired, too, but I needed to hear your voice.’

I melted. ‘Tell me about your day.’ Then I drifted to sleep with the sound of his warm baritone voice in my ear.

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