Page 35 of The Vampire and the Case of the Perilous Poltergeist

‘Maybe,’ he conceded. ‘But I can’t help but feel that he was Hansel and Gretel-ing.’

‘Leaving clues for you,’ I mused.

‘Something happened to Liam and that something happened here at the academy. And I’m going to find out what.’

I licked my lips. When I’d found Connor in the mine, I’d felt a fear that was off the charts. Connor had said hybrids could feed off auras, so what if I could sense emotions, too? The fear had been so overwhelming; what if it hadn’t been my fear but the fear that someone held there had experienced? Someone like Liam Smith.

I kept my suspicions to myself because I couldn’t even begin to express them without revealing my hybrid status, and if that came out it would be a death warrant. Instead I told Danny everything I’d learnt about Engell and Marks and what I knew about Petrovich.

Then I told him that Aoife had said someone was working against the academy’s interests and reminded him of Petrovich’s threat – or warning – that we were all going to die. Finally, I told him about Petty’s comment about saving our souls and that I didn’t know whether it was a warning or an entreaty.

All I knew was that something dark was going on. And we were going to get to the bottom of it.

Chapter 27

The three of us were now officially working together and it felt good to have another experienced person on the team. We sneaked down to the TAC office, but even though it was 10.30pm we could see the light was on from the big reception desk window. It looked like Captain Engell was still in there.

We retreated back to the breakroom between our dormitories. ‘When should we try again?’ Sidnee asked quietly.

‘Let’s give it until midnight,’ I suggested.

‘I agree,’ Danny said. ‘That way most everyone will be asleep, including the captain.’

‘We’ll go back to our room for now,’ I said. ‘That minimises the chance of us being discovered out of bed. We’ll meet here again in another hour and a half.’

We separated from Danny to go into our dorms. Sidnee gave me a silent nod as she lay down on her bed and I guessed we’d brush our teeth and fangs later. I climbed into bed and turned sothat we were facing each other. ‘Listen, Engell told me he knows Thomas. Can you text him and get him to corroborate?’

She frowned. ‘I can try but he’s usually incommunicado when he’s hunting someone down. I don’t know when we’ll get a reply.’

I shrugged. ‘It’s worth a try.’

She retrieved her phone and sent a message to Patkotak, then settled back down and looked nervously at me. ‘What are we going to look for?’ she whispered.

I wasn’t sure, and that was the problem; it was Sergeant Marks who had suggested something financial might be going on. ‘I don’t know,’ I admitted. ‘I guess we’re looking for anything out of place.’

‘That’s what I was afraid of,’ she sighed.

‘I wish Fluffy and Connor could come,’ I said. ‘We could use some more eyes.’

Sidnee half-sat up in her bed as an idea struck her. ‘No way could Connor and Fluffy make it all the way in here because the security is too tight – but we do have other eyes! Why don’t you see if you can call Aoife again? She might be able to sneak around the office unseen!’

Now that was a genius idea. ‘That’s inspired. Maybe Aoife can rope in Petty, too, so he can guide us to whatever the fuck we should be looking at?’

Sidnee grimaced. ‘There is a fly in our ointment. Neither Petty nor Aoife are exactly quiet.’

‘I can tell Aoife we need quiet. She can manage an incognito mode.’ Probably.

‘But can Petty?’

‘Maybe not, but no one should be around to hear him. He’s the one with all the freaking answers. If we can get him to lead us to something…’

She nodded. ‘I hear you.’ She paused. ‘I really hope he doesn’t lead us to Smith’s body.’

‘Me too – for Danny’s sake.’

‘Where do you want to summon them?’

Margi started to snore loudly and we exchanged amused glances. ‘She sounds like a freight train. Please tell me I don’t sound like that!’ Sidnee joked.

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