Page 48 of The Vampire and the Case of the Perilous Poltergeist

I looked anxiously at Danny. He still wasn’t coming around, although his chest was rising and falling with each breath. A couple of the soldiers we’d knocked out were stirring. Connor chose one of them and dragged him over to a chair. Luckily, the kidnappers had supplied us with rope and duct tape, so Connor tied his victim to the chair while the rest of us secured the others.

I went back to Danny to see if I could wake him. I was getting anxious seeing him lying there. I shook him gently – nothing. I dragged him over to a wall and propped him up against it. His head lolled but he still didn’t stir. I checked his pulse; as Connor had said, it was strong and Danny was continuing to breathe without help. It looked like the blue drug was intended to knock him out rather than kill him.

I looked up. ‘I don’t know what else to do.’

Connor growled, ‘We find out from this fucker.’

The man in the chair groaned as he came around. I stood in front of the chair and leaned down. His eyes took a minute to focus but then I saw recognition in them; since I didn’t know him, that took me aback. ‘You know who I am?’ I asked.

He didn’t answer. ‘You knowwhatI am, then,’ I demanded. He blinked involuntarily; not only did he know what I was, he was frightened of me. Good.

My teeth clicked down as the bastards finally did what I wanted – I’d have cheered if the situation hadn’t been so dire. Ismiled, showed them to the soldier and he blanched. ‘What did you give my friend?’ I demanded.

He was breathing hard, panicking. ‘I can’t tell you. They’ll kill me.’

Standing behind him, Connor laughed. The man tried to turn to look at him but Connor placed a hand on each side of his face to stop him moving, then he leaned down and growled in his ear, ‘Listen to the nice vampire or I’ll show you something to be afraid of.’

I guessed we were playing good vampire, bad vampire. ‘What my darling mate is trying to say is that theymightkill you but we definitelywill.’ Oh shucks: I wasn’t a success at playing the good vampire. I gave my best movie-vampire hiss, teeth out and everything – and the sharp smell of urine filled my nose.

‘It’s called somnum,’ he blurted out. ‘It keeps shifters down for four hours. That’s all I know!’

Somnum? That was Latin for sleep. These guys were as original as fuck. ‘Is that all it does?’ I pressed.

‘Yes! At least, that’s what they told us,’ he amended.

‘Who’s your leader?’ I turned sideways so he could see the pile of men tied up in the middle of the floor.

‘The redhead.’

The only redhead was the man who’d had his throat slit, so we wouldn’t be getting any more from him, not without Liv. I’d never thought I’d miss the terrifying necromancer but at that moment I definitely did. ‘Is there a second in command?’ I asked.

He shook his head; damn, this guy might be as good as it got. ‘What were you supposed to do with Danny?’

‘Who?’

‘The shifter you drugged and kidnapped.’ I was growing increasingly frustrated and my voice was tight. The man in thechair tried to lean away from me but Connor was still behind him.

‘We were supposed to deliver him to this warehouse and wait.’

Connor was already moving. Sidnee, Fluffy and I joined him, leaving George and Harry to watch the inside of the warehouse. Sidnee thrust Shadow’s lead into Harry’s hand – he looked totally bemused to be suddenly responsible for a cat – and we burst out of the door.

We looked around to see if we were about to be overrun. Like our warehouses in Portlock, this one was next to the water with a dock behind to load and unload boats. It was still and quiet, and fog had rolled in to obscure the view. It was both a help and a hindrance: no one could see us, but we couldn't see what or who was creeping up on us.

‘Fucking fog,’ Connor swore as he scanned the area.

Sidnee leaned against me and whispered, ‘I can swim out and see what I can see.’

I considered her offer. I didn’t think she’d be seen but it would put her in danger. As a mer, she changed more than her form when she shifted: she became shark-like, violent, uncaring, the complete opposite of the sweet, shy, caring Sidnee that I knew. That switch also made her more impulsive and likely to get involved when she should remain hidden. I wavered; we needed the intel, but more importantly I needed her to be safe.

Before I could tell her not to, she started stripping her clothes. ‘It’s not a good idea,’ I said.

‘It’s not safe, Sidnee,’ Connor added.

Sidnee looked up with her black mer eyes and walked naked onto the dock before diving neatly in the water. I gathered up her clothes. It looked like she was done listening. Fair enough – we all had those days.

Fluffy gave an uneasy whine and looked down the row of warehouses to our right. I couldn’t see anything in the fog, butI’d learned to trust his senses. ‘Connor,’ I whispered, ‘Fluffy senses something down there.’ I pointed.

He nodded and together we slipped around the side of the warehouse and waited. Fluffy was silent, his body tense against mine.

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