Page 59 of The Vampire and the Case of the Perilous Poltergeist

I still needed to retrieve the papers – if they’d stayed hidden. The police were searching the lieutenant’s office and I was sure someone was searching Fischer’s home, but the documents weren’t meant for human eyes and I needed to get them to the right people. Gods, I was tired.

I dragged myself and Fluffy back inside the academy. Connor was waiting and since there was so much confusion, I took them both into the break room to see if the bag was still there.

The room had been torn apart and for a moment I lost hope. My rucksack was still on the floor by the sofa; it had been opened but not emptied. The snacks on top must have been enough of a deterrent. I breathed a sigh of relief but just to make sure, I took out everything I’d used to hide the papers. They were all there!I gave a fist pump and Connor pulled me in for a congratulatory hug – which became a scorching kiss.

‘Hey, no fraternising here!’ Sidnee’s teasing voice interrupted us.

We pulled apart with sheepish expressions. ‘Soon,’ I whispered.

‘Yeah, soon.’ He rested his forehead against mine and we breathed together for a moment then he pulled back, reluctance in every line of his body. ‘This has been a clusterfuck,’ he said. ‘But you have to finish what you started.’ He looked at Sidnee. ‘Both of you. A few more weeks and your education will be officially complete. You’ve got to push through.’

I sighed. ‘You’re right, but my need for home is strong.’ Really, really strong.

‘Home will be waiting for you,’ he murmured.

He gave me another long slow kiss and Sidnee huffed audibly. ‘You guys are killing me,’ she grumped.

‘Sorry,’ I apologised.

Her eyes softened. ‘Don’t apologise for being in love. I’m fifty shades of green.’

Connor grinned. ‘I was going to make a joke but my brain realised it was inappropriate before my mouth got there.’

Sidnee looked at him. ‘And now I want to know what it was.’

He considered for a moment before shaking his head. ‘Nope. I’m taking it my grave.’

‘To your coffin more like,’ Sidnee snarked.

‘Something like that.’ He stood. ‘I’ll speak to you later,’ he promised me. ‘Keep your phone handy.’

‘You bet.’ After all that had happened, I wouldn’t be going anywhere without a way to get help in an emergency.

‘I’ll take these papers to Gunnar,’ he said.

‘Okay. tell him he might want to share them with the Nomo at Ugiuvak.’

‘Roger that.’

I slid onto my knees to give Fluffy another cuddle. ‘Take care,’ I murmured to him. ‘I’ll be waiting to see you, Reggie.’ He licked my face then trotted off next to Connor. They may as well have taken my heart with them. I sighed. ‘Man, I miss them.’

‘They literally left two seconds ago,’ Sidnee laughed.

‘Yeah. I don’t know about you, but I’m bone tired even though it’s night time!’

She laughed. ‘I’m feeling weird and wired. I think I’m still shaking off whatever they gave me. I’m tired but I have one hell of a buzz.’

I sat up. ‘Should we get you to a healer or the hospital?’ Did the unknown drug have side effects we knew nothing about?

She shook her head. ‘You know I don’t do doctors unless it’s absolutely necessary. Hospitals creep me out.’

‘Why? They’re there to help you.’

She crossed her arms and somehow looked smaller and younger; her shoulders curved inwards so much they were almost concave. ‘When my parents were killed, I spent hours in a hospital all alone. No one told me what was happening or what to do or where to go. Eventually a nurse noticed me and asked me what I was doing. I broke down and she took care of me. She was the one to tell me my mum and dad were gone, then she called social services. You know the rest.’

I did. Sidnee’s parents had died when she was a teenager. Because she wasn’t a child – and she was a half-blood to boot – no one would take her on. That’s how she’d ended up with Gunnar and Sigrid in Portlock, Alaska’s last-chance saloon for supernats.

Supposedly, no onechoseto go to Portlock though I didn’t understand why because the people there were amazing. Okay, I could have done without Stan’s shitty jokes, Liv’s scarydemeanour and the beast beyond the barrier… but I never wanted to be anywhere else. It was home, for me and for Sidnee.

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