Page 28 of The Vampire and the Case of the Hellacious Hag

He looked at Sidnee. ‘Great work, kid.’ She beamed, displaying her perfectly white, human-shaped teeth. Gunnar put the evidence in our black bag and I put the bag in the SUV.

‘Are you going home or back to work?’ Sidnee asked Thomas as we busied ourselves.

‘Home, I think. You want a ride?’ His voice was still a little husky, and I wondered what kind of ride he was offering.

She smouldered at him. ‘Oh yeah,’ she purred at him. ‘I definitely do.’

Thanks to my vampire hearing, I heard his muttered, ‘Thank God.’ I stifled a giggle with a lot of effort.

‘Thomas is giving me a ride,’ Sidnee said loudly to Gunnar and me.

I grinned. ‘Enjoy.’

She winked. ‘See you later.’ She gave a finger wave and climbed into Thomas's truck. As she slid all the way over to lean up against him, I smirked. She was off shift and I was still on, so I hoped she had fun – but it made me miss Connor even more.

Gunnar and I talked a bit about our case on the way back to town, though there wasn’t much to say. I wanted to get a better look at the note, dust it for prints and look at it under the microscope; it was pretty much our only real clue apart from the weird substance Sidnee had found. We had the red hair that we could send to the lab and maybe it would have a follicle attached to get a DNA profile; it wasn’t likely, but it was possible.

Once I received the emailed staff list from Leif, I’d have a tonne of miners to interview – including Faran Ashton,the dwarf who’d hated Alfgar because of his choice of a human partner. I also needed another tête-a-tête with our resident hag.

I’d take doughnuts again so that she wouldn’t be tempted to take my head.

Chapter 18

Back in the office, I sank into my chair and checked my email. Nothing yet. I grimaced; I supposed it would take time for Leif to put together his list and he probably slept at night. I checked the time. It was approaching my ‘lunch’ time with Connor at the Garden of Eat’n.

Yep. That took my mind off the murder. My stomach full of butterflies of excitement and anticipation, I studied my reflection in the bathroom mirror. My hair was coming out of its braid and my mascara was slightly smeared. I cleaned up, unfastened the braid and brushed my hair. After a moment’s thought, I decided to leave it down; Connor liked it loose and I could plait it again after lunch for work. That would be more professional and it would be out of my face if things got physical.

Grimacing, I plugged my nose and quickly downed a cup of blood, then I petted the animals and told them I’d be back soon. Shadow ignored me as usual. Gunnar had gone home for the night so I put up the sign, set the workphones to divert to my mobile then walked to the diner. Connor liked to pick me up, but it was only a block away and the walk did me good.

I was grateful for the cleats and my warm winter coat; it was snowing hard and there’d been another couple of inches since I’d come back from the mine. No one was about and the night was inky black, the clouds adding another layer of darkness, but the streetlights reflecting off the snow combined with my vampire eyesight meant it was as light as day to me.

Connor was standing outside the diner, watching for me; behind him were Margrave and John. I smiled and waved as I approached. Connor had a professional relationship with Margrave in contrast to the easy friendship he’d shared with his previous second, Juan. In some ways, I felt like Connor was subconsciously punishing Margrave simply for not being Juan.

Margrave looked at me sternly but gave me a nod in greeting. John grinned and waved back at me; he was looking much better since I’d last seen him. He’d been a broken and grieving man but clearly having a job had done wonders for him. People dealt with grief in different ways, and for some people keeping busy was essential. I was grateful that Connor had given him a job, and such an important one too, because I owed John. He’d beenthrough more abuse from the vampire king of Europe than I had but that experience still linked us: a shared past, a shared trauma.

I smiled at Connor, my eyes drinking in the sight of his tousled dark curls and his icy-blue eyes. As I drew closer, he surprised me by reaching out to take my hand and sweeping a courtly bow. He looked up and met my eyes as he lifted my hand to his lips and gently brushed a light kiss across it.

I felt a jolt of desire so strong that I nearly moaned. I pulled him up and pressed against him like Sidnee had done to Thomas and found his mouth with my own; his lips were cool but his mouth was hot and the differing temperatures and the rocketing desire made my mind blank.

The snow swirled around as we kissed in the doorway of the diner. I could have gone on kissing him forever if someone hadn’t chosen that moment to exit. ‘Well I never,’ she harrumphed. ‘Excuse me!’

I pulled back and we moved aside so the impatient diner could leave. Obviously a member of the pearl-clutching brigade, she huffed loudly as she went.

‘Hey.’ I smiled at my mate.

‘Hey,’ he responded, giving a slow grin that melted my insides all over again.

‘We should go inside.’

‘We should,’ he agreed, but didn’t move.

‘One more kiss?’ I suggested.

‘For luck,’ he agreed. We found each other again and I moaned into his mouth as his tongue swept against mine in the way that I loved.

Then my stomach rumbled and I pulled back reluctantly. ‘Feed me,’ I insisted. Connor’s eyes darkened and I knew he was thinking something filthy. I hit him lightly. ‘Not like that. With food.’

He grinned. ‘Your wish is my command, my lady.’

---