Page 44 of The Vampire and the Case of the Hellacious Hag

‘Thanks, that would be great.’

We loaded up until the car was stuffed with humans and animals. The atmosphere was light and friendly and I realised I’d missed Sigrid. ‘Sig,’ I said quickly before I could change my mind. ‘Coffee date soon?’

‘Absolutely, Bunny.’ She smiled. ‘I’d love that. Now hop out, dear and we’ll watch you until you’re all safe and sound in your house.’ I loved that small act of caring; I knew she’d see me safe and it was a lovely feeling.

I hopped out as instructed and made my way inside. No lights on, no heating on, no Connor’s truck outside. I wassurprised by how disappointed I felt but I was really tired; it would do me good to fall into bed without some fooling around. Even so… I blew out a breath. I had really wanted to fall asleep in his arms.

I bustled around feeding the animals and letting them out. I put the heating on for a couple of hours, made myself a cup of tea and phoned Connor. He didn’t answer and I sighed; he must be busy.

I sat nursing my tea on the sofa next to Fluffy. ‘Hey,’ I said softly. ‘You want to try and be Reggie for a bit?’

After a beat he shifted and the young man was sitting on the sofa with me. ‘You want a brew?’ I asked.

‘That would be great.’

He followed me into the kitchen. I made him a cup of tea and put some biscuits on a plate because who didn’t want those with their brew? We settled back on the sofa. It was still a little cool in the house so I grabbed a couple of blankets and put one over him. I caught his startled expression before he wiped it off his face; he wasn’t used to being cared for.

I longed to dig into his story, to find out more about the man living in my home – albeit in dog form – but I knew that if I probed he’d retreat into Fluffy quicker than a wolf could howl. Work was a safe topic.

‘The head thing was gross, huh?’ I said. Not my best conversation opener, but at least it was relevant.

‘Totally,’ he agreed. ‘The other skulls were old and smelled like bleach.’

‘They’d been cleaned recently?’

‘Yeah.’

I frowned and cast my mind back to Matilda’s den. No bottles of bleach had been lying around, and there was no sign of running water. I doubted she knew what bleach was, let alone how to use it. ‘Another thing to point away from the hag, then.’

Reggie nodded. ‘Someone’s trying to set her up.’

‘They’re not doing a very good job of it,’ I huffed. ‘I’m all-but certain the hag can’t read, but I’ll test her on it next time I see her. Did you catch any other interesting scents?’

He shook his head. ‘With the vampires trampling all over the scene, I couldn’t catch anything. Whatever had been there was gone. All I could smell was human and vampire – and decapitated dwarf head.’

I sighed. ‘Bummer. At least Alfgar can be laid to rest now, so that’s something.’

My phone lit up as Connor called. I looked at Reggie and he grinned. ‘Take it.’

‘Okay. You maybe want a shower or something while I’m chatting to him?’

‘You trying to tell me that I smell?’ he joked.

I was trying to give him more time in his human form, more time to remember who or what he really was. ‘No! I just thought you might like one. A hot shower is one of my favourite things.’

He hesitated for a beat before nodding slowly. ‘Okay.’

‘Grab a fresh towel from the cupboard. You know how to work the taps?’ He nodded and disappeared off.

I swiped to answer the phone. ‘Hey!’

‘Hi, Doe. Sorry I missed you. I’m already wading through dwarves.’

‘That doesn’t sound comfy!’

‘Not at all. They’re a prickly bunch, though by all accounts Alfgar wasn’t.’

‘Yeah, he seems like he wasn’t the average dwarf. I’m wondering if that was part of the reason he was targeted.’ I thought of Faran and his vitriol. ‘He had a human wife.’

---