Page 46 of The Vampire and the Case of the Hellacious Hag

I opened the front door and Shadow pelted out. He stood by the Nomo car and yowled loudly and pointedly until Sidnee opened the door. I felt better about that: at least the half-grown lynx kitten was bossing meandSidnee around.

Shadow had his own plastic crate, so when I put Fluffy in the car I pointedly opened its door. Evidently Shadow was just happy for a road trip because he climbed in. I closed the metal mesh door and he settled down like he was fully trained and not a cheeky little beast with a mind of his own.

‘Thomas will meet us there,’ Sidnee said as I buckled up. I was grateful for that because he had a better relationship with the dwarves than I did.

Finally ready, we headed to the Chrome Mine. It had warmed up and was raining lightly so the snow was turning to slush and ice in places. It was a mess, but luckily the roads had been cleared after the last snowfall.

Sidnee pulled into the mine and we went up to the office. Thomas and Leif were there, both stern-faced and serious as they should have been with a dead dwarf on theirhands. Thomas pulled us aside. ‘Look ladies, things are tense and they don’t want you here.’

‘We’re the law Thomas, we have to investigate,’ I insisted.

‘I know, but stay on your toes. The dwarves are sure the hag is behind this and they aren’t going to listen to anything else. Just … tread carefully.’ He looked at Sidnee. ‘Both of you.’

He looked worried, and since Thomas generally appeared unperturbed I felt nervous. Maybe we should have called Gunnar. ‘Should I call backup?’ I asked.

Thomas shook his head. ‘At this point I think more outsiders will make it worse.’

‘I need to speak to Matilda again.’

‘I figured. Let me find a location outside the mine. She won’t be welcome inside it.’

‘Yeah, sure. Thanks.’

Thomas signalled that we were ready and Leif led us to the locker room. We picked up hard hats and headed to the lift. This time, the murder victim’s body was deep in an active working area and we passed miners who glared at me, even yelling obscenities at the Nomo’s office and the hag. Leif stopped one aggressive dwarf that approached me with his pickaxe, but he was more threatening than serious.

I would have just flashed my teeth if they’d cooperated, but they didn’t. I felt in my core for my molten heat, hoping it would be there if I needed it. It was burning away and I clung to it, unease rippling through me at the obvious aggression in the mine.

‘The hag is asking for it,’ a dwarf yelled as I passed. That was the nicest statement anyone had made. Hag-hatred was high.

‘Thomas, does this body have its head?’ I asked quietly once we were out of earshot of the miners. Leif was several steps ahead of us.

‘I don’t know. I was called before you, but no one said either way and I haven’t seen it yet.’

As I nodded, Fluffy whined and cocked his head at one of the walls. I stopped. ‘What is it, boy?’ Then I heard the scratching sound. ‘Shit, Thomas – the hag is coming through.’

Thomas’s hands disappeared into his clothing and I knew he was retrieving a weapon or two. ‘Leif,’ he barked. ‘Keep your miners back. The hag is coming in and we don’t need more deaths.’

From what I could see of it under his helmet, Leif’s face was grim. He looked around and I assumed it was for something to use as a weapon, but luckily there was nothing but loose rock.

The scratching sound grew louder and I saw the wall next to us dissolve as though it had never been there. Matilda stepped out. As she saw me, she either smiled or grimaced – I wasn’t sure which, because my eyes were focused on her needle-sharp chrome teeth. Her twig-like hair was in even greater disarray than the last time I’d seen her, and her large, pointed ears were sagging beneath its weight.

‘Matilda, how are you?’ I greeted her. It always paid to be polite, no matter how nervous you were. In fact, I was at my most polite in terrifying situations – and this was an absolute powder keg. There was a dead body, caverns of angry dwarfs, and now the hag was strolling in to light the fuse.

She sniffed around and looked at me. ‘No sugar snack?’

‘I’m so sorry, I wasn’t prepared – this trip was unexpected. I’ll bring some next time I come,’ I promised. ‘Extra to make up for it.’

That seemed to mollify her; her nose wrinkled, but she didn’t ask again. She looked briefly at Thomas, dismissed him and then snarled at Leif, ‘No treat yet today. You promised. Box a day – or I smash skulls.’

If anyone else had said that, we’d have assumed it was a threat to the living but we knew she was talking about the dwarf skulls she was holding hostage. I imagined thedwarves wanted the remains of their dead as whole as possible; smashed skulls would be difficult to sort out.

Leif growled back, ‘Don’t you dare touch them, hag, or you will die!’

She cackled, mirth gleaming in her eyes. She knew that she’d be hard to kill; if Liv’s tale was right, it took an elemental to kill an elemental. At the academy, our instructor had told us they’d been almost wiped out in the Middle Ages but there was no way to verify that, and it was possible that the information was inaccurate. Supernats were very close-mouthed about their histories.

‘Bring sugar snack, dwarf. Matilda want.’ As she lifted her hands and wiggled her fingers, her three-inch-long metal nails clicked together; it wouldn’t have been a threatening gesture on a human, but on her it was.

Leif looked at her nails and finally jerked his head in an approximation of a nod. Finished with threatening him, Matilda looked at me. ‘You no jump, Bunny.’ She gave two hops and howled with laughter.

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