Page 78 of The Vampire and the Case of the Hellacious Hag

‘And give ’em hell.’

I nodded darkly. ‘We will,’ I repeated.

April left, and Gunnar called Edgy to come and collect Emma. When he hung up he told her, ‘Edgy is a little rough around the edges but he’ll see you safe to Anchorage.I know you’re anxious to see your family and Helmud’s.’

‘Thank you.’ Emma hugged Sigrid and then Gunnar. ‘Thank you all for the kindness you’ve shown me. I appreciate it more than I can say.’

‘You have my number,’ Sigrid said. ‘Stay in touch, let us know how you’re getting on.’

‘I will.’

Edgy’s beat-up truck drew up outside and Emma looked at it dubiously. If she was nervous about the vehicle, wait until she saw the plane. He jumped out of the truck and her mouth dropped a little at the sight of the one-armed man. ‘His plane has been modified,’ I said hastily before he walked in.

‘One arm or not, Edgy Kum’agyak is the best pilot around,’ Gunnar vouched.

Emma pasted a smile on her face. ‘Great.’

None of us bought it.

As he walked in, Edgy shot me a finger-gun gesture. ‘Fanged Flopsy Bunny-o, good to see you.’ The hint of an Australian accent always took me by surprise since he looked native Alaskan, but he’d spent a lot of years Down Under and the Aussie accent still clung to his voice.

Emma stared at me. ‘Okay, now Ihaveto ask. How come you’re called Bunny?’

Inspired by Edgy, I riffed, ‘I lost a leg once and spent six months hopping everywhere until it grew again.’

The pilot chuckled. ‘Bold one, mate! Not many people can regrow a limb.’ He patted the air under the stump. ‘More’s the pity.’

I grimaced. Okay, maybe that particular story had been in bad taste. ‘Sorry, Edgy.’

‘No worries. I tell everyone I lost my limb to a shark. These bullshit stories help us keep our air of mystery.’ He winked. ‘The ladies love a man of mystery.’

‘I’ll take your word for it,’ I told him.

‘Let’s rock and roll, Emma, and get you home. I’ve checked the weather and it should be plain sailing. Flying. You get me?’

‘I get you,’ she replied.

Sidnee arrived with Thomas following close behind. ‘Hey, it’s a party!’

‘Not quite,’ Gunnar grunted. ‘No shots. No dancing on the tables.’ He looked sternly at the both of us and we studied our shoes. Yep, we’d done that.

‘Bye, Sidnee, Thomas,’ Emma said. ‘Thanks for the rescue.’

‘Anytime,’ Sidnee said cheerfully.

Emma winced. ‘I’d rather not repeat it. Let’s keep it as a one-time deal.’

‘Seemsfair.’ Sidnee gave her a gentle hug.

Emma left with the pilot and we all watched as they drove off.

‘So,’ Sidnee said. ‘What’s new?’

I leaned in. ‘You’ve got some catching up to do.’

Chapter 45

Once Sidnee and Thomas were all caught up, we decided to divide and conquer. Gunnar had heard from his MIB contact and was going to meet him. Sidnee and Thomas would go rattle the council’s cages and pressure them to join us in our dubious mission. We didn’t have any soldiers to take with us into the Reef Mine – besides the ones on loan from Gunnar’s contact – but every single one of the council members was deadly in their own right. Volatile as fuck, but deadly. It would even things up a little if we had Stan, Liv, Calliope and Mafu with us.

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