Page 14 of Castings & Curses

“As if that’s easy.” Full of distaste, Lucille pushed the sword towards Fabian, who shook his head with wild eyes.

Annoyed, Jan picked up the sword. “Fine, I’ll do it, and you distract her.”

“Can we reverse a little?” Fabian asked. “We don’t need to kill Hanne, do we?”

Jan groaned. “Look, I know you think the two of them are so cute, but just because she’s in love with Mikaela, doesn’t mean she lost her appetite for the rest of humanity. What do you think is in those drink bottles?”

“She said it was animal blood,” Lucille pointed out.

“I saw her with bloodied hands in front of the hostel last night.”

Lucille clicked her tongue. “Yes, but that doesn’t mean she’s homicidal. Animals bleed too. You’d know that if you didn’t quit school.”

“Hey, let’s not fight about this.” Fabian looked from one to the other, seeming miserable. “Hanne is already on the way. I don’t feel comfortable with simply killing her because she’s the only vampire we know.”

“You don’t feel comfortable with killing any monster,” Jan murmured.

“Sure, but this feels more premature than usual. I thought we were going to talk to her.”

Lucille placed her hand on Fabian’s and smiled. “That’s exactly what we’re going to do.”

“Should I call Mikaela too?” Fabian asked. “I don’t like keeping things from her, and she might be able to talk sense into Hanne if something was going on.”

After a nod from Lucille, Fabian took out his phone and typed in the number he’d been given yesterday. For a minute, all three of them waited with bated breath for Mikaela to pick up, but nothing happened.

“Ha!” Smugly, Jan crossed his arms.

Annoyed, Lucille glared at him. “What do you mean, ha?”

“Well, isn’t it obvious? That blood on Hanne’s hands was Mikaela’s. You two brought them together, and now Hanne was able to eat her girlfriend.”

“You’re ridiculous!” There was really no reasoning with Jan. “It’s just like with Matt.” Jan had suspected him of being all kinds of monsters without any kind of tangible proof.

Jan raised an eyebrow. “And I was right.”

“Pure luck.”

“I don’t think so.” Jan snarled at her. “You just want to see some tragic romance à la Twilight in this. I get it when Fabian does it. He’s happy with any excuse that keeps him out of a monster fight.”

“Hey!”

Jan ignored Fabian’s outcry. “But I expected more from you.”

Lucille huffed. Jan’s arguments didn’t leave her completely cold. She was well aware of the risk they were taking, but in her eyes, killing Hanne without hearing her out was just another risk. She might be a vampire, but that didn’t necessarily mean her death was warranted. Especially not when the jury on her perceived crimes was still out.

“Last year, I made a lot of poor, rushed decisions,” Lucille admitted. “That didn’t always work out very well. The sword isn’t going anywhere, and we’ve got Hanne’s trust. You don’t even know whose blood that was. So, excuse me, if I—”

A loud knock interrupted her.

“That must be her.” Fabian got up and crossed the showroom.

Lucille glared at Jan when his hand inched towards the sword, then quickly followed Fabian. The sight of Hanne startled her. Not because she hadn’t expected the Verenimijä this early, but because she looked like someone who hadn’t slept all night. Her eyes were puffy and red, her hair dishevelled. Through the glass, Hanne was pleading with them.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Fabian reached for the key and opened the door. “What happened?”

“Mika got kidnapped.” Hanne’s voice fell apart around those words.

Lucille stepped forwards and put her arm around the girl. “Come on in!”

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