Page 10 of The Vampire and the Case of the Malevolent Mermaid

He looked grim. ‘There’s a strong chance he’ll try and seize Portlock for his own.’

‘You mean take control of it from you?’

‘No, I mean he might try and subjugate everyone in the territory.’

I blinked. ‘Everyone? Not just the vampires? I can’t imagine Liv taking that well.’

A slow grin crossed his face. ‘That would be the one up side – I’d love to see those two square up.’ He paused. ‘It would probably be apocalyptic.’

‘We don’t want that.’ My floppy heart gave a hard beat at the thought. ‘All right, we have to stop him from coming here or even thinking about Portlock in the first place.’

‘Thebeast and the barrier have always fascinated him – he just needs an excuse. If the worst happens, I can travel to him instead and stop him coming near this place. I can distract him.’

‘What does that mean? You’d have to leave Portlock?’ A tight knot formed low in my stomach.

Connor’s face was dark and his eyes were shadowed. ‘Let’s not borrow trouble. Come on, I’ll take you to the office.’

I climbed slowly into his truck. The drive to the office was silent, both of us lost in our own doom-laden thoughts. When we pulled up and I hopped out he looked out at me, tension in every line of his body. ‘I’ve gotta go, Doe. Be safe, I’ll talk to you later.’ He gave me a brisk kiss and sped off, leaving me looking unhappily at his tailgate.

I needed to focus: I’d deal with Connor’s dad if and when he came to town. Right now, my priority was Kate and Essie. And if I found them and that prevented Connor’s dad from strolling in? All the better. I squared my shoulders and strode into the office.

April was manning the reception desk. Today her shoulder-length red hair was plaited, allowing only a flash of her few grey strands. She looked up and a welcoming smile crossed her lightly lined face.

‘Hey, April.’ I gave the bear matriarch a quick wave.

‘Hi, Bunny! How are you doing?’

‘I’m okay, but we’ve caught a case – two kidnapped girls. One of them is a shifter – Essie Kaleak. Do you know her? She’s a tizheruk.’

April shook her head. ‘I tend to stick to land shifters,’ she admitted. ‘Though we run together sometimes. I know her mom in passing. Fox shifter, right?’

‘Right.’

‘I’ll reach out,’ April murmured, her eyes full of sympathy. ‘I can arrange some meals for her.’

‘I doubt she’ll eat much.’

‘She might not want to but she has to. Us shifters use a lot of energy, even in human form and she needs to keep up her calories. I’ll drop by when I’m off shift.’

‘You know what, why don’t you go now? I’ll hold the fort.’

‘Are you sure? Gunnar has stepped out.’

‘Absolutely. You go and do your good Samaritan thing.’

She gave me a warm hug, all soft flannel and quiet strength. ‘You’re one of the good ones,’ she murmured as she let me go.

I smiled awkwardly as she bustled out of the office. I was terrible at accepting compliments.

Alone with Fluffy, I fixed my gaze on him. ‘I need to talk to you as Reggie. I need to know what you sniffed out at the girls’ homes.’

He whined and looked away, but moments later he stiffened and then Reggie was standing in front of me. If anything he seemed younger than the first time I’d seen him, perhaps because I had a better idea of what he’d gone through. He was still a gangly teen, all limbs and big feet, and his shoulders were so hunched as to be almost concave. My heart ached at the sight of him so unsure and vulnerable. He looked like a puppy that still needed to grow into his paws.

As always, he was dressed in black jeans, black T-shirt and a black leather jacket covered with colourful patches. I’d cut his hair during one of his shifts so it looked less shaggy and more well-kept. The hair tie I’d given him never seemed to survive the shift so I pulled off the spare band I carried on my wrist and held it out. He took it from me and tied his hair back almost defiantly.

There was something belligerent in his eyes; he was waiting for me to ask about his counselling, about why he’d spent a solid week as a dog, but I didn’t. He didn’t need me prodding into whatever was ailing him right now, he needed unadulterated, unconditional love.

‘Hey.’ I stepped up to him and clung on to him. As I held him, his shoulders slowly dropped. Before the hug could become awkward, I gently kissed him on the temple and stepped back. ‘Talk to me about the scents,’ I said.

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