Page 22 of The Vampire and the Case of the Malevolent Mermaid

‘I mostly am,’ I amended.

‘You rarely are,’ he corrected with a snort. ‘I’ll see you soon.’

We hung up and I looked down at my dog, ‘Well, Fluff, we’re about to have a very interesting adventure. Are you sure Reggie wouldn’t want to learn to drive a quad bike?’ I asked, hoping the chance to do something different would coax him to shift.

Fluffy barked and looked ahead, an obvious no. I sighed. ‘Some day, pup.’

He huffed. So did I.

We headed to Kamluck. Finally, I felt like I had a direction. We were one step closer to finding the girls.

Chapter 13

Even though it was only a short distance to Kamluck from the Robertson’s house, Connor was true to his word: Parker and a trailer with two quad bikes were sitting in front of his office. He must have cracked his whip hard and fast. The thought temporarily derailed my thinking.Mind out of the gutter, Bunny!

I climbed out of the SUV and offered the vampire a reserved smile; I didn’t want to encourage him any more than necessary. As his eyes met mine, he lit up with a brilliant smile. He inhaled deeply, like he’d been struggling to breathe and someone had hooked him up with gas and air. Ugh. Connor had been right.

Just seeing Parker told me how much he needed to spend more time in my presence. I felt sick; I’d never meant for this to happen. ‘I’m sorry.’ The words slipped out before I could censor them.

‘For what?’ Parker asked. ‘You’re brilliant. You have nothing to apologise for. Ever.’

I winced. ‘I’m sorry I saved you the way I did.’ Letting him drink my blood had been the issue; any other vamp, and he’d have been fine, but with my hybrid status I’d created my own blood slave. It was one of the reasons why hybrids were outlawed. Yay me.

‘I would have died without you,’ he said passionately. ‘You saved mylife.Please don’t apologise for that. Please don’t be upset.’ He looked anxious.

‘I’m not upset,’ I reassured him hastily. ‘I just didn’t intend to … do what I did. How are you getting on working at Kamluck rather than at the mine?’

‘I like it. Connor tells me how you’re doing.’

I winced. This was not making me feel better. Time for a subject change. ‘Can you help me attach the trailer?’

He brightened. ‘I would love to help you!’

Oh boy.

Parker helped me attach the trailer and I concentrated hard, memorising everything he did. It looked simple, though lining up the hitches and stuff was a bit of a pain. Luckily, after my second try Parker just picked up the trailer and set it down on my hitch. ‘Vampire strength rocks,’ I noted.

Parked grinned. ‘A human could have done that too – the trailer’s super light.’ He gestured to the SUV. ‘You want to drive, or shall I? It can be tricky with a trailer.’

‘I’ll do it,’ I said instantly. A moment later I added, ‘But can you help teach me if we get stuck?’

‘Sure thing.’ He beamed, looking delighted at the idea that he might be able to help me. Ugh.

We climbed in and I started the engine. Turning to him before I moved off, I blurted, ‘Is it better for you? Spending time with me?’

‘Much,’ he admitted. ‘It causes me physical discomfort to be apart from you for long.’

I cringed. ‘Ididn’t realise it was that bad.’

He shrugged, like his pain was of no importance. ‘I don’t wish to inconvenience you.’

‘You must!’ I insisted. ‘Next time you feel any discomfort at all, I want you to come and find me.’

He nodded. ‘I believe it wouldn’t hurt if I could see you a couple of times a week.’

‘We can manage that.’ I mentally added ‘see Parker regularly” to my to-do list. Some days the list felt never ending. Nobody warns you how tough adulthood can be: showering, doing laundry, cooking for yourself – so many chores just to survive. Add in pets, a boyfriend and an accidental blood slave, and my dance card felt very full.

I turned my attention back to the SUV and we motored off slowly. As we came to a junction, I slowed to a stop. Parker coached me through it. ‘When you pull out, start slowly and carefully build up speed. Remember to swing out a bit when you turn – and watch your mirrors.’

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