Page 52 of The Vampire and the Case of the Malevolent Mermaid

I didn’t want to risk either of them. ‘I’ll give them the choice,’ I said unhappily. Both had proved invaluable on the other side of the barrier but I hated the idea of putting them in danger.

Gunnar broke into my thoughts ‘I’m not authorizing any of us to go until the sun is a little higher. You and I both need to grab some Zs. I’ll speak to Stan and line everything up. Let’s meet at the co-ordinates you gave me in three hours.’

‘All right,’ I agreed wearily.

‘Go home. Get some rest.’

‘On it,’ I promised.

I drove straight home, said hey to Fluffy and Shadow and zonked out. Hard.

I was woken by Shadow licking my face with his rough tongue. Next to me my phone alarm was blaring, but I’d been so out of it I hadn’t even stirred.

‘Thanks, bud,’ I yawned. I splashed some water on my face and dressed; there was no need to shower because after a minute beyond the barrier I’d be drenched in nervous sweat.

I loaded up supplies, weapons and my four-legged companions. Both had wanted to join the expedition, for which I was both grateful and nervous. They would be an asset but I hated putting them in danger.

Fluffy was wearing his Nomo vest, but I didn’t bother with Shadow’s; if something happened, he’d end up melting it off himself anyway. When we were packed and ready, we headed off to the rendezvous point.

Stan was already waiting when we arrived, and I was surprised to see he’d brought Anissa. I looked at him questioningly through the windshield but he just shrugged. I frowned: Anissa had a baby at home and she didn’t need to be put in danger. The woman she called her mother, who was really her grandmother, was ageing rapidly. If the worst happened, she couldn’t raise Anissa’s daughter on her own and I didnotwant that on my conscience.

Once we were out of the vehicle, I arrowed in on him. ‘Why did you bring Anissa?’ I hissed. ‘It’s incredibly dangerous. We can’t guarantee anyone's safety.’

He gave me a wry look. ‘Haveyoutried telling her what to do? I told her where I was going and she insisted on coming. Said she’d had a premonition.’

Anissa levelled a somewhat terrifying glare at me. ‘I’m a grown woman. I make my own decisions.’

That was me told, but even so I couldn’t resist one last objection. ‘But what about your daughter?’

‘I’ll return and raise her,’ she said confidently. ‘I wouldn’t be here if the spirits hadn’t told me I’d be safe.’

I eyed her curiously. ‘Did they say the rest of us would return safely as well?’

She gave an apologetic shrug. ‘They only spoke about me.’

Great, just great. We had spirits out there that could predict our next steps and they only cared about one of us. God, save me from nepotism!

I nodded. ‘All right, you’re in – but on your own head be it.’

‘It’s such a beautiful head,’ Stan said to Anissa, making me grin. He’d flirt at the gates of hell if he could.

Anissa smiled back at him. ‘Thank you.’

‘I’m glad you were reassured by the spirits,’ I said. ‘Nothing we’re about to do is safe, but Essie and Kate are in grave danger. The beast … well, it’s terrifying. All we can do is hope we don’t encounter it and that the girls have survived it, too.’

Gunnar parked up. ‘Well, you all look suitably sombre,’ he said as he joined us. He echoed my words. ‘This is incredibly dangerous, Anissa. Are you sure you want to come?’

She smiled wryly. ‘Want to? No. But I’ve been told Ineedto go, so nothing you can say will deter me. I know what we face.’

‘You don’t know it until you face it,’ Gunnar warned. ‘Not truly.’ But he turned from her, done trying to dissuade her. If she wanted to come then we’d accept all the help we could get to find the girls. The more eyes we had, the better chance we stood of finding them and getting out with our limbs intact.

One by one we pushed through the barrier; it was like pressing through invisible tar. On the other side, hope flickered like a candle … and death stalked us all.

Chapter 32

After the weird gelatinous feeling of moving through the magical bulwark, the other side was the same forest and we were on the same road, though it was more overgrown and felt somehowdarker. Perhaps I was imagining that; suffice to say I didn’t feel warm and cosy about being there.

There was a break in the trees ahead of us. Fluffy sniffed around for a moment then found the girls’ tracks. They were so obvious that evenIcould have found them, though the rain, which had now stopped, had already started to wear them away. We could follow them by sight for a while, but even so Fluffy took the lead.

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