Page 61 of The Vampire and the Case of the Malevolent Mermaid

‘How about we divvy up the blame when we’reoutof the cell?’ I bit out.

I was still wracking my brains for some way to defibrillate my magic when Shadow padded in. ‘Mrrow,’ he said, his tone condescending.

‘Oh my God,’ I whispered. ‘You beautiful cat. I’ll feed you salmon for a week if you can get us out of here.’ Reams and his men had clearly dismissed him as a mere cat and let him wander away – but Shadow was far from an ordinary feline.

With a supremely cattish air of smugness, he let the shadow lift from his fur and sent it drifting towards the lock. His acidic whatever-the-fuck-it-was hovered over the lock, and in moments molten metal was dripping to the floor.

Gunnar pushed open the door. We all froze as it let out a loud screech but no one came to investigate. What could they possibly be doing that made them ignore such a loud noise? Nothing good, that was for sure.

We crept into the weapons store and each grabbed two guns and ammo, then strapped on our Kevlar and magic-enforced vests.Before you go into a life-and-death struggle, you weapon up. Look at me, being all sensible.

Armed and dangerous, we burst into the back office and took in the scene. Connor, Margrave, Parker and John were pointing guns at Reams, Malpas and Clements. The problem was that Reams had his hand around Sigrid’s throat, Malpas had his fangs at Essie’s throat and Clements was holding a knife to Kate’s throat.

‘This isn’t going to end well,’ I said into the silence.

Reams took in our arrival and our weapons, did some calculations and grimaced. ‘We have what we came for. Let us walk out of here and we’ll leave Portlock immediately.’

‘And if we don’t?’ Gunnar challenged him.

‘Then we’ll see who dies first,’ he said simply.

‘You’re not leaving with either of the girls!’ I barked.

Reams blinked. ‘We’re not here for them,’ he said finally. ‘You let us go, you keep the girls. Everyone lives. Win, win.’

He wasn’t here for the girls? Then what the fuckwashe here for? ‘You’re here on Robertson’s orders, right?’ I asked in confusion.

Reams said nothing. ‘Answer her!’ Connor ordered.

Reams’ jaw tightened. ‘You know whose orders I follow, Your Highness.’ His tone was mocking and he’d made his point. He followed Hamish MacKenzie’s orders, not Connor’s and not Cobalt Robertson’s.

Connor glowered. ‘I do – and yet, the numbers are very much on my side here. Tell me, Reams, why should I let you walk out of here alive? You locked up my mate.’

‘I didn’t harm her. Here she is, free as a bird. Or a bunny.’ He winked at me and Connor growled at his obvious disrespect. ‘If you don’t let us leave,’ Reams continued, ‘theninnocentblood will be spilled. And we all know how Connor MacKenzie feels about that.’ There was no attempt to hide his disdain.

Ugh. Now that he’d suggested Connor was weak, he wouldn’t – or couldn’t – back down. So I backed down for him. ‘Let them go,’ I pleaded. ‘Please. I don’t want the girls to get hurt. They’ve been through enough.’

Connor’s jaw was rigid but he gave a sharp nod and he and his men raised their weapons slightly. The vampires moved towards the door, keeping their hostages close until they reached the exit, then they shoved the girls at us using their bodies to block any pursuit. They needn’t have bothered: Connor had agreed to let the men go as long as they kept their end of the bargain and they had. He wouldn’t renege on his word.

Now that the situation was less threatening, my mind started working. If the vampire king hadn’t sent them here for Kate … then why the hell had he sent them?

Chapter 37

We had a hectic few minutes while we checked over the girls and Gunnar clutched Sigrid, but everyone was okay. Shaken, but okay.

‘I’m sorry you all had to go through that,’ I said. ‘Especially you two girls after all you’ve been through already. I’m astonished by your bravery.’

Essie sniffed. ‘I didn’t feel brave, I was just terrified. I wanted to shift and rip them into little pieces, but I was so scared that they’d hurt Kate or Sigrid before I could get to them. And I couldn’t get the big guy out of my head. The way his head just … squished like a berry.’ Oh boy, poor Essie.

Lily Kaleak bundled into the Nomo’s office, her still-wet hair tied back in a hasty bun. ‘Mom!’ Essie flung herself at her mother and both Kaleaks burst into tears.

‘I’ll put the kettle on,’ Sigrid murmured to no one in particular.

‘I’ll come with you,’ Gunnar stood.

‘I’m alright, Bam Bam.’

‘You may be,’ he replied gruffly, ‘but I’m not. Forgive me while I follow you around like a lamb.’

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