Page 63 of The Vampire and the Case of the Malevolent Mermaid

Connor turned to Kate. ‘Would you feel comfortable at my home? Bunny and I will be there, too.’

She blinked. ‘Sure.’

‘Okay. Kate comes with us. In fact,’ he eyed the Kaleaks, ‘you two should come as well, until we’ve arrested all the guilty parties.’

Lily bit her lip but nodded. ‘Okay, if you have room.’

‘Of course.’ Connor’s house was massive and had a number of guest rooms.

‘I’ll wait for April,’ Gunnar said. ‘She’s due in shortly. I’ll get her started on identifying a ‘Bob’ who is associated with Donovan. Let’s all get some rest – say six hours down time –then reconvene here to get this shit done.’ It was rare for Gunnar to swear in front of civilians; that he had let the expletive pass showed how tired he was. I felt the same.

The girls were safe, Sidnee was off the hook, and for the first time in days we could relax. All we had to do now was tidy things up. How hard could that be?

Chapter 38

Once everyone was fed and settled in the guest rooms – and Fluffy and Shadow were content – Connor and I hit the hay. I was beyond tired but when the bedroom door shut behind me, Connor’s eyes locked on me with the intensity of a heat-seeking missile. I suddenly found I had a second wind.

He stalked towards me, his intent clear. ‘I hated being apart from you,’ he said in a low voice. ‘Let’s agree to never do that again.’

I started to agree but then he was upon me, his hands buried in my hair and pulling me close for a kiss that was hot and demanding in all the right ways. When he finally eased back, he rested his forehead against mine as if he needed to touch me at all times.

‘Missed you,’ he breathed.

‘Missed you, too,’ I admitted. ‘So much.’ And I really had. It had been so hard not even talking on the phone. And yes, I’d missed his flesh against mine too. When I started to unfasten his plaid shirt, his eyes darkened in anticipation. He reached for me and we lost ourselves in each other.

As we lay together afterwards, basking in the glow of finally being together again, my exhaustion came back with a vengeance.Before I could even murmur goodnight, I tumbled into a dream-filled sleep.

I dreamed of the beast beyond but it wasn’t a nightmare as my dreams about the beast usually were. It was a bright sunny day and I was in a clearing near the top of the mountain, near the cliff the beast had once chased us over, yet there were no remnants of my fear and terror. Instead I felt content. I was surrounded by grass and flowers, birds were singing and a gentle breeze was caressing my skin as I raised my face to the sun.

A lynx approached me. At first I thought it was Shadow because it had the same smoky coat, but this feline washuge. Perhaps one day Shadow would grow this big, too, but I knew in my bones that this cat wasn’t mine.

It approached me and morphed into the largest nantinaq I’d ever imagined, over fourteen feet tall. Even then fear proved elusive and I felt only a mild curiosity. The towering nantinaq spoke to me with a high piping voice like a bird. ‘Nush'et ghen.’

I frowned and was opening my mouth to explain that I didn’t know what that meant when I was ripped from my dream by the siren call of my damned mobile phone.

As I sat bolt upright, the fear came. What the hell? My floppy heart gave a hard, sharp beat. My phone rang again and I glanced over to make sure that Connor was still asleep, but he was already gone.

I looked at the screen and swiped to take the call. ‘Gunnar,’ I mumbled, my voice cracking from sleep.

‘Bunny Rabbit,’ he greeted me, sounding warm and amused. ‘Are you planning on coming in today or…?’

I looked down at my phone screen, registered the time, swore and jumped out of bed. ‘Oh my gosh! Sorry, Gunnar! I didn’t know it was so late. I slept through my alarm. I’ll be there in forty minutes.’

‘It’s not like you haven’t clocked enough overtime,’ he said. ‘But things have progressed and I want your two cents.’

‘You’ll have them,’ I promised. ‘See you shortly.’ I ended the call and darted into the kitchen to turn on the kettle and feed my four-legged friends, only to see they’d already been fed. There was a note from Connor on the kitchen counter.

Food in microwave. I’ve already fed Fluffy and Shadow. Sorry about leaving while you were sleeping. Love you. xx

I smiled and opened the microwave to find a breakfast sandwich that was still warm. I took it out, replaced it with a cup of blood and turned on the kettle. I drank the blood, ate my sandwich gratefully and poured the water to let my tea steep in a thermos while I hurriedly showered and dressed. Finally, I called my furry companions and we hauled arse to the station.

As I opened the door, my phone peeped to remind me that Reggie had his next counselling appointment in half an hour. I sighed. It was terrible timing. I glanced down at Fluffy. Should I try and talk to him beforehand or just take him to the appointment?

I settled him and Shadow then knocked on the door jamb to Gunnar’s office. ‘I’m really sorry but I’ve got to drop Fl— Reggie off for his counselling appointment.’

Gunnar huffeda breath and tugged on his beard. ‘It can’t be helped. Deliver the boy then hurry your cottontail back here.’ He’d really upped the ante on the bunny jokes. I’d have stomped on that one, but he was already cutting me some slack so I let it slide.

‘Thanks. I won’t be long!’ I promised. I rushed out, grabbed Fluffy’s lead and put him in the Nomo vehicle. As I started the engine I said, ‘I’m sorry, Fluffy, but Reggie has a counselling appointment.’ I stared my dog in the eyes from the rearview mirror. He whined and lay down.

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