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Chapter 23

Connor sent his workers back to their jobs whilst I pulled out the camera and photographed the scene. Once it was thoroughly documented we pulled on gloves, collected the skulls and secured them. Gunnar had the gruesome honour of collecting Alfgar’s head so it could be examined for evidence before being returned to the dwarves.

We knew they would demand it back as soon as they knew about it so we moved quickly; there would be no chance to send it to the lab. Gunnar opened the mouth and checked for anything unusual, any signs of poisoning, but there was nothing. It was the same with the eyes. Finding the head hadn’t moved the case any further along, though hopefully it had brought Alfgar closer to the afterlife.

After we’d finished our examination, we put the physical remains in a body bag and collected the poles. The whole process was gruesome. As I packed away the skulls, I noticed some differences that pointed to them not beingquite human: they were larger, a bit more pointed at the back, and the eye sockets were bigger than a human’s. Were they dwarves?

I turned to Connor. ‘Why do you think this …messagewas placed here? Why not at the mine?’

He scrubbed his hands through his hair. ‘I’m not sure. The mine is over this hill. It’s a few miles, sure, but whoever is doing this is trying to make it look like it’s the hag. She could pass through the earth easily. I think another reason is that more witnesses could add pressure on the dwarves to leave the mine.’

‘Why would the vampires care?’

‘Some work in the mines,’ he explained. ‘Working in darkened tunnels is pretty ideal for us.’

Not for me,I thought, shuddering. All that earth pressing down…

Connor continued, ‘If the killer keeps targeting miners, there’s a chance a vampire could be the next victim.’

‘Are you going to order your people out, or put pressure on the dwarves to leave the mine?’

Connor smiled grimly. ‘Neither. No one tells me how to look after my people. I’m going to help you find this fucker.’

‘How?’

He thought for a moment. ‘Youhave hundreds of miners to interview and only you, Gunnar and Sidnee to do it. How about I organise and coordinate their initial statements? I can ask for alibis for the times of death then I can bundle up a list of all those you three need to look at closer.’

I blinked. ‘I could kiss you.’ So I did.

He grinned. ‘The next couple of days are going to be real busy, but another sleepover soon?’

‘Yes, please. And Sidnee is throwing a New Year’s Eve party, so that will be fun.’

‘Jeans and shirt, or suited and booted?’

‘The latter, I reckon.’

‘Got it.’ He leaned in and gave me a long kiss that made my toes curl. ‘I’ll start with the vampires I know, but fire me the list from Leif when it lands.’

‘Thanks, Connor. I appreciate you helping us.’

He winked. ‘Only doing my civic duty.’

‘Well, I’ll reward you in a very un-civic way.’ I winked back.

‘I look forward to it.’

I bent to pick up the black bag but Connor beat me, shouldered it and walked me back to the SUV. He put it in the back, opened the door for Fluffy, then eased me against the driver’s door and kissed me breathless. ‘Are you going to dance on thetables at Sidnee’s New Year’s party?’ he murmured, his hot breath tickling the shell of my ear. ‘Those are some of my favourite memories.’

My cheeks warmed. ‘I was very drunk last time.’

He ran a light touch down my arm. ‘Is that what it’ll take to see those hypnotising hips again? Because I can get you some ’shine real easy.’

I laughed. ‘I can take requests when we are alone, but I think drinking you under the table would be a lot more fun if I was under it with you.’

His eyes darkened. ‘Most definitely.’

‘I think I’ll stick with bad karaoke and only a few drinks at this party. We’ll let the others dance on the tables.’