Page 20 of The Psychic and the Vampire: A Bad Case of Vampire Curiosity
Ant snorted. “Bridget must be losing her touch. Hammond should have sent that file by now, and so should the prison warden. But there were no texts from Bridget saying they’d arrived. I’ll have to chase them up myself personally in the morning.”
He yawned. “What made you think of my other clients now, though? Carmine’s not the only issue we’re working on.”
“It’s the only one I’m concerned about right now.” Viktor’s grip around Ant’s back tightened. “Finding Carol’s killers is one thing, I know that will make you feel better. But you’ve already stopped Carmine in his tracks with that séance business.”
Chuckling, Ant said, “Do you honestly think Carmine’s going to let us go that easily?
You were the one who told me he wouldn’t.
Besides” - he sighed and stretched out his legs, getting comfortable - “my magic tells me that showdown is still a ways away yet. But he’ll come after us again.
It’s just a case of waiting and finding out how. ”
“I thought you said you couldn’t see things that will happen in the future, only in the past.”
“I’m a psychic who specializes in reading the events of the past, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have some inkling of what might happen in our immediate future.
In the meantime, I’m not going to stop the investigation into Carol’s murder.
For my other clients, which was what you were asking about, they all respect the fact that I do have other work.
Bridget makes sure they’re told the moment they might make an application.
Even before this business, I was working with the Mage Academy and the police.
That work takes precedence over private clients. ”
“I’m not sure that sounds fair to the private clients who probably think their matter was urgent as well, otherwise they wouldn’t have gotten in touch with you.”
Ant thought about how to explain. “The clients might think that – I’m sure that’s perfectly natural – but from a priority perspective, nothing they’re asking for help with is going to be urgent.
For example, I only ever did murder scene readings on the police’s behalf – they are the organization most people go to for help in those matters.
The same applies if someone is abducted or is missing. Those requests came from the police.”
“So, what do you actually do for private clients?”
“It varies. Sometimes they want me to touch an item and find out something - perhaps about their dead relatives’ last minutes, last days, things like that.
I get asked quite often to check a house for spirits, especially if a relative has died in that house.
I get countless requests because grieving family members believe they can sense their late aunt, uncle, or parent in the house after their death.
“There are the rubbish ones, of course. For example, people complaining because they were sure that Granny had left a will somewhere, and they wanted to know which wall in the house they were supposed to knock down to find it.
“Bridget throws most of those in the trash. But there are some cases that Bridget will keep out for me because she thinks I can do some good or learn something from the case. That was what was in the pile of papers she gave me to share with you when we got interrupted by you being stabbed.”
“You were doing so well.” Viktor burst out laughing. “You hadn’t mentioned that in days.”
“Yes, well, don’t think it means I forgot about it.” Stroking up the back of Viktor’s ear, Ant said sleepily, “There’s always going to be work for us to do if you want it. But please, will you let me find Carol’s killers first, even if it’s just so that I know who they are?
“There’s just something special about this case.
I know a lot of young people die, and people say they have gone before their time, and how unfair it is.
I can’t answer that one way or the other.
But you saw Carol, you saw her in my head.
She was happy, and those men cared for her.
Don’t you think they want to be caught?”
“What makes you think those two men are still alive?” Viktor asked.
“Think about it, babe. If Carmine was the one who arranged for her death, then don’t you think he’d want to tie up some loose ends once her body was found?
Perhaps even before that? Babe, you could be looking for two men whose bodies are simply somewhere else.
Probably in another park somewhere, preferably out of town. ”
Ant felt Viktor shudder and kept his chuckles to himself. That quicksand business was going to affect his mate for quite some time. “We’ll think about it in the morning,” he said. His eyes still closed he tilted his head to one side. “Can you look? Have I got those hickey marks like Bridget had?”
“Your colleague is an amateur in the neck biting department. The marks on your neck are a lot darker than hers.”
Ant didn’t know why that gave him a sense of satisfaction, but for some reason, it did.
“Why do people mark each other like that? I’m not thinking about paranormals.
They mark each other like we did, to let other people know that they are claimed by their fated mate.
But why do non-paranormal beings like to mark themselves that way? ”
“I always thought it was something young people did,” Viktor explained.
“A way of declaring to anyone with working eyes that ‘hey, somebody let me get close enough to them to have sex.’ I can’t think of any other reason why they would do it, except for the fact that it feels really enjoyable at the time. ”
“It does,” Ant said, “but remind me to wear a collared shirt tomorrow, would you please? I have a reputation to uphold and I’m not putting makeup on my neck just to cover marks, especially if they’re as strong as you say they are.”
Ant let Viktor’s quiet contentment lull him into sleep.
He was almost there when he had another thought.
“Hey, V,” he said softly. “What do you think about using your wonderful powers to help me find out what’s causing these issues with Captain Bains and Hammond?
That might help us get closure on Carol’s murder a lot quicker. ”
“I’m intrigued by the idea,” Viktor sounded sleepy, too. “But to repeat the wonderfully wise words you said earlier, we’ll talk about it in the morning.”
Ant was always happier when he and his mate were on the same page.