Page 11

Chapter 11

As we returned to the lift, I couldn’t stop thinking about that last statement. ‘Thomas,’ I said, ‘treat me like an ignorant supernatural. How does anyone – apart from Liv – hold the dead hostage?’

‘The dwarves have very specific rules to allow them to pass into their afterlife,’ he explained as the lift clanked, whirred and jerked along. Talking helped me stop worrying about its obvious fragility, so I encouraged him to continue with a ‘go on’ gesture.

‘According to dwarven lore, the bodies of the dead have to be kept whole for them to be released to the afterlife. If the hag is taking their heads, she’s keeping them from moving on and trapping their spirits forever on the mortal plane.’

I shivered. Having just dealt with a poltergeist and the trapped banshee spirits in the barrier gems, I could go a long time without dealing with any more spirits – Aoife excluded. ‘ I don’t know,’ I said finally. ‘The skulls looked human.’

Thomas shrugged. ‘There’s no visible difference between human skulls and dwarven ones. You wouldn’t be able to tell.’

That was all well and good but one question remained. ‘So how did she get them?’ As soon as it left my mouth, I realised it was a dumb question: Matilda passed through earth like it was air; no doubt she simply took them directly from the dwarves’ graves.

To my surprise Thomas said, ‘That’s a good question. The dwarves burn their dead within twenty-four hours of death if they can, then they scatter the ashes. If the heads are dwarven, she must have taken them shortly after death.’

That was a macabre picture that I didn’t want to dwell on. As the lift finally lurched to a stop I asked, ‘What do they do with the bodies if they can’t be burnt whole?’

He shrugged and pushed the button to open the doors. ‘I don’t know, but I wonder if they’re keeping them somewhere in the mine until they can be reunited with their heads. How many skulls did you see?’

I hadn’t counted them but there were a lot. ‘I’m not sure. Hundreds, maybe? ’

‘Hundreds?’ Thomas sounded surprised. He shook his head slowly. ‘Not possible. Dwarves live a long time and they’ve only been in Portlock since the early 1800s. I wouldn’t have thought a hundred dwarves have lived here in that time so they can’t all be dwarf skulls.’

‘Then who do the others belong to?’

Thomas stared at me. ‘I don’t know, Bunny. Are you sure they were all humanoid?’

I thought back. Were all of the skulls human looking? That had been my initial view, for sure, and they certainly hadn’t been animal skulls, but I’d only glanced at them. ‘I’m no expert and the lighting was dim. They were either human – or they looked human to me.’

Gunnar’s expression was grim. ‘Short of digging up graves all over the peninsula, we might never know where she got them.’

That itched under my skin: I had to know. A mystery was afoot – several in this case – and I needed to get to the bottom of all of them.

When we went into the locker room to return our helmets, Leif was waiting for us. ‘She did it, didn’t she?’ he asked eagerly.

I shook my head. ‘I don’t think so – and as we said previously, the inspector might not have been murdered. We’ll know more when we get the autopsy results.’ I looked at Thomas, wondering if I should mention the skulls to Leif. He gave a tiny shake of his head.

‘She wants a box of doughnuts delivered to that cavern daily,’ he said. ‘I’ll set up the order if you can have someone drop it off.’ I noted that Thomas didn’t ask Leif so much as told him.

Leif made a sound that was suspiciously close to a growl. ‘Fine.’ He stalked off.

‘Did I put him in a bad mood by not believing him about the hag?’ I asked.

Thomas looked amused. ‘Nah, he’s always like that.’

‘Don’t worry, Bunny Rabbit. Dwarves don’t like anyone,’ Gunnar added. ‘It’s nothing personal.’

‘I’m picking up on that,’ I said wryly.

I followed my boss out to the SUV and we drove off. Through the rear-view mirror I watched the mine disappear, relieved that I wouldn’t need to go back into the bowels of the earth again for quite some time.

The journey home seemed to fly by, mostly because the adrenaline from the adventure had receded and I was beyond bone weary. It was after my bedtime and then some. Gunnar dropped me at my house, idling at the curb until I was inside safely with the doors locked. When I waved to him through the window, he roared off .

The TV was on but Fluffy and Shadow were asleep on the sofa. I sighed. Reggie hadn’t lasted long in human form. I scrubbed my tired eyes and tried to feel like I wasn’t failing him.

I woke and fed them and let them out to do their business, then I made myself a glass of warmed blood and a much-needed cup of tea and slice of toast. I was the walking dead in more ways than one. Finally I put the animals to bed again and gratefully collapsed onto my bed.

Tired as I was, my mind was spinning round and round. I needed more information about hags; I had a tiny bit of knowledge from my time at the academy and hints from the dwarves, but that was all. Even Connor and Gunnar knew little about them and they were both old. I only knew three people who were older: Mrs. Wright, the oldest original resident of Portlock; Calliope Galanis, an ancient water dragon that had pissed off Homer, and Liv Fox.

Liv and Calliope were so ancient that they might know something; they were also on the suspect list for Helmud’s death because they could both have killed him without leaving a mark. Calliope could just have shifted and scared the bejasus out of him.

I sighed. Neither woman was currently on Team Bunny because I’d accused Calliope’s lover of being a drug dealer and I’d arrested Liv for attempted murder. Admittedly, Liv had reached out to me recently for help in earning Gunnar’s forgiveness; maybe she’d be willing to talk to me.

I yawned and reached up to stroke my new daylight charm, an emerald pendant that Connor had given me for Christmas. I smiled a little as I thought about him. I’d have called him, but it was firmly daytime and I didn’t want to wake him up.

But I fell asleep with him on my mind, and I definitely had sweet dreams.