Page 26

Chapter 26

Sidnee burst into the office with Thomas behind her then paused. ‘Hey, no fair! I smell Sigrid’s cooking!’

I laughed. ‘You snooze, you lose!’ When she shot me a faux glare, I conceded, ‘There’s some left in the kitchen.’ She ran off.

Thomas looked amused. ‘I’ve been abandoned for food.’

‘Not just for any food,’ I said. ‘ Sigrid ’s food.’

He nodded. ‘Yeah, that’s fair.’

I grinned. ‘It’s pasta. Just consider that Sidnee is carb loading for some more … exercise later.’ I winked. I paused and my smile faded. ‘You’re good for her, you know.’

His lips tipped up. ‘I hope so. She ’s good for me .’

‘Good.’ I felt a little awkward talking about their love life, so I changed the topic back to something I knew and adored: work. ‘There’s something weird going on at the mine, Thomas.’ Even though he was one of the owners, I totally trusted him. ‘The dwarves are all terrified of the hag, and someone is using Alfgar’s death to point the finger at her. I’m thinking someone wants you to abandon the mine.’

He frowned. ‘The mine has been in existence for over a century. Why now?’

I shrugged. ‘A competitor, maybe? Has anyone offered to buy it from you recently?’

His frown deepened. ‘No, nothing like that. Not as far as I know, anyway.’

Sidnee came back in holding a plate of pasta for Thomas. ‘You have to try this.’ She looked around. ‘Where’s Sig?’

I squelched down a grimace. ‘She’s in Gunnar’s office, but honestly … there have been noises. Don’t go in.’

‘Eww!’ Sidnee covered her eyes. ‘If they are having sex in his office, I am never going in there again!’

I laughed. ‘Maybe not sex, maybe just some frottage,’ I suggested, crossing my fingers.

Sidnee glared at me. ‘These are my adoptive parents you’re talking about. It’s gross!’

I shrugged. ‘I think it’s kind of nice. I hope Connor and I still want to have desk sex when I’m their age.’ I said I rather than we , because Connor was already goodness knew how old and he was definitely still game for desk sex.

‘We were not having desk sex!’ Sigrid blurted as she walked in looking scandalised. Her face reddened. ‘I was just giving Gunnar a massage. His shoulders are super tight and I had to really put my weight into getting the knots out. That’s why he was groaning!’

‘Oh, thank God,’ Sidnee burst out and we all laughed.

Sigrid went into the kitchen to get her dishes and Gunnar came out, ostentatiously rolling his shoulders. I slid a glance at Thomas and caught the small smile playing on his lips. We exchanged knowing glances. Sigrid and Gunnar had totally had office sex; it hadn’t just been Gunnar’s groans I’d heard. Damned vampire hearing.

I pushed down my snicker. ‘Right, that’s it. I’m tired. I’m clocking off. I’ll be in early though,’ I promised Sidnee.

‘We’ll give you a lift home,’ Sigrid offered.

‘Thanks, that would be great.’

We loaded up until the car was stuffed with humans and animals. The atmosphere was light and friendly and I realised I’d missed Sigrid. ‘Sig,’ I said quickly before I could change my mind. ‘Coffee date soon?’

‘Absolutely, Bunny.’ She smiled. ‘I’d love that. Now hop out, dear and we’ll watch you until you’re all safe and sound in your house.’ I loved that small act of caring; I knew she’d see me safe and it was a lovely feeling.

I hopped out as instructed and made my way inside. No lights on, no heating on, no Connor’s truck outside. I was surprised by how disappointed I felt but I was really tired; it would do me good to fall into bed without some fooling around. Even so… I blew out a breath. I had really wanted to fall asleep in his arms.

I bustled around feeding the animals and letting them out. I put the heating on for a couple of hours, made myself a cup of tea and phoned Connor. He didn’t answer and I sighed; he must be busy.

I sat nursing my tea on the sofa next to Fluffy. ‘Hey,’ I said softly. ‘You want to try and be Reggie for a bit?’

After a beat he shifted and the young man was sitting on the sofa with me. ‘You want a brew?’ I asked.

‘That would be great.’

He followed me into the kitchen. I made him a cup of tea and put some biscuits on a plate because who didn’t want those with their brew? We settled back on the sofa. It was still a little cool in the house so I grabbed a couple of blankets and put one over him. I caught his startled expression before he wiped it off his face; he wasn’t used to being cared for.

I longed to dig into his story, to find out more about the man living in my home – albeit in dog form – but I knew that if I probed he’d retreat into Fluffy quicker than a wolf could howl. Work was a safe topic .

‘The head thing was gross, huh?’ I said. Not my best conversation opener, but at least it was relevant.

‘Totally,’ he agreed. ‘The other skulls were old and smelled like bleach.’

‘They’d been cleaned recently?’

‘Yeah.’

I frowned and cast my mind back to Matilda’s den. No bottles of bleach had been lying around, and there was no sign of running water. I doubted she knew what bleach was, let alone how to use it. ‘Another thing to point away from the hag, then.’

Reggie nodded. ‘Someone’s trying to set her up.’

‘They’re not doing a very good job of it,’ I huffed. ‘I’m all-but certain the hag can’t read, but I’ll test her on it next time I see her. Did you catch any other interesting scents?’

He shook his head. ‘With the vampires trampling all over the scene, I couldn’t catch anything. Whatever had been there was gone. All I could smell was human and vampire – and decapitated dwarf head.’

I sighed. ‘Bummer. At least Alfgar can be laid to rest now, so that’s something.’

My phone lit up as Connor called. I looked at Reggie and he grinned. ‘Take it.’

‘Okay. You maybe want a shower or something while I’m chatting to him? ’

‘You trying to tell me that I smell?’ he joked.

I was trying to give him more time in his human form, more time to remember who or what he really was. ‘No! I just thought you might like one. A hot shower is one of my favourite things.’

He hesitated for a beat before nodding slowly. ‘Okay.’

‘Grab a fresh towel from the cupboard. You know how to work the taps?’ He nodded and disappeared off.

I swiped to answer the phone. ‘Hey!’

‘Hi, Doe. Sorry I missed you. I’m already wading through dwarves.’

‘That doesn’t sound comfy!’

‘Not at all. They’re a prickly bunch, though by all accounts Alfgar wasn’t.’

‘Yeah, he seems like he wasn’t the average dwarf. I’m wondering if that was part of the reason he was targeted.’ I thought of Faran and his vitriol. ‘He had a human wife.’

‘There’s been plenty of commentary on that.’

‘You going to head over to mine later?’ I asked hopefully.

‘Sorry, Bunny, I’d better stay and supervise the interviews. We have a whole military operation going on here.’

I shuddered. ‘Ugh, don’t say that. It reminds me of the MIB.’

‘Not all MIB are evil. ’

‘No, not all of them,’ I conceded. ‘Just a subset that are intent on kidnapping and destroying us and every other supernat on the planet.’

In my mind’s eye, I could almost see Connor’s shrug. ‘There are bigots in every walk of life determined to destroy anything different from themselves.’

‘Yes, but how do you defeat them?’ I felt deflated. ‘At times it feels like bigotry is everywhere. I mean those MIB guys were even on Sitka.’

‘It’s not prevalent, it’s just that those types of people shout the loudest. Most people in this world want to live and let live. You start small, focus on your community. You educate, you raise awareness and, if you can, you keep standing up for what is right.’

‘How did you get to be so wise?’ I teased.

‘I’ve lived through some interesting times,’ he admitted.

‘“May you live in interesting times” is actually a curse, isn’t it?’

‘It certainly feels like it at times, but afterwards you know that those challenges we face actually define us and make us stronger than ever. Dark times just mean that the light is coming. And it always comes, as sure as the sun.’

‘The miners are having dark times,’ I said. ‘And the hag certainly is. Someone is targeting her through the mine. Does she have any natural enemies besides air elementals?’

‘Not as far as I know. She keeps herself to herself. I’ve only ever seen her once, and that was from a distance.’

I gave Connor a brief rundown of Liv’s information, albeit I wasn’t confident that it was a hundred percent true. Before he could reply, I heard John in the background saying, ‘The next interviewee is ready in room five.’

Connor sighed. ‘I have to go. We’re trying to get through as many as we can by this evening, prioritising the interviews around the miners’ shifts.’

I closed my eyes. He was working around the clock to get this done for me, and he was already behind on his own work because he’d visited me at Sitka. ‘I love you.’ The words spilled directly from my heart.

‘And I you, Bunny Barrington. Sleep well, Doe. Dream of me.’

We hung up and I sulked over a fresh cup of tea. The shower had finished long ago but I didn’t want to intrude. I was just setting the cup down when Fluffy padded out of the bathroom looking clean and shiny. I tried to keep the disappointment off my face but Fluffy’s low whimper made me realise I had failed.

‘It’s okay,’ I said softly. ‘It’ll take time. And that’s okay. I’m just… I’m here for you, okay? ’

He jumped up next to me, laid his heavy head on my lap and looked up at me with doleful eyes. I stroked his head gently and let the movement soothe me, too.

He’d be okay one day. He had to be.