Page 9

Chapter 9

We waited a few minutes but no hag appeared. I looked at Thomas. ‘Did I do it wrong?’ I asked dubiously.

‘I’ve never called her, but you did exactly what Leif told you to do,’ he replied. I noticed that his hands were hanging loose at his sides, he was balancing on his toes and his knees were soft. He was tensed for an attack, prepared to act – and act quickly. That didn’t improve my mood.

A soft scratching noise came from the cavern wall nearest to us and we stepped back cautiously. Suddenly there were knives in Thomas’s hands and Gunnar had unsnapped his service weapon holster. I did nothing because I was holding the doughnuts; imagine that on my tombstone.

I was strung tighter than a violin string. I swallowed, my mouth drier than the sands of Liv’s original home. You are a vampire, get it together , I chided myself, then for good measure I added, and a witch .

Feeling inside for the burning ball of heat that lived in my centre, I comforted myself with its roaring presence. If my teeth, speed and strength were nothing against the hag, at least I had flames. I called to the magic, getting it ready for release.

The scratching grew louder.

I shifted on my feet. The cold from the mine seeped through to my bones and I yearned to let my fire out to warm me.

The scratching stopped abruptly. One moment the cavern wall was there, the next it had vanished in a puff of dirt and the strangest creature I’d ever seen was standing before us. I was glad I’d secured that poker face or I’d have been gaping. Even so, I was blinking rapidly, as if the blinks could make the vision in front of me go away.

‘Who calls I?’ The rasping voice sounded as if the hag smoked fifty cigarettes a day. A chill ran down my spine and I wished to hell that I had my weapon in my hand rather than diabetes in a box.

I cleared my throat, trying to keep my nerves from my voice. ‘I do.’ I wiggled the doughnut box in what I hoped was an enticing manner but it may have just looked like I was having a small fit. ‘I’ve brought you some treats and I wish to ask you some questions in exchange. ’

Despite her unusual appearance, the hag was no more than five feet tall; that made her seem childlike, though I knew she was far from it because elementals were long-lived. Her hair looked like fine willow sticks and hung below her waist. Her large, pointed ears poked through it and flicked at any sound.

She was wearing animal skins and her feet were bare. Her nails were bright silver and her shiny metallic teeth were all the same length and pointed like a carnivore’s, which made her maw strangely reminiscent of a shark. That wasn’t the best comparison to leap to mind whilst my stomach was still rigid with nerves.

She sniffed like an animal then lunged forward. Thomas leapt in front of me with his knives. This situation was about to go to heck in a hand basket. ‘Stop!’ I ordered them both.

Thomas froze, glanced at me and stepped back obediently but his knives were still out. The hag looked at him warily and bared her terrifying teeth. I felt the tingle that indicated magic was rising and saw that the earth around us was swirling in little dust clouds. I had to do something fast or this encounter wouldn’t end well.

‘These are for you.’ I thrust the box towards her, opened the lid – and the swirling dust around us settled. Matilda sniffed the air again, her mouse-like nose whiffling as she scented the doughnuts. Then, in a lightning-fast move, she snatched the box and dashed back into the hole in the wall. Okay, then.

The only positive was the fact she didn’t close the hole behind her. The sound of paper tearing and food being devoured reached us and we exchanged uneasy glances.

It didn’t take her long to eat the dozen doughnuts and she didn’t offer us a single one, which was outrageous. I made a note that manners weren’t her thing. Moments later the remains of the pink bakery box came sailing out of the hole. It looked like she’d tried to take a couple of bites out of that, too, but decided it wasn’t very appetising. The doughnuts were gone, though. Every last tasty morsel , I thought mournfully.

She poked her head back out and pointed a metal-encased finger at me. ‘You. Come!’ she commanded before disappearing back into the tunnel. It was clear that I, and I alone, was meant to follow her.

Gunnar put a hand on my arm and lowered his voice. ‘Bunny, that isn’t a good idea.’

Thomas echoed him. ‘I can’t protect you if you go in there. If anything happened to you on my watch, Sidnee would never forgive me.’

I shook my head. ‘We have to know,’ I said firmly. ‘This is how we find out what really happened.’

‘We won’ t find out shit if you don’t come back,’ Thomas objected.

I wanted to shrug off the comments, but the thought of following Matilda really didn’t fill me with the warm and fuzzies. I couldn’t pass through earth like her. I had a gun, but if I killed her I’d never get back through the wall again. If I offended her or said something she didn’t like, I’d be completely screwed. That didn’t feel great but bravery isn’t about not being scared; it’s about continuing even though you are scared.

In the end my sense of duty and my insatiable curiosity won. It seemed likely that my need to solve a mystery would kill me someday; I just hoped it wouldn’t be today. ‘It’s okay, I’ll be fine,’ I said out loud to reassure them and myself.

‘Bunny, please don’t go,’ Gunnar murmured, but I noted that he didn’t order me not to. He could have pulled rank but he didn’t because he wanted to know the truth as much as I did, even if his common sense told him it wasn’t a good idea. We really were peas in a pod – an idiotic, suicidal pod.

‘I’m going in,’ I said with as much bravado as I could muster. I paused. ‘If I don’t come out, take care of everyone.’ I paused again. ‘And thanks, Gunnar – for everything.’ I couldn’t say more or I wouldn’t have been able to do this.

Like a curious cat, I stooped low and walked into the earthen hole after the hag. Like a cat, I hoped I had a few lives left.