Suzanne McLeod - The Shifting Price of Prey

I grinned at her. ‘Ten out of ten for the hair whip, Katie. All you need now is to get someone to pay you to do it.’

‘Well, funny you should mention that . . .’ She did another expert flip and stretched out her arms, excitement glinting in her eyes. ‘Ta da! You are now looking at L’Oréal’s newest hair model!’

‘Really?’

‘Reallyreallyreally!’

‘Woot!’ I held my hand up for a high five, and she slapped my palm with her leather gauntlet. ‘Go you!’

‘Yeah! Go me!’ She beamed and punched her fist in the air. ‘Finally!’

‘That’s brilliant, Katie.’ I hugged her, breathing in the scent of leather, hot metal and the citrusy perfume she always wore as her arms tightened around me. She’d been hoping for this for so long. ‘So what’s the job?’ I said as we broke apart.

‘I’m to be in the background of an ad with about ten others, so there’s no face work. It’s only a couple of days. But it’s a start. And the pay’s good for a chunk of college fees, but then’ – she gave me a mischievous grin that made her look about nine years old – ‘I’m worth it!’

I groaned and rolled my eyes at her. ‘Plea -se . You’re killing me.’

She stuck her tongue out. ‘Wait till you hear my other news.’

By the way she was almost bouncing, I didn’t need to hear, I could guess. Marc, the boy – no, not boy, man, since he was my age: twenty-five – who’d been seriously flirting with her for the last few weeks (at her other part-time job in the Rosy Lea café), had finally asked her out. Marc was the first guy she’d been interested in after her last ‘date’ turned out to be a vamp’s human blood-slave. The vamp had kidnapped Katie to blackmail me into taking his blood-bond. Katie hadn’t been hurt, but I’d promised myself I’d never let anything bad happen to her again. I couldn’t change the fact that her confidence and trust in herself and others had taken a beating, though, so Marc asking her out was momentous.

Especially as he’d spent so long getting to this point, which had taken Katie from agonising over whether to say yes to wondering what was wrong. Katie’s mum, Paula, thought it showed he’d picked up on Katie’s nervousness. But for me, it smacked too much of manipulation and had me uneasy. Of course, anything to do with Katie pushes my Red Alert button. But still, just because I might be rabidly over-protective, and over-reacting, didn’t mean Marc wasn’t someone to watch. Damn it, I so wanted to wrap Katie up in the proverbial cotton wool, but I hate it when people try to do that to me.

I pasted a teasing smile on my face. ‘You won the lottery?’

This time she rolled her eyes at me. ‘Gen- ny !’

‘Kat- ie !’

She crossed her arms with a disgusted glare.

I laughed. ‘C’mon then. Out with the details.’

‘First night at the Royal Opera House for La Sylphide .’

Marc was good; I couldn’t have chosen better for Katie myself. I clamped my mouth shut before my paranoia made me say something I’d regret.

‘And no,’ she said, her glare turning determined, ‘I’m not bringing him into the office so you can give him the once-over.’

Then again, I didn’t really need to say anything. Katie knew me.

‘Look, I’ve got it under control,’ she carried on earnestly. ‘I’m meeting him there. I’ll book a Gold Goblin taxi home. I won’t go anywhere else with him, or get into any strange cars, go down any dark alleys, or drink or eat anything that’s been out of my sight.’ She leaned forwards and hooked her blue heart-shaped pendant out from under her jacket. It carried a mega Personal Protection Ward and Tracker spell that had cost me near enough six months’ wages, even with Tavish doing the casting for free. She dangled it before me. ‘I’ll be wearing this as usual. I know what I’m doing. Marc’s a nice guy. Trust me? Please?’

‘I do trust you,’ I said. Just not him .

‘It’s a first date, Genny,’ she warned. ‘I don’t want to get all heavy about things and scare him off.’

If he likes you, then it won’t. But again I didn’t say it. If I didn’t trust her judgement, then how could she? And really, the vamp kidnap thing had been my fault, not hers. She’d done nothing wrong. She didn’t deserve to have her every date interrogated, magically or otherwise, because I felt guilty. What she deserved was to have an awesome night out with a guy she liked.

‘ La Sylphide is a’ – romantic, tragic tale of impossible love; not my choice for a first date, but hey, Katie would adore it – ‘wonderful ballet,’ I said, happy for her, my smile only a tiny bit forced. ‘You’ll love it.’

She grinned and clapped her hands. ‘I know! So exciting.’

I grinned back then changed the subject. ‘So how’s things back at the office?’

Her expression turned businesslike. ‘All under control. Rotas are done and agreed for the Carnival. I’ve got a couple of interviews lined up for the vacancy, and we’re all caught up on the non-Carnival jobs.’

Katie wasn’t our summer receptionist/office manager because she’s my sort of kid sister. She’s also Ms Super Organised. I was going to miss her come the start of college.

‘So all I’ve got you down for tomorrow, so far, is Harrods,’ she finished.

I nodded. Harrods were having problems in their lingerie changing rooms. Their Magic Mirror spells kept mutating and instead of coming up with the appropriate recommendations, they were spouting subtle put-downs that meant customers were walking without buying. Obviously, store management were not happy. It was Spellcrackers’ top contract and, once the Magic Mirror problem was sorted would be a good steady earner.

‘Okay,’ I said. ‘Anything else come in for tonight?’

‘You’re free as a—’ Katie’s eyes rounded with alarm as she pointed at the park. ‘Look, Genny!’

I looked. And saw nothing. ‘What?’

‘There! In those bushes!’ She waved frantically at a dark clump about fifty metres away. ‘He was naked. ’

I raced alongside the iron railings enclosing the park, through the entrance and ran towards the bushes, clenching my hand around my ring and releasing Ascalon. ‘Naked’ said the male was probably some lowlife pervert so he wouldn’t warrant a killing blow, but as a scare tactic the sword would make him think twice next time he got the urge to get his junk out. And if he was more than just a lowlife, like, say a peeping tom Autarch, then I was way happier being armed and dangerous.

I slowed as I neared the spot, sending my Spidey senses out. No one. Naked or otherwise. I’m fast, part due to my sidhe blood and part because I run daily, so I should’ve got some sort of ping back. So either he’d disappeared into thin air – possible, but I couldn’t sense any magic either – or he was fast enough to sprint out of range. Which could only mean a vamp. I scowled, ignoring the way my pulse was pounding harder than it should for a short run and debated whether it was worth poking about in the bushes. Katie shouted again.

‘There! Down by the trees.’

I spun towards the wooded area a couple of hundred metres away . . . No naked male, but a brief glimpse of a dark shape moving low and merging into the deeper gloom. My inner radar pinged: ‘human’ and ‘animal’. I started running then stopped as my senses zeroed in on the path coming from the far side of the wooded area. A man was walking his dog. His shoulders were stooped under his beige-coloured shirt and trousers, and the dog – a yellow Labrador – padded slowly on age-stiffened legs. Even without being close enough to see the man’s face clearly, it was obvious he was old. No way was he the flasher. Neither he nor his dog could move fast enough to get over there from the bushes.