Suzanne McLeod - The Sweet Scent of Blood

A noise beside me brought me back to the present.

‘Melissa wasn’t killed by magic,’ I said.

Fiona gasped. ‘How do you know? Have you seen her body?’

I turned to her. ‘I don’t need to. Melissa was killed just as the police have said: her blood drained by a vampire.’ I pointed at Declan. ‘Tell him that. And tell him I have honoured my side of the bargain. Now he must honour his.’

She frowned. ‘I don’t understand.’

‘Never break a bargain with a fae.’ I smiled, and it was bitter. ‘The magic always has its price.’

Mick gave me a sullen look. ‘Go away, Genny. We don’t want you here.’

I sighed. Fiona and Mick had confirmed what I’d already guessed, and if they did know about the spell, short of trying to beat it out of them, they weren’t going to tell me. I’d fulfilled my obligation, but I hadn’t learned anything really useful by coming here ... yet .

Was Fiona right about what my future held? There was only one way to find out.

I clasped her arm, just above her glove, skin to skin.

Mick shouted, clamped his hands round my wrist as Fiona’s eyes went wide, startled, her pulse jumping like a frightened animal under the thin skin of her throat. I held on tight, though Mick tried to pry my fingers from her flesh. She sagged, falling heavily to her knees, her mouth gasping like a waterless fish.

‘Please,’ she cried, her lashes fluttering on her cheeks, ‘no more.’

I let her go and she collapsed, trembling into a heap of rose-coloured silk.

‘Go away,’ Mick shouted, shoving me back, ‘just go away!’

Then he hoisted her in his arms, and tucking his head next to hers, he murmured small comforting noises. He carried her to the bed and laid her gently between the two vampires.

She sighed and curled into Declan, cuddling up against him like he was a giant teddy bear.

‘What did you see, Fiona?’ I demanded.

She gazed back at me, her pupils dilated by the poison, sweat beading her forehead. ‘Nothing,’ she whispered. ‘Nothing but fog.’

Damn.

I let myself out.

Iopened the door to my flat, freezing at the metallic crash that came from my kitchen area. Heart thumping, I peered through the doorway. There was a quiet cough, followed by a popping noise. Agatha the brownie a appeared on the countera next to my sink.

‘Afternoon, Lady.’ Her wrinkled face lifted in a tentative smile. ‘I hope I’m nae disturbing thee.’

Taking a soft breath, I let the air slide back into my lungs. ‘Afternoon, Agatha. Nice of you to drop in.’ After all, I added to myself, everyone else does, so why should a brownie be any different?

‘Och well, the wean tried to call, only thee were nae answering yon telephonic machine.’

Oh yeah, my mobile was still somewhere in the Blue Heart.

‘Never mind, you’re here now.’ I gave her an enquiring look. ‘Is Holly in trouble again?’

Agatha stepped diffidently along the countertop. ‘Nae, Lady, she just telt me to bring thee a message.’

Through the window I could see the sun dipping lower in the sky. I needed to be safe in the police station by the time night came—the vampires could challenge each other all they wanted, but there was no way I planned on being there to see it. I tried to swallow back my impatience as I asked, ‘What’s the message, Aggie?’

Her brown eyes filled with worry. ‘Thee’s no angry with maself?’

‘Why would I be angry with you, Aggie?’

‘The spells.’ Her fingers twisted in her floral smock. ‘I dinna ken they were so many, not until thee took them.’

Narrowing my eyes, I took a step towards her. ‘ What spells?’ She flinched back and I stilled, not wanting to frighten her. Then I remembered Finn’s little test. ‘Aggie, you’re not worried about all that extra magic that Finn added, are you? He was just being tricksy with me; it wasn’t your fault.’ I stuck my hands in the back pockets of my jeans. ‘Is that why you were unhappy afterwards?’

‘Maself is awfy sorry.’ Her sand-coloured face creased up even more. ‘I’ve bin worrid stoopid, thee might think I’d tried to deceive thee, Lady.’

‘I’m not angry, okay?’ I smiled, lips tight together. ‘Now what is Holly’s message?’

‘The wean telt me to bring thee to her.’ Her small nose wrinkled up. ‘Her friend be wanting to ask thee something, Lady.’

I shook my head. ‘Aggie, I’m sorry, but I just don’t have the time right now. I know it’s Sunday, but it would take nearly an hour to get to the restaurant and another to get back, even today.’

‘Twill only take a wee minute or two.’ She held out her small hand to me. ‘We’ll go Between—only thee will need to be quiet, mind.’ She shook her hand eagerly at me, a slyness creeping into her expression. ‘The Lady Meriel would be pleased if thee would come.’

Meriel of Lake Serpentine—the Lady of the local naiads, a group of water fae—and supposedly not someone to be messed with, not that I’d ever personally met her.

‘Why would Lady Meriel be pleased?’

Aggie gave me a smug smile. ‘The Lady be Holly’s ma, o’course.’

Holly was Meriel’s daughter? Well that explained why Holly had Aggie looking after her—and why it was probably a good idea to go and see what Holly wanted. No way could I afford to alienate any of the local fae, not while I still had a chance.

‘Hold on two secs, Aggie.’ I walked over to my computer, scribbled a note to Hugh and stuck it on the screen. When I turned back round, Aggie was peering into a cupboard. She swung round, smock billowing, a disapproving scowl on her face. ‘Thee has nae food, Lady, nothin’ but a jar o’ sweeties and some salt.’ Tufts of her hair stuck up. ‘Tis nae way to be runnin’ a kitchen.’

‘Maybe you can help me then,’ I said, an idea popping into my head. ‘I’ve still got all those spells I took from your kitchen, Agatha, but I can’t seem to make them do anything.’

‘Och well,’ her scowl faded, ‘I telt thee, a brownie’s touch goes to them that needs it. The magic will nae be leaving you until you’ve nae more need of it’—she patted her chest—‘for the sadness in here, Lady.’

Well, that sort of explained it ... ‘Thank you, Agatha,’ I inclined my head, ‘it was kind of you to tell me.’

‘Humph.’ She closed the cupboard door with a firm snap. ‘Are thee ready then?’ she asked, offering me her small hand.

Hesitating only slightly, I placed my hand in Aggie’s. ‘I still need to get back as soon as,’ I warned.

‘Och, I’ll see you wherever, nae worries. Hold tight an’ quiet, Lady.’ She took a breath, lifted her foot—

A loud popping sound reverberated in my ears. Aggie’s fingers squeezed mine painfully hard. My flat took on a misty hue. Pressure buffeted me as winds blew from every point. A ghostly image of a different kitchen flashed past. Then another, where the ethereal figure of a young boy sat, head bent over his colouring book. Two more unoccupied rooms and then the indistinct sight of an old man, socked feet propped on a stool, holding a china teacup to his mouth. The pressure increased, making it hard to breathe. A semi-derelict room with a broken butler’s sink. A steel band clamped round my chest. A hazy, red-faced woman wiped a floury stain across her forehead with the back of her wrist. The force on my body was almost nbearable as the stronger outlines of the next kitchen took form around us: stainless steel tops, commercial ovens, stacks of white china ...

... Aggie put her foot down, released her grip on my hand. ‘Here we be, safe and sound.’

I stumbled, head spinning, stomach churning like a food mixer.