Suzanne McLeod - The Sweet Scent of Blood

Only Holly was a faeling, and fae blood, even diluted with human, is a sought-after commodity within the vampire world. I needed to be sure she wasn’t infected.

‘Holly, you’ve heard of 3V, haven’t you?’

She pulled out a leaflet hidden under a magazine on the table. ‘I checked the bites against the photos in the HOPE leaflet.’ She opened the leaflet and showed me the pictures. ‘See, two holes is okay, you only have to worry about infection if there’s four holes, two tiny extra ones in between. That’s what it looks like if they bite you with their retractable fangs as well.’ She briefly touched the bruises on her breast. ‘All of us, we’ve only got two fang marks. Trace got a magnifying glass out and we checked each other out to make sure,’ she finished in a disappointed tone.

‘That’s great, then,’ I said eyes wide to keep the bemused look from my face. ‘Nothing to worry about: the bites are healing and once you make up the blood loss, the dizziness should stop and you’ll feel better.’

She held out her wrist again with an anxious expression. ‘But what about this one?’

The kitchen produced a hissing noise that sounded like a steam-dragon running riot and Finn’s curse sounded distinctly frustrated.

I frowned at the neat bite. ‘It’s fine, better than the others. Should be gone in a couple of days.’

She leaned forward and whispered, ‘But he did them, y’know, the vampire that’s been in all the papers. The one that—the one that killed his girlfriend.’

‘Roberto? You mean Mr October?’

She gave a tiny nod. ‘Aggie’s worried because they’ve arrested him. The papers say all it took was one bite, and she thinks—Am I going to die too?’ Her voice rose, shrill with panic.

I began mentally revising my offer to help the bastard. ‘Did he do all the bites?’

‘Oh no, I told you, Roberto was really nice. This French vamp, Louis, did the others.’ She touched her bruises again. ‘Roberto shouted at him and dragged him away. Trace said they both looked really mad.’ She tossed her hair back. ‘Roberto bought us all those fruit cocktails, the special ones they do, and made sure we got a taxi home.’ Her face fell. ‘Do you think I’m going to die like his girlfriend?’

‘Genny?’

I looked up as Finn appeared in the doorway. Holly squeaked, clutching her blouse to hold it together.

‘Sorry, ladies, I’ll wait outside.’ Finn held his hands up in apology and grinned, then sent me a questioning look. ‘I could do with some help out here, Gen, when you’re ready.’

‘Okay. I’ll be with you in a sec.’ I turned back to Holly and lowered my voice. ‘Listen, one bite from Roberto won’t kill you. You mustn’t believe everything the papers say. But keep away from the vampires.’ I leaned forward. ‘Vamps think our fae blood tastes nicer, sweeter, than plain human blood, and some of them won’t take no for an answer. I’d stick to going out with humans or fae if I were you. It’s less dangerous.’

Holly sighed. ‘He—Louis—said I tasted like cherries. He said he liked me best of all.’ She bit her lip. ‘Human boys don’t always—My teeth scare them, or if I like them, they end up ... y’know, Glamoured.’

I knew exactly how she felt. Rocks and hard places had nothing on dating humans if you were a fae or even a faeling with a touch of power.

‘Listen, Holly, the bites are fine. You’re not going to die. I’ll tell Aggie.’ I dug a card out of my bag. ‘And if you want to talk or anything, just give me a ring, okay?’

I left her chewing a curl of hair and went to find Finn.

He leant against the wall outside the staffroom, hands in his pockets and a disgruntled expression on his face. ‘I tried to talk Agatha into clearing up the mess, but she says she’s too low on juice to do anything.’

I grinned. ‘Feeling stressed, are we?’

‘She’s got her wretched spell-traps everywhere,’ he groaned, ‘and every time I try to crack one, something else breaks.’

‘Uh-huh,’ I said sweetly, ‘that’s what happens when you go too fast.’

‘Yeah, touché, Gen.’ He pushed away from the wall and slung an arm around my shoulder. ‘It’s gonna take ages to unravel all the spells. Mr Manager is as grumpy as a blingless goblin.’ His voice took on a cajoling tone. ‘Don’t suppose you could do something, could you?’

‘Maybe.’ I sighed, thinking about gift-horses bearing crystals. ‘But only if you stop using my shoulder as an arm-rest.’

‘Whatever my Lady’s heart desires.’ He gave me a quick hug, then opened his arms wide, a lazy grin twitching the corners of his mouth.

I rolled my eyes at him. Damn. I so knew I was going to regret this—give in once to him, even if it was over something as simple as work—and the next thing I’d find myself sitting in a painful heap at the bottom of the slippery slope.

And if I was going to clear up all the spells in one go, I needed to find them. There were only a couple of lights on in the kitchen but I turned them off so that the only illumination came from the red electronic numbers that blinked on some of the equipment. I took a deep breath, closed my eyes and focused .

Shit. There was more magic than I thought. Way, waaay more.

Opening my eyes confirmed it. The room popped and seethed with pulsing fluorescence like a volcanic swamp covered in fireflies. My heart leapt, apprehension warring with anticipation. No wonder Finn had been having so much trouble cracking the stuff. Agatha must have gathered every ounce of her anger, frustration and fear for this many spells. I glanced over at where she stood with Holly in the staffroom doorway, dim misted light wrapping itself around them from the room beyond. She clasped Holly’s hand tightly, her huge brown eyes gleaming with relief and gratitude as she inclined her head in a small bow. For an instant, something odd nagged at me, then the kitchen claimed my full attention.

I cupped my palms in front of me and called the magic.

Power filled my hands, rushing into me. Wind lifted my hair, heat suffused my body, millions of tiny sharp needles stung my skin. The magic gripped me, flung my arms wide, arched my spine, lifted my feet from the ground. I hung suspended, head thrown back, mouth gasping air into my protesting lungs. Black dots danced before my eyes. Pleasure and pain streamed through me in one long scream as the last drop of magic slammed me to the floor.

I wrapped my arms around my head and curled into a tight ball. Less than a minute passed while the magic bubbled with exhilaration though my blood, chasing away the residual aches and soreness, leaving my heart pounding. A burst of golden light spread out from my skin, shimmering soft and dew-like before dissipating in the air.

Who knew brownie magic could feel so good?

‘I heard you could do that.’ Finn spoke close to my ear, his voice tinged with satisfaction. ‘Absorb the magic, instead of cracking it or just pulling it apart.’

I rolled limply onto my back, the most movement I could manage with the power still settling inside me, and found him kneeling next to me. I gazed up at him. Tiny emerald flecks flared deep in the moss-green of his eyes. Speculation flickered across his features. And there was something else, some other emotion ... respect maybe, or awe?

‘Genny?’ His tone was soft and low.

‘What?’ I murmured, fascinated by the way his mouth moulded my name.

‘How much magic can you call ?’ He bent over me, warm berry-scented breath caressing my face. ‘More than this?’

I frowned, his questions confusing, unexpected. A thought pricked through the last haze of the power high: this had been a lot of magic. But before I could pin my vague suspicion down, Finn scooped me into his arms, stood and held me tucked tight against him.