Chapter Nineteen

Putting my worries about the mysterious caller to one side because there was nothing I could do about him, I walked outside with my head held high. Despite the lack of proof, I was beyond convinced that Tony had been murdered. I didn't know why his death had been made to look like an accident while mine had been the complete opposite, and there was no apparent motive for either of our murders, but I felt like I was getting somewhere. The answers were within my grasp if I looked hard enough.

I smiled to myself – then I saw Lukas leaning against Tallulah and my smile vanished.

He raised a hand to me as I approached. ‘There's no need to look quite so glum when you see me, D'Artagnan.'

‘Are you stalking me now?'

‘In a sense,' he replied. ‘I came looking for you and I suspected you might be here.'

‘You mean you don't have hospital workers on the payroll?'

‘Actually, I do.' He offered me an easy grin. ‘But none of them work in the morgue. It wasn't rocket science to work out that you'd be here. You told me yourself that you'd be visiting.'

I had – but I didn't like the idea that he was going to continually show up without warning. I had enough metaphorical shadows as it was; I didn't need real ones too.

‘Are you alright?' he asked.

‘Fine.' I paused. ‘Why do you ask?'

‘I thought it might be difficult for you to come back here after what happened to you.' His expression was serious.

His show of empathy flustered me more than I wanted it to. ‘I coped,' I said.

‘I knew you'd cope but that doesn't make it any easier.'

For a moment I didn't speak, then I glanced at him. ‘Thank you for asking.'

Lukas inclined his head. ‘If you ever need to talk, I'm more than willing to listen. While my experience was nothing like yours, I do know a little about rebirth.'

‘When were you turned?' It wasn't curiosity that made me ask but the opportunity to turn the conversation away from myself.

‘Close to fifty years ago.' He rubbed his chin. ‘I might look like a young, sprightly specimen of masculinity, but I'm close to eighty years old.' His gaze suddenly sharpened. ‘Does that bother you, D'Artagnan?'

‘Should it?'

He didn't look away. ‘Different people react in different ways.'

His age didn't make any difference to me and I couldn't imagine why it would. I had other questions, however. I jerked my chin up to the sky. ‘It's not long past midday. Are you sure the sun doesn't bother you?'

‘I'm sure. I prefer the night. All vampires do, because our vitality increases as the sky darkens, but I don't shrivel up at the sign of a sunbeam. Much as you might wish that were so.'

‘I don't wish that.'

‘Good.' He gazed at me, then he shook himself. ‘So did you find out anything useful in there?'

I exhaled. ‘You were right about the werewolf.' I outlined what Laura had discovered. Lukas listened to what I had to say, and his expression darkened.

‘If news of this gets out,' he muttered once I'd finished, ‘it could spell chaos. Whoever did this knows that, otherwise they wouldn't have tried to conceal Brown's death as a suicide and yours as a knife-based mugging gone wrong. It appears that Brown was killed because he was a danger and he needed to be shut up. We can assume that the same is true for you.' He gazed at me thoughtfully. ‘So, D'Artagnan, what have you seen and what do you know that might tempt someone to kill you?'

I'd been thinking about this. ‘I was only in Supe Squad for a day, so there's not much to sift through. There is one thing, though.'

Lukas raised his eyebrows. ‘Go on.'

‘There was a woman,' I said. ‘A female werewolf. I saw her running down the street in the middle of the day covered in blood.'

‘Stranger things have happened where the wolves are concerned.'

‘I wouldn't know about that, but it's not something I see on a daily basis,' I admitted. ‘I went after her to make sure she was okay. When I found her, by the sound of things she was one who'd been attacking rather than the other way around. She was screaming at a male werewolf about her sister who was missing. She seemed to think he had something to do with it.'

‘And?'

‘And nothing. Tony appeared with Lady Sullivan in tow and bawled me out for getting involved. And that,' I said flatly, ‘was the last time I saw him.'

Lukas smiled sympathetically. ‘Well, at least I know where I should go first.'

‘We,' I corrected. ‘Where we should go first.'

‘It might be wise if you kept out of sight,' he said. ‘If our killer still thinks you're dead, it might be better – and safer – not to disillusion him.'

As I'd already told Laura, there was absolutely no chance I'd simply cower away. This was my mentor's murder we were talking about – and mine. ‘For all we know,' I argued, without mentioning the phone call to the morgue, ‘that ship has already sailed. I've been up and down both Lisson Grove and Soho. Besides, if I appear alive and well in front of the bastard who killed me, their reaction might tell us everything we need. And this is my investigation.'

‘If they tried to kill you once, they'll try again. It's not safe.'

‘I'll have big bad Lord Horvath by my side,' I taunted. ‘I'm sure I'll be fine.'

Lukas's eyes gleamed and he suddenly relaxed. ‘True. I suppose I'd better stick by your side at all times.' He opened Tallulah's door and got into the passenger seat without another word.

My eyes narrowed. He'd given in very suddenly. I couldn't help thinking that he'd been manipulating the conversation all along so that we could reach this very point and he could glue himself to me. Bloody vampire.

***

I parked Tallulah smack bang in Lisson Grove, metres away from the spot where Tony had said his last words to me. I'd barely climbed out of the car when a young woman – whose long hair was not only remarkably thick but also russet coloured –strode towards me. ‘You can't leave that thing there!'

I patted Tallulah's bonnet. ‘You must recognise her.' And then, because I couldn't help myself and I'd always wanted to say it, ‘Don't you know who I am?'

She glared at me and opened her mouth to argue but Lukas interrupted. ‘Good afternoon. Is there a problem?'

‘Yes, there's a problem,' she began. ‘In fact—' She glanced at him and stopped abruptly.

Lukas winked at me. ‘She knows who I am.'

‘Sorry. I'm sorry.' She dropped her shoulders and her head. If she'd been in wolf form and had a tail, it would no doubt have been between her legs. Either that, or she'd have presented him with her belly.

‘This woman,' Lukas said, pointing at me, ‘is from Supe Squad. You have heard of Supe Squad, haven't you?'

Her head was now so low that her chin was pressing against her collarbone. ‘Yes, sir.'

‘Well then, you'll know that Supe Squad is permitted free access to this area. That includes parking.'

‘Yes, sir.'

‘You will remain here and look after Tallulah until we return.'

‘Yes, sir.'

I sincerely doubted that was necessary; only a madman would try and steal the little purple Mini, and no amount of vandalism could make her look any worse than she already did. But this little show of power was about far more than the car. There was a great deal about this world that I didn't understand.

‘Your hair,' I said softly. ‘Do many werewolves have hair that colour?'

She mumbled something.

‘Speak up!' Lukas ordered.

‘Yes, sir. Yes, ma'am. Many werewolves are this colour.'

It was my first time being ma'am-ed. I wasn't sure I liked it. ‘Thank you.'

‘Predominantly Sullivans,' she continued. ‘But not exclusively.'

Huh. I nodded and walked towards the sandwich shop. Lukas adjusted his long stride to match mine. When I glanced back, the woman was standing directly in front of Tallulah with her arms folded. She really was going to stay there and guard the car, then.

‘Was that completely necessary?' I asked under my breath.

‘It's how the werewolves work,' Lukas said. ‘To them, hierarchy and power are everything. Everyone knows their place. Sometimes they just need to be reminded of it.' He gave me a sidelong look. ‘Tony knew his place.'

I took that to mean that I didn't know mine. ‘And the vampires?' I enquired. ‘Are you all about hierarchy, too?'

‘When you're a vampire,' Lukas said, briefly displaying his white fangs, ‘there's only one thing you need to know when it comes to power and leadership.' He paused and waited for me to ask.

I sighed. I'd bite. ‘Go on then. What's the one thing?'

He grinned. ‘That I'm in charge.'

I rolled my eyes.

Lukas's expression grew serious. ‘By now, everyone knows that Brown is gone. That young wolf back there knew exactly who you were. Even if she hadn't, Tallulah's presence was more than enough to tell her. If you want to gain respect and set the foundations for a successful role in Supe Squad, you need to assert your authority from the beginning. If you don't, in six months' time every supe in the city will be walking all over you.'

‘I won't be anywhere near here in six months' time,' I said baldly. ‘And in any case, I thought you despised the very existence of Supe Squad.'

Lukas took his time before answering. ‘There are many grey areas in life, D'Artagnan. I do indeed dislike Supe Squad. However, I do not dislike you. And it could be argued that Supe Squad's continued existence is a necessary evil that must be borne. What I definitely do not want to happen is its expansion into something different.'

‘So you want us to remain toothless.'

‘I didn't say that,' he said mildly. ‘I want us,' he gestured towards himself, ‘to remain independent.'

‘I won't be bribed into staying away from real investigations.'

The corners of his mouth lifted. ‘But D'Artagnan,' he murmured, ‘you already said you won't be staying here.'

I cursed him silently. This entire conversation was a waste of time. I came to a halt, turning so that my back was to the sandwich shop, and pointed to the street in front of us. ‘There,' I said. ‘That was where I saw the woman. She appeared there, covered in blood, and ran in that direction.'

Lukas's gaze followed my pointing finger. ‘Well then,' he said, ‘let's go and find her.'

‘We should talk to Lady Sullivan first. She was very unimpressed that I was snooping around.'

‘Let me guess,' he said drily, ‘you backed off immediately. That's exactly the sort of thing that I've been talking about. Where the wolves are concerned, you never back off.'

‘Tony said—'

‘D'Artagnan.' His voice was quiet. ‘If you do things the way that Brown did, you've already failed.'

‘So you believe he was a failure?'

‘Brown? Not entirely. He inherited a shitty situation from the previous Supe Squad detectives, and he did the best that he could with it. His approach was to work from underneath and weasel his way in, while appearing unthreatening. You might think badly of him for taking bribes, as you call it, but I think there was a purpose to that. I think he was paving the way for better things to come. However,' Lukas's eyes hardened, ‘he was also murdered.'

‘So was I.'

He wagged his finger at me. ‘Indeed. You should make sure that doesn't happen again.'

‘Noted,' I said sarcastically. I started to cross the street, making a show of leading the way. ‘Come on then, Lord Horvath. Giddy up.'

‘Yes, ma'am.'