Chapter 3

Having let the three ringleaders go with a warning, I returned to the office. I was amused to see Shadow curled up in Gunnar’s lap, his happy purr filling the office.

Yet again Sidnee cancelled our lunch date. I could hardly blame her after I’d hauled her out after hours but I couldn’t deny the sting of disappointment; I’d been really looking forward to seeing my bestie. Although I knew she was dealing with a lot of crap, I missed my friend. Even though I’d only had a friend for such a short while, I’d grown accustomed to having someone to laugh and joke with. Things were a little flat without Sidnee in my life.

I showed Gunnar the photographs and he gave me a list of names for the protestors that he recognised. We made an unofficial file and I attached the photographs, ready to start to build a case if one was needed.

The phone rang yet again. I answered, feeling a hot lick of foreboding in my tummy. The caller didn’t identify himself but went straight into it. That was always a bad sign. ‘Someone needs to come to…’ The man rattled off an address, his tone urgent and slightly panicked.

‘What’s the issue?’ I asked, pen poised.

‘We’ve had a break-in. Tell Gunnar that the fire gemstone has been stolen! Hurry!’ He hung up. What was it with these people and hanging up after only giving the most minor details? I grumpily scrawled down the address, not because I couldn’t remember it but for the official records. Contemporaneous notes were important in legal cases.

I knocked on Gunnar’s door before entering. ‘Someone called and said the fire gemstone has been stolen,’ I announced.

All the colour drained from Gunnar’s usually ruddy face. ‘Fuck,’ he said. I blinked; it was rare for him to swear.

‘What does it mean?’ I asked. ‘Why is the gemstone a big deal?’

‘For one, it’s cursed. For two, it powers the barrier.’

‘Fuck.’

‘Indeed. We can talk in the truck.’ He stood up. ‘Get Fluffy’s vest, I’ll put Shadow in his carrier while we’re out.’ He gently cradled the sleeping kitten.

I did as I was told. The theft was definitely a big deal if Gunnar was risking Sig’s wrath by going out. I secured Fluffy’s K-9 vest, Gunnar put some food and water in Shadow’s crate and we headed out back. ‘Won’t you be in trouble with Sig?’ I asked nosily.

‘She’ll understand,’ he grunted.

‘You want the address?’

‘Don’t need it. I know where to go.’ He was being laconic, a sure sign he was stressed. Since he’d been sick, he’d been delegating more and more to me; the fact that he was out on the road with me told me how serious this was. That and the fact he was white-knuckling the steering wheel.

‘There are four cursed objects that keep the barrier up around Portlock,’ Gunnar told me. ‘They are placed in four key places, and each one is guarded by one of four of the supernatural groups in town. The fire gem is guarded by the vampires, the water gem by the magic users, the earth gem by the water shifters, and the wind gem by the land shifters.’

Uh-oh: now I had some context for the panicked call. The fire gem – one quarter of the magical gemstones powering the barrier – had been stolen. ‘Is the barrier going to fail?’ I could hear the quiver in my voice.

‘No, it’ll take more than that, but it’ll be impossible to strengthen it to its full force until we can return the fire gem to its place.’

That was something: death by barrier monster wasn’t imminent, though it felt like only a temporary reprieve. For the last few weeks Liv had been dashing about like a mad woman shoring up places where the barrier had thinned, been ripped or otherwise damaged. It seemed undeniable: someone was deliberately trying to bring it down.

We pulled up to a single-storey log cabin that was almost invisible in the trees. Next to the house, behind a couple of other vehicles, was a familiar white truck with Kamluck Logging on the side: Connor. Of course he’d be there: the fire gem was the vampires’ responsibility and it had been taken on his watch. I winced. He was going to be pissed off.

Despite knowing that, I still had butterflies flitting around my stomach at the thought of seeing him. The butterflies didn’t get how serious the gem thing was.

Connor and I – we were complicated. We hadn’t been able to get around to our planned date out of town yet, but there was something between us that was so strong that it felt almost inevitable. Even so, I still wasn’t quite sure how to act around him. I craved him even more than my morning brew, and the one kiss we’d shared had been fire. I’d thought about that kiss more than was healthy, replaying the moment with my blessedly sharp memory.

Every time we accidentally touched, it was electric. Literally. There was a little zing between us that Connor had promised to explain on our date. My curiosity was killing me, and since I wasn’t quite sure when the date would be, I’d taken to snooping through Gunnar’s books to find out more about that little electric flash. So far no dice, but it wasn’t for want of trying.

As always, Connor’s curly hair was tousled and he was dressed in jeans, boots and flannel. I had recently discovered that I had a thing for flannel. Despite the seriousness of the moment, he gave me a lopsided smile that heated me in all sorts of interesting places.

‘Hey,’ I greeted him, my voice a little too seductive for a scene of a crime. I cleared my throat. ‘Hey,’ I tried again.

His smile widened. ‘I preferred the first one.’

‘Any signs of the intruder?’ Gunnar interrupted our flirtation.

I already knew the answer: Connor wouldn’t be making eyes at me if the thief was still around. ‘None,’ he confirmed, turning businesslike.

As we walked up to the front porch, Connor moved next to me, not touching but close enough to feel like I could touch him if I wanted to. I wanted to but it wasn’t professional, so I didn’t.

Gunnar knocked on the solid front door.

Before it opened an explosion rocked us. We all ducked instinctively. It hadn’t come from the property but a few blocks away. A plume of fire and smoke was already rising. Gunnar was visibly torn.

‘I’ll stay here,’ Connor offered. ‘You two go to the explosion.’ Gunnar clapped him on the shoulder and we ran back to the SUV.

‘What blew up?’ I wondered aloud, after my ears cleared. I didn’t think there was a factory or a business anywhere in this area that would cause such a violent explosion.

‘Let’s go see,’ Gunnar replied, and we took off to where we could see flames broiling and smoke rising. It was only three blocks away so we arrived in record time. We parked at a safe distance from a house that was a total shambles and burning swiftly.

I jumped out of the car to see if there was anyone to save, but as I walked towards the house the heat hit me like a truck. The fire was already burning so hot – too hot? Something in my gut awoke and stirred, and suddenly I yearned to add to the fire. I watched the flames dance and crackle: they were majestic, hypnotic.

Gunnar snagged my wrist, breaking the moment. I took a deep breath and willed the heat in my stomach to go away. ‘There’s nothing we can do right now,’ he said regretfully. He was right. Thankfully the fire engines’ sirens were already audible.

Neighbours were gathering at a safe distance, gawking. ‘Does anyone know who lived here?’ I yelled.

‘It was empty,’ a man called back. ‘The family moved to Anchorage last month. They had it up for rent.’

Empty. Thank God. Knowing no one was dying in the flames, I relaxed a little. I looked at Gunnar. ‘I wonder what caused the fire?’

He shook his head. ‘No idea. Gas, maybe?’

That made me smile faintly. When I’d accidentally-on-purpose set my house on fire, I’d blamed it on a gas explosion, too.

I was still keeping my fire magic under wraps – even from Connor. He knew though that I was a different kind of vampire. Yay: I was back to the label I’d borne most of my life. Lucky me.

The fire engines screamed in and the fire officers piled out. In minutes they’d ascertained that no one was in the property, they had a hose aimed at the flames and the true battle began.

Gunnar approached the fire chief. ‘Let me know what you find about the cause of the fire.’

The chief nodded amiably. ‘I’ll copy you in on my report, though I’m going to say that this fire is too hot to be natural. It was started by magical means.’

In my head I pictured the poison witch, Shirley, and her fireballs. And me with mine.

‘Appreciate that.’ Gunnar turned to me. ‘Since they don’t need us here, let’s head back to the other situation.’ He was clearly choosing his words carefully in front of the fire chief; he didn’t want to start mass panic about the jewel theft.

When we climbed into the Nomo vehicle, Fluffy whined a little and gave me a glare. ‘Sorry we left you, bud,’ I told him. ‘No one lived there, so it’s okay.’ He gave a sharp bark and a doggy grin. I was forgiven. Dogs are the best.

We drove back to the break-in and this time we actually made it into the log house. Progress. One step forward: here’s hoping it wasn’t followed by two steps back.