Chapter 36

I turned the handle slowly; thankfully, the door was unlocked. The movement made me think of Gunnar because no door remained locked to him. I grimaced; I should probably call him for backup. Ploughing in alone was foolish, though I wasn’t totally alone – I had Fluffy. Besides, I wasn’t sure how much time Connor and Lee had. If Jayden had set Connor’s truck on fire, both men must be incapacitated. If I delayed, that might become permanent.

I turned the handle a little further. The light from the fire would silhouette me but I had no choice. I stood to the side, flung open the door and led in with my gun. To the right was the showroom. I’d been in the warehouse once for a vampire meeting and I knew that other than the showroom and break rooms, the rest of the building was used for storing lumber.

There were plenty of places to hide in the stacks of timber so I ran to the showroom, which would be easier to check. I glanced inside. Everything looked okay so I slid inside. Other than the emergency exit sign, the space was dark; there were no windows. It was a true vampire den. I hoped that would give me an advantage if the fire was Jayden Donaldson’s doing because I had vampire sight on my side.

I crouched low and searched the room carefully. It was full of polished timber samples and had wooden flooring; there were no soft furnishings to absorb my footfalls, which sounded obscenely loud. Luckily it didn’t take us long to check it out. There was nowhere to hide and it was evident that there was no one here.

As I returned to the door, Fluffy grabbed my wrist and pulled me out of sight alongside the wall. I heard the scuff of a shoe on the cement warehouse floor: someone was outside the showroom, and from Fluffy’s reaction I didn’t think it was Connor.

My heart gave a hard thump and Fluffy’s body tensed against my leg. Whoever it was, was coming straight at us.

‘Come out, come out, wherever you are!’ a strange male voice said in a taunting singsong.

Part of me wanted to yell ‘Or what?’, but in a supernatural town like Portlock, you really were only limited by your imagination. I debated my options: I could answer and engage with him or I could keep quiet. For now, the latter was more appealing because I didn’t want to play by his rules. Surely he couldn’t know I was there? He had to be guessing.

After a moment or two, he continued. ‘Fine. Stay there cowering, officer, but your friends will die if you don’t come out. I’ll give you to the count of three. One…’ For fuck’s sake. He could be bluffing, but I couldn’t live with myself if he wasn’t.

I stepped around the door. If someone died because of my action or inaction, I’d never forgive myself. Besides, I was a vampire; I had regenerative properties and as long as he didn’t shoot me right in the heart, I had a good chance of walking away in one piece. Though I’d have felt better if I’d been wearing Connor’s bulletproof vest.

A snicker greeted me as I stepped out. ‘It’s so easy with you law types. You’re so damn selfless.’ His tone made it clear that was an insult.

‘Who are you and what do you want?’ I asked, as if I didn’t know full well.

Jayden Donaldson was looking rough. His beard was straggly and he was close enough for me to tell that he hadn’t showered after a full day’s logging. ‘You’ve been looking for me, little bunny rabbit so I think you already know who I am, don’t you?’ he spat.

I didn’t want to make him any angrier so I said obligingly, ‘Jayden Donaldson.’

‘In the flesh.’ Never taking his eyes off of me, he sketched a mocking bow.

‘What have you done with Connor and Lee?’

He smirked. ‘Let’s say they’re … a little tied up.’

Ugh. Cliché, much? The fire in my gut curled and woke up, but it was sluggish and slow as if the pervasive cold in my limbs was somehow dampening it. Then I thought of Connor being held against his will and the flames leapt into a raging inferno; now I was struggling to contain the anger and the heat.

Focus, Bunny. ‘I wanted to speak to you about your daughter.’

Jayden’s face twisted into a grimace. ‘That bitch? She’s no daughter of mine, the little snake!’

I frowned. ‘Are we talking about the same person? Aoife Sullivan?’

He spat on the ground. ‘She’s a snitch, that’s what she is!’

Did he mean she really wasn’t his daughter, or he didn’t consider her his daughter after she’d double-crossed him in some way? ‘So why did you come to town if not to see her?’

He sneered. ‘For a job. What else? No harm in telling you since you’ll be dead soon.’

‘You’re here to steal the barrier gems,’ I said, my tone resigned.

‘What? Are you mad? I wouldn’t touch that cursed shit with a ten-foot pole.’

I frowned. ‘Then what?’

‘Mackenzie’s got some jewels, big ones. I was hired to steal them but it’s all gone to pot now, thanks to you. He figured out that I’m not who my ID said and the whole thing is blown. It was already tough but it was doable until Aoife gave him an anonymous warning. I was willing to wait until things cooled down but now Mackenzie’s seen my mugshot, he knows what I’m here for. Security was tight before but now it’ll be impossible. You and Aoife have fucked everything up. Just like she did before.’ His face twisted into a dark sneer. ‘And now I’ll do the same to you as I did to her.’

‘It was you?’ I said, surprised. ‘You killed your own daughter because she warned Connor about a thief in the area?’ I let my disgust show in my voice.

He froze. ‘Killed? Aoife?’ His voice was a strangled whisper, his confusion evident. ‘You’re lying!’ he said slowly, trying to work out what my game was. ‘Banshees are damned hard to kill. She’s fine – she has to be! How dare you lie to me, you bitch!’

His confusion and his dismay were believable. Maybe he hadn’t killed her after all. ‘I’m not lying. I have no reason to lie. Aoife is dead.’

Something in my tone must have convinced him because he turned and punched a pile of boards. ‘Fuck!’ he screamed.

Fluffy decided that was the perfect moment to take Jayden down. He ran from the door and, using the darkness, pounded towards the witch. Unfortunately he’d timed it wrong because Jayden was turning to face me with a question on his lips when he spotted the incoming canine.

He instantly raised his hands and I knew something nasty was heading towards my dog. He was going to hurt Fluffy! My rage burned hot, and this time I had no chance of containing it. A blast of fire leapt from my chest towards Jayden. He saw it and leapt aside just as Fluffy reached him, grabbed his arm and pulled him to the floor. I used the distraction and my vampire speed to rush forward and flip him face down. I planted a knee in his back and reached for his arm to cuff him.

Before I could secure the cuff, I hurtled backward and slammed into the wall. My gun skittered away and my breath whooshed out.

As I struggled to pull in air, Fluffy leapt forward with a ferocious growl and grabbed Jayden’s wrist between his jaws. The witch screamed as my dog clamped down hard. No more Mr Nice Fluffy.

Jayden flung up his other hand and Fluffy went sliding back deep into the stacks of boards and out of sight. I heard his sharp squeal as he struck something.

‘I thought you were a fucking vamp, not a fire witch!’ Jayden yelled at me. He flung up a hand and his magic slowly dragged me back up the wall. Then he rushed me.

I wasn’t the same vampire I’d been when Virginia had done something similar; she’d held me off the ground and cut me so I’d bleed out. No, I wasn’t the same at all. I knew I had fire magic and this was the perfect situation to use it.

I let my rage boil up in my centre, and when it was unbearable I let it out. At that point, I wasn’t thinking about a warehouse full of wood – I wasn’t thinking about anything. The fire struck Jayden and he flew back.

I slid down the wall and grabbed my fallen gun as he screamed. I didn’t want him to die like Virginia; I didn’t want to hear his screams in my nightmares. I called the fire back to me and in a second it had flown towards my chest and fizzled out.

‘Stay down!’ I barked.

Jayden rolled onto his feet and I didn’t hesitate; if he wasn’t staying down, I’d have to make him. So I shot him.

He dropped like a tonne of bricks. If he was eliminated as a threat then he wasn’t my focus anymore. I ran past the prone witch and hurried over to Fluffy, who was heaving himself to his feet. He limped for a moment then seemed to shake it off.

‘Are you okay?’ I asked urgently. He gave me a lick. ‘Thank goodness. Can you find Connor?’ He put his nose down and started weaving through the stacks. ‘Good boy, find them!’ I encouraged.

God, let them be alive.