Chapter 41

Thomas was talking to Sidnee when we arrived. She was curling her hair around her finger and looking distinctly shy – shy but interested. Thomas was going to need to move slower than a glacier after all she'd been through with Chris.

He gave us both a nod but it seemed his smiles were reserved for Sidnee. Looking a little flustered, she handed him the completed paperwork.

‘Let's go,' I said impatiently. We needed the seal from the council chambers for it to be valid. Thomas gave Sidnee an intense look as he turned to leave then the three of us and Fluffy walked briskly to the council chambers at the mayor's office.

Once there, the men filled out what they needed to, signed and sealed them. Thomas said he'd stay to file it in the records while Connor, Fluffy and I headed back to Josephine's house. I had the five-mile drive to work out how to get inside her gate. If it was too strong for two vampires to break in, we could go over the top of it or I could try to melt it to slag with my fire magic. I was up for anything at that point. My anxiety was riding high.

We pulled up to the gate and Connor pressed the button.

‘I told you to go away,' the disembodied voice said.

‘This is Officer Barrington, Ms Payne. I have a warrant for your arrest. I suggest you open the gate and come quietly.'

There was a manic laugh, then it cut off sharply as she turned off the intercom. ‘The hard way it is, then,' Connor said calmly.

We hopped out of the truck as Fluffy watched through the windshield. Connor examined the gate, determining which way it opened: his gate slid back, but hers looked like it swung up, which seemed fancy and more breakable, but who was I to judge? I lived in council housing.

‘I think if we both lift, we might be able to override the mechanism,' Connor said. ‘It depends on how tough it is.'

‘I'm willing to try. Our last resort is me torching it and that seems more destructive and time consuming.'

He nodded. We placed our hands under the gate and got a secure hold. ‘On three.' We counted out loud, ‘One, two, three,' and heaved.

At first nothing moved other than a tiny bit of give, then there was a grinding sound and the gate lifted upwards. We didn't raise it far enough to drive under, but we could bend over and walk through. I grabbed Fluffy, the warrant and the black bag, and we headed up to the house.

‘Damn,' I said. ‘I should have asked Gunnar if there were any notes on what kind of magic user she is. I don't want to get another fireball to the face.'

‘She's threatened to turn me into an ice cube, so my money is on a water witch.'

‘Wonderful.'

‘Can you throw a fireball on demand?' Connor asked.

‘If I'm angry, but I don't have a lot of experience and I haven't practised much. I'm full of anger right now, though, so here's hoping.'

‘Hopefully she's a weak witch,' he said.

Her house was as big as Connor's but it was older, with a dark, gothic feel. ‘It certainly looks like a witch's house,' I said. ‘I wouldn't be surprised if she has some children locked up eating candy.'

Connor agreed. ‘It has creepy vibes.'

The doorknocker was a cat set against a cauldron base. I pushed the doorbell then knocked three times, mostly because I wanted to. She didn't answer. I did it again before I tried the knob. Locked. Dammit, I needed Gunnar. ‘Can you pick the lock?' I asked Connor. He had some expertise with lock picks but I wasn't sure if he had them with him.

‘I can,' he said blandly, ‘but I don't need to. I have a key.' He reared back and kicked the door right above the latch with his steel-toed boot. It exploded inward with an ear-splitting crack then banged into the wall.

‘Nice key.' I grinned.

‘It's a universal one,' he quipped.

I heard a gasp; Payne was ten feet away from the door. ‘You broke my door! I'm calling the cops.'

‘Honey, I am the cops.' I said flatly. Connor gave her a lazy smile; he was having fun.

‘I'm going to put an official complaint into the council,' she harrumphed. ‘You can't go kicking in people's doors – that's police brutality.'

‘Fine, go ahead.' I held up the warrant. ‘Josephine Payne, you are under arrest for the kidnapping of Victoria Barrington and for using an illegal curse against a member of the community.'

She backed away from me and turned to run. Big mistake: I caught her in three strides. I grasped her arm and twisted it back to cuff her, but her skin became icy and slick and my hand slipped off.

She turned and threw a spell at me. It was bitter cold and I started to shiver, but her action triggered my rage. Fluffy growled. When she tried to throw ice at me, he jumped up and knocked her back. She fell hard on her butt.

‘Good boy,' I praised my dog. Werewolf. Whatever.

Connor tried to move around me to help but fire was rising in my core. I grabbed Josephine again and this time my hands lit up with flames. I didn't even know I could do that. Cool.

Josephine yelped and I let my flames die. ‘Try the ice thing again and you'll feel the heat,' I threatened.

‘Please,' she snorted, ‘you're a warm-up act. I'm the main event.' She chucked more ice at me. ‘I'm going to freeze you in your tracks.'

I dodged her ice easily. Her smack talk needed work. ‘The only thing that's freezing are your assets,' I snarled as I threw a fireball at her. Okay, maybe my smack talk needed work too. ‘You're under arrest!' I threw three more fireballs in rapid succession, and whilst she jumped and dived out of the way I got up close and grabbed her. I had the magical cancelling cuffs on her before she could say ‘Ice Queen'.

The fight dropped from her as rapidly as her magic. ‘Secure her in your truck,' I instructed Connor. ‘Fluffy and I will search the house.'

Connor nodded, but first he held Payne's gaze and said, ‘Tell no one that Officer Barrington can control fire.'

Payne's eyes glazed as she nodded.

He'd compelled her, not something he did often, but given that he'd said the vampire council would kill me if they found out I was a hybrid, it seemed a sensible step to take. I should have thought of that before, but all I'd been focused on had been finding Mum. I needed to do better, but I'd worry about that later. Now, I had to find Mum. I prayed she was here.

The property was irritatingly large and it took entirely too long to search every nook and cranny. Frustration raged through me. There was no sign of Mum but what I did find was a lovely textbook of curses with a couple of them tabbed: the one from the dock, and the one we'd found on Jeff. We had our curser all right, but where was my mum?

‘Any sign of her?' I asked Fluffy. ‘Any scent?' He looked at me then very distinctly shook his head.

If there was no sign of her here, she was being held somewhere else. I logged the book as evidence, bagged it and took it back to Connor's truck where he and Josephine were sitting in stony silence. Her jaw clenched when she saw her book in an evidence bag, but she didn't say anything.

I needed answers. Connor looked at me enquiringly but I shook my head. He started the truck and took us back to the Nomo's office, where I hustled Josephine into the interview room. After reading her the Miranda rights, I started questioning while Fluffy kept an eye on her. ‘Where's Victoria Barrington?'

She looked at me blankly. ‘Who?'

‘I know that you demanded protection money from the black-market stallholders. I know you cursed the people on the docks, and I know you cursed Jeff. You're in a sticky position right now and the only thing that will help you is if you co-operate. So let's do this again. Where did you take Victoria Barrington?'

She shook her head. ‘You're a shit cop, aren't you? I didn't kidnap that bitch! I have no idea where whoever the fuck you're talking about is.'

I stared at her for a long minute; she might be despicable and a terrible neighbour, but I had the distinct feeling she was telling the truth.