Chapter 5

Once I was back at the dock, Gunnar shot me a relieved look. ‘You found the curse.' With his own rage settling, it wasn't even a question.

‘I found it.'

With the curse neutralised, there was no reason to keep the crowd cuffed; they were victims, in the wrong place at the wrong time. We released them after we'd taken some brief statements. They were shift workers at the fish plant who'd come down to the dock for a few beers. There was nothing illegal in that, for all we were a damp town.

The statements were pretty much the same: they all confirmed that they'd had an indescribable feeling of rage then found themselves down here fighting with their friends. They were confused and their memories were fuzzy, so no one could remember what had caused their anger. I shuddered. I often felt that my sharp memory was the sole weapon in my arsenal so losing it… It didn't bear thinking about.

Gunnar told the crowd that they'd walked into a curse; if they had tiredness or weakness that they couldn't explain, they should go to the hospital immediately. Tense and nervous, the group dispersed.

All their statements confirmed that going to the docks had been spontaneous and wasn't a regular occurrence, so nobody could have known in advance that they would have been there at that time. That told me it was more than likely that they hadn't been the targets of the curse.

They were lucky that Mafu had walked by, seen the beginnings of a scuffle and knew enough to stay out of it. That begged the question: who was the curse really designed for? One of the fishermen? Edgy? Or was it an ill-conceived prank just to trap someone? I bit my lip. I didn't think so: this didn't feel like a kids' screw-up.

We spoke briefly to Mafu. He'd seen someone watching the drama unfold from the bushes but they'd scuttled away before he could speak to them. We checked the area carefully but all we found were some small footprints in the mud. If the Peeping Tom had been the perpetrator, they'd had small feet. We took some photographs and Gunnar made a mould of the shoe print in case it was the curser watching the action unfold.

After all that, we went back to the Suburban. There wasn't much of a scene to save or analyse, since I'd scrubbed the shit out of it. The thought made me glance towards the water again but I didn't see so much as a hint of gold. The water dragon was long gone; it had done its thing – protected the town – and now it was back to whatever water dragons did in their spare time. Water polo, maybe.

‘How's your mom?' Gunnar asked.

Now that was a loaded question. I shrugged. ‘She's fine, I guess,' I said tightly, trying to keep a lid on my emotions whilst I was working.

He threw me a sidelong look. ‘I'm sorry I'm keeping you from her,' he said mildly.

‘I'm not!' Something about Gunnar often reminded me of a priest: his warm demeanour invited confession, and who was I to refuse? With a sigh I told him, ‘Apparently she's a witch, a fire elemental like me. She never told me. Ever.'

His eyes were sympathetic. ‘I'm sorry, Bunny. That's hard.'

‘Yeah, well… It was a double whammy because it turns out my dad's a witch, too. I feel like they were sniggering up their sleeves at me my whole life.'

‘Hey,' he objected softly. ‘Come on now. I bet it was hard for them. We're supposed to keep the supernat world hidden from ped folk.'

‘You're supposed to be on my side,' I said, annoyed.

He grinned. ‘Oh, I am. Always. They're absolute fuckers. Scum of the earth.' He paused. ‘Is that better?'

I laughed. ‘Yes, actually it is.' I sobered. ‘I do get that. I was ped, now I'm not. The rules – the laws – have changed. So okay, she kept it from me for most of my life, but she could have told me after I was turned.' I bit my thumb as I thought. ‘Maybe me getting turned into a vampire was nothing to do with me – maybe it was one of their enemies.' I sighed. ‘Why did she wait so long to tell me the truth?'

He was silent for a beat. ‘I can't answer that – but you know who can.'

I puffed out a sharp breath. ‘My mum?'

‘You got it.'

I looked out of the window. I hated that he was right when I wanted him to be wrong.

We were pulling into the Nomo car park. ‘How about you bring your mama over for supper with me and Sig tomorrow? You know how Sig feels about you. She'd love to meet your mom.'

My knee-jerk reaction was to refuse because my mother would judge everything about their gorgeous home. I liked Gunnar and Sig too much to subject them to any ridicule from her, but at the same time they could definitely handle it – handle her. And if both sides of my life had to meet, far better to control the situation. ‘Sure.'

Gunnar beamed. ‘Great. Sig will be thrilled.'

She won't be once she's met my mum, I thought darkly, but I kept the thought to myself. Fluffy had no such compunction: he growled then barked a worried sound.

‘You're invited too,' Gunnar said, winking at my dog, Fluffy's head lowered; he wasn't happy. He didn't like my mum, and he was a good judge of character.

We went into the office and I checked in with April. The night had been slow. ‘Go on,' Gunnar said. ‘Get yourself home. Your shift will come soon enough.' He wasn't wrong: Portlock didn't believe in being dull and there was rarely a quiet moment. I needed to seize this one.

I collected my animal friends and set off home. Since I doubted I'd have any privacy once I got there, I called Connor as I was walking.

‘Hey, doe. How's it going with your mom?' he asked.

‘Great,' I said, faux brightly. ‘She's been lying to me my entire life. She's a fire witch.'

There was silence. When he spoke, I heard concern and thinly veiled anger in his tone, anger on my behalf. He really was the best. ‘Do you want me to come over?' he asked tightly. ‘I'll hold your bag while you kick her ass.' Now that was the reaction I'd wanted from Gunnar!

I grinned and my heart lifted a little. ‘I can't tell you how much I appreciate that offer. And I do want you here, more than anything … but I'd better have it out with her. And I kind of promised to take her to the Garden of Eat'n.' I was regretting that olive branch now; the curse had whipped a lot of rage through me and it still hadn't quite settled.

Time for a change of subject. ‘How's John? Did you get him settled okay?'

‘No problem. He's got a private room. I keep a bunkhouse and a few duplexes on the property for strays, new vamps, or vampires and their families that are between housing. Not everyone is lucky enough to have a daylight charm.'

I couldn't imagine not having one anymore, being restricted to the shadows… My hand clasped the charm at my throat. I remembered all too well the cloying darkness of London. ‘Thank you for helping him,' I said. ‘John is a good man. He helped me escape London even though it was to his detriment.'

‘I'd never leave a vampire in need, especially not one that helped you.'

‘I know, but I'm annoyed it was dumped on you because someone – Octavius or whoever sent John – didn't think about him.'

‘Perhaps someone else was supposed to have set it up. In big organisations, it's not hard to drop the ball. Someone must have arranged appropriate travel measures or he'd have burnt to death.'

‘You're right. Thanks for sorting it, though. I do appreciate it.'

‘I'd do anything for you, Bunny.' His voice was husky. ‘I miss you. You know I'm here if you need me. You're not alone in this, okay?'

I nodded even though he couldn't see me. It scared me a little how essential Connor was becoming to my life, but I thanked every deity I could think of that I had him by my side so we could face the coming storm together.

I was confident it was going to be a raging one.