Chapter 50

She gawped at me incredulously. ‘Under arrest? Are you fucking kidding me? You dare arrest me? I'm a council member! Without me, you'd all be dead!'

‘Even so, you kidnapped a woman, cursed several members of the community almost to death, sponsored the black market and tried to steal the gems that were protecting the town.'

‘They were my gems in the first place!' It was notable that she said nothing about the other accusations. ‘The evil spirits didn't even realise I already had them through my sheer strength of will. The kidnapping wouldn't have been necessary if they'd realised I had them in my possession all along. And I took your mom on purpose, to point you in the right direction! I held your mom in my own damned funeral parlour, I even gave you the co-ordinates! I did everything but write Liv has her in big letters. It's not my fault you couldn't put it all together! With my actions, I saved this town!'

I winced internally. That was a direct hit. Why hadn't I checked the co-ordinates sooner? I guess I'd just been running down the roads of panic, not thinking straight. It turns out you don't do your best critical thinking when a family member is kidnapped.

Regardless of all of that, I had a job to do, even if it was unpleasant. ‘My job is to arrest you and let the council decide your fate. Don't make this harder than it needs to be,' I said firmly.

She was visibly furious but she allowed me to put the magic-cancelling cuffs on her wrists. ‘I won't forget this, Barrington,' she hissed.

I winced a little; she probably wouldn't but that couldn't influence my actions.

We'd come in Liv's car, which was awkward because I had to drive her back to the Nomo's office. I didn't think the council would allow her to remain incarcerated for very long; she was integral to the whole town so they'd probably cut her some slack.

Connor followed with Lee and the others after they had buried the goat and taken the elemental witches back to the hotel.

Gunnar and Sidnee, who had been busy keeping the rest of Portlock safe as we dealt with the gems and the barrier, were open-mouthed as I took Liv in and locked her up in the magic-cancelling cell. Posie Payne was in the next cell and she couldn't stop staring. She must have been as shocked as I was that I'd arrested Liv.

Gunnar shook his head. ‘Liv's gonna make you pay for that one.'

‘She cursed Sigrid and Stan. Do you want me to release her?' I asked sharply.

His head whipped round to stare at me and his voice dropped low. ‘Liv was the curser?'

‘Yes,' I confirmed.

His face flushed and fury boiled in his eyes. ‘I'll kill her,' he snarled.

I placed a hand on his arm. ‘She was under the influence of the cursed gems,' I pointed out. I didn't add that Liv had only cursed people she had a genuine beef with; the gems" influence had made her carry out the actions but I suspected the intent was already there. On some level she'd wanted to hurt Stan and Sigrid: Stan for his disrespect, and Sigrid because she stood in the way of Liv getting with Gunnar.

My boss ground his teeth; his fury wasn't going to die down easily. He stormed out of the door and I figured he needed to walk it off. Meanwhile I told Sidnee everything that had happened and we filled out so much paperwork that I could hardly see. Luckily Connor came back to save me a couple of hours later.

The barrier was up, Mum had been saved and Liv and the gems were de-cursed. It had been a monumentally long day – and even now it wasn't done. Mum and I had things to discuss.

Connor drove me home. ‘Do you want me to come in with you?'

‘I do, desperately, but I need to talk with my mum first.' I looked into his eyes and placed a hand on his warm cheek. ‘You don't deserve to be thrust into my family drama.'

He chuckled. ‘You'll have to face mine some day, so it's only fair.' The thought warmed and scared me in equal measure; I loved that he envisaged introducing me to his family – but his father was the vampire king of the US.

He kissed me gently. ‘Call me later.'

‘I will.'

I climbed out and waved him off then took a deep breath and walked into my house. Poor Fluffy and Shadow had been ignored for most of the night and I felt bad. Hopefully we'd have time to spend together now that the curses and the barrier had been dealt with.

I brushed my hand over Shadow and gave Fluffy a full body cuddle. ‘I'm super happy to see you both.'

Mum was sitting on the sofa; it looked as though she'd had a shower and was ready for bed, but she was clearly waiting up for me. ‘We need to talk,' she said softly.

‘Yeah,' I agreed.

Neither of us was quite sure where to begin. Finally she spoke. ‘Bunny, I'm so sorry for everything. I really am.'

I nodded. ‘I think I believe you. But regardless of how sorry you are, what you and Dad did to me will take me a long time to deal with.'

‘Of course. I understand.' She searched my face. ‘But you do have magic?'

‘I do. And it's dangerous because it makes me a rare vampire – a hybrid. My very existence is forbidden.'

‘You took a great risk giving me the magical boost when Connor and his vampires were nearby.'

‘Connor knows what I am. I have nothing to fear from him. We're fated mates.'

‘Oh!' Tears filled her eyes. ‘I'm so happy for you.' She moved as if to hug me but stopped and let her arms drop. ‘Well, that's lovely news.'

‘I don't want you telling Dad,' I said firmly. ‘I don't trust him.'

She blanched but nodded. ‘If he could come here and explain himself, maybe you could start to repair things.' She paused. ‘I'd love to come back, if you'd let me.'

She sounded so hopeful that I couldn't quite bear to quash her. ‘Maybe. Give me a bit of time to get over all of this.'

‘Of course.' She gave a tremulous smile. ‘Oh!' She patted her pocket then drew out a piece of paper. ‘I called some people when I got back here. This is the spell to uncurse the werewolf.'

I put it into my own pocket; I'd give it to Anissa tomorrow. I was running on empty and I had nothing left to give for today.

‘Is there anything else I can do to make it up to you?' Mum asked quietly.

I shook my head. I honestly didn't know. This would take time. She'd hurt me as a child and I understood why; in her mind she'd thought she was justified. But the truth was that I had deep psychological scars.

‘You can't.' I said simply. ‘I have to deal with your choices – you have to deal with your choices. Right now, I'm still deciding if having you and my father in my life is a choice I want to make.'

Mum looked like I'd punched her. She stifled a sob. ‘I wanted you to have everything.'

‘I know, Mum, and that's why we're talking now. I understand that.'

‘Elizabeth…'

I put up a finger to stop her. ‘You can start by calling me by my name.'

‘I've been trying but it's hard to remember. Bunny, I do love you. It's taken me a lot of therapy to realise how damaging it must have been that I hardly ever told you that, let alone showed it.'

‘I love you too, Mum. That's never been in question.' I had always loved her, despite her many and varied flaws.

‘Forgive me,' she begged.

I took a deep breath. ‘I don't know if I can. Like I keep saying, I need time.'

She slumped and looked away. ‘I never knew why Nana called you Bunny. It hurt to know you two had secrets – you had a far closer relationship than we did and I was jealous. It was petty and I'm sorry, but it's the truth.'

I looked at her in surprise. She'd never asked me or her own mother, and she was hurt?

‘It's simple, really. Nana read Peter Rabbit to me when I was very small and she said that Peter was like me, unrepentantly curious. She started calling me her little Bunny Rabbit, which morphed to Bunny.' It was a lot simpler than all the elaborate stories I gave everyone else, a pet name between a grandmother and her granddaughter, a name filled with love and laughter in a home with none of those things. The name that reminded me that I was loved.

Mum's eyes filled with tears again. ‘I should have been there, darling. That should have been me reading to you, concocting pet names. I'm so sorry.'

I could tell that she was. It was a first step, a baby step, but still... ‘I'm sorry too, Mum. I've got to go to bed. I'm exhausted. Talk to you tomorrow, okay?'

She nodded regretfully. ‘Goodnight, darling. Sleep well.' She took Arabella and went to her room.

I fed my animals and let Fluffy out. After that I showered and climbed into bed with my pets snuggled close. I tugged out the book on fire elementals and started to read the introductory chapter, but it was an old grimoire and it was heavy going, not really bedtime reading. I was struggling to keep my eyes open.

I was relieved when my phone rang and I had an excuse to put down the book. Connor calling. That was exactly what I needed. ‘Hi!' I answered happily.

‘Hi, doe.'

‘I'm tired,' I warned him.

‘That's okay. I'm tired, too, but I needed to hear your voice.'

I melted. ‘Tell me about your day.' Then I drifted to sleep with the sound of his warm baritone voice in my ear.