Hugging myself as the demon grew more frenzied, I backed up. He had a personal aim at me, its spirit trying desperately to get free to come for me.
“Gemma!” Justina called. “Get out of here, or it’ll escape.”
Spinning, I ran without being asked twice. Fear caused my legs to shake as they carried me towards the exit. Just as I was about to run under the raised metal slider door, I almost tripped over. My gaze landed on something that was bright red. A chill pierced my heart as I bent down to retrieve whatever it was. I didn’t have to even look at it properly to know.
“Shit...” Dave’s voice made me jump as I walked out of the building, holding the thing I had picked up. “It’s the demon mask.”
Chapter 12
“A demon,” Mary said in her thick Scottish accent. “I’ve never heard of such a thing. Well, not in this lifetime, anyway.”
“It was just lucky that the Hunted Witch Agency were able to send it back to the real underworld,” I breathed as I resisted the urge to shudder. “It took all of their magic, and plenty from the ley line, to force it back.”
Glancing at Dave, I tried to get his attention with a look. However, he was staring at Mary’s wall with the paintings. He had insisted that he accompanied me everywhere I went from now on, even daring to ask if he could stay in my spare bedroom. Of course, I’d declined rather rudely. Bloody cheek of a man to think a woman would allow just anyone to stay. Although, if I was brutally honest with myself, it wasn’t so much as allowing him to stay, as allowing him into my private sanctuary. Did he know how much effort I put into my bookcases most weekends? The man would do nothing but slate me, and it wouldn’t end well. For him.
Mary sat in her armchair, the mug of tea in her hand moving when she shuddered. “That’s terrifying.”
Dave had taken an instant liking to the elderly seer. I could tell by the charm that had surfaced when she’d said that she would’ve been after him if she was fifty years younger.
“As a woman with impeccable taste,” Dave started as he traced his finger over the painting of a hooded figure, “could you tell me how to decorate my new place? I’ve just rented the house opposite Gemma’s.”
Spitting my tea, I choked as I tried not to drop my mug. “You’ve done what?”
Dave was looking at Mary, his face completely serious as he waited for her answer. Had he seriously just ignored me completely?
“Okay, stalker,” I muttered, picking up a cookie and taking a bite. “I’ll put a spell over your new place to stop females being able to enter.”
My smirk was met with a chuckle from Mary, and a long sideways glance from Dave. He ran a hand through his thick hair, which was currently loose around his head, and shrugged.
“I’ll just join you in your bed.”
The crumbly cookie got caught in my throat as he sat next to me. Pushing me to sit forward as I choked to death, yeah really, Dave slapped my back several times, which didn’t help considering the cookie crumbs had gone down the wrong hole, not into my back.
“Stop!” I croaked as Mary shook her head.
Taking a gulp of tea, I managed to get control of myself.
Dave’s smile was wide when both Mary and I looked at him. The bastard needed some payback. I would have to think of a prank to repay him for his boundary pushing.
“I called you here for something important,” Mary interrupted our scowling session. “Please, kindly push your immaturity to one side while we talk.”
Her words were harsh, but her face was soft. She was right, of course. Our bickering did remind me of two children play-fighting in a schoolyard.
“I apologise for our behaviour, Mary.” Dave was all sweet and butter wouldn’t melt. I was tempted to throw my elbow into his side for being a bit of a dick.
“I’ve had a vision of the women who were murdered. They were in a room together, their hands tied, their mouths gagged.”
Mary’s blunt words made us sit up straight and listen. Shit, she had seen something important to the investigation. Considering Kate wasn’t able to see anything, it was interesting to know how Mary could.
“They’re being drugged,” Mary went on, not bothering to see if we had any questions.
We stayed silent, allowing her to talk.
Some seers didn’t dare to say too much. There was an innate fear that what was said could cause events to be set in motion when they were only a possibility.
“A man with a mask is standing over them, his head thrown back, laughter coming from under the mask.”
Swallowing, I clasped the mug between my hands, trying not to let the others see how much my fingers were now shaking. The man in the demon mask was not only after me, he was somehow connected to Joseph Cambridge and the PFF. Finding the mask in the same building had given us the evidence needed to connect the two.
Leaning back in her chair, Mary closed her eyes. “I have a feeling something connects these women. They’re all witches. They all use wands and grimoires. Have you checked to see if there’s a connection between them?”
Nodding, Dave sat forward, even though Mary couldn’t see him. “Yes, I’ve researched them but other than looking physically the same, there’s no other connection.”
Shaking her head slowly, Mary took a loud audible breath. “There is something. I’m trying to see.”
Holding our own breath, we waited silently for Mary to speak again. The woman was powerful, her energy radiating around us. Dave’s thigh pressed against mine, the heat from him causing me to perspire. If I was dead, how was my body still reacting to him? Or, to the temperature, even. Or, to anything? My body wasn’t just reacting to him. No, that was not happening, at all.
“Look for the link. A ring.”
The words made me gasp as Mary opened her eyes and looked straight at me. My insides shivered as her gaze dipped to my T-shirt. She’d not bothered to remark on it when I’d first come in, but now she stared.
“I happen to like unicorns, too,” she muttered.
Almost choking, Dave got up from the sofa. Offering his hand, he helped me to my feet. I must admit to having been a little inspired to wear my reading unicorn T-shirt after seeing Devon the night before. Not that I would let her know that, of course.
“Your vision makes perfect sense to us. We’ll make sure to follow the lead.” Going over to Mary, Dave bent down to hug her goodbye.
What was it with that man and being affectionate? Why wasn’t he a tough and rough man who only melted when a special woman touched his heart? I cursed myself for having these thoughts. Why did I care what Dave did?
“Good luck!” Mary waved goodbye to me when Dave came and took my hand.
His thumb stroked mine as I thanked the seer before transporting us back to my office. As soon as we landed, I snatched my hand out of his, moving to my desk quickly.
“Oh chill, reader-lady, I’m touchy feely on impulse.” Going over to his desk, he fired up his computer. “I didn’t mean what I said about your bed.”
“And, the house opposite mine?”
Flipping open the ever growing Essex Obsessor file as I sat at my desk, I crossed my fingers.
“Ah,” Dave said, looking through the gap between his screens. “That was true. I’m moving in today.”
Like bloody hell he was. I’d put up a barrier spell so he couldn’t get down my street, and we’d be done with it.
My phone burst into tune before I could reply, making me jump. Snatching it up as Dave grinned at me, I flipped him off at the same time as greeting Brianna.
“Hello, Bella,” she cried loudly down the phone. “I have a favour to ask you. A friend of mine has expressed an interest in a blind date. He said that he’s friends with a man called Joseph Cambridge.”
My back stiffened as Brianna waffled on. Was Joseph using my friend to get to me? Did Brianna know anything? Why the hell would she mention the leader of the PFF when she didn’t even know him?
“He’s single, so I mentioned that I had a s
ingle friend who worked at the library. He loved the sound of you.”
Clearing my throat, I squeezed my free hand into a fist. “What has Joseph Cambridge got to do with anything?”
“Oh!” Brianna laughed heartedly. “He said that Joseph was the head of the library guild or something. You know me, Chica, I don’t follow book stuff. Anyway, I said I’d set you up. When are you free?”
“Wednesday night,” I said without hesitation.
The silence on the other end of the phone made me uneasy. The hairs on the back of my neck lifted.
“Gemma!” Brianna screeched, her tone more excited than a puppy greeting a new person, or me with a much anticipated book. “I’m so shocked you accepted my help. Oh, how exciting. We’ll have to find something amazing for you to wear. No book T-shirts, I’m telling you now!”
“Okay, okay,” I muttered as Dave got up from his seat and came closer.
He could tell something was up by the way I was pacing after I’d stood up, my fisted hand going from resting against my head to my hip.
“Lovely! I must go,” Brianna almost shouted down the phone. “Adios, Bella.”
“Brianna!” I called before she could hang up. “Be careful.”
It was too late, she’d gone. Shit, if she was mixing with those group of vampires, I had to get her some protection.
“What was that?” Dave’s first words when I brought the phone away from my ear made me stare.
“The leads keep coming in today. Apparently, Brianna has a vampire friend who wants to be set up on a blind date with me. Brianna told him I worked for the London library, and he claimed to know Joseph Cambridge.”
Dave’s pretty face looked a little confused. To be honest, I was a little bewildered, too.
“She’s in danger,” I said, panic making my voice shake. “The man said that Joseph Cambridge is the director of the library’s guild. I think he must have told Brianna that to gain my attention.”
“He’s sending the message that he knows you’re lying about the library because Joseph has nothing to do with libraries.”
We both stared at one another as reality dawned. The blind date was a set up, but for who?
“So, we need to get you a good outfit,” Dave said as his gaze traced over my figure.
“No, first we need to protect Brianna.”
Shaking his head, Dave pursed his lips. “That’s the problem, isn’t it?”
My brain somehow knew exactly what my desk friend was getting at. “Yep.” I sighed. “We don’t know if he’s working for Joseph, or if he wants to work with me against him. Either way, we need to keep our guard up. High.”
Chapter 13
“The rings,” Kate muttered as we riffled through door-stop books about pagan mythology.
It was ironic being in a library when I had so often pretended to anyone outside the agency that I worked in one.
I’d insisted that we investigate the link between the rings on each victim. The killer had gone quiet, which meant that he was planning his next move. Often, at night, when I’d finished reading, I tried to get inside his mind. However, this case was unusual because of the personal connections to me. How did he know that I was technically dead? If I didn’t have that question on my mind all the damn time, I could try and get into his head.
“Each woman had a wedding ring on, but not one of them was married,” I said, glancing around the room.
The wooden stairs led up to a balcony that overlooked the first floor. I knew that at the top of them, on the second floor, one of my favourite authors was currently setting up for a book signing. Yeah, I may have dragged the whole team to the library with the intention to research what could connect the rings, but it was an excuse. I was going to pop upstairs in half an hour’s time for a cheeky meet and greet with an author who wrote epic fantasy books.
Sitting forward, Dave’s hair fell over the book he was pretending to read. His eyes were closed, his hands the only thing preventing his head from slumping forward onto the book.
“Dave?” I barked in his ear.
He jerked as his eyes shot open, and he sat up promptly, forcing his eyelids wide. As if he looked more awake that way. He looked deranged.
“Welcome back, buddy.” Jake winked as he flung his legs up onto the table.
Smacking his boots, Kate tutted, her pretty brown eyes narrowing on him. “Don’t be so disrespectful!”
A tiny zing of satisfaction flipped through me as Kate dusted down the leather-bound book that Jake had dirtied with his heels.
“I was having a dream about the killer.” Dave rubbed his face with his hands. “He really is a sick bastard.”
“Is that all you’ve got to add to the conversation?” I glanced at the stairs as a couple of people with books in their hands made their way up.
It wasn’t long until I ticked another author off my bucket list. My team wouldn’t even know what I was doing. It would be a little sneaky, considering I was on work time, but did I care? Nope. Books occasionally came before work.
“No, my liege,” he pushed through his teeth. “I also dreamt that your date was awful.”
All three of us stared at my desk friend as he shook himself. His eyes dipped to the page of the book he’d almost been drooling on. Served him right for staying up late to unpack boxes. In the house opposite mine.
“Do you think you’re letting this case get to you, mate?” Jake asked him, his face serious as he watched his friend.
Tapping his hand on the page in front of him, Dave slowly lifted his head higher as he read. “No, I’m alright. I’m just... sleepy. Wait, look!”
Holding the book up, he pointed at the title. Roman History.
Clearing his throat as we leant forward, he started to read. “In the Roman times, a man would give a ring to a woman, not to express his love, but to mark her as his. Women were seen as possessions, and the ring was a brand to show that she was already owned by someone.”
We glanced at one another, each one of us frowning. Kate reached for the book, her eyes closing tightly as soon as Dave placed it in her hand. A gasp came from her mouth as history replayed in her mind. Part of me was extremely envious of her talent. How amazing would it be to see history through the mind’s eye?
“Shit,” she breathed as she dropped the book. “Roman men were brutal to their women. We knew that, obviously, but their obsession over having them as possessions because they believed that they were owed that by society was extreme. The lengths they would go to to show the women that they owned them was...”
As her sentence trailed off my chest squeezed, the air leaving my lungs silently. Taking a deep breath as discreetly as possible, I stared at Kate. My mother had been on at me about the man who my father had lost a bet to before he died. Marriage. Possession. Shit, surely not.
“I need to go to the toilet,” I stammered as I shot up from my seat.
Dragging my bag with me, I ignored the others as they talked amongst themselves. My heartbeat was pounding in my ears as I ascended the steps to the second floor. The rings on the women could just be coincidence. Yes, they had to be. It had nothing to do with me and my supposed fake betrothal. That would be crazy-insane.
“Are you here to see-?”
“Yes!” I blurted as I joined the end of the queue.
It wasn’t too long, so at least I wouldn’t be missed by the others. The few people in front of me were chatting loudly, their excitement about meeting the author making them unaware of their volume. It wasn’t a bad thing. Usually, I would allow myself to get swept up into the excitement. Maybe even speaking to a few of the other readers too. Not today. Today, my head was up my arse.
“Don’t turn around,” a voice said behind me.
Icey chills filtered through my feet and up my whole body. I didn’t instantly recognise his voice, but as I felt into his aura with my magic, I heaved a sigh of relief. It wasn’t the killer.
“You ruined my plan.” The voice was sharp, bitter.
“I will find a way to bring the Essex line to an end.”
Turning quickly, I reached out to grab his arm, but it met thin air. A woman stood a few feet behind me, blinking in a daze. Joseph had detected that I was going for him, which was often a vampire’s strength. Shit, I was getting threatened from all sides. What would that mean for the fake-date now?
“Can you move along, please?” An attendant prompted me.
My breathing eased as my heartbeat calmed. The author smiled up at me, her young face glowing. Aw, she looked like she was living the dream. Why couldn’t my job make me glow like that? Oh, yeah, because I was chasing a serial killer at the same time as trying to cover my dead-arse. No joy was in my immediate future.
“How are you today?” the author asked as I fumbled with my bag.
“Oh, you know,” I muttered, cursing when the book fell to the floor. “Just being threatened by vampires, and worrying about a serial killer. Same as most days, really.” Almost slamming the book on the table when I finally got it into my jelly fingers, I cringed. “I’m sorry.”
Smiling, the author looked up into my eyes. “I live that in my mind most days, hence the books. I understand.”
Stifling the urge to ask her if she actually did understand what it was like to be a Paranormal MI5 agent, I pushed the book towards her. Taking it, she asked what my name was and then wrote a message.
My pissy behaviour had been sparked by the bloody vampire wanker who had ruined my experience of the book signing. How dare he encroach on my personal life? Reading was my sanctuary. Meeting authors was the only thing I did outside of work.
Almost grumbling to myself as I walked away, I glanced down at the message. A chink of sadness filtered through me as I glanced back over my shoulder. The author was talking to the next reader, but her eyes were bright. She was alive. And yet, her words meant a lot to me.
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