Frankie nodded. “I have no idea if gods are real or not, but I do know there are things in parallel dimensions or other realms, whatever you want to call them. Those creatures sometimes have huge amounts of power. Maybe they're gods or demons or the devil, I don't know, but they are real and some people figure out how to harness some of their power.”
“So this god or demon wants dogs sacrificed to it?”
“I have no idea,” Frankie shrugged. “These sorts of legends are usually full of untruths. There are a few reliable occult manuals, but mostly they're very closely guarded and any sensitive information is never reprinted. Most of these cults are based on Chinese Whispers, things get passed down from generation to generation, and each retelling adds another layer of exaggeration to the tale, but there's usually some basic truth there. Maybe this creature does want Fluffy sacrificed to it, or maybe it's just blood magic and the actual sacrifice isn't necessary.”
“So what happens to the blood he drains from these animals? SOCO said there was very little at the scene.”
“He drinks it,” Frankie explained, looking queasy. “He bleeds them into clay pots, adds some herbal mix and... drinks it.”
“Oh God!” Will turned a little green himself. “Why?”
“He's after eternal life.”
“Why doesn't he just become a vampire? Sounds like he'd be good at it,” he sounded bitter.
“Vampires only change people they like, Will, I doubt any of them would go near a creep like that with a ten foot barge pole.”
Will rubbed his hands over his face as if he was washing without water.
“Okay, let's see if I've got this clear,” he took a moment to collect his thoughts. “This arsehole is killing pets as a sacrifice to a god, who he wants to give him eternal life. Is that it?”
“Pretty much. It's hard to be exact because I'm seeing memories and thoughts which aren't necessarily ordered or coherent. I think the point of drinking the blood is to allow him to... connect with his chosen God. He believes that once connected, he can access some of that creatures power and harness it.”
“And use it to make himself younger?”
Frankie sighed. “That I'm not sure about. I think there might be something else, another step he has to take.”
“More animals are going to die?”
“No,” Frankie shook her head. “I think they're done, which would make sense because magic likes threes. Three animals a night for three nights.”
“Why three?”
“It's a pretty common rule in magic, the power of three, the threefold rule. It pops up all over the place.”
“Why?”
“Why does nature abhor a vacuum? We know a lot about the supernatural but we don't really understand it yet. The three rule is something we've observed a lot though, and I think that this part of his ritual is over.”
“What's next; humans?”
“He wasn't thinking bout that. His focus was on this sacrifice and a few jumbled memories thrown in for good measure.” Frankie looked frustrated.
“But he's not finished?”
“No.”
“Then we're screwed.”
Frankie didn't disagree.
“So what now? Do I bone up on Greek Gods?”
“No. That's like Chinese Whispers with an added layer of storytelling. Even if this is the creature that the myth of Hermes is based on, there are no real answers there.”
“So where do we go from here?”
“We don't. You need to focus on that good old-fashioned detective work you were talking about.”
“And what will you do?”
“I need to reach out to the supernatural community and spread the word. We need to find out who this guy is and what his end game is.”
“Won't he have crossed your agency's path before?”
“I don't think so.”
“Why not?”
“Because he's older than my agency and he's not British.”
“How do you know?”
“Because he thinks in a foreign language. Thankfully his thoughts are accompanied by images, or I wouldn't have seen anything useful.”
“Do you know where he's from?”
“I don't recognise the language. Possibly Eastern European but that's just a guess. I also saw some brief images of America, so I think he's spent time there.”
“So you're going to see Dante?”
“It's doubtful they ever crossed paths in a country that size, but I'll tell him.”
“Do you at least know what he looks like?” Will asked.
“No,” Frankie shook her head. “I saw the events through his eyes. Sorry.”
“Okay, traditional police work it is. Maybe there's a witness or something on the tip hotline.”
“I'll keep you updated,” she stood up to leave but paused. “Will, if you do find him first, please don't go in alone. He does have real power.”
Will considered her request for a moment, wondering how he would explain that to his officers.
“I'll do my best but no promises.”
Frankie nodded and left, knowing that response would have to do.
She got into her car and ate a few wine gums that she kept in the glove compartment. Using her gift always left her feeling weak and shaky and now that her powers had increased, so had the drain they put on her system. Sugar was the only thing that helped.
She took her phone out and texted Dante to see if he was awake. He came back a few moments later to say he was and Frankie headed to his apartment.
When Dante answered the door, he was wearing nothing but jeans and his hair was decidedly mussed.
“Did I interrupt something?” she asked, following him inside.
“No, we're finished,” he said, perching on the arm of the sofa. “If you're here to borrow my spare room, it's still not furnished so you'll just have to bunk in with me.”
“Thank you,” she smiled. “But I'm not actually that desperate yet. Give it another few days though and I might well be taking you up on that offer,” she grimaced.
“Mi casa, su casa,” he shrugged.
Just then the reason for Dante's dishevelled look emerged from the bedroom. He looked to be in his twenties and though dark haired, was every bit as attractive as Dante. He smiled and said hello to Frankie, before walking up to Dante.
“I left my number on the night stand. I had fun last night; call me.”
“I will,” Dante smouldered. They kissed goodbye and the young man left.
Frankie averted her eyes as they kissed, uncomfortable with their display of affection.
“Oh, don't be a prude,” Dante chastised her once the front door had closed behind the other man.
“I'm not, I'm just not... used to seeing that.”
“What? Two men kissing?”
“Yes. It's not that I think there's anything wrong with it, not intellectually but I was raised very traditionally and... I'm sorry.” She sighed.
“So even that handsome stud won't convince you to take me up on my offer to stay here?” Dante smirked at her discomfort.
“A threesome? Thanks but no thanks.”
“Why not? You could do with expanding your horizons, trying new things. Just imagine it, how exciting it would be to do something so wrong,” he taunted her. “Though technically it wouldn't be a threesome. He's only into men, so he would only be sleeping with me.”
“And what, I'd get to watch the two of you?” she raised her eyebrows.
“No, you'd be sleeping with me too and I'd be sleeping with both of you.”
Frankie shook her head at the absurdity of that mental image.
“Can I ask you something?” When he nodded she continued. “Why... I mean, how can you like both men and women? I mean gay I understand but both? We're so different and-”
Dante held his hand up to halt her ramblings before she embarrassed herself any more. He stood up.
“How can you eat beef and chicken? How can you like chocola
te and mints? I like different things at different times.” He closed the space between them and stared down at her, desire shining in his eyes. Frankie almost felt like his prey, as though he was stalking her and a shiver ran down her spine. He picked up her right hand and gently removed her glove.
“Women are beautiful,” he said softly. “Whereas men are handsome. Kissing a woman is soft, their lips are pliant and gentle,” he raised his hand to her face and lightly traced the back of one finger over her cheek, down to her mouth and across her lips. “Kissing a man is rough and hard.” He took her hand and ran her fingers over his own stubble.
Frankie swallowed and her breathing became fast and shallow as Dante slowly walked behind her. She could feel his eyes on her, undressing her, but she felt unable to stop him. Maybe she didn't want to.
“Women are rounded, elegant, smooth” he said, his voice as soft as silk as his fingers gently traced the line of her left hip. “They have no sharp edges.” His lips brushed over her shoulder, and his hand trailed around her waist as he came to stand in front of her again.
“Men are hard, we ripple and bulge,” he took her hand again and pressed it against his abdomen so that she could feel the muscles there.
“Sometimes I like someone soft and feminine; sometimes I like someone hard and firm.” He smiled down at her, and he could see that her eyes were glowing with desire as she stared back; he could hear that her heart was racing and her breathing was shallow. He knew at that moment, he could take her if he wanted to.
He grinned wolfishly and raised her hand to his lips, kissing the back of it. Then abruptly he stepped away, breaking the spell.
Frankie blinked and took a few deep breaths. She felt mortified for letting him get to her like that.
“I uh, I shouldn't have come,” she said, backing towards the door. “I'm sorry I disturbed your... Sorry I disturbed you.”
“Oh, come on, Frankie,” she heard him call after her. “I was only illustrating a point.”
But she was too embarrassed to stay. She pressed the call button on the lift and prayed that Dante wouldn't follow her out. Thankfully he didn't, and she released a sigh of relief as the lift began it's downward journey.
She felt like a fool. Was she really missing sex so much that even Dante turned her on?
No, she thought rationally, Dante was quite likely to turn her on regardless of when she last had sex. He was a very attractive man and he knew exactly which buttons to press. But he had been playing with her and she didn't like that feeling. She wasn't his toy, his pet human, and she hated the fact that she hadn't been strong enough to stop him.
She breathed a sigh of relief as she stepped into the sunlight outside, since there was no way that Dante could follow her out here.
She paused and leaned against the building for a few moments, mentally kicking herself for letting Dante get under her skin, then kicking herself once again as she realised that she hadn't even asked him what she'd gone there to ask.
Well, it was too late now, because there was no way she was going back in there. As she headed back to her car she began formulating a new plan of action. She pulled a hair band from her bag and began scraping her hair back into a messy pony-tail. She needed a secure computer but her home terminal was out of the question while her parents were there, so she called HQ in London and asked them to inform Redford Barracks that she was coming. Their secure communications room would have a computer that she could use.
Frankie quickly wrote a report on the incidents to date and the information she had gleaned about the perpetrator, which she then emailed it to her boss, marked 'urgent'. Since she thought the puppy-killer might have spent time in America, her message also asked him to contact their American counterparts, to see if they had reports on file of similar incidents over there.
Next she called Clara, a local witch she had met on a previous case, and asked her to keep her ears open for any information. Then she phoned Mark, a shapeshifter, and asked him to ask around his friends, reasoning that shapeshifters might well pay more attention to incidents of murdered animals than a regular human would.
Finally she sat back and wondered what to do about asking the vampire community. Her reason for asking them if they had heard anything was the same as asking the shapeshifters; since the animals were drained of blood, that could well peak a vampire's interest. Unfortunately, she only knew how to contact two vampires. Alex, her ex-boyfriend was out, because she didn't want to offer him any encouragement, and the idea of talking to Dante again wasn't something she even wanted to contemplate for a few days.
Besides, asking them was a long shot to begin with, plus they wouldn't really consider killing animals to be a serious crime and so they might not take her seriously. Other MI5 operatives didn't have the vampire option open to them, because they didn't know that vampires existed, and as such she reasoned that it was probably okay to leave them out of this case.
Instead she began looking through the MI5 supernatural database for references to animal abuse, sacrifice, longevity and Hades. Her search brought up over two dozen cases and she began the tedious process of looking through them all.
At four o'clock she took a break and called Will, who updated her on his progress. They didn't have much, only two witnesses who may have seen the killer. One report was someone walking near the home of one of the pets, the other a description of someone walking near one of the the entrances to Corstorphine Hill. Neither witness gave a good description but the information, along with an appeal, would be on the evening news.
Next Frankie checked her email for updates, but no one had contacted her with similar cases. Her boss had replied to her email, questioning the wisdom of pursuing what was little more than than an animal cruelty case, but he had allowed her a few day's leeway because of the suspected supernatural element.
Her boss, Maxwell Holden, had begun his career in the army. He was efficient, a good leader and a decorated war hero, but he was slightly lacking in the compassion department. His nickname was The Robot and it suited his character to a tee.
She brushed his email aside and got back to the case files. As she worked, she was aware of the officers manning the Comm Room looking at her. She knew she was a curiosity but she tried to ignore their stares.
They offered her tea and coffee regularly and they even brought her a sandwich at lunchtime. She could hear them whispering about her, wondering both what an MI5 agent was doing there, and why she never removed her gloves, but they were too professional to ask her.
Frankie stayed until 7pm, partly because she wanted to get this job over with, but mostly so she could avoid her parents for as long as possible, although she knew that she couldn't stay here forever.
She said her goodbyes to the officers present, thanking them for their hospitality and then she headed to her car. The sun had set but the sky was still quite light, so it hadn't been down for long. She headed home with a heavy heart, knowing that her mother would have quite a lot to say about Frankie leaving them alone today. Her mother didn't listen to reason; she seemed to think that if she believed in something for long enough, it would become a reality.
Frankie often wished that were true but sadly she was a realist, bordering on pessimist.
As she pulled up to her house, parking on the road because her parents had parked in the driveway, she could sense there was a vampire in her house, along with two human auras. She mustered her bravado and prepared to face Dante.
“Hi Mum, Dad,” she called as she unlocked the front door and took her coat off. “How was your day?”
Her mother bustled out from the living room, positively brimming with happiness.
“Frankie, darling, you'll never guess who's here.”
Frankie plastered a smile on her face and went into the living room behind her mother.
“Alex!”
Chapter Eight
Alex stood up as she entered. She was pleased to see that he looked hesitant, as though he'd got more than he b
argained for when he came here.
“I'm sorry for barging in, Frankie. I didn't know that you had guests.”
“Nonsense,” her mother cut over Frankie's reply. “It's been lovely to meet you, Alex. He's very welcome, isn't he, Frankie?”
Frankie didn't bother answering her mother, but grabbed Alex's hand and pulled him into the kitchen with her. She closed the door behind them, so that they at least had the illusion of privacy.
“What are you doing here?” she hissed. “I told you I didn't want to see you again.”
“I know and I'm sorry, but I had to see you.”
“Nothing's changed,” Frankie said as she pinched the bridge of her nose.
“You still can't forgive me?” His voice was sad.
“I'm not exactly the forgiving type and pressuring me, bombarding me with gifts and letters isn't the way to earn my forgiveness.”
“Can you ever excuse what I did?”
“Even if I could, I still wouldn't want to be with you. We're too different. You want a woman whose only goal in life is to meet Mister Right and look after him. I want to keep my own life, my job, my independence.”
“Being in a couple means doing what's best for the relationship.”
“No, being in a relationship means I like spending time with someone, not that I want to give up my life and merge into yours.”
“It's too soon,” Alex sighed.
“It's not too soon, Alex. I will always feel this way. You're too old fashioned, your ideas of the perfect relationship are like something out of an Austen novel, but I'm not an Austen heroine. I don't want to spend my days taking tea and making small talk with other womenfolk, because you're too jealous to let me near another man.”
“Is that really how you see me?”
“It is,” she nodded. “And I have a lot on my plate at the moment, so I'd appreciate it if you'd leave.”
She pulled the kitchen door open to find her mother waiting in the hallway.
“Oh, are you done? I was just looking for a newspaper.” Cecilia said, trying to pretend that she hadn't been listening in.
“Alex was just leaving,” Frankie informed her.
“Oh no! What on earth for?”
Past Life Page 7
