by Ruby Loren
“One of the regulars who works as a Scenes of Crime Officer came in and told me. His family’s been notified. It’s just about to be released to the press.” Lucy shook her head. “I was just going to let Charlie know.”
She moved forwards, but January blocked her way with the cake. “Whoa, do you know what happened?”
Lucy shrugged. “He was found in Witchwood Forest. His neck was broken.” She succeeded in brushing past.
January was left standing, holding her cake and wondering exactly what that meant.
She took the next ten tables’ orders (all for the daily special) on auto pilot. If what Lucy said was correct, this death was certainly suspicious. The placement in Witchwood Forest could be a message. Then again - perhaps he’d been out walking and some random killer had bumped him off. Perhaps he’d tripped and it had been an accident. Perhaps it had been some secret from his own private life which had caused it. All the same, January felt a prickle on the back of her neck that told her there was more to this than met the eye.
She glanced across at the table where Jamie Smith was entertaining anyone who would listen with stories about the crime scene. January felt a stab of annoyance at the level of disrespect. She was certain he could be fired if he was caught sharing details like this.
“…That’s right, he was completely naked!”
She hadn’t meant to listen in, but those words reached her ears all the same. Her hand froze as she poured a cup of tea for an elderly lady.
Was there any chance at all that Matt could have been a shifter? He’d been right under her nose all this time, and she’d never caught a whiff of another identity. All I ever smelt was his horrendous aftershave, she remembered, and frowned. It could have been a deliberate cover up. It wasn’t the first time she’d been fooled. Luke’s coconut hair wax had also tricked her.
She carried on pouring the tea, just as the little old lady gave her a worried glance. If he’d been a shifter, she wanted to know exactly what he’d changed into.
Something Charlie had once said was running around her mind: ‘He likes to think of himself as the Italian stallion’. She’d thought it was just an expression, but what if there was some truth to it?
“Hey, it’s twelve. You’d better go.” Charlie had come out of the office, her face paler than usual and without its customary smile.
January removed her apron, glancing at the daily special stand - which only had two pieces remaining on it. Even that failed to give her any sense of satisfaction today.
Trace was already sitting on the bench near the swings by the time January made it to the park. She’d wasted a few minutes circling the area, checking for any signs of other shifters, but she’d found nothing. She assumed it meant that the girl sitting waiting was probably the only trap Luke was hoping to spring today.
January sat down next to her and Trace turned, her brown eyes wide, before she recognised her company.
“Are you always this nervous?” January asked, carelessly.
She regretted her tone when the other shifter flinched.
“Only when I’m in danger of being lynched by the pack,” she said.
January heard an edge to her voice too. It was all so believable.
“So, about last night. What did you want to know?”
“Everything. Everyone wants to know. Everyone’s been talking about how you apparently disappeared with Luke. Then you were seen back in the bar. He skipped his part in the show and was crazy enough to make the audience freak out when he leapt at them. He was after you, right?”
January nodded, wondering why Luke hadn’t told her all of this himself. Perhaps he had, but now he wanted to hear her version. Well, she had nothing to hide about the previous night. “Luke wanted to have a chat, so I obliged…” Fine - almost nothing to hide. “…and after I told him I didn’t want to join his pack because I don’t like anything about it, he changed into a leopard and did that ‘CHANGE’ thing he does.”
Trace’s eyes were wide. “Then what?”
“I told him no and I left, shutting the door behind me,” she added with a smile at that small slice of memory.
Trace was speechless for a moment. “How could you say no? He - you know - makes you do it.” She shivered and January thought she was just as weirded out as any shifter by his odd level of control.
“I just did,” January said with an offhand shrug.
“So, when he ran after you, how did you get away?”
January gave her a sharp look out of the corner of her eye. She should have known that this was where the conversation would lead. Luke wanted to fish for information.
January chewed her lip, thoughtfully. “I just ran. I’m pretty fast. Luke would be able to tell you that himself.”
Trace looked even more nervous for a moment. January realised she’d slipped up. She thought about it for a second and then firmly gritted her teeth.
“I don’t like playing games. I should have said this sooner. I thought I would use the information against you and beat Luke at his own game but…” She shook her head. “I’m just not like that.”
Trace looked confused and more than a little worried.
It was time to bite the bullet. “I know you’re Luke’s girlfriend. Don’t ask who told me that, but I know. I know he’s been sending you in his place to spy on me. I assume you somehow hatched the whole car accident plan too, but…” She paused, remembering that horrific bang, the faint pulse, and the bruising, which surely couldn’t have been faked. “Well, I’m not sure how you did that.”
Trace’s mouth hung open.
“It’s okay. I’m not going to do anything to you. I just wanted you to know that I know and I’m not playing along anymore.” She even tried to give the other girl a ‘no hard feelings’ smile, but Trace just looked shocked.
“But that’s not right at all.”
January cocked her head, hoping she wasn’t going to do this. Was she that desperate to please Luke? The things we do for love… or fear, she thought.
“I am Luke’s girlfriend and I know that’s crazy. Trust me. You’re not the first to point it out. I have my reasons…” She sighed. “You won’t believe it, but he’s actually really sweet and sensitive. Well - he was, anyway. Ever since you’ve been around he’s slipped into his tough pack leader persona full time, so there’s no way you’d know…” She shook her head. “What I’m trying to say is, I can see why you’d think that I’m his rat. I don’t know if there’s a thing I can do to prove otherwise, but can I just tell you how it is anyway?”
She looked at January who inclined her head to show she could continue. After all, she didn’t actually have an argument with the deer shifter.
“Everything I told you is true. I really am scared of Luke finding out I’m talking to you, because his ban extends to me. He’d think you’d got to me and that I was informing on him. Whether you believe me or not, I’m in a bad place, but that was the choice I made. I wanted to contact you because you didn’t leave me on the road to die.” She shot a sideways look at January. “The accident was all too real, trust me.”
January smiled. “Yeah, I realise I probably went too far with that accusation. After all, my car certainly knew it was real.”
Trace grimaced. “And I’ve still got the marks.”
They both smiled for a moment and January thought that the tension had eased.
“Let’s get back to clearing my name. I realised who you were when I woke up in hospital. Being close to Luke, I saw firsthand how worried he was about you.” She bit her lip and January realised she’d probably just said too much. “I didn’t tell you I was with him because I thought that you might…” She sighed and looked embarrassed.
“Kidnap you and use you to blackmail your boyfriend?” January suggested.
Trace laughed, nervously. “Yes. I’m not really on anyone’s side, but I fully admit that I don’t like the way Luke’s acting these days. If I’m honest, he’s probably been heading that way for so
me time. It’s the power, you know.”
January nodded, thinking of what she’d found out about him during her research. Unstable didn’t cover it.
“So, I was thinking that maybe it would be for the best if he were displaced as leader.” Trace glanced around, double checking that no one had heard. “But… I don’t want him to die.” Her eyes grew wide again.
January sat back and thought about that. Was this somehow to her advantage? One thing was for sure - it was a great big mess.
“Hey, have you had any more presents wind up on your doorstep?” Trace asked, obviously trying to steer the conversation towards more neutral territory.
January briefly reflected that you knew things were bad when talking about curses was their ‘neutral ground’.
“Yep, three sharpened bones on the ground pointing towards the house.”
Trace goggled. “That’s a voodoo death curse!”
January shrugged. She’d already figured it wouldn’t be a ‘bless this house with bountiful crops’ curse.
Trace looked at her like she wasn’t even convinced she was real anymore. “You aren’t dead.”
“I’m so glad you noticed.”
The deer blushed and then giggled, and for some reason January found herself joining in.
“Are you sure that all this stuff really works?” Trace asked.
January shrugged. “Maybe that’s something you should ask Luke. He’s the one with the crazy powers,” she said but felt bad for not telling her own side.
It wasn’t like she was the only one keeping her cards close to her chest.
Trace glanced at the Gucci watch on her wrist. “I have to be going. I’m meant to be meeting with him for lunch.” She hesitated, wringing her hands for a moment. “You know, if you just spoke to him more, perhaps you’d see he’s not that bad really. It’s just the pressure and saving face and all that. Maybe you can fix things…”
“Trace…” January paused, not sure what she wanted to say. She didn’t want to crush her hopes. “If you get a chance, ask him about where he came from and see what he says,” she said, not wanting to share too much.
If Trace accidentally slipped in a key piece of information, it would be immediately obvious who she’d been talking to. She just hoped that perhaps Luke would be honest and the deer shifter would learn something more about him. Or, if he lied, she hoped that she’d be sharp enough to pick up on it.
January stayed sat at the bench for a while after she’d gone. Despite the potential for being double-crossed, she liked Trace and her unpredictable sense of humour. She wondered how she’d ended up with a guy like Luke.
January stood up and sighed, knowing that even though her work waitressing was over, the real day’s work hadn’t even begun.
She had a death to investigate.
15
January felt incredibly awkward, sitting by the bar in The Witch’s Wand pub. Gregory hadn’t put in an appearance yet, so she’d caved to the constant passive aggressive ‘what can I get yous’ and ordered a gin and tonic. She’d worried that she would be bothered like she had been the first time she’d entered the pub alone, but everyone was keeping a minimum distance of three metres away from her – even the humans. January felt tempted to sniff her armpits to find out if she really did smell bad, but she knew that wasn’t why they were avoiding her. Even though vampires didn’t mix with shifters, they would have no doubt heard that she was someone to be avoided at all costs.
January sipped her drink, privately thinking they could definitely do with being a lot more heavy handed with the gin.
She’d done all she could to find out more about Matt’s death. As soon as Trace had gone, she’d returned to the tearooms and waited until Jamie Smith had exited at around one o’clock. He had been only too happy to recount the whole grisly experience in finer detail when January had plied him with drink at The Star Inn.
She hadn’t learned much.
Apparently no one knew why he might have been out walking in the forest. The police weren’t sure if it was murder or an accident. As to where his clothes had gone - well, people had all kinds of strange kinks these days, didn’t they?
January sighed and took another sip. Hopefully that information would be enough to bluff with.
“Not here,” Gregory hissed, appearing behind her and instantly grabbing her arm.
She followed him until they stepped out into the alley next to the club.
His eyes flashed angrily. “Why would you come here?”
“To talk to you about…”
He covered her mouth and she looked at him in shock.
“Yes, I know. You should have stayed at home and waited for me. You have no idea…” He frowned and stopped talking. “I can’t say more. Go home, January.”
She opened her mouth to tell him she hadn’t come all the way to his pub for him to brush her off, but he removed his hand and kissed her instead.
She pulled away a few seconds later, feeling strangely empty. “Fine, but you’d better show, or I’ll be hunting you down with a stake.” She smiled at him but it drooped.
Technically, that was exactly what she was supposed to be doing right now.
January had just put a pizza in the oven when there was a knock at the door.
“That can’t be Gregory, because he just lets himself in,” she said aloud, dusting her hands free from flour.
She’d waited up until one. The vampire still hadn’t showed, so she’d decided to fix herself a snack. It seemed likely that he wasn’t coming after all.
“Lewis!” She said, surprised. She’d opened the door and found the band’s drummer standing there. “What’s up? Did everything go okay last night? The owner wanted to talk about some business stuff with me,” she covered, weakly.
Lewis nodded, still not speaking.
“So, what’s up then? Did Mike give you my address?” She was struggling to think of when she might have handed out that information.
Something changed in Lewis’ face at the mention of Mike.
That was when January saw the knife glimmer in the light of the waxing moon.
“Oh, sh…” She lurched backwards, but Lewis’ hand was already punching forwards, driving the blade straight towards her stomach.
A blur of dark grey whisked past her eyes, just before she shut them in anticipation of the pain. When no pain came, she opened them again.
Lewis was on the floor, his head grotesquely twisted. It was a familiar method of dispatch. Gregory stood in front of her with the knife in his hand and a growing red stain on his white shirt
He dabbed it in annoyance.
“I think I’ve solved the mystery of who was responsible for Matt’s death,” she said, unable to keep her eyes off Lewis’ body.
Her voice was calm, but she knew she was in shock. Why had Lewis wanted to kill her?
“Come on, let’s go inside,” Gregory said, taking her arm.
She sat down on the sofa and he took off his dark grey jacket, inspecting it carefully. He made a noise of satisfaction when he didn’t manage to find any holes. It would seem that the knife had only passed through the shirt. And him.
“Are you okay?” She asked, suddenly aware he’d been stabbed.
Gregory’s lips twitched. “I’ve had closer calls. Even if he’d hit my heart, it was just a knife. It probably wouldn’t have killed you either, to be honest. The blade was too small.”
January smirked. “Do you regret being a hero?”
He smiled. “Maybe…”
She hit him with a cushion and then realised what a strange thing that was to do to a goodness-knows-how-old vampire.
His eyes narrowed, playfully. She knew exactly what he was thinking, but it was time to be serious.
“We have to talk,” he acknowledged. “I should apologise for earlier tonight, but you’ll understand soon enough.”
He sat down on the armchair a few metres away and January recognised it as a conscious effort to not be distra
cted.
However, after a few moments of silence, she felt the need to jump in. “You killed Matt.”
“Yes,” he agreed.
“He was a shifter, wasn’t he?”
Gregory nodded. “It’s probably best if I tell things from the start rather than picking parts out. Then you’ll know the situation I’m currently in. Perhaps you’ll even be able to help…” He gave her an unreadable look, which January recognised as the one he gave when there were innumerable thoughts running through his mind.
“You remember that vampire we found on the hill – the one called Basil, that the shifters directed me to?”
January felt her lips set in a line at the memory. She’d been the bargaining chip that night. She nodded in order to avoid bringing that up again.
“He wasn’t the first to die, and he wasn’t the last. There have been a whole spate of killings. It started with the young, newly turned vampires, but some of my older friends have also disappeared. I believe they are dead.”
January was suddenly reminded of her still vacant sister, but shoved that thought away.
“Did Matt have something to do with their deaths?”
An idea was already forming in her head, but she didn’t want to voice it.
“Yes, I know that he was behind them. After we met in the woods two nights ago, I followed that trail until it stopped at the road. I knew the killer had left in a car. Last night, I was in the forest again, and I smelled something familiar.” He paused. “I don’t have the same highly tuned sense that you have in that area, but it was hard to mistake…”
“…His aftershave,” January finished for him.
He looked surprised that she knew. “Did you know him?”
She nodded. “We both work - worked - at the same tearooms. He was in charge of making the coffee. I only found out about his death because he didn’t turn up for work and then a regular came in and told us.”
Gregory looked incredulous and January knew why.
“Look, I didn’t know he was a shifter.” She sighed. “The only easy way to know about someone’s other identity is the way they smell. When someone’s drowned themselves in perfume, the other identity is easily lost.” She glared at Gregory, daring him to challenge her expertise.
