by Al K. Line
Then I collapsed and didn't wake up until sixteen hours later. So all in all a pretty decent job.
I awoke to Faz opening the curtains in the bedroom. He smiled at me then said, "Dancer called. There's a problem with a zombie, so he wants you to go up to the compound and check it out."
I groaned, rolled over, and put a pillow over my head.
An Afterthought
After everything calmed down, something continued nagging at me for days. My mind kept racing back to what Intus had said in the cavern after she'd turned the machine on and we'd scarpered.
"It needs a human to dial it in. It's always humans."
She was right, but she was wrong too.
I went to make a call on an ex-human.
"Kate, so pleased to see you so well," said Oskari with a wide smile like an albino crocodile.
"Thanks, I'm getting there."
"This is a nice surprise," he said, indicating a chair next to him in the otherwise empty dining room.
I sat, took a deep breath, then said what was on my mind. "I have a question."
"Go on."
"The goblins, did you have something to do with it?"
"Something to do with it? Hmm," he mused, inscrutable behind his dark glasses.
"The console, that ran the machine, some of the parts, a dial, it had to be set by a human, as it accessed the human afterlives. My guess is it had to be activated with magic. Blood magic."
"By the hands of a vampire? How interesting."
"And would that hand be yours, Oskari?"
Oskari lowered his soup spoon, removed his glasses, and stared at me with cold, reptilian eyes. "Why on earth would I want the goblins to run rampant through the city and cause such violence?"
I was about to shake it off and apologize, but something made me press the matter. "Because you wanted to force Dancer's hand. You wanted to see how he would handle things like this. Or, and haha, this is probably silly, you wanted me working with him. But why? And don't give me that bull about vampire and human relations."
Oskari raised an eyebrow at my insolence, but let it pass. "Why would I want the wife of the best enforcer in the country, who is a vampire and part of my Ward, who also happens to be the first British female ever to have true Hidden magic inside her, and who will undoubtedly be fertile and bear children who will certainly be something unique and full of who knows what kind of power. Why would I want someone like that, who I know will also report to me, working for the Head of human Hidden affairs? I have no idea." Oskari put his glasses back on and finished his soup.
"One of life's great mysteries, eh?" I said as I got up, nodded, then left.
These bloody vampires, you can't trust them. Still, it was fun. Kind of.
The End
Book 2 in the series is Twisted Potions.
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Author's Note
Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed this, the first in the Hidden Blood series.
Kate's adventures begin directly after book 8 in the Dark Magic Enforcer series, although you do not need to read one to enjoy the other.
But if you do want to find out more about how we got where we currently are, learn how Kate and Faz got together, what happened on honeymoon, discover what Intus got up to that scarred everyone for life, and how Mithnite came to be their lodger, then please check out the Dark Magic Enforcer series.
Read about Faz's adventures, beginning with book 1: Black Spark, and trust me, it's a real blast. Literally.
Stay jiggy,
Al
