Infernal Enchantment (Firebrand Book 2)

by Helen Harper

  ‘Tell me,’ I grunted, ‘that you have some magical vampire trick to help him.’

  Lukas didn’t look up. ‘I’ve got nothing.’

  My stomach clenched. We needed him; we needed Baxter in order to find Ted Nappey. I gripped my hands into tight fists as one of the other vamps called out, ‘Paramedics are here.’

  I exhaled. Praise be.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Lukas and I stood outside Reginald Baxter’s house as the swirling blue lights of the ambulance disappeared around the corner and away from Travis Close. The old reverend’s neighbours had switched on their lights, disturbed from their sleep by the commotion. Several were standing on their doorsteps and watching. Some looked anxious, but others were more stoic. I suspected that not everyone here liked Baxter very much.

  At least I’d managed to get Vivienne Clarke removed to the nearest police station to cool off. Unlike her husband, she’d probably get off with a caution. I’d do my best to argue her case with the powers-that-be. That didn’t alter the hopelessness of our search for Nappey, however.

  ‘Fuck it,’ I muttered. I shook my head in frustration. ‘Fuck it.’

  Lukas reached for my hand and squeezed it. The touch of his skin on mine burnt into me. ‘Are you okay?’ he asked.

  ‘I’m pissed off,’ I told him. Very pissed off. ‘But, yes.’ I gritted my teeth. ‘I’m okay.’

  ‘Good.’ He continued to watch me. ‘I’m glad that you sent word to me about coming here. I appreciate that you’re keeping me involved, even if you do have doubts about my intentions.’

  ‘Sometimes I think I shouldn’t be here,’ I said. ‘I’ve barely been a detective for five minutes, and I know next to nothing about supes.’ I stared down the empty road. ‘I feel like I’m making this up as I go along.’

  ‘You’re not giving yourself enough credit. You couldn’t have known that Baxter would keel over like that. What happened to him isn’t your fault. Besides, we all suffer from imposter syndrome sometimes.’

  I let out a sharp bark of laughter. ‘You don’t.’

  Lukas didn’t smile. ‘Of course I do.’

  We stared at each other. I had the sudden sense that I was standing on the edge of a precipice, about to jump off into a deep, dark chasm. Except I wasn’t scared of it. Not in the slightest. And I wasn’t alone, either.

  ‘Emma…’

  A hooded vampire jogged up to us. ‘Lord Horvath,’ he said, bowing slightly. ‘There is a vehicle approaching.’

  We both stiffened. A second later, a pair of headlights appeared, moving closer towards us. It was only when the car stopped that I recognised it.

  ‘What’s happened?’ Fred called, jumping out from the driver’s side.

  I frowned at him. ‘You’ve been drinking. You shouldn’t have been driving.’

  He waved at me dismissively. ‘I only had a couple of beers and that was hours ago.’

  It had sounded like he’d had a hell of a lot more than a couple of beers when I’d spoken to him on the phone. Then he drew closer and I realised there was something on his neck. My eyes narrowed. A faint bruise? No. Two bruises. ‘Where’s Scarlett?’

  She stepped out from the passenger seat, an easy smile on her lipsticked mouth. ‘I’m here.’

  I looked from Fred to Scarlett and back again. Lukas, who was still holding my hand, gently increased the pressure. His thumb stroked my palm and I pulled my hand away.

  ‘Have you found him?’ Fred asked eagerly, hope shining from his face. ‘Have you found Ted Nappey?’

  ‘No.’ I shook my head. ‘All we’ve found is another piece of the puzzle.’

  Deflated, his shoulders dropped. ‘Reginald Baxter?’

  ‘Yes.’

  Fred reached into the car for a piece of paper. ‘Baxter requested access to the Arcane Works room at the Carlyle Library several times. As the resident vicar at St Erbin’s, he was allowed in on every occasion.’

  ‘Did he ask for any particular titles?’ I asked.

  ‘Unfortunately not,’ Fred said. ‘But the last time he gained entry to Arcane Works was four years ago.’ He paused. ‘I believe it was about three weeks before the first body at St Erbin’s was stolen.’

  Hmm. I doubted that was a coincidence. Then I remembered I’d seen a bookshelf in Baxter’s living room. ‘Hold that thought,’ I said grimly. I ran back inside the house and made a beeline for the books.

  Baxter had expensive tastes. Almost every volume was heavy and leather bound – there wasn’t a single tatty paperback in sight. All the titles seemed to have religious overtones, apart from the odd one that related to the supernatural.

  ‘I’ve got some of these books myself,’ Lukas said softly at my shoulder.

  I jumped, unaware that he’d come up behind me.

  ‘You know,’ he continued, ‘Fred isn’t a child. He must make his own decisions. Scarlett wouldn’t have forced him to do anything he didn’t want to.’

  I didn’t answer. Instead, I gave a small triumphant crow. ‘Here,’ I said. I crouched down and slid out a book with a gold-embossed cover and held it up. ‘Infernal Enchantments.’ I opened the front page and gazed at the stamp. ‘Property of the Carlyle Library. It appears the good reverend isn’t above petty theft when it suits his purposes.’

  Lukas’s expression darkened. ‘I wonder if he approached Ted Nappey, or if it was the other way around,’ he mused. ‘Maybe Baxter manipulated Nappey for his own purposes.’

  ‘Maybe,’ I said. ‘But even if he did, I suspect it’s been a while since Ted was under Baxter’s control.’

  I stood up. ‘I’m going to take this. We should search the rest of the house. There might be other clues as to where Ted Nappey is.’ I doubted it – I was sure by now that Nappey had struck out on his own – but we couldn’t afford to leave any stone unturned. The longer it took for us to locate him, the longer he had to plan his next move. I was certain he would still be looking for a vampire to kidnap.

  ‘The vamps here with me are good,’ Lukas told me. ‘I’ll get them onto it.’

  I nodded distractedly.

  ‘I was speaking to the next-door neighbours,’ Fred said, appearing in the doorway and waving his hands excitedly. ‘They didn’t know Baxter well, and they don’t think he has any family in the area. But they did say that until recently he received regular visits from a younger man. The reason they remember them so well is because they had to complain on several occasions when the visitor parked across their driveway and blocked them in.’

  I stiffened. ‘Can they describe the man?’

  ‘Shaved head. Cold eyes.’ Fred looked at me. ‘It’s Nappey. It has to be.’

  ‘Was he driving a blue Ford Escort?’

  ‘No.’ He beamed. ‘A white van. They never got a number plate and they didn’t notice any markings on the side, but we did think Nappey might have another mode of transport. If he has a van, he might be sleeping in it.’

  My shoulders sank. ‘There must be thousands of unmarked white vans in London.’

  ‘At least it’s something.’ Fred’s hand went absently to the bruises on his neck and he rubbed them gently.

  I looked away. ‘Yeah.’ It wasn’t much. I sighed. Then another thought struck me. ‘Did you see a phone?’ I asked Lukas. ‘Does Reginald Baxter have a mobile phone?’

  A glimmer of optimism suddenly lit his face. ‘There must be one.’

  I straightened my back and addressed the room. ‘We need to find Baxter’s phone. Search this place from top to bottom.’

  Everyone sprang into action; even Lukas’s small assembly of vamps did as I asked without requiring further instruction from their lord and master. When there was a triumphant shout from upstairs, I knew one of them had hit pay dirt.

  ‘Got it!’ A blond vampire thundered down the stairs waving a phone. ‘It was on charge in the bedroom.’ He handed it to Lukas. Without a word, Lukas handed it to me.

  I held my breath, thumbing the screen and praying that it
wasn’t password protected. When it immediately lit up and Baxter’s apps flooded the screen, I exhaled with relief. I ignored most of the icons and went straight to the text messages. There had to be something here. There had to be.

  I skipped past the texts from Reverend Baxter’s bank and a couple from another vicar enquiring about his golf handicap. There was one message from an unknown number. I showed it to Lukas before I opened it up then we leant in close to read it.

  New number. Had to lose old phone. If you need me, reach me here. T.

  ‘He’s a man of few words,’ Lukas muttered.

  ‘And,’ I added, ‘he’s not mentioned anything about the police or having to run. I reckon he doesn’t trust Baxter with that information. Just like Maggie Tomkinson, Baxter was convinced that Nappey isn’t violent. That might have been the case once, but it’s certainly no longer true. Ted Nappey has told Baxter some of what he’s up to, but not all of it.’ I could feel my heart thudding with anticipation. ‘It doesn’t matter. With this phone and this number, we have what we need to draw Ted to us.’

  ‘How do we play it?’ Lukas asked..

  ‘Softly, softly,’ I said. ‘Clear the street outside. Make sure all those nosy neighbours go inside their houses.’

  Lukas clicked his fingers and half a dozen vamps left the room. I gave him a look and he shrugged. ‘What? They do as they’re told.’ And then some.

  ‘We know that the one thing Ted Nappey wants is a vampire, so all we have to do is give him one.’ I mulled it over. ‘Baxter was outraged at your presence in his home. We need to follow that theme.’

  ‘Nappey might not have told him that he wants vampire blood,’ Lukas warned.

  ‘It doesn’t matter. This is more about what we don’t say than what we do.’ I sat down on a chair and read through some of Baxter’s other texts. I wanted to get the tone right. From what I could tell, the vicar used full punctuation, formal phrasing and self-righteous sentiment. Perfect.

  ‘It’s the middle of the night,’ Fred said. ‘Nappey might not see it until morning.’

  ‘I can live with that,’ I told him. I pointed at my gut. ‘But something in here tells me our Ted is wide awake.’ I licked my lips and started to compose my text.

  What have you done? Thirty minutes ago, a vampire knocked on my door and forced me out of bed. He was asking about you. Why are these disgusting creatures coming to my home? What have you done to bring them to my place of sanctity?

  I showed it to Lukas. ‘Swap “disgusting” for “heathen”,’ he said.

  I altered the sentence and nodded. ‘It fits.’

  I held the phone up for Fred to see and he grinned. ‘We’re going to get this bastard,’ he said. ‘He’ll fall right into our laps.’

  I crossed my fingers. ‘Let’s hope so,’ I murmured. Then I pressed send.

  We all stared at the phone, as if expecting an immediate response. Nothing happened. Fred expelled a whoosh of air. ‘Well,’ he said, ‘that was an anti-climax. What do we do now?’

  ‘We wait,’ I said grimly.

  One minute went by, then two. Lukas strode to the window and stared out at the darkness. I gazed at the copy of Infernal Enchantments lying on the table next to me, my fingers itching to turn to the section about the phoenix. I forced myself to look away. I could worry about me later; right now I had to worry about Edward Nappey. Answer, you bastard.

  Scarlett strolled into the small living room and made a beeline for Fred. She reached up and started toying with the brown curls at the nape of his neck. My eyes narrowed and I opened my mouth to say something but, before I could, the phone dinged.

  Lukas was by my side again in a second. I held the phone up so everyone could see.

  What did you tell them?

  Tense now, I glanced round me.

  ‘Baxter would be furious,’ Lukas said. ‘How dare a vampire darken his door at this hour of night?’

  I started to tap out an answer. What do you think I told him? How dare he come to my home? I am not going to be intimidated by one of those things!

  I sent it. The response came back faster this time. Has he gone?

  I licked my lips.

  Yes, I texted. Although the vile creature said he would be back.

  Lukas raised an eyebrow. ‘Vile creature?’

  I was too nervous to grin. The phone chimed again.

  I’m on my way.

  I placed Baxter’s phone carefully on the table next to me, then I cleared my throat. ‘We need to move the cars so they’re out of sight, turn out most of the lights and get ready.’ I finally managed a smile. ‘Ted Nappey is coming.’

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  None of us had any idea how long it would take Nappey to get to Baxter’s house. Presumably he was still in London, but this was a sprawling city. Even though the late hour meant that the streets would be free of traffic jams, he could be miles and miles away – or he could be around the corner. Either way, we had to make our preparations quickly.

  Within five minutes, Travis Close looked exactly like it had when I’d driven here a couple of hours earlier. I’d moved Tallulah round the corner, out of sight of the house, and the vampires had done the same with their own vehicles. The only sound outside was the occasional hooting of a distant owl. To maintain a semblance of normality, and to avoid alerting Nappey, the thin curtains in the living room were drawn and only a single lamp remained lit.

  Inside Baxter’s house, the crowd of vampires, together with Fred and I, waited silently. In an ideal world, we’d have had people at strategic locations outside but this wasn’t an ideal world and there was no cover or handy bushes to hide behind. Neither could we risk the neighbours growing anxious and inadvertently giving the game away.

  ‘I know we’re all here for the same reason,’ I said quietly to Lukas, ‘but this remains my investigation. No matter what he’s done, Edward Nappey is human. You can’t hurt him unless it’s genuinely in self-defence, or it’s to stop him getting away. And I have to take him into custody.’

  ‘You worry too much, D’Artagnan.’ Lukas’s sense of humour had returned now that our quarry was near. ‘I know you’re in charge. You can be assured that neither I nor my vampires will impede the correct way of doing things.’

  ‘I appreciate that.’

  His black eyes glittered in the dim light. ‘Once all this is over,’ he said, ‘perhaps we should take the time to get to know each other better so we can avoid further misunderstandings. Our last meal was curtailed because of our expedition to Nappey’s house. We should try again. It would be a good opportunity to iron out any issues between Supe Squad and my vampires, and to air any grievances.’

  He didn’t look at Scarlett or Fred, who were standing together in the hallway. He didn’t need to. ‘I know an excellent Thai place not too far away from both our homes. Or,’ he paused, ‘you could come to me and I’ll cook. It might surprise you to learn that I know some excellent vegetarian recipes. And my wine list is extensive.’

  ‘You’re being charming again,’ I whispered.

  ‘I can’t help it,’ Lukas ran his tongue over his lips. ‘As I already said, I want to charm you. If that bothers you, you’ll simply have to get over it.’

  ‘It doesn’t bother me.’

  He smiled. ‘Good. Let me be crystal clear, so that there are no illusions between us. It’s not D’Artagnan the detective I want.’ He dipped his head. ‘It’s Emma Bellamy the woman who truly interests me.’

  My mouth was dry as my gaze flickered over his face. I wasn’t good at any of this. Professional relationships were one thing but personal relationships were entirely different. And goodness knows, I had an appalling track record on that front. ‘There’s something I should tell you.’

  Something about the note in my voice must have alerted him because he stilled. ‘Go on.’

  ‘The book,’ I said. ‘Infernal Enchantments. When we were in the Carlyle Library, I flicked through to one of the later sections. There’s inf
ormation there about a supernatural species which—’

  ‘Everything’s ready, my Lord,’ Scarlett interrupted. ‘Four in the back garden. Three upstairs. Two in the hallway. The rest of us are here. Whichever way he approaches, we’ll be ready for him.’

  Lukas’s expression darkened ominously. ‘We are in the middle of a conversation here, Scarlett,’ he bit out, every word laced with sharp, tempered steel.

  She blinked and paled before glancing at me. ‘I’m so sorry.’ Her head and shoulders dropped. ‘I didn’t mean to interrupt. Are you talking about Devereau Webb?’ Her eyes widened as she realised her mistake one question too late. ‘Shit. Sorry, I…’

  ‘Scarlett,’ Lukas snapped. ‘Fuck off.’

  She whirled away as fast as her feet could carry her.

  ‘Devereau Webb?’ I asked. ‘Why would we be discussing him?’

  ‘Forget about it.’

  I took a step back, suddenly wanting to put some distance between us. ‘Actually,’ I said slowly, ‘I don’t think I will. Why are you suddenly interested in Webb?’

  A muscle jerked in Lukas’s cheek. ‘I was curious after what you told me about him. That curiosity was piqued when he visited all four clan alphas.’ He nodded towards me. ‘At the same time as you.’

  ‘How do you know about that?’

  ‘I told you before, D’Artagnan, I have my sources like you do. It’s always a good idea to keep tabs on the wolves.’ Lukas paused, his fists curling. ‘After all, one never knows when they might decide to do something foolish, like trying to murder a Supe Squad detective in broad daylight.’

  ‘I fixed that. As you know.’

  ‘It doesn’t matter.’ His black eyes flashed. ‘They stepped over the line.’

  I folded my arms. ‘That still doesn’t explain why you’re interested in Devereau Webb.’ I had the distinct feeling there was more to this than he was telling me. This wasn’t simply about what Lady Sullivan had tried to do.

  ‘Another time.’ He lifted his eyebrows. ‘You were about to tell me about something you read in the book.’