Infernal Enchantment (Firebrand Book 2)

by Helen Harper

  I pointed to Infernal Enchantments. ‘It’s right there,’ I said. ‘You can read it for yourself.’

  ‘Emma.’ Lukas didn’t take his gaze from mine. ‘A moment ago we were having a lot more fun.’

  ‘Yes,’ I said sadly. ‘We were.’

  He continued to watch me. ‘What happens between you and me has nothing to do with what happens between the clans and me. They are two separate issues.’

  Mmm.

  ‘Van,’ the vampire by the front window called out. ‘Approaching now.’

  ‘We’ll talk about this later,’ I muttered and turned to the window. I couldn’t see much through the curtains but the van’s headlights were clear. Nobody moved a muscle but the atmosphere in the room altered considerably. The van pulled up directly outside Baxter’s driveway. This was no late-night shift worker returning home. This was Edward Nappey. It had to be.

  ‘Remember,’ I cautioned, ‘he’s not to be hurt. He’s to be taken into custody. Wait until he’s away from the vehicle. Once he reaches the front door, I’ll arrest him.’

  The headlights were turned off and the juddering sound of the engine faded out. I held my breath, listening as the van door opened. Moving quietly, I stepped into the hallway until I was less than a foot from the front door. It was surprisingly reassuring to have so many vampires at my back. Come on, Ted. I smiled humourlessly. Your time is finally up.

  Then there was another sound and I frowned. What was that? A second later there were voices. I froze. Was he not alone? Did Ted Nappey have an accomplice?

  ‘What’s going on?’ I hissed.

  ‘Neighbour,’ called out one of the vamps who was positioned by a window. ‘One of the neighbours has come out of their house.’

  Lukas was already moving towards me, ready to yank open the door and go after Nappey. I shook my head urgently. ‘No. Not while he has the opportunity to grab a hostage.’

  Lukas’s mouth twisted, but he held back.

  I raised my chin. ‘Can anyone hear what they’re saying?’

  There were various head shakes. Damn it.

  ‘He’s walking away,’ the same vamp called quietly. ‘The neighbour is still there, but Nappey is walking away. He’s heading this way.’

  I raised my eyes heavenward. Thank fuck for that. I straightened my shoulders and reached for the door handle. On a count of five. One. Two.

  ‘Shit! He’s gone for the van!’

  I stiffened. ‘What?’

  A half second later, I heard the engine fire up. No, no, no, no, no. I yanked open the door and sprinted out, just in time to see the van wheels spin.

  From the house opposite, a middle-aged man with a smug look on his face started to shout, ‘That’ll teach you to kick my dog! You and your vicar mate are screwed now! The vampires are here to get you!’

  Unbelievable. I cursed. And then I ran.

  Vampires piled out of the house after me. I didn’t look back but I could tell they were going for Nappey’s van, which was reversing to escape from Baxter’s cul-de-sac. I didn’t bother with that. I’d be delighted if they managed to stop the vehicle, but I took the longer view and pelted towards where Tallulah was parked out of sight.

  There were shouts and yells from behind me and more than one pained scream. Then, as I reached Tallulah’s door, the white van streaked past me and careened around the corner.

  I jumped in and started the engine. Fortunately, Tallulah had decided that this wasn’t the time to stall or grumble. I released the handbrake as the passenger door opened and Scarlett leapt in. I barely glanced at her, I was too busy flooring the accelerator.

  Fumbling with one hand, I grabbed my police radio. ‘In pursuit of subject. Male. White van.’ I squinted through the darkness. I couldn’t read his damned number plate; he was already too far away. ‘Left from Travis Close. Back-up requested immediately.’

  The radio crackled in response. ‘No units are in your area but I’ll dispatch several now.’

  ‘Suspect may well be armed and dangerous,’ I said.

  ‘Noted.’

  We veered round the next corner. The tail lights of Nappey’s van pulled further away into the distance. I changed gears and gritted my teeth. Come on, Tallulah. Don’t fail me now.

  Scarlett clipped in her seatbelt and hung on for dear life. ‘Get him,’ she snarled. ‘Get the bastard.’

  My fingers tightened round the steering wheel. ‘Why did you come with me? Why not stay with your buddies?’ I asked, zipping through the red lights at the crossroads and thanking my lucky stars that the roads were still deathly quiet. ‘Or Fred?’

  ‘Fred is a sweet boy. He has also served his usefulness. You seem to know what you’re doing,’ Scarlett replied, with considerably more calm than I felt. ‘If anyone’s going to run this fucker down, you are.’ She paused as we screeched round to the right. ‘And my Lord needs you safe. Anything I can do to help achieve that is a mark in my favour.’

  I didn’t have time to respond. The van was turning again. I followed it, Tallulah taking the corner at such speed that we were now only metres behind Nappey. I reached for the radio again, spitting out our latest position.

  ‘Back-up is half a mile away,’ the operator replied.

  I exhaled. He wasn’t getting away. I wouldn’t let him.

  We sped past a prowling cat who paused to stare after us. I narrowly avoided hitting a small baker’s van that was parking in a loading bay at the side of the road. The driver banged on his horn, the long loud beep echoing down the empty street. The white van accelerated and started to pull away from us yet again.

  A moment later, there were loud sirens and a police car pulled out of the next side street, taking up position between Nappey and me. The cavalry was here.

  Nappey ignored both of us. He sped through the next set of lights and so did the cop car. I followed, only to be forced to slam on the brakes as a lorry came out of nowhere. Scarlett and I were thrown forward while the lorry driver gesticulated at us. Only the seatbelts saved us from being flung through Tallulah’s windscreen.

  I re-started the engine. The van and the police car had disappeared. ‘Shit,’ I muttered.

  ‘Turn left,’ Scarlett urged.

  ‘You sure?’

  She shook her head. ‘No.’

  I tensed but did as she said, then I caught the flicker of blue lights barely visible on a distant street. There. They were there. I floored the accelerator yet again.

  Tallulah screeched as we turned right. The shops and houses around us were giving way to warehouses. ‘The river’s right ahead,’ Scarlett said. ‘He’s running out of places to hide.’

  I managed a nod. We were catching up to him. Then there was an almighty crash and the sound of metal twisting and breaking. With my heart in my mouth, I rounded another corner. The van had rammed into the side of the police car and both vehicles had stopped in the middle of the road. The Thames lay ahead. There was nothing else visible in either direction except empty roads.

  I pressed hard on the brakes. While Scarlett leapt out, I muttered an update into the radio. A second later, hauling the crossbow from the backseat where I’d left it earlier, I followed her.

  The van’s engine revved. Scarlett had already reached its rear doors and was trying to yank them open. I sprinted towards her, glancing into the police car as I passed. A flicker of recognition slowed my steps. The driver was the young police officer who’d asked about joining Supe Squad. His forehead had smacked against the windshield and a dribble of blood ran from his temple down to his cheek. He turned to me, blinking rapidly, his face twisted in pain.

  Scarlett grunted and the van doors swung open, just as Nappey managed to get the van moving again and pull away. I put on a final spurt of energy and threw myself into the back of the van after the vampire.

  I dropped the crossbow as I scrabbled for purchase to avoid falling out with the various boxes that were tumbling onto the road behind us. Scarlett had no such trouble. She was already locking h
er arms around Nappey.

  The van jerked to a halt once again, while Scarlett flung herself forward to sink her teeth into Nappey’s neck. I fell, planting myself face first against the cold metal floor of the van. I jumped up again – but it wasn’t quickly enough.

  Scarlett let out a small squeak, her eyes wide. She turned to face me, blood streaming from her mouth. At first I thought it was Nappey’s blood, then I realised it was hers and that at least one of her fangs had snapped in half. Not only that, a syringe was sticking out of her neck. Her eyes rolled back into her head and her knees gave way.

  Nappey heaved himself out of his seat and squeezed through the gap to join us. He didn’t look upset; if anything, he looked rather pleased with himself. He glanced down at Scarlett’s body and nodded. ‘It’s been so hard getting hold of a vampire,’ he murmured. ‘Finally.’ He held his hands up as if thanking the gods. ‘Finally!’

  I snarled and Nappey’s eyes snapped to mine. ‘You,’ he said. ‘I remember you. You were with the other one, at the garage.’ He tilted his head. ‘But you’re not a vamp.’

  ‘Edward Nappey,’ I said aloud. ‘You are under arrest for the murder of a vampire and for the desecration of several werewolf graves.’

  ‘Ohhh,’ he nodded. ‘So you’re the police.’ He pulled his hooded top away from his neck, revealing a metal cuff around his throat. On the CCTV footage from Moira’s death it had looked like a tattoo, but I couldn’t have been more wrong. No wonder Moira and Scarlett hadn’t managed to bring him down with their bites – he was wearing his own bizarre vamp-protection gear.

  ‘You do not have to say anything,’ I continued, ignoring the lurch in my stomach, ‘but it may harm your defence if you do not mention something which you later rely on in court.’

  Nappey rubbed a hand over his shaved head. ‘I guess you’ve got me bang to rights,’ he said softly. ‘Unless I can pull something out from my sleeve.’ He reached under his right cuff and slid out a long knife. ‘Well,’ he purred. ‘Look at that. I guess I do have something, after all.’

  As his gaze flicked to a point over my shoulder, I glanced down. My crossbow was caught under Scarlett’s body. If I could just get to it…

  ‘Drop the weapon,’ said a male voice.

  I didn’t need to turn to know that the policeman from the car was behind me. ‘Stay back,’ I warned him. ‘I’ve got this.’

  There was a thump as he climbed into the van. ‘Drop the knife, sir,’ he ordered. ‘You’re not going anywhere. More police officers are on their way.’

  ‘I make it a rule not to harm humans,’ Nappey said. ‘We’re special, you see.’ His tone was earnest. ‘Why should supes get all the power?’

  ‘Ted—’ I said.

  He started to advance, brandishing the blade. ‘However, I’m prepared to make an exception if I have to.’ There was a crazed glint in his eyes. Suddenly I knew that if Ted Nappey had ever been going to listen to reason, that moment had long since passed.

  ‘I’ve spent too long on this,’ he went on. ‘Too many years getting to this point. Both of you need to leave now if you want to get out of here alive.’

  ‘You don’t really think the elixir you’re making will work, do you?’ I asked.

  Nappey’s cold eyes snapped to mine. ‘How do you know about the elixir? Did Baxter tell you?’ He stared at me, trying to fathom it out, then he shook himself. ‘It doesn’t matter. The old man never believed in it anyway, but now I have the vampire it will work. You just won’t be around to see it.’

  He leapt towards me with the knife held high. Like a martyr, the foolish policeman behind me rushed forward to meet him. I cursed. He was going to get himself killed. I muttered under my breath in irritation and, like a fool of another kind, blocked his approach as Nappey lunged.

  Nappey side-swiped with the knife, slashing through my blouse and drawing a long bead of blood across my torso. The policeman drew his Taser, raised it and pulled the trigger. It missed Nappey by a good inch.

  I stepped back, using my elbows to shove the policeman out of the van before Nappey could do him any real damage. As I did so, Nappey came at me again. This time, his blade found its mark, sinking into my chest with surprising ease.

  I gasped, already feeling my life ebb away. ‘Back-up is coming,’ I croaked. ‘Delay any longer and you’re fucked.’

  Nappey leaned into my face, a cloud of his stale breath adding insult to injury. ‘Not as fucked as you are,’ he said. He grabbed the knife by the hilt and pulled it out. Blood gushed forth.

  I looked down. Strange. I could no longer feel any pain. I stumbled forward, knowing that I couldn’t allow Nappey to throw out my dying body. There was no sign on Lukas and the other vamps, and no sign of any more police thundering to the rescue. I had to rely on my own bizarre powers.

  I reached for the back of the passenger seat and curled my hand round it. My foot caught on Scarlett’s leg and I collapsed. I dimly heard the policeman shouting and other sirens cutting through the air.

  Nappey muttered something and pushed past me, yanking the van doors closed. As my vision gave way to blackness, he returned to the front seat, standing on my body as he shoved his way past. Then the engine started and I felt the van shudder beneath me.

  And then there was nothing.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  The familiar smell of sulphur was comforting, despite its eye-watering strength, but when I opened my eyes it wasn’t Dr Laura Hawes’ friendly gaze that greeted me. Neither was I in the morgue at the Fitzwilliam Manor Hospital.

  I was more disorientated than usual, and initially I couldn’t work out where I was. It was very dark, and several sharp, pointy objects seemed to be poking into my spine. The only good thing I could work out was that Ted hadn’t decided to dispose of my body in an unpleasant manner. Apparently he’d decided that my corpse was low down his list of priorities. He would come to regret that decision.

  As I got to my feet, I banged my head on the low roof. Still unable to see anything, I scrunched up my face and stretched out my arms. My fingertips scraped against cold metal. Ah-ha – I was still in his van. He’d left me where I’d died.

  Now I had to cross my fingers and hope he hadn’t abandoned the vehicle in barren, isolated scrubland. I needed some means to communicate and some clothes to wear. There wasn’t any daylight coming in through the van windows, so I took that as a sign that the van had been left in a garage.

  I felt around with my fingertips, searching for something to wrap round myself. Short of pulling a cardboard box over my head, there was nothing useful. Hey ho; worse things had happened.

  On the plus side, although my clothes might have burned to cinders during my resurrection and there were no handy replacements in the van, I did find my crossbow. It was illegal to use it against a human, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

  There was no sign of Scarlett. I knew it was twelve hours since Edward Nappey had slammed his knife into my heart, so that put the time at around four in the afternoon. Anything could have happened to her in the intervening hours.

  I couldn’t waste further time worrying about my state of undress or legal technicalities. I had to find Nappey and Scarlett and put a stop to whatever he was planning. It was all down to me.

  I picked my way blindly to the back of the van and felt for the door handle. Relief flooded through me when my fingers curled round it and I tugged it down. I hopped out and planted my bare feet onto hard concrete. Definitely a garage, I decided.

  I searched for an exit. I finally located a door with a push-button lock next to a particularly odorous wheelie bin. I pressed my ear against it for a few moments then, when I didn’t hear any sounds from the other side, I twisted the handle. Locked. Well, that sucked. The door frame looked like it was in good nick, too; it wasn’t rotting like the one in Reverend Knight’s basement.

  I jumped up and down on my toes a few times. I felt good. I felt strong. I shrugged then raised one leg experimentally
– there was no harm in trying. A moment later my foot smashed against the door with all the power that I could muster. To my shock, there was a loud crack and the lock broke. Blimey. I flexed my leg in amazement. I really was getting stronger every time I died.

  It occurred to me that if Nappey were nearby, he’d have heard me. I quickly moved back in case he suddenly appeared. I was quite disappointed when he didn’t.

  More confident now, I peeked round the broken door. There was an immaculate beige carpet leading down a sun-filled hallway; it looked like the door linked the garage into someone’s house. I could hear the thump of dance music. Ah-ha. So that was why he’d not come to investigate the noise. I stepped out. Ideally, the first thing I’d come across would be a telephone.

  The room to my right was a small but tidy bedroom. I glanced inside at the smooth white duvet and plumped-up pillows. It was a far cry from Nappey’s place. I took in the hairbrush on the bedside table and the lace-trimmed curtains. A woman’s room, I realised. For a moment, I wondered whether Nappey had managed to make his way to his mother’s without anyone realising. Then my gaze fell on the hospital scrubs hanging over the radiator. Shit. Maggie Tomkinson, Nappey’s ex-girlfriend, was a nurse. My blood chilled.

  Cursing silently for not checking on her again, I darted over, grabbed the blue scrubs and pulled them on. The beat-heavy music continued to throb, causing the walls to gently reverberate. I glanced out of the window and noted the quiet, leafy street outside and the other bungalows. There wasn’t a living soul to be seen.

  Go to a house nearby for help or continue alone? I considered it for only seconds. My death and subsequent resurrection were still fuelling my adrenaline and I wanted to see the look on Nappey’s face when I rose up in front of him. Confronting him alone wasn’t the smartest decision, but I wouldn’t give him even the slimmest opportunity to escape again.

  I left the bedroom and checked the room opposite. An empty bathroom. The smudged, bloody palm print on the edge of the bathtub gave me pause, and my grip on the crossbow tightened. If I’d had any doubt before that Ted Nappey was here, it had disappeared. Steeling myself for what was to come, I moved forward.