by Helen Harper
I ran a hand through my hair and teased out a few knotted tangles. ‘Someone is involved in these deaths,’ I sighed helplessly. ‘Goodness only knows who or why.’
Julie fixed me with a look. ‘Are you sure you’re not looking for links between the killings when they’ve actually got nothing to do with each other?’
‘No,’ I said. ‘They’re connected. I know they are. I can feel it in my bones.’
‘And Monroe?’ she enquired. ‘Does he feel the same?’
‘I think so.’
‘Are you and he…’ She made a rude gesture with her forefinger and thumb, which was definitely not what I’d have expected from her.
I shoved her playfully. ‘No!’
‘Well,’ she sniffed. ‘You should be.’ She took another sip of her drink. ‘I’ve seen him naked now, you know. That’s not the sort of thing you see every day, darling. He’s yours for the taking – and if you don’t take him, I will.’ She grinned at me. ‘Unless he’s not for you. You could always take a leaf from Valerie’s book and sort yourself out with your own well-stocked harem.’
I laughed. ‘I don’t need that kind of hassle.’ Besides, the only man I wanted was Monroe, no matter how dangerous he might turn out to be. I traced a random shape on the table top. ‘Julie,’ I began.
‘Uh oh,’ she said. ‘Here we go.’
I smiled weakly. ‘You’ve experienced loss of control before,’ I said. ‘You know, when you…’
‘Almost caused the destruction of the world?’ She inclined her head. ‘Yes, darling. I remember.’
‘Do you think you’ve ever felt close to something similar? I mean,’ I added hastily before she mistook my meaning, ‘do you think the magic that’s around us would speak to your vampire self and you could be unable to control your bloodlust?’
Julie frowned and took the question seriously. ‘No,’ she said simply. ‘I’ve never felt like that either before or since. Yes, I’m more powerful now. Blood has more of an effect on me than it ever did, and it’s so irksome not to be able to enjoy the sun’s rays like I used to. But the magic isn’t so strong that it affects my inner self. I was … overwhelmed that first time. I was easily swayed by the magic’s pull. But things are more stable now. If I were going to do anything crazy like that again, it would have already happened. The apocalypse was an explosion of magic. Since then, things have settled down. You’re talking about a gradual build-up.’ She shook her head. ‘I just don’t think it’s possible.’
‘Thank you,’ I murmured. ‘I needed that.’
‘Any time, darling.’ She watched me for a moment. ‘He’s scared, you know,’ she said suddenly. ‘He’s terrified by how you make him feel. He’s even more terrified that something will happen to you. But you’re both sensible people when you don’t have other problems to deal with. You’ll work it out.’
I massaged the back of my neck. ‘The trouble is,’ I sighed, ‘there are always other problems to deal with.’
The corner of Julie’s mouth lifted. ‘Then get someone else to deal with them.’
I smiled sadly. Easier said than done.
The next morning I was at a loss. The investigation had all but stalled. I couldn’t think of where to go or what to do next, and the idea of dealing with the usual mundanities of post-apocalyptic life made me feel like I’d swallowed a ten-tonne weight that I’d never get rid of.
I’d have to return to that life sooner or later, even if the others did help me out more. In this new world, life wasn’t about excitement and thrills and seat-of-your-pants, death-defying bids for survival. It was about clean water and enough food to eat and ensuring nobody killed anyone else in a fight about nothing.
Julian seemed to have the post-apocalyptic infrastructure down to a fine art in the north, but he took it all a bit too seriously and things there could do with some serious tweaking. If it weren’t for Monroe’s fear about the magic, I’d suggest that we all moved in to the same neighbourhood rather than staying in separate ones. We could learn a lot from each other if we allowed ourselves to do so. If I hadn’t floated my stupid theory, Monroe might have agreed. Unfortunately I doubted that Julie’s assertion that the magic wouldn’t affect the vampires in any more ways would be enough. Monroe needed proof that they could hold their natural instincts in check; I had no way of getting that proof.
‘Hi-de-hi!’ Lizzy trilled, strolling into the room. ‘How is my lovely enchantress this morning?’
‘Peachy,’ I grunted.
‘That’s what I like to hear.’ She smiled at me and I couldn’t help but smile back. I needed some sunny Australian optimism to brighten up my life. ‘Anna asked me to drop by and fill you in,’ she said. ‘The name of the dead guy you brought back, the one with the tattoo, is Craig Featherstone. I helped her search his house yesterday. There wasn’t much there, unfortunately. Lots of bits of paper but no indication about why he might have done what he did, or who the mysterious woman was that he was with.’
Big surprise. I sighed. ‘Thanks anyway.’
She nodded. ‘How’s Julie?’
‘She’ll be okay. She’s pretty resilient. She said she was thinking about getting some therapy but that might have been a joke. We hardly have psychiatrists hanging round every corner. We can’t even find plumbers.’
‘You’d be surprised. One of the scraps of paper we found at Craig’s place was a leaflet for a counsellor. I mean,’ she shrugged, ‘I doubt it was anyone who’s medically trained but they clearly had experience. They were advertising hypnotherapy.’
I blinked. ‘What? You get hypnotised into … self-affirmation?’
‘Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it.’
True. I raised my cup and then I froze. ‘Wait,’ I said slowly. ‘What did the leaflet look like?’
Puzzled, she raised her hands. ‘About this big,’ she said, indicating the size. ‘Handwritten. Why?’
‘Was there any sort of picture or drawing?’ I asked. ‘Some kind of symbol?’
She stared at me. ‘There was, actually.’
I leapt to my feet and darted over to the window, breathing out to create condensation before drawing the outline of a head with a spiral where the brain would be located. ‘Did it look like this?’
Lizzy licked her lips. ‘Exactly like that.’ She was growing nervous; golden fur was starting to sprout across her arms. She patted it down absently and continued to look at me. ‘How did you know?’
‘Philip,’ I ground out. ‘Philip had a bookmark with the same design.’ My stomach flipped. ‘Get Anna,’ I said. ‘Get hold of her and tell her to meet me at the Travotel.’
‘You think this has something to do with it?’ she asked. ‘Hypnotherapy?’
For once I wasn’t going to jump to conclusions. Not yet, anyway. ‘Just tell her to meet me there,’ I said. ‘As soon as she can.’
The alarm on Timmons’ face when I careened at full speed into the Travotel lobby was obvious. ‘No,’ he said. ‘Just no.’
‘I have to see Valerie’s room again,’ I bit out. ‘Now.’
‘I’ve been losing guests left, right and centre!’ he told me, flapping his arms. ‘You can’t come in here and disturb them again! People think it isn’t safe here. I’ve been doing everything I can, but they say they can’t trust my magical alarms. They say they can’t trust me! Having you here again is not going to help!’
‘What if your alarm wasn’t at fault?’ I said.
He blinked. ‘Pardon?’
‘If Valerie invited her killer in and didn’t feel any fear, then the alarm wouldn’t necessarily have gone off, would it?’
He stared at me. ‘I don’t suppose so. But it was a vampire who killed her. She didn’t like vampires. She fought back.’
‘Only in her last moments,’ I said. ‘We already know that to drink that much blood from her would have taken hours. If she didn’t start fighting until she knew she was dying, the alarm wouldn’t have gone off until it was already too late. When I was do
wnstairs having a jam sandwich.’ I tried not to think too hard about having strawberry jam smeared across my face while Philip the vampire had Valerie’s blood smeared across his.
‘She wouldn’t have invited a vampire in to drink from her.’
I grimaced. ‘She might have if someone else persuaded her to.’
‘Who would do something like that?’
‘I’m working on it.’ I folded my arms. ‘Let me see her room.’
Timmons sighed. ‘Fine. You know where it is.’
I flashed him a quick smile of thanks and darted through the door and up the stairs. I was onto something. I just knew it.
Valerie’s room remained untouched. There was an indentation on the mattress indicating where her body had lain, and a few spots and smears of blood. Other than that, you’d have been forgiven for thinking she’d merely popped out. I ignored the bed and strode to the desk, flipping through various bits of paper. There were all sorts of scribbles, drawings and gambling-related notes, mostly to do with poker plays which I assumed she’d been trying out. I resisted the urge to focus on them too closely. I wasn’t looking for tips – not for cards, anyway.
I’d started on the drawers when Anna appeared in the open doorway. ‘What’s going on, Charley?’
I looked up from the mess I was making. ‘Thank you for coming.’
She walked in. ‘You know I always would. Have you thought of something? Or found something?’
‘Not yet, but I think I’m onto something. Was there anything in Valerie’s diary about going for counselling?’
‘Counselling?’ Anna pursed her lips. ‘Not that I recall.’
‘What about hypnotism?’ I started rifling through the first drawer again. There had to be something there. There had to be proof somewhere.
She wrinkled her nose. ‘No. Charley…’
I let out a high-pitched squeak.
‘What is it?’
I pulled out the grubby piece of paper and held it aloft. ‘This,’ I said. ‘This is it.’
Anna squinted. ‘I don’t get it.’
I jabbed at the paper. ‘This picture. The outline of a man with a swirl where his brain should be. Philip was using the same picture as a bookmark. Craig Featherstone had the same leaflet amongst his belongings. I’ll bet my last penny that Maggie does too. This is what links them together.’ I waved the paper with its neat doodle and spidery handwriting. ‘This is what we’ve been looking for.’
Anna took it. ‘Are you feeling vulnerable?’ she read. ‘Is the apocalypse too much for you to deal with? Are you struggling with the new city and your place in it? Then hypnotherapy could be for you.’ She raised her head, her scepticism obvious. ‘Hypnotherapy?’
‘Imagine hypnotising a reluctant vampire to drink more blood. Or,’ I said, pointing at Valerie’s empty bed, ‘hypnotising a human to allow themselves to be drunk from.’
Her brow creased. ‘But hypnotism doesn’t work like that. You can’t hypnotise someone to do something against their will. You can’t swing a pendulum in my face and tell me to go and kill, and then I go and do it. It’s not possible.’
I stood my ground. ‘It wasn’t possible before the magic,’ I said quietly. ‘But if you draw on the magic in the atmosphere to bolster what you are doing, then I bet it would work. Especially when you’re using the hypnotism to speak to someone’s inner nature and deepest desires. A vampire wants to drink blood. Werewolves don’t like vampires and some of them think they’re unnatural creatures who need to be put down.’ Anna winced. I warmed to my topic. ‘Valerie might not have liked vampires, but she did have a desperate need to be loved. She could have been persuaded to offer her blood to a vampire who would love her in turn.’
‘Craig Featherstone,’ she murmured. ‘From what I’ve been able to find out, he was ex-army.’
‘So he knew guns.’
Anna nodded. ‘And it could be argued that the ultimate goal of a soldier is to attack in order to protect.’
‘If he were hypnotised with a dose of magic for extra strength, he could be persuaded to shoot first and ask questions later.’
Anna sucked on her bottom lip. ‘So it’s plausible,’ she said finally.
‘We’re all feeling vulnerable. We’re all a bit fucked up,’ I said. ‘A therapist could gain our trust, learn our darkest desires and weakest spots and work on them for their own means. You told me that murder was all about power.’ I jabbed my finger at the leaflet. ‘Well, this is the ultimate power. Persuading others to commit crimes without lifting a finger yourself.’
‘But Charley, a therapist’s goal is to help people.’
‘I’m not saying that it’s not twisted, I’m just saying it could be true. This isn’t about jumping to conclusions, this is about the evidence we have in front of us. It fits. You know it fits.’
Her expression was sombre. ‘You’re right,’ she said. ‘I think you’re onto something.’ She held up the paper. ‘But there’s nothing here. There aren’t any contact details. There’s no name. Whoever passed out these leaflets might have done it deliberately to maintain deniability. They would have suggested times and places verbally for the sessions to take place. Without workable computers or Google, I don’t see how we can tell who created these leaflets.’
‘The therapist made a mistake though, didn’t she? She left Maggie alive. Maybe she hypnotised Maggie into remaining as a wolf so she couldn’t talk about what happened. But she made a catastrophic error and didn’t count on a vampire’s blood being enough to turn Maggie back into her human form.’ I balled my fists. I knew Maggie had been hiding something. This had to be it.
‘She?’ Anna questioned.
I breathed in. ‘The bogles saw a woman with Craig Featherstone. It fits. This is someone who might not have the physical strength to kill someone on their own but who can do so vicariously through others.’
Anna’s skin looked white. ‘She’s still out there. She’ll keep doing this until we stop her.’
I swallowed. ‘We need to get to Maggie now.’
Chapter Twenty-Five
‘You’re not coming in.’ The two werewolves at the barricade to the northern community were stony-faced and adamant.
I threw up my hands, my furious movement a complete contrast to the wolves’ stoic facades. ‘What?’
‘Boss’s orders.’
‘You mean Monroe,’ I spat. The fucking idiot. ‘Look,’ I said, trying to calm myself, ‘he thinks that the magic means he can’t control himself. That his wolf might emerge at any second and attack me. That you are the same.’ I put my hands on my hips. ‘Do you feel like that?’ I demanded. ‘Do you feel like you’re about to turn rogue despite your best intentions?’
‘You can yell all you want,’ the first werewolf said implacably. ‘We’re only following orders.’
‘Get him here,’ I said through gritted teeth. ‘Let me talk to Monroe.’
She crossed her arms. ‘He’s gone out.’
What the hell? ‘Gone where?’
‘Dunno. It doesn’t matter. Unless I hear directly from him, you’re not coming in.’
This was unbelievable.
‘Then let me in,’ Anna said.
‘Nope. You’re human. We can’t do it. No humans are to be given access under any circumstances.’
I drew in a ragged breath. ‘Monroe thinks he’s protecting everyone by doing this.. Instead, while we’re out here twiddling our thumbs, someone else could be dying.’
Anna was a great deal calmer than I was. ‘Lizzy’s not human. Neither is Julie. We can go back to the south and get one of them. They can speak to Maggie for us.’
‘No.’ I folded my arms. ‘It’ll take too long. Our killer therapist is already escalating. We can’t afford to waste any more time.’
The werewolves appeared unperturbed. ‘You should leave this place,’ the second one said.
I hissed under my breath and spun away, but I wasn’t leaving. Not until I’d spoken to Maggie. Magic pric
kled under my skin. If that was what it was going to take, then so be it.
‘Charley.’ Anna sounded nervous.
‘Don’t worry,’ I told her. ‘Everything will be fine.’ I turned slowly to face the werewolves again. Just beyond them, hovering in the lowlight of the oncoming dusk, was Theo. There was a smirk on his face, suggesting he knew exactly what I was planning. If he got in my way, he’d suffer the consequences as well.
‘Charley,’ Anna persisted. ‘Two wrongs don’t make a right. I really don’t think this is a good idea.’
For the first time, the wolves appeared less than confident. Good.
‘I’m not really human,’ I called out to them. ‘Not any more. None of us are.’ I gazed down at my fingers and wiggled them. ‘Magic can be used for good,’ I said, ‘or for absolute evil. And sometimes for what lies in between.’ I flicked my wrists, spiralling out two gentle plumes of smoky-green magic.
The first wolf ducked, hoping the barricade would save her. The second wolf faced it head on, his teeth bared. He started to shift but he was no Monroe. By the time he’d sprouted fur, the magic had reached him and was swirling round his body and binding him tight. There was a choked cry from the other barricade and I knew the same was happening to his colleague. Huh. It wasn’t exactly what I was going for, but it worked all the same.
‘You can stay out here if you want,’ I said to Anna.
‘I can’t,’ she muttered. ‘I have to stay with you, if only to save you from yourself.’
I considered her words. ‘I’m not the one being obstructive here,’ I pointed out.
‘If you say so,’ she replied. ‘How would you feel if someone did that to any of our people?’
Hmmm. I ignored the guilty stab and offered a blithe shrug. ‘You reap what you sow. I’m not the one who separated our communities, and I’m not the one who’s causing problems now.’