‘I don’t know. Just someone.’
‘Greg.’ Dylan’s voice had a dangerous edge. ‘You have to tell us who you gave it to. This is a murder investigation.’
Greg returned Dylan’s glare with a cold smile. ‘And I have an alibi. Like Pru said, I was very busy compelling a goblet-maker. I never left my flat. And I have no intention of leaving it for the foreseeable future, either. Pru finds me far too compelling for that, don’t you my darling.’
My stomach grew a little ill. ‘Greg, if you’ve compelled Pru to be your girlfriend, that is a crime. One I’ll happily punish you for myself if there are no Wayfarers about.’
He waved a dismissive hand. ‘I have no idea what you’re talking about. You haven’t been compelled, have you Pru?’
She gave him an adoring smile. ‘Of course not, master.’
Greg smirked. ‘So there you have it, Aisling. Oh, and I think you’ll find that I’m so compelling, no court in the land would dare to disagree with me. Now, is that all? Because Pru and I have some more kissing to do.’
11. One Grumpy Detective to Rule them All
‘I’ll kill him.’ Jared was pacing up and down in the Vander Inn’s dining room. ‘I will tear that little snot limb from limb. I’ll … I’ll …’
‘I’ll join you,’ said Dylan. ‘Whatever you’re going to do to him, I’ll definitely join you. I don’t care if his alibi does hold up. He had something to do with this. I know he did. It was his van and his stupid sparkly wand. Who else could it have been?’
‘Hey, no need to insult Sparkles,’ I said. ‘That wand has helped me out of more than a few jams.’
Dylan and Jared stared at me, grunted, and went back to detailing all of the ways in which they were going to punish Greg for compelling Pru.
It was half an hour since we’d left Greg and Pru at Greg’s flat. The goblet-maker had confirmed his alibi, so we’d returned to the Vander Inn to tell Jared and Nollaig what was happening. Currently, Nollaig was in her room, trying to practise her compelling skills so that she could undo whatever Greg had done to Pru. Jared had chosen the less practical option of wearing a hole in the carpet.
‘I think I’ll start with strangling him,’ said Jared. ‘Just for fun. After that, I might work up to staking him.’
‘Hold that thought,’ I said, as the doorbell began to chime a tune. Being a psychic doorbell, it always rang out the ringer’s favourite song – or the one that was most on their mind at that moment. When I rang the bell, it played Row, Row, Row Your Boat. It played the same tune for Dylan, so I’m not the only weirdo in Riddler’s Edge.
Right now, it was playing a tune that sounded rather like I’m Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair. Which meant it could be any number of women who Jared had dated.
The doorbell rang once more and I called out, ‘I’m coming, I’m coming! Hold your horses.’
As the bell rang yet again, I yanked the door open. ‘Rita!’ I gasped, staring at the vampire. The last time I’d seen her, she and her crazy chums were gate-crashing a wedding, kidnapping the groom and admitting to some truly terrible crimes.
She dashed in past me, looking out the window onto the street. ‘Be quiet, will you? They all think I’m dead.’
‘Who, Rita? Who thinks you’re dead?’ I asked, closing the door and peering out with her. The street was empty from what I could tell.
‘Vlad’s Boys. Aisling, they tried to murder me the other night. Instead, they killed the witch I hired to be my doppelganger.’
≈
A few minutes later, we had moved to the living room. Gretel had arrived, and she and Dylan were waiting to find out exactly what Rita had to tell us.
Jared handed the vampire a brandy and sat her in front of the fire. She was shaking from limb to limb. ‘I think it’s a bit obvious that I was never into the whole Vlad’s Boys thing,’ she said. ‘I mean, they’re ridiculous. I don’t want to hate everyone who’s not a witch or a vampire. That would mean I can’t like Roarke!’
Her crush on my puzzle-writing friend was well known to me. Granted, it wasn’t the best reason to want the violence to end, but if Roarke’s strange magnetism was what it took to end this before it began, then I was all for it.
‘But even before I saw that lovely, chubby genius,’ Rita continued, ‘my heart wasn’t in it. I was a weaker vampire than most. When I was a kid, even Roger could compel me. And he did, many times. He compelled me to help them set the fire needed for Bella Foyle’s sacrifice spell. He even compelled me to be his wife. I hated them, the whole lot of them, but I never had the strength to break free. Until I met Roarke.’
She took a long glug of her drink. ‘I know I’ve only watched him from afar, but feeling like that … it was magic, Aisling. He might be an unempowered witch, but the power of my love for him made me see that I had to get out of Vlad’s Boys. I started to take potions to prevent the gang from compelling me – but I went along with things to look like I was playing the part. I knew they’d never let me just leave. So I decided … if I can’t leave, then I’ll take them down from the inside. I planned to try and meet you, to tell you everything I knew. But they watched me like a hawk. I had a half hour to myself every evening while I took a bath, no more. I started to sneak out through the bathroom window, and use that half hour to find someone who’d help me. A witch on Samhain Street agreed to pose as me for money.’
‘We know,’ said Dylan. ‘Her name was Dymphna Danes, and she’s in the Wayfarer morgue as we speak.’
‘I wish that hadn’t happened,’ Rita said quietly. ‘I never wanted her to get hurt. All I wanted was to end this madness. We met up in an alley the other night, so she could go back as me while I stayed in town and spoke to you, Aisling. But somehow, they knew. My husband followed me to that alley and actually tried to kill me.’
My eyes locked with Dylan’s.
‘Wait,’ he said. ‘You’re saying that Roger killed Dymphna Danes, thinking she was you.’
‘Exactly. I’m sure he went back to his Vlad’s Boys chums and told them he killed me because I was a traitor. But that’s only part of it. He was also irritated with me because I was refusing to call him Konstantin.’
Konstantin de Balfe, Heir of Orlok, was how Roger Balfe wished the world would see him. He had even insisted Rita change her name to Viviana. It didn’t surprise me that he’d gotten a little bit irked over Rita’s refusal – he’d certainly screamed loud enough at Dylan when he continued to call him Roger instead of his chosen name.
And if it was him – whether it was because he knew Rita was a traitor, or because she refused his silly demands – then did that mean Greg was innocent? Or did it simply mean he was guilty of a different crappy thing?
‘It was definitely Roger?’ I asked Rita, even though she’d been quite clear. ‘He was driving Greg’s van? Using Greg’s wand?’
Rita finished her brandy and placed the glass on a side table. ‘I think you mean Gregariad, don’t you? Well, Roger would be driving Greg’s van, wouldn’t he? Seeing as Greg gifted it to us when he joined Vlad’s Boys. He also taught my husband some rudimentary wizardry, which was a rather hilarious thing to watch.’
Criminy! He was guilty of a different crappy thing. Well done, Greg.
‘What else can you tell us, Rita?’ asked Gretel. ‘What are Vlad’s Boys next plans? They’ve been seen at the Crossroads and at the Hill of Tara. Do you know why?’
Rita shook her head. ‘They don’t let me in on their plans. They wouldn’t trust me as far as they could throw me.’
‘So why were you so desperate to come here?’ Gretel pressed. ‘You said you wanted to see Aisling.’
‘I did.’ Rita turned to me. ‘There’s something trying to communicate with me. I don’t know what it is, but I think … I think it might be whatever spirit took your Impervium locket from Darina during the wedding. It scratches at me in a creepy, almost ghostly way and it … it’s been trying to get into my mind. Putting images there. I can’t be sure, bu
t I think it wants to help you, Aisling. It kept showing me three images. You. The top of this boarding house. And a clock that had just struck midnight. Have you any idea what that means? Do you know what this invisible creature is?’
I did, but I wasn’t about to say it out loud. I believed Rita, but I couldn’t afford to take any chances. ‘No. No idea, Rita. What else?’
‘That’s all. That’s the only images it’s giving me. There is one more thing, but it’s to do with you, Detective Quinn.’ She looked levelly at my boyfriend. ‘It wasn’t supposed to be Greg. It was supposed to be you.’
‘What was supposed to be me?’ Dylan asked.
Rita’s eyes seemed almost haunted as she spoke. ‘When my husband and Darina started to put the wheels of Vlad’s Boys in motion, they searched high and low for dark objects that would give them the power they desired. They hired a seer – who it was, I don’t know. But that seer gave them a great deal more information than where to find objects of power. The seer also told them of a prophecy. A prophecy that one of the Montague siblings would soon turn someone into a vampire, and that the person they turned would be far more powerful than even the Montagues themselves.’
She eyeballed Jared. ‘That was a bit of a surprise, seeing as until that moment none of us had any idea just how powerful your family were. No one knew of your father’s connection to Vlad’s Boys until Bella returned from the dead. But Darina, especially, believed in the prophecy. She was told that the person you or your sister turned, Jared, would be very much changed once they became a vampire. This person, whoever it might be, would join Vlad’s Boys, and go on to rule them. He – they were sure it was a he – would go on to help them win the war against the fae.’
I gasped. That sounded uncannily close to what Pru had seen. ‘That’s why Darina got Jared to agree to turn you,’ I whispered to Dylan, unable to mask my horror. ‘She wanted you to turn bad and help her run Vlad’s Boys.’
While Dylan turned white, Jared nodded eagerly. ‘That makes sense. She figured she could wheedle her way into my conscience more easily than into Pru’s. Let’s face it, I’m a sucker for a beautiful woman – especially when she’s drugging me with A Good Dose of Suggestion all the while. Pru had already told me not to turn anyone else, but Darina managed to make me ignore that warning.’
Dylan fell into a chair. ‘And then when I wouldn’t go through with it, Darina decided to punish me. That’s why she had my contact tip me off that night. The night … the night I was turned. No matter how much Pru’s tried to help me get my memory back, I’ve struggled. But now … now I remember. It was in those crates that they were opening when I got to the warehouse.’
Rita nodded. ‘The dayturner virus. They put together a batch of tainted blood, riddled with the virus. They used it to punish anyone who went against them. They used it to punish you. We … they … I saw everything that happened to you that night. I saw you fight like a demon while they tried to feed you the infected blood. I saw Darina laugh in your face. I saw … I saw them wipe the memories from your mind afterwards.’
She swallowed. ‘That’s what Darina is like, Detective Quinn. That’s what you’re fighting against. She and Bella, they’re two peas in a pod. They don’t give a toss about vampires. All they care about is power, and they’re using the vampires to get it. Once they wipe out the fae, they’ll be the most powerful supernaturals in the world. Roger can’t see their true intentions, but I can.’
She took in a breath. ‘They were going to turn you again, that night at the wedding. That was why we were there. Yes, they wanted to show off their new power. But mostly they wanted to injure you, Detective Quinn, so Pru or Jared would be forced to turn you to save your life, and the prophecy would come to pass. Darina didn’t put a full load of magic into that spell. You were meant to be turned. You were meant to lead Vlad’s Boys into a dark and ugly future. I was so hopeful when the death spell missed you.’ She sighed. ‘But my hopes went to waste, because as it turns out, Gregariad is far worse than you could ever have been.’
12. The Most Argumentative Lovers of All Time
Long after Gretel took Rita to a safe house, I couldn’t get the woman’s words out of my mind. Greg, my game-loving, snack-munching friend, was now a member of Vlad’s Boys. The gang that had killed so many dayturners. The gang that were now targeting the fae.
It was so hard to believe, and yet all of the evidence tallied. Greg was a different person now. He had given his van to Roger, and taught him how to wield Sparkles. Honestly, I should have known the moment I saw him on Monday morning, because he’d clearly been getting his fashion tips from Roger Balfe.
Everyone else was just as shocked. Jared had headed out somewhere to blow off steam, but he had promised to be back by midnight. Nollaig was arguing furiously with the Wayfarers, asking them what they were going to do about all of this. And Dylan and I … well, we were lying on top of my four-poster bed, fully-clothed, while we waited for the clock to turn twelve.
After some minutes of silence, I turned to look at him. ‘Are you all right?’
He grunted, then said, ‘No. But I will be.’
‘What Rita said …’
He propped himself on his elbow. ‘Remember when Pru was fishing about in my brain, trying to break through my memories of the night I was turned?’
‘I remember. She said you had a very stubborn brain. But then we found out the truth about it, anyway. You’d been given a false tip-off about Vlad’s Boys. It was a trap.’
‘Yeah, and what Rita told us tonight confirms that. They fed me the dayturner virus on purpose because I wouldn’t go along with Darina’s plans. But Ash … parts of my memories of that night … they weren’t forgotten only because I was compelled to forget them. They were forgotten because they were too bloody miserable to remember.’
I laid my head on his chest. ‘Pru thought as much.’
He took in a deep breath, and then said, ‘Yeah, well … now I remember it all. I don’t just remember Miriam being there, or Stanley. I can see all their faces now – Roger Balfe, Jack Burns, Rita. And their minions who they had beat me up. I could pick each and every one of them out of a line-up but … Ash, even though I remember it now, I’m still having trouble processing the truth. Darina was there that night. She stood there and laughed while her pals beat me up and fed me tainted blood.’
I looked up at him. ‘That’s the part I never got. It was supposed to be some form of revenge on her part. You didn’t want to be turned, so she was going to make sure you were turned in the worst way possible. But … she really wanted you to be turned by Jared. That was what was needed if you were going to become the big bad vampire she wanted you to be. So why do something so cruel instead? Wouldn’t it have suited her plans better to have one of her minions compel you to go back to the lighthouse and have Jared finish the ritual?’
He cleared his throat, his face reddening. ‘Actually, she did try that. When I turned up that night, she told me I’d made the wrong choice. She said I should have been at home, waiting for Jared to complete the process. We fought. I told her I was going to arrest her – I didn’t care if she was a Berry. If she was the leader of Vlad’s Boys, she was going to jail. She just … laughed.’
He paused, his voice sounding strained. ‘That’s when they all surrounded me. Hundreds of them. I had no idea of the scale of the gang until that night. She said she’d give me one more chance – go home and be turned by a Montague, or drink from a blood bag. They … they were compelling me, by this time. Or trying to, anyway. Trying to make me go back and be turned by Jared. When compelling me didn’t work, they used some more physical means of persuasion. She knew all along that I’d pull out at the last minute, and this little stunt in the Vlad’s Boys warehouse … this was her last ditch effort. And when even that wouldn’t work on me, after hours and hours of trying to compel me and beat me … they force-fed me the tainted blood.’
I couldn’t imagine the fear he must have felt that night. No
wonder he had pushed it all down for so long. ‘You should be proud of yourself, in a funny way,’ I told him. ‘All of those vampires trying to compel you, plus the threat of becoming a dayturner, and yet you stayed firm. That’s what I like about you, you know – stubborn to the last.’
He let out a dry laugh. ‘You and me both. But maybe … maybe that part of my nature is what would have been twisted, were I to be turned by Jared or Pru. The stubborn me would have turned into a sick monster. You and me … we never would have even met. I’d probably be plotting the demise of you and the rest of the fae as we speak.’
‘I don’t think so,’ I argued. ‘I mean, for one thing, I would never let you get away with it. And for another, well … what about destiny?’
‘Destiny?’ He placed a hand to my forehead, checking my temperature. ‘I thought we’d established that between the two of us, I was the mushier one. You don’t believe in all that nonsense, do you?’
‘I wouldn’t have said so until recently, but look at Mark and Claire.’
‘I guess it is a little bit weird that they keep finding each other no matter how many times Felim breaks them up.’ He gave me a lopsided smile. ‘And I do find it hard to believe that I could have wanted to kill you, no matter how much of an evil vamp I could have become. I mean, I’d always want to argue with you. But kill you? Nah.’
‘And I would want to argue with you, too, Detective Quinn. In every single version of our lives, I guarantee you that you and me are the most argumentative lovers of all time. But argumentative or not … we would find our way to each other. Don’t you think?’
‘You getting soppy on me, Miss Smith?’
I snuggled a little closer. ‘Well we are up against the most terrifying evil we’ve ever faced, so … I figure I can get a little soppy just this once.’
‘I don’t know how you can be soppy about me right now, Ash. If I were you, I’d be seriously rethinking this relationship.’
A Little Bit Vampy Page 7