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Craig awoke from a dream about glowing eyes. The sounds of night drifted through the partly open window. Otherwise, the curtains blocked most of the outside light, but his bedside digital clock's luminous screen displayed as seven o'clock. Something warm moved against him, and he turned his head to see Brianna's slumbering form next to him. One of her naked arms lay draped across his chest. A few images flashed across his mind as he reached to touch her skin, and he smiled at the psychometric vision of her stealthy entry into bed to avoid waking him. Even under sleep's spell, he had responded to her presence although he remembered nothing of it now.
He tried sitting up and winced at the pain in his shoulder. What had the Demon used to cut him? Not his blade? That would mean the Demon had infected him, wouldn't it? Then the memory of the abattoir returned with full force to his consciousness; he scrunched his eyes against the painful images. Then he remembered: the house, the break-in, the youth's interrogation, and blackness. Why was everyone taking pleasure at knocking him unconscious these days?
Brianna murmured in her dreams as Craig slid out from the covers. He found no need to wake her. She needed sleep too, unlike his immortal friends. Craig wondered where they were now.
As if on cue, the sound of cutlery scraping china reached his ears, and the delicious aroma of hot food enticed his mouth's saliva glands to action. Food! Craig rubbed his empty belly, stood, and stretched. He was naked! Who undressed him? What else happened here while he slept?
A few moments later, he had dressed himself and headed downstairs. By the sounds from the living-room, Khan and Melody were discussing stories from their pasts with Turner and Tyrone.
"You lot sound fresh for people I doubt have slept in over a day." Craig stepped into the kitchen to see Melody had been cooking. She waved away his curious look in anticipation of his next words.
"It's something I grabbed from a local Indian restaurant. I hope you like curries. Are you hungry?"
"Absolutely." Craig's mouth closed his eyes to appreciate the mouth-watering smells. "I'm famished." He noticed Khan playing pool with Tyrone. The immortal eyed up and sank two balls with a satisfied look adorning his face. Craig turned towards Melody. "How long have I slept?"
Melody counted the plates against the number of wakeful souls. "The whole day. We cleaned up for you." She nodded to the sofas. "Some furniture we covered with some sheets from the closet. Tyrone and your Scottish spirit Emily helped." Craig thanked her, ignoring the sound of Tyrone's moans at losing to Khan, and Melody offered a smile. "Is Sergeant Brianna still sleeping?"
Craig nodded. "How did you go with the third burglar?" Melody eyed him with a blank look. "The kid in the kwoon, I mean," Craig added, jerking his head towards the outside gym.
Khan wandered over to Craig, grasped his sleeve, and took him away with a whisper. "We disposed of the lad."
"What?"! The surprise leapt from Craig like a shocked rabbit, but Khan shushed him and jerked his head. "Over here."
Once away from the crowd, Khan explained. "Melody sniffed the lad. He was infected, Craig. You know what that means."
"The Demon had cut him and possessed him."
"Yes. It also means the Demon knew what you learned from the lad. It's like one of your electronic bugs planted on someone."
"A wire?"
Khan nodded. "Only this one is a psychic kind. There was only one way to deal with it." His voice was low and matter-of-fact.
Craig's mouth opened in shock. "You killed him?" He looked around in surprise and horror. "You killed someone in my house?"
Khan remained calm and quietened Craig with a look only an immortal with many years of experience could manage. "I'm not telling you how we handled the problem. But it's done, and the police have no reason to come after you. That's all you need to know."
Craig was uncertain. "But Brianna -"
Khan placed a calming hand upon Craig's shoulder. "Brianna is having a nice sleep. Being a soldier, she would understand."
"How can you be sure?"
"Because this is war, my friend, and the authorities have no jurisdiction on the supernatural. Nor do they know how to handle it."
Craig placed a hand upon Khan's and saw what happened. The immortal was right. Melody had resumed her Lamia form and killed the lad who died of a heart attack, in much the same way her other victims had died, the same way a rabbit dies when killed by a python. The blood stopped in the veins and forced the heart beat to halt. Yet no bones broke either. No fingerprints, no other marks. Just a dead lad who would be found on the riverbank later tonight.
A knowing look crossed Khan's eyes. "You saw, didn't you? We had one of Melody's faithful take the boy away. No one will know a thing."
"Hello, there, Sergeant Cogan!"
Khan and Craig whirled to see Brianna entering the bright room, blinking in the glare. She offered returned greetings to the house-guests and smelled the curry with a starving look.
At that moment, Emily bustled into the room and clapping her hands. "Come on! Dinner's ready, everyone. Be seated, be seated." She turned to face Turner and glowered at him. The Cockney breezed past her with a sheepish look upon his mug. "I would deny you supper, but you can't eat, anyway. You haven't lifted the silver again, have you?"
Turner shook his head and continued by in silence, his eyes shifting as he passed.
The dinner conversation started light as they tucked into the naan bread, rice and assorted curries. Then it changed to the cleanup of the room. All the time, Craig feared what would happen. What would he do if the intruder turned up in conversation?
As it happened, Khan had thought of it already.
"Sergeant Brianna," he said, his baritone catching everyone's attention. "Pray tell, what did you find in the interrogation?"
Brianna's expression changed, clouds appearing from an otherwise blue sky. "Now, that's a story of its own. But in short, one lad sang like a bird. Something scared him, but I don't know what.. Apparently they had a leader by the name of Brian. He was here too."
Khan remained calmer than a placid lake on a sunny day. "Is that so?" He looked towards Craig and then at Melody. "I saw no one else."
Melody and Craig remained quiet. Melody showed no signs of discomfort. However, Craig's stomach rumbled hard. Although he kept plenty of trade secrets, he hated keeping secrets and lying, especially by omission, about what he knew.
"The kid said Brian had spoken to a large man about breaking into your home." Brianna chewed a piece of naan bread and swallowed. "They were looking for a sword."
"What kind of sword?" Craig asked, fighting back beads of sweat. He was certain Brianna would recognise his guilt when she eyed him, her eyes full of calm, but she said nothing.
"He said it had pictures of Greek gods on it and an inscription." Brianna chomped on some butter chicken. "Do you know what he means?"
Craig wiped sweat from his brow. "Maybe. But I think it was a dagger. Isn't that like the one you mentioned, Khan?"
Brianna watched Craig's eyes, the flicker of a grin appeared at the corner of her mouth, and she glanced at Khan who nodded.
"Yes, it's the one I grabbed from Melody." He turned to the ancient queen who was polishing off her plate and smacking her lips. "Do you remember our first meeting, lover?"
"Like it was a century ago," she replied. "What happened to that dagger?"
Khan thought for a moment. "I handed it to a collector friend of mine, someone related to Craig as it happens."
"Why are you sweating?" Brianna asked Craig when all eyes settled on him. "Are you having trouble with the curry?" Craig shrugged, chewing on a piece of chicken hot enough to melt his throat to slag. Brianna grinned in response. "Or is there something else you want to tell me about the kid who was hiding in your kwoon?"
Craig's eyes opened wide, surprise etched in his forehead's lines. "What?"
Everyone else remained quiet enough that the sound of a nearby grandfather clock's ticks echoed through the room.
Brianna grinned, unable to hold back the chuckles. "Melody already explained what happened with the kid." She winked and everyone else joined in with the laughter.
"Gotcha!" Tyrone laughed, his high-pitched giggles eliciting more laughter from the others. "We fooled you!"
Craig surveyed everyone around him, a smile slowly spreading from his mouth. "How?"
Brianna leaned towards him, pulling him closer, and gave him a kiss on the lips. "Relax. I understand what's happened. I think we'll be fine. This is a war with the Ripper, after all, and no one else would understand."
When everyone stopped laughing, Brianna added, "But I want to know about the sword or dagger or whatever it is. This Ripper Demon wants it for something and believes it's here. Otherwise he wouldn't send people to break in when he knew you would be elsewhere."
Craig shrugged again. This time, Turner spoke.
"I know ov da weapon," he responded, surprising everyone because he lost his Cockney accent for a moment. "Lor' luv a duck! Besides lookin' after young master Tyrone 'ere, I 'ad ter make sure i' arrived ter yew safely from London. Did yew get it?"
"What weapon?" Craig wanted to know.
"Lawd above! Yew must'a received da package by now , innit.," Turner responded. "It should 'ave arrived in da last fortnight. Sorted mate."
Craig shook his head and wondered what Turner meant.
"I know the parcel!" Emily replied, and everyone turned towards her. She gazed at Craig and spoke excitedly. "It arrived on the morning you were heading out to Brianna's place, before she moved in here. You were late to leave and in a rush."
A memory came to Craig, the "aha" kind that left pennies trickling over the floor. "Yes! There was a parcel. What happened to it?"
"It's in the hallway behind the table where you left it!"