Gabriel’s eyes flicked open and he let out a sigh. He’d fallen asleep, again. He’d been trying to finish a report for Angelica, but every time he focused on the screen, the words became blurry and jumbled in front of him.
“Come in,” said Gabriel as a knock sounded on his office door.
Chad opened the door. “I thought you were supposed to be resting?”
“This is resting,” said Gabriel. “All I’ve done is shuffle pieces of paper around and stare at this screen. I feel like I’m going crazy.”
“How are things with the old poison?” Chad sat down at the desk opposite Gabriel.
“Still on the move,” said Gabriel. “And getting closer to my heart.”
“The magic our lab guys used on you keeping things in slow motion?” asked Chad.
“It’s helped,” said Gabriel. “But I’ve not seen anyone from the lab in a while. Any updates?”
“They've been pulling double shifts to identify the final element of the poison,” said Chad. “Last time I saw Jacob, he was downing a double espresso in the staff room and talking about chemical elements I don’t understand.”
“That doesn’t sound promising,” said Gabriel.
“We’ve got the best team working on it,” said Chad. “If anyone’s going to discover what the poison is, it will be them.”
“I trust them,” said Gabriel. A wave of sickness swept over him and he leaned back in his chair. Time was running out. He could feel it ticking down inside his veins.
“You should lie down,” said Chad. “You’ve just turned a hideous shade of grey.”
The desk phone rang before Gabriel could answer Chad, and he picked it up. “Gabriel Galbraith.” He nodded and a small smile crossed his face. “Show them in.”
“Good news?” asked Chad.
“I’m getting a visit from the Thornheart sisters,” said Gabriel.
“Bryony and Ivy are coming to see you,” said Chad. “They must think things are serious if they’re both here.”
“I expect Ivy is here under duress,” said Gabriel.
Chad stood up. “I’ll make myself scarce. Unless you want me to entertain Ivy for you.”
Gabriel waved him away. “I won’t make you do that. I like you too much.”
Chad chuckled as he opened the door. He stepped into the corridor and smiled as he saw Bryony and Ivy. “Welcome, ladies. We were just talking about you. Gabriel is thrilled you’re here.”
“Enough of that, Chad,” said Gabriel as he made a discreet attempt to smooth his hair.
Bryony walked into the room first, followed by a sullen looking Ivy. “We’ve got some information we want to share with you about the poisonings.”
Gabriel gestured to some seats and both girls sat down. “What is it?”
“I’m not sure it’s a real connection,” said Bryony, “but when I spoke with Angelica, I suggested a link between the beauty and magic pageants and the victims.”
“Go on,” said Gabriel. This was the first he’d heard about the connection.
Bryony paused. “Are you sure you’re up to hearing this? You look a little unwell.”
“He’s been poisoned, of course he’s going to look unwell,” said Ivy. “But he’ll live, for now.”
“Thank you for your concern, Ivy,” said Gabriel. “And yes, as you can see, I am still alive. Tell me your theory.”
“We wondered if a previous pageant entrant had a grudge against winners, or other entrants, and decided to get some revenge,” said Bryony. “We went to visit Samara Renegade and got a list of people who could be vulnerable to being poisoned next.”
“Or they could be the poisoner themselves,” said Ivy. “If it is a disgruntled contestant, out for revenge, they will be on this list.”
“Why would Samara give you this information?” asked Gabriel.
“We distracted her by telling her she was next on the poisoner’s list,” said Ivy with an evil grin. “All she could think about after that was getting in extra security and having a lie down. It was pathetic.”
Gabriel closed his eyes for a second as a wave of pain ran through his arm. The poison was on the move again.
“We shouldn’t be here disturbing you,” said Bryony. “You should be at home in bed.”
“There’s too much to do here to consider that,” said Gabriel. “Although if you were to offer to take me home to bed, I might consider it.”
Bryony blushed. “Well, I mean, I could. If it meant you got some proper rest.”
Gabriel gave her a tired smile. “I’m joking. I don’t want to leave here. We are on the verge of figuring out the final element in the poison and I need to be around for when the antidote is ready.”
“That’s good news,” said Bryony. “Okay, I’ll let you stay here.”
Gabriel's smile broadened. Somehow, having Bryony around made him feel better. “That’s kind of you. Do you want to share the list with me? I can put some of my team onto questioning suspects.”
“Only if you’re certain it’s a genuine lead,” said Bryony as she handed over a copy of the list of names. “Angelica wasn’t convinced it was worth pursuing.”
“She’s focused on another line of inquiry at this moment.” In fact, Gabriel was looking at the line of inquiry she was interested in. Angelica was convinced that either Bryony or Ivy were involved in these poisonings, and no matter how much he argued with her, she wouldn’t let the matter drop.
“There’s no need to be discreet, she’s focused on us,” said Ivy. “Hardly a surprise after the way she treated you.” She glanced at Bryony.
“How did Angelica treat you?” Gabriel felt a rush of anger run through him. He hated the idea that someone was mistreating Bryony.
“She was fine,” said Bryony with a wave of her hand. “She’s a tough questioner, that’s all.”
“If I can give her some solid leads to pursue, she will leave you alone,” said Gabriel. “These names could throw up something useful.”
“We should leave.” Ivy stood up and moved towards the door. “You do look terrible, Gabriel.”
“I heard the pale and interesting look is in,” said Gabriel.
“It is,” said Ivy. “But the half dead angel look has never taken off.”
Bryony reluctantly stood up. “Yes, we should leave you to your work. But please do get some rest. Let us know if you get any useful information from those names, though.”
“I will,” said Gabriel. “And thanks for coming in. It’s good to see you.”
“You too,” said Ivy in a falsely bright voice. “Let’s get out of here.” She grabbed Bryony's arm and pulled her from the room.
Gabriel watched the two sisters leave and shook his head. It had taken all of his energy to keep his eyes open while they were in the room. Bryony was right, he did need to take a break. But he didn’t want to risk missing anything. The poisoner was out there and he would find them no matter what.
***
“Why the rush?” asked Bryony as she chased Ivy along the corridor and out the front door of the Charm Police.
“I've had an idea,” said Ivy. “There's someone who is powerful enough to draw the poison out of Gabriel, not get himself killed, and protect the others at risk of future poisonings.”
“That sounds dangerous,” said Bryony. “Who is it?”
“Kristoff,” said Ivy.
“Kristoff Dash can draw poison out of people?”
“I don’t know for certain,” said Ivy. “I know some demons can do that. But my idea isn’t that Kristoff does it on his own.”
“Who will help him?”
“We will,” said Ivy. “Kristoff can siphon some of our powers and use them to remove the poison from Gabriel and not get his stupid demon butt destroyed in the process.”
“How will this help the others at risk from the poisoner?” asked Bryony.
“With our combined powers, Kristoff will be able to place a circle of protection around all of the women. It won’t make them immune, but it will alert them when they get near to the poison. It will be as if they have an early detection system in place. If the poisoner comes near them and has a poisoned rose or box of chocolates, or whatever item they decide to poison next, they will know about it.”
“That’s a clever idea,” said Bryony. “But it will require a lot of power.”
“Which is why we need Kristoff’s help,” said Ivy.
“Do you think he’ll do it?” asked Bryony. “It sounds risky.”
“It is,” said Ivy. “And I’m sure Kristoff will extract his pound of flesh for assisting us. But you saw the state of Gabriel.”
“He didn’t look good,” said Bryony. “But why do you want to help him? You don’t even like Gabriel.”
“I don’t like Gabriel, but you do,” said Ivy. “I know how hard you’ve been desperately trying not to fall in love with him. I want to be the one to destroy Gabriel, not some stupid poison.”
“If you really meant that, you’d let the poison do its work,” said Bryony. “Then he would be out of our lives for good.”
“I won’t let some sordid poisoner dictate what happens in our lives,” said Ivy. She looked over at Bryony. “Besides, you never know, our crazy aunts could figure out how to remove our curse, then you’d be freed to marry that blond haired loser and have a hundred angel babies with him.”
“That doesn’t sound horrible,” said Bryony. “But I might stop at a dozen angel babies.”
Ivy grabbed Bryony’s hand and gave it a quick squeeze. “Let’s go and see what sort of deal we can make with the devil.”