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“The rings,” Kate muttered as we riffled through door-stop books about pagan mythology.
It was ironic being in a library when I had so often pretended to anyone outside the agency that I worked in one.
I’d insisted that we investigate the link between the rings on each victim. The killer had gone quiet, which meant that he was planning his next move. Often, at night, when I’d finished reading, I tried to get inside his mind. However, this case was unusual because of the personal connections to me. How did he know that I was technically dead? If I didn’t have that question on my mind all the damn time, I could try and get into his head.
“Each woman had a wedding ring on, but not one of them was married,” I said, glancing around the room.
The wooden stairs led up to a balcony that overlooked the first floor. I knew that at the top of them, on the second floor, one of my favourite authors was currently setting up for a book signing. Yeah, I may have dragged the whole team to the library with the intention to research what could connect the rings, but it was an excuse. I was going to pop upstairs in half an hour’s time for a cheeky meet and greet with an author who wrote epic fantasy books.
Sitting forward, Dave’s hair fell over the book he was pretending to read. His eyes were closed, his hands the only thing preventing his head from slumping forward onto the book.
“Dave?” I barked in his ear.
He jerked as his eyes shot open, and he sat up promptly, forcing his eyelids wide. As if he looked more awake that way. He looked deranged.
“Welcome back, buddy.” Jake winked as he flung his legs up onto the table.
Smacking his boots, Kate tutted, her pretty brown eyes narrowing on him. “Don’t be so disrespectful!”
A tiny zing of satisfaction flipped through me as Kate dusted down the leather-bound book that Jake had dirtied with his heels.
“I was having a dream about the killer.” Dave rubbed his face with his hands. “He really is a sick bastard.”
“Is that all you’ve got to add to the conversation?” I glanced at the stairs as a couple of people with books in their hands made their way up.
It wasn’t long until I ticked another author off my bucket list. My team wouldn’t even know what I was doing. It would be a little sneaky, considering I was on work time, but did I care? Nope. Books occasionally came before work.
“No, my liege,” he pushed through his teeth. “I also dreamt that your date was awful.”
All three of us stared at my desk friend as he shook himself. His eyes dipped to the page of the book he’d almost been drooling on. Served him right for staying up late to unpack boxes. In the house opposite mine.
“Do you think you’re letting this case get to you, mate?” Jake asked him, his face serious as he watched his friend.
Tapping his hand on the page in front of him, Dave slowly lifted his head higher as he read. “No, I’m alright. I’m just... sleepy. Wait, look!”
Holding the book up, he pointed at the title. Roman History.
Clearing his throat as we leant forward, he started to read. “In the Roman times, a man would give a ring to a woman, not to express his love, but to mark her as his. Women were seen as possessions, and the ring was a brand to show that she was already owned by someone.”
We glanced at one another, each one of us frowning. Kate reached for the book, her eyes closing tightly as soon as Dave placed it in her hand. A gasp came from her mouth as history replayed in her mind. Part of me was extremely envious of her talent. How amazing would it be to see history through the mind’s eye?
“Shit,” she breathed as she dropped the book. “Roman men were brutal to their women. We knew that, obviously, but their obsession over having them as possessions because they believed that they were owed that by society was extreme. The lengths they would go to to show the women that they owned them was...”
As her sentence trailed off my chest squeezed, the air leaving my lungs silently. Taking a deep breath as discreetly as possible, I stared at Kate. My mother had been on at me about the man who my father had lost a bet to before he died. Marriage. Possession. Shit, surely not.
“I need to go to the toilet,” I stammered as I shot up from my seat.
Dragging my bag with me, I ignored the others as they talked amongst themselves. My heartbeat was pounding in my ears as I ascended the steps to the second floor. The rings on the women could just be coincidence. Yes, they had to be. It had nothing to do with me and my supposed fake betrothal. That would be crazy-insane.
“Are you here to see-?”
“Yes!” I blurted as I joined the end of the queue.
It wasn’t too long, so at least I wouldn’t be missed by the others. The few people in front of me were chatting loudly, their excitement about meeting the author making them unaware of their volume. It wasn’t a bad thing. Usually, I would allow myself to get swept up into the excitement. Maybe even speaking to a few of the other readers too. Not today. Today, my head was up my arse.
“Don’t turn around,” a voice said behind me.
Icey chills filtered through my feet and up my whole body. I didn’t instantly recognise his voice, but as I felt into his aura with my magic, I heaved a sigh of relief. It wasn’t the killer.
“You ruined my plan.” The voice was sharp, bitter.
Joseph Cambridge. What the hell was the vampire doing in the library? And, why was he currently standing right behind me? He could easily bite into my neck and rip out my throat. And, yet, I stood still, waiting to hear what he had to say next.
“I will find a way to bring the Essex line to an end.”
Turning quickly, I reached out to grab his arm, but it met thin air. A woman stood a few feet behind me, blinking in a daze. Joseph had detected that I was going for him, which was often a vampire’s strength. Shit, I was getting threatened from all sides. What would that mean for the fake-date now?
“Can you move along, please?” An attendant prompted me.
My breathing eased as my heartbeat calmed. The author smiled up at me, her young face glowing. Aw, she looked like she was living the dream. Why couldn’t my job make me glow like that? Oh, yeah, because I was chasing a serial killer at the same time as trying to cover my dead-arse. No joy was in my immediate future.
“How are you today?” the author asked as I fumbled with my bag.
“Oh, you know,” I muttered, cursing when the book fell to the floor. “Just being threatened by vampires, and worrying about a serial killer. Same as most days, really.” Almost slamming the book on the table when I finally got it into my jelly fingers, I cringed. “I’m sorry.”
Smiling, the author looked up into my eyes. “I live that in my mind most days, hence the books. I understand.”
Stifling the urge to ask her if she actually did understand what it was like to be a Paranormal MI5 agent, I pushed the book towards her. Taking it, she asked what my name was and then wrote a message.
My pissy behaviour had been sparked by the bloody vampire wanker who had ruined my experience of the book signing. How dare he encroach on my personal life? Reading was my sanctuary. Meeting authors was the only thing I did outside of work.
Almost grumbling to myself as I walked away, I glanced down at the message. A chink of sadness filtered through me as I glanced back over my shoulder. The author was talking to the next reader, but her eyes were bright. She was alive. And yet, her words meant a lot to me.
Unable to stay quiet, I whispered the words to myself. “No matter how long we live in the darkness, there’s always a light in the distance. Don’t ever stop aiming for it, for one day, we will reach it.”
Light. I wasn’t sure I knew what that was anymore. No wonder my team, and my best friend, thought I was a bit depressed. I was.
As my eyes filled with water, I looked up. Standing on the top of the stairs, Joseph Cambridge, the vampire who looked like a politician, was staring at me.
He was darkness. I could feel it pulsing off him as his blank gaze showed no emotion. The man had just threatened me. Surely, that was enough to drag him in by his toes for questioning?
My feet were moving as my arm tucked my book into my bag. A smirk lit his face as he turned and ran down the steps, two at a time. Speedy vampires were a pain in the arse. A little magic would go a long way, although there were a lot of witnesses in the library.
The steps disappeared under my boots as I skipped down them. Glancing towards my team as Joseph slipped across the first floor, towards the exit, I waved my hand. When I caught Kate’s attention, I pointed to the suited back of the vampire. She was up instantly, her speed blasting her across the library.
Landing at the bottom of the stairs, I winced when the pull of energy beneath my feet made me trip. My feet went as cold as ice, as if they were completely numb. My balance lost, I crashed to the ground, my hands skidding across the wooden floorboards.
Cringing at the pain, I watched through my hair, which had flicked over my face, as Joseph slammed through the wooden and glass doors. Holding my hand out, I conjured a barrier spell on the other side of the door. The shake of my arm was evident as I struggled to pull on the magic from the ley line. The frozen blocks of my feet were preventing me from using it. What the hell was going on?
Kate crashed through the door just after Joseph. He was momentarily stopped by my barrier, but I couldn’t hold it for long. Pushing through, he disappeared before Kate could reach him.
Shit! I sighed as my forehead hit the cool floor. Every part of my body shook from the shock of not being able to use my magic effectively. What the hell was happening to me? Was my body finally shutting down?
“Gemma,” Dave barked as he crouched next to me. “What’s wrong?”
The tightness of his voice made my chest squeeze as tears popped into my eyes. If my desk friend was concerned about me, there was something seriously wrong. Before I could reply, his arms came under my waist from behind, hauling me to my feet.
When the soles of my boots touched the ground, they connected solidly. The vibration of magic under my feet intensified. What the fuck? Now, I could feel and connect to the magic perfectly fine.
“What’s going on?” Jake asked as he approached with Kate.
Standing around me, all three of them stared. I dropped my gaze as I forced down the lump that rose to my throat. No matter what happened, I was supposed to be a tough girl. Someone who could hold it together under the most disturbing circumstances. However, the thought of losing my magic and dying was quite frankly petrifying me. Usually I didn’t give a monkey’s arse. I was strong, emotionless, uncaring. But, today... today, my world was crumbling around me.
Clearing my throat and shoving the rising tide down, I replaced my vulnerability with my agent head. I couldn’t show my team weakness. It would be my downfall.
“Joseph Cambridge just threatened to take down the Essex line witches. So, indirectly, he threatened me.”
Nodding, Dave rubbed the stubble on his jaw. “That’s good,” he said, a glint coming into his eye. “That means we can bring him in for questioning and pin the whole fucking case on him.”
