Chapter 13
Chapter
Thirteen
If Trilby was aware of Penelope’s warning, which was entirely possible since I’d recently learned that Trilby could occasionally read my mind, they didn’t show it. As I drew near, they looked up and smiled widely. ‘Kit!’ Their voice was warm. ‘And cat!’
She Without An Ear blinked up at them then gathered her muscles and jumped onto their stall table. I knew exactly what she was looking for, and clearly so did Trilby. ‘Ah, I’m afraid there is none left. I would check your mother’s pocket if I were you.’
I met their eyes unflinchingly. I wouldn’t pretend that I hadn’t taken their magicked catnip. ‘Do you want some money for the catnip?’
‘No.’ They winked. ‘I left it there for you and I am glad that you found it.’
Uh-huh. ‘You don’t need it for your own cat?’
‘I don’t know what you mean, Kit. I don’t have any cats.’
I made a show of looking around. ‘Silver. Maine Coon. Handsome fellow with a big appetite.’
‘He’s not mine.’
‘Really.’ My voice was flat.
Trilby grinned. ‘Really.’
I sighed: this was getting me nowhere. Beating around the bush wouldn’t work here; I had to employ a direct approach. ‘Did you conjure up a monster last night and order it to attack me?’
Trilby didn’t laugh at my question but neither did they appear to take offence. Instead they regarded me seriously. ‘I like to think that I am your friend, Kit. I do not harm my friends.’
‘Who do you harm, then?’ I shot back.
They grimaced. ‘No-one – not deliberately. I try to help people. It doesn’t always work out that way but I can’t control every outcome or every person.’
They spoke with considerable gravitas, which suggested they were taking my accusations seriously. I doubted I could accuse any other living being in Coldstream of attacking me and receive a similar response. It was curious, but I didn’t think they were lying.
Or perhaps, a small voice whispered inside my head, you don’t want to think they are lying.
Trilby raised a single eyebrow. ‘I have never lied to you, Kit.’
‘That’s exactly what a liar would say.’
‘And it is exactly what someone telling the truth would also say.’
I couldn’t argue with that.
Already bored with the conversation, She Without An Ear started batting a small glass vial, intent on pushing it off the table. She nudged it several inches until it tottered at the edge then looked directly at me and flicked it a final time. The vial toppled off the side.
Without looking, Trilby reached out one long arm and snatched it out of the air. ‘Impressive reaction time,’ I murmured.
They bowed. She Without An Ear tossed her head disdainfully and turned her attention to another vial. ‘No,’ Trilby said gently. ‘No more.’
To my astonishment, She Without An Ear flicked her tail and sat down. Usually she treated my instructions as a command to do the exact opposite.
‘You know,’ Trilby said conversationally, thankfully choosing not to give the tabby cat a stroke and lose their fingers in the process, ‘you can’t put too much faith in any of the MET’s spells, embargoed or otherwise. There are many opportunities for abuse, even with new spells.’
I stared. Bloody hell. How did they know? I’d deliberately guarded my thoughts so I didn’t unwillingly reveal what I knew about the echo spell. ‘Trilby…’
They raised their hands. ‘I know, I know. You can’t speak of such things. But think about what I have said.’ They flashed me a smile. ‘Tell me, Kit. Have you ever wondered where vampires come from?’
I was totally confused by both the change in subject and their question. ‘What do you mean?’
‘Vampires have been around for more than a thousand years – longer – but somebody had to be the first one.’
What was Trilby telling me?
True to form, they didn’t appear keen to elaborate. ‘Just a thought,’ they said carelessly. ‘Now, I have something for you. I hoped you’d take it along with the catnip but you ignored it.’ They reached under the table and took out a small box. ‘Here.’
I gazed at it as if it were a bomb. Hell, maybe it was. ‘What is it?’
‘A preservation spell.’
Interesting. Did Trilby think I needed a preservation spell? I couldn’t imagine when I’d use one. ‘No thanks. I don’t think I need anything like that.’
They regarded me benignly. ‘I’m giving it to you, but it’s not for you.’
My eyes travelled involuntarily to She Without An Ear.
‘And It’s not for her, either. This particular spell only preserves inanimate objects.’ Trilby pressed the box into my hands. ‘Please, Kit, humour me. I give you my word. I am trying to help you, not hinder or harm you.’
There was an accompanying fizz of magic. I stared. Trilby had never given me their vow before; this was a new development.
I sighed. There weren’t many people whom I trusted; if I were honest, the short list contained only one name.
I ought to add Trilby to that list. No matter what Penelope had intimated, they had never done me wrong – quite the opposite, in fact.
There could be no ambiguity: either I trusted Trilby or I didn’t. I made a decision and took the box.
Their eyes gleamed. ‘Good. You have made the right choice.’
I hoped so. I put the box into my backpack. ‘Thank you, Trilby.’
They touched the tip of their hat in return then their gaze slid past me and they smiled. ‘Oh, look. Don’t you know that vampire?’
I frowned and looked over my shoulder. Alan was darting hurriedly through the market. Hmm. I bit my bottom lip, nodded a farewell to Trilby and ran after him. ‘Alan!’
He heard my shout, turned and his blank expression immediately transformed into a beaming smile. He genuinely seemed pleased to see me as he waited for me to catch up. ‘Kit! You’re here early.’
I decided not to tell him that I’d been in the Understream for hours. ‘I’m on a clock,’ I said. ‘Six days now to find those worms.’
‘Are you making any progress?’
I’d learned a lot over the past hours but none of it was concrete and little of it related to what had happened to Nicola, Solly, Fields and Tiger.
‘Alas, no. I’ve spoken to Anthony and I’ve been re-tracing the worms’ usual routes to search for clues.
Not much to report so far, but I remain optimistic. ’
Alan’s red eyes flickered but he nodded understandingly. ‘It’s not an easy task. I fear you got the short end of the stick as far as the investigations go.’
‘Does that mean you’re having more success with the graffiti artists?’
‘Oh yes.’ He nodded vigorously. ‘I have identified two of the three, and I think I’ll find the third tonight after the sun goes down.
I also have an appointment with a landowner at the Glebe who might be prepared to offer the exterior wall of his warehouse as a blank canvas for future artistic endeavours. ’
I was impressed: Alan had worked far more quickly than I’d expected. ‘Which warehouse?’
He scratched his head. ‘Uh…’ He looked over my shoulder, jerked and stepped back. ‘Is that a cat?’
I grinned. ‘Meet She Without An Ear.’
‘Goodness. I can’t remember the last time I saw a cat in the Understream.’ He bent down and stretched out a hand towards the tabby. She hissed and snapped her teeth. Sensibly, Alan pulled away and stood up.
‘I wouldn’t take offence,’ I told him. ‘She’s like that with everyone. Even me.’ I smiled fondly. ‘You’ve not seen another cat around here, then? A male? A silver Maine Coon?’
Alan’s brows snapped together. ‘Maine Coon?’ He had no idea what that meant.
‘They’re large cats,’ I explained. ‘Pedigree moggies with long fur that resembles a lion’s mane.’
‘I’m certain that I would remember seeing a cat like that,’ he said faintly.
I was beginning to wonder if the Maine Coon was some sort of ghost. He certainly wasn’t like any other cat I’d ever come across and I’d met thousands during the course of my lifetime.
‘It’s not important.’ I smiled reassuringly. Alan seemed much more relaxed here than he’d been in the classroom. I felt a trace of sympathy for him; he must have felt very out of place above ground and that was doubtless why he’d kept to himself.
As if to give credence to my thoughts, another vampire wandered past and called out,
‘Alan! Good to see you, old chap!’
I watched Alan wave and smile. I had always assumed that vampires were solitary creatures but that wasn’t actually true.
They had friends, it was simply that those friends were other vampires.
As I glanced at Penelope, who was occupying herself at one of the clothing stalls, I was beginning to understood why.
Their motto was ‘Trust in the fang and the fang alone’, I reminded myself.
‘I should go,’ I said. ‘Penelope is waiting for me.’
‘Penelope?’ Alan sounded surprised.
‘She’s agreed to help me find the worms. I think she’s rounded up some witnesses.’
‘People who saw the worms disappear?’
I shook my head. ‘No, but she’s found the last people to see the worms alive.’
‘That could be useful.’
I crossed my fingers and held them up. ‘Here’s hoping.’
‘Captain Montgomery would be proud of your diligence.’
I offered a mock grumble. ‘He’d better be.’
Alan chuckled and patted me on the shoulder. ‘We should catch up later. Maybe when I get back from Danksville tonight, if you are still around?’
I nodded. ‘It would be good to compare notes and share ideas.’
‘Good. I’ll come and find you.’ I must have looked blank because he smiled again. ‘You have been marked,’ he said gently. ‘As long as you stay within the mapped boundaries, we can always find you.’
I’d forgotten that little detail. ‘I thought it was only the Bureaucratic Suite that could track me,’ I said, thinking about how the monster conjuror might have found me yesterday.
‘That’s true. But all we have to do is visit the suite to find your current location. There’s an active spell that tracks marked visitors at all times, and all vampires are allowed to see it.’
Interesting. I made a mental note to talk to William again because it was possible that my attacker had left a trail of their own when they’d gone in search of me. It was a satisfying thought; it would be poetic justice when I finally tracked down the conjuring bastard.
I bade farewell to Alan and looked at She Without An Ear. ‘We’ve got this,’ I told her confidently. She sniffed dubiously. ‘You’re the best attack-cat a lady could ask for.’ I wasn’t above bolstering my cat’s confidence when the situation demanded. ‘How could we fail?’
She blinked up at me then, pleasingly, she graced me with a purr.
It only took a few minutes of interviewing the first witness to recognise that Captain Montgomery’s wise words about the importance of keeping interviewees on your side was the most useful thing I’d learned during his two-week training course.
It took even less time to realise that it was far harder than it looked, and that speaking to potential witnesses who had little to offer was depressing and time-consuming scutwork.
Even when I was on my very best behaviour.
‘Talk me through your journey from beginning to end,’ I said to the florid vampire who had been Fields’ last passenger.
‘I walked out of my house and into the Understream at exactly three minutes past four. I know it was three minutes past four because the grandfather clock in my hallway was chiming four and it runs three minutes fast. I have employed many different people to address the clock’s deficiencies, but none of them have achieved success.
I believe that the inner mechanism needs to be taken apart and rebuilt from scratch, but there is a vexing protection spell that has been placed on the clock to preclude any such intervention.
I intend to petition the witches’ council to find out if any of their more experienced members can help.
I doubt that they can. When I first turned vampire, the council was a force to be reckoned with and their skills were unparalleled.
These days they appear to lend those skills to politicking and pointless bickering and… ’
Save me now. Interrupting a witness in mid-flow wasn’t the best way to win hearts and minds but there were only a limited number of hours in the day, and if he didn’t focus I’d be there all night. I cleared my throat. ‘So you left home at 4.03pm. Was that your usual routine?’
‘No, not at all.’
Immediately interested, I raised my eyebrows. Anything out of the ordinary could have impacted the worm – or anyone who attacked it.
‘Usually I leave at 4pm on the dot. On this occasion I was running very late.’
‘By three minutes?’ My tone was not as professional as it should have been.
The vampire looked down his bulbous nose at me. ‘Punctuality may not matter to sun dwellers like you, but it is a matter of principle and morals as far as I am concerned.’
This was more like the sort of vampire I had expected: punctilious, annoying and a with a complete irony bypass.
I bit the inside of my cheek then threw him a curve ball designed to put him off balance and hopefully encourage greater honesty.
‘Have you ever conjured up a monster to attack another creature?’ I asked.
Penelope, who was by my side, sucked in a sharp breath but the other vampire didn’t react.
‘No.’ He pointed to She Without An Ear who was staring into space looking bored.
I didn’t blame her. ‘Is that why the cat is here? Is it a conjuration? Because I can tell you many things about the nature of cats that might improve such conjurations. Given that this one is missing an ear, you could do better. To begin with, one should know that their Latin name felis catus and...’
I interrupted again. I was a cat lady: I couldn’t let a damned vampire mansplain cats to me. ‘Did you travel with anyone else?’
‘No, and…’
‘Did you see anyone else?’
‘No, but…’
‘Was there any indication from Fields that anything was wrong?’
‘His lantern was slightly askew. I would not have been surprised at such inattention from one of the younger worms, but Fields was usually more meticulous and refrained from jerking around. This was only the twenty-third time that I had noticed his lantern wasn’t in perfect alignment and…’
I sighed inwardly. This would be a very long night indeed.