Chapter 6 Komal #2
“That is absolutely something you shouldn’t reveal on your campaign,” Arabella reminds me.
“We only know about Augustin’s deal with Gideon because I stole that hard drive and showed it to you all.
If the vampires find out that humans had access to their confidential information, everything we’ve built is going to collapse and the Conclave will win, and the only way Winnie will be able to marry Alaric is if she agrees to be a vampire. ”
“That’s not happening,” Winnie says. “I love Alaric, but I refuse to be forced into a life-altering decision by vampire bureaucracy. If I choose to become a vampire, it will be on my own time.”
“Augustin has his reasons for what he did, and so do I,” Gideon says with a surprising degree of seriousness.
“The vampire community needs Sanctus, and Augustin offered to expedite the process in return for certain favours, which due to the present situation I’m currently unable to grant, but I’m working on fixing that. That’s all I’ll say on the matter.”
“You’d better explain these certain favours to me.” Arabella narrows her eyes. “We’re partners. And I am an expert at inflicting bodily harm on those who deny me.”
“Normally, the threat of violence from you would have me on my knees with happiness, but this time, I cannot speak a word even to you, my love. I’ve never denied that Augustin and I had an arrangement, but the details of that are his secret to reveal.
” Gideon straightens. “However, I’ll give you a little of my wisdom for free.
If you wish to win against Augustin, you need the vampire vote.
And he’s doing a lot of good in the vampire community right now.
Your win will come easily if you unmask the husker. ”
“We’re working on it!” Mina yells.
“Could you possibly work a little harder? And may I propose a little soiree at Sanctus? I’ll invite our two frontrunning mayoral candidates to speak to our members over cocktails and entertainment. Perhaps my fiancée will honour us with a dance?”
“What kind of dance would I do to celebrate a mayoral race?” Arabella scoffs. “That’s as invigorating a theme as paint drying or… wait a moment, I have a most perfect and evil idea.”
“This is why I love you.” Gideon kisses her cheek.
“Because I’m evil?”
“Because you’re evil, and I’m your favourite.” He brushes a kiss over her lips, and she grabs him for a deeper snog. When she eventually pulls back, her lipstick is smeared, and her dark eyes are rimmed with gold. We all clap and whistle.
The envy stings as if someone is squeezing lemon juice into my heart.
Gideon bows and leaves.
“Arabella is in loooove.” Maisie elbows her.
“He is sufficient for my future husband.” Arabella huffs, but she’s smiling as she sinks into her favourite chair, folding her long legs beneath her. “Now, can we stop making bad cubist art of Komal’s face when there are books to read and huskers to catch?”
“I keep saying it, Alaric is the artist, not me.” Winnie slides her poster underneath the sofa. “Call me when you need help organising the mail drop.”
“I think I’ve created an excellent likeness, thank you.” Isis holds up her drawing.
“Yes, that looks just like Komal… if she were placed through a mangle and then mauled by enthusiastic badgers.”
“Mangle? Nice topical reference there, Miss Nineteenth-Century Vampire. Do you even know how to use a washing machine?”
Arabella looks affronted. “Of course not. Why would I wash my own clothes? That’s what Thralls and handsome, doting Gideons are for.
If we’re really not going to read the book, shouldn’t we be focusing on the husker?
Wasn’t being distracted by village nonsense what got my friend Alyra killed and me brutally attacked by my sire? ”
“The burning of my pole and yoga studio was not ‘village nonsense’,” Beth says huffily. “And we saved you, and held the village variety show, and Maisie gets to stay a reporter for another six months, so I’d say we’re doing a great job—”
“Arabella’s right,” I say, my mind already racing. I need to win the vampire vote from Augustin, which isn’t going to be easy. “We should talk about our investigation. Perhaps I could make a campaign promise to finally catch this husker.”
“Murder board time!” Mina drops her poster and reaches behind the sofa to pick up the board where we keep all our clues about the killer. Incidentally, the murder board also now includes several red paw prints. Oscar has the doggy decency to bow his head in shame.
“To recap our investigation so far, we have three victims,” says Mina.
“Two humans – Danny and Patrick – who were husked here in the village. Both of them used to work at Sanctus Estate. Our third victim is Alyra, husked to death on Sanctus Estate, which suggests the killer is someone who lives on the estate or has security access to enter, but might not be the case, as both Lord John Astor and Celeste were able to sneak in without security catching them.”
“The killer isn’t a werewolf,” Celeste says firmly. “When we saw Alyra at the autopsy, I’d have smelled another wolf’s scent.”
“What did Alyra smell like?” I ask, wondering if we can use our friend’s wolfish senses to our advantage.
“Vampire, and Beth.”
“Of course she smelled like me! I was at her house for her weekly beauty elixir and facial scrub!” Beth cries. “If you’re trying to say—”
“No one’s accusing you, Beth.” Celeste pats her knee. “We know Alyra left her house alive because she was texting Arabella.”
“Although you could murder a few people with these.” I frown at the plate of lumpy green biscuits Beth brought.
“They’re made from sprouted wheat and foraged mushrooms and they’re extremely healthy.”
“They are crimes against the art of baking.” Celeste holds up a plate of perfectly round, icing-coated puffs of deliciousness. “Have one of my sticky buns.”
Beth wrinkles her nose. “Do you know what processed sugar does to your body—”
“Oh, yeah, sugar is the worst.” I pop a bun in my mouth. It tastes like happiness. “The abffffouufff wuuurs.”
Beth glares at Celeste and me.
“What Komal is trying to say is that we’re still waiting for Jo’s autopsy results,” Mina says.
“She’s doing further investigation on the marks around the fang wounds and the substance used to drug Alyra.
Morrie is digging into the background of the three victims to see if they have anything in common, apart from being connected to members of the Nevermore Coven, but until then, we don’t have any new leads. ”
“So we’ve got a pile of nothing?” I lick sugar syrup off my fingers.
“Exactly.” Mina slumps in her chair. “This isn’t like the cases we’ve solved before. The killer seems to have gone quiet, but who knows for how long? I don’t like the idea of waiting around until they strike again.”
Isis looks pointedly at the object in the octagonal turret in the corner of the room, covered with a purple cloth and protected by a circle of what I’m told are powerful magical amulets. “Maybe we could…”
“No,” Dora says firmly.
“But surely it’s time we used—”