Vowed (26 page)

‘When you say “investigating”, are you implying that there’s something supernatural going on here?’

‘We think so,’ I reply, watching the constable ushering other interested people back. ‘We need to get inside the flat, to look around. I think we know what to look
for.’

Detective Shen’s dark eyes rest on my face for a few seconds. ‘I’m not sure how I feel about this,’ she says. ‘You’re too young to be part of any kind of
investigation. And you?’ She nods at Dante. ‘What’s going on at the SDI that they’re sending out people who look like they’ve just finished college? Don’t you
have a senior agent?’

Dante shifts uncomfortably under the barrage of questions. ‘I can give you my senior officer’s details, detective. I’m sure he’ll be able to explain his reasoning to you
as to why I’m out here “by myself”.’

I’m surprised by his tone but keep my expression neutral and interested. My mind is racing. If Detective Shen knows Jamie (and she clearly does), it makes me wonder how many cops know
about the Blackharts and what we do. They obviously know about the Spook Squad and even have their own nickname for them – the Ghost-something. The thought makes me feel a bit relieved but
I’m not sure what to make of Shen. Is she a believer? Does she know monsters are real and that some might be only occasionally human?

‘I think that might be a good idea.’ Her smile is cutting as she turns to look over her shoulder. ‘We can’t have just anyone running around our crime scene.’

Dante takes his business card out and writes his senior officer’s information on the back. Shen takes it from him and immediately dials the number, walking away from us so that she can
speak privately.

‘I like her,’ I tell Dante. ‘She’s badass.’

‘She certainly has a presence.’ He hunches his shoulders, the same way he did earlier this morning, and I realize he’s not wearing a warm coat, just his leather jacket and a
T-shirt underneath. There’s not much to the leather jacket, no matter how well it’s cut to fit his lean frame.

‘You should invest in a coat,’ I tell him, sounding like a mum. ‘It’s this new thing that keeps you from shivering to death.’

‘I’m not shivering. I’m shaking with anticipation.’ He grins. ‘Besides, real men don’t wear coats. Just look at Aiden.’

I sigh. ‘Aiden is dumb. He’s also a werewolf and he’s never ever cold.’

‘So I’ve spoken to your Captain Francis and he’s said to let you in and make sure you get what you need.’ Shen doesn’t look too happy as she walks back towards us.
‘He said he’d clear it with my CO, so, congratulations little Spook: you get to play with the big boys now.’

I feel an unexpected flare of anger from Dante at her words and take a surprised sidestep away from the almost visible electricity that’s just come from him. He seems oblivious to it and
watches Shen carefully, his expression the unfriendliest I’ve ever seen it.

‘Thank you.’ His smile is as cutting as her tone and as falsely grateful. ‘For your professionalism, Detective Shen.’

She lets the sarcasm flow over her and jerks her chin at us, a silent invitation to follow. She brushes past Osborne, who looks like a kicked puppy in her wake. I offer him a shrug in apology
and hurry to keep up with both Shen and Dante, wondering what exactly it is that I’m missing here and why Dante’s acting like a brat. If it’s because she referred to him in the
diminutive and called him young, he has to know that he does the same thing to me, mentioning it practically every time we meet up. Fair is fair.

She leads us into the second building and up four flights of a graffitied stairs. There are police everywhere, stationed up the stairwell, blocking exits. Shen pushes open the door to the fourth
floor and holds up a calming hand as an officer rounds on us, getting ready to ask us our business.

‘They’re with me,’ she says and the young woman steps aside to let us pass.

The layout here is different to the block we visited where Adam and Scott lived. The external walkway is long and narrow, with the flats on one side and a lowish wall looking out over the estate
on the other. This is topped with high railings to prevent people from falling down or being pushed off. There are too many people standing around, watching the uniformed officers, who in turn are
watching the forensic investigation unit check the flat over.

‘This looks like they’re taking it seriously,’ I mutter to Dante. ‘There already seems to be more action here than at any of the other disappearances.’

He nods. ‘I wonder why?’

Shen halts at the open doorway to the flat and passes back cloth booties, gloves and facemasks for us to put on. ‘Don’t touch anything, don’t step on anything,’ she says,
watching us over her mask. ‘If I find out you’ve somehow interfered with what we’re doing here, I will make sure you’re never allowed on any crime scene in the future.
Clear?’

‘Crystal.’

I have trouble with my booties as my shoes are too bulky. Dante sighs dramatically and goes down on one knee to help me before I fall over on my face. I steady myself by gripping his shoulder
and when I look up I see Chem. He’s standing with a group of teenagers in the doorway of the adjoining flat.

He widens his eyes at me and I shrug. The group that’s with him is of a mixture of ages and most look ready to head off to school. I think I recognize some from the other night. Yes, the
boy with the yellow eyes is there and he leans in to say something to Chem. Chem taps his watch, flashing me ten fingers, then pointing downstairs.

If my deductions are correct, he wants us to meet him downstairs at ten. I nod and turn back as Dante straightens.

‘There, you’re sorted.’

‘Thanks. Next time I’ll wear boots with less tread on them.’

I turn to follow Shen into the flat and walk straight into a wall. I bounce back, letting out a yelp of shock and stumble into Dante, who manages to not trample me.

‘What the hell?’

‘I don’t know what happened,’ I reply and walk up to the open doorway where Shen’s standing, her expression annoyed. I put my hand forward tentatively and suck in my
breath when it makes contact with a clear yet solid wall. I slap the invisible barrier and it makes a soft
zing
noise that sparks against my fingertips. ‘It’s warded,’ I
say to Dante. ‘Someone warded the flat against me.’

‘That’s ridiculous.’ He moves past me into the flat unhindered. ‘Why can I get through if you can’t?’

‘I don’t know.’

‘Is there a problem here?’ Shen asks, her voice almost bored.

‘I can’t get into the flat,’ I say. ‘Look.’ I press myself flat against the surface and it’s like pressing up against a panel of clear glass. I can see the
interior of the flat without a problem and she can obviously see me. ‘See?’

‘Are you pulling some kind of weird mime crap, Blackhart?’

I roll my eyes at her. ‘Seriously?’

Dante exits the flat and frowns at me. ‘Can you tell what it is that’s stopping you?’

‘No clue. It could be a spell reacting to me personally, to my magic. Who knows?’ I dig into my bag and hand him the camera. ‘Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to
take as many photos of the inside of the flat as you can.’

He takes the small compact digital camera and turns it on, checks the screen and turns it off again.

‘Okay, I’ll see what I can do.’

‘Pay particular attention to anything that’s out of place or unusual.’ I beckon him closer. ‘Just, you’ve got something on your face.’ I lick my thumb and
reach up to wipe something from the corner of his eye but he leans back in surprise.

‘What are you doing?’ His voice sounds breathless and panicked and I stare at him.

‘I can’t kiss your face, idiot,’ I grind out in annoyance. ‘Stand still. Let’s see if this will work.’

He realizes what I’m doing but it doesn’t stop him from sighing in a long-suffering way. He leans closer and I rub my damp finger over both his eyes and as I do, I feed a bit of my
magic into my intent to let him See.

‘If you two lovebirds are quite finished,’ Shen interrupts. ‘I’ve got a job to do here.’

Dante opens his eyes slowly, languidly and gives me a sexy smile that feels far more intimate than it should. As he brushes past me without a word the weird frisson of electricity sparks off him
again and I step back, an unexpected wave of dizziness passing over me.

The policewoman standing a few paces away, still keeping an eye on Chem and his group, gives me a brief smile.

‘Detective Shen is a bit abrupt, but she’s a great cop.’

‘My uncle knows her,’ I blurt, walking up to her. ‘I don’t think she likes me.’

‘She’s like that with everyone she doesn’t know.’ Her name badge reads S. Peters. ‘Your friend, who is he?’

‘He’s with the SDI,’ I say and watch the lively interest in her large blue eyes wane. ‘Why do you ask?’

‘Nothing, just thought he might be.’ She clears her throat. ‘Far too pretty to be a cop.’

I laugh and she relaxes a bit. The group behind her mutter among themselves as they notice her scrutiny wavering. Chem quietly slips between them and ducks back down the passage to the
doorway.

‘He has a certain charm,’ I admit. ‘Do you need anything? I can do a run for some coffee or something?’

She shakes her head before replying. ‘I’m good, thanks. I only just got here.’

Before I head downstairs, I look over my shoulder and see Dante walking down the passage in the flat, taking photos as he goes. He’s talking to Shen and I can’t hear what
they’re saying but it doesn’t look as if they’re planning to be BFFs any time soon.

‘Yo.’

The parking garage is practically empty of cars, except for a white Corolla on bricks. It looks as if it’s hoping to be scrapped and turned into something pretty and not covered in gang
graffiti. Chem’s hunkered down against one wall, tying his shoelace as he gestures me over.

‘Did you find anything out?’ he asks me as I walk across to him. ‘About Marv’s little sister, I mean?’

My face registers my surprise and he continues. ‘Yeah, Marv called my house this morning, and he was crying and screaming, saying his little sister got taken last night. We’ve been
trying to find out the whole morning what’s going on, but none of us could get near the flat with all the cops hanging about.’

‘Oh, Chem, I am so sorry.’

His look is one of wry disbelief. ‘You said you’d stop this from happening again.’

‘I’m finding out as much as I can, Chem. It’s not easy.’

‘Riiiight.’

‘Listen.’ I draw a deep breath. ‘Dante’s in there right now, checking things out. We’re going to find Marv’s little sister. What’s her name?’

‘Tia.’

‘How old is Tia?’

‘She’s five, but she’s got a mouth on her. That’s how they knew, right? Tia screamed the flat down when that thing came for her.’

‘How did he take her, do you know?’

‘The guy came through the window. Then they left out of the front door.’

‘Shit. How is that possible?’ I start pacing. ‘I bet you the CCTV cameras in the block don’t show anything again. Do you know if anyone heard or saw anything?’

‘Not that anyone is saying.’ He scrubs his face. ‘But Marv swore he saw the guy. He ran after them, leaving his mum to call the police, and he swore he saw the guy jump down
the stairs carrying his baby sister.’

I stop in front of him. ‘What do you mean, “jump down the stairs”?’

‘The guy got to the top of the stairs and then just jumped down between them, into the gap, straight down to the ground floor. Marv said he could swear the guy was wearing a cloak
too.’

‘So what do we think now? Batman took Tia?’

A grin twists Chem’s features. ‘Don’t be silly, Batman’s not real.’ Then. ‘Is he?’

‘Well, my boy cousins are fond of acting like Batman,’ I point out reasonably. ‘But no, he’s not real.’

‘What are you going to do next?’ He asks me, stifling a yawn without much luck. ‘Sorry, that was rude.’

‘Next I’m going to see what Dante finds out – and maybe we could speak to Marv. Do you think he’ll be okay to do that?’

‘Marv’s been researching you and your family,’ he says by way of answer. ‘Also that guy Dante. I’m pretty sure he wants to talk to you.’

I try not to let my discomfort show and wonder what exactly there is about me to find online and what searches Marv did. I shuffle my feet, suddenly aware of the chill in the garage.

‘Great. Let’s go and see what Dante’s found.’

We round the corner just as Dante leaves the block, looking pale and unwell. We hurry towards him and I’m just in time to push my shoulder under his, preventing him from
tripping over his own feet and falling over.

‘Dante, what the hell?’ I gasp, shocked by how heavy he is.

‘Sorry, I can’t . . .’ He turns away from me just in time and vomits a stream of bile into the straggly bushes growing up against the wall. He leans a hand against the bricks,
his body wracked by shivers. Chem and I move to stand in front of him, doing our best to shield him from the curious gazes of the onlookers. ‘Shit, what is this?’ he mutters before he
vomits more.

‘Rough night last night?’ Chem asks me and I shrug. ‘I was up late doing research – no idea what Dante was doing.’

‘Sleeping,’ comes his voice, sounding utterly wretched. ‘I was sleeping. I don’t party during the week.’

‘Yeah, could have fooled me,’ Chem replies with a smirk. ‘You look like shit.’

I turn back to Dante as he straightens. He looks older suddenly, the skin tighter across his high cheekbones and his eyes darker.

‘Are you okay?’

‘I don’t know. I was in the flat taking photos when I suddenly started shaking and feeling really sick. Detective Shen gave me some water to drink but it didn’t help.’ He
shudders and runs a trembling hand through his hair. Possibly one of the first times I’ve seen him badly rattled. ‘I just had to get away from that flat as fast as I could.’

‘Look, why don’t you guys come to mine?’ Chem says. ‘It’s just around the corner and my nan will be able to mother you. She’d love that.’

‘I don’t want to be an inconvenience,’ Dante starts but I scowl at him and it shuts him up. I hook my arm through his and with Chem leading the way to the opposite block of
flats, we head up to the second floor.