Sweet Scent of Blood by Suzanne McLeod Read Free Book Online Page B

the mind-lock. Whatever commands the vampire had given him were done.
    I flashed him a relieved smile and gave his hand a quick squeeze. ‘Why don’t we go inside and you can tell me what the trouble is.’
    Alan wrapped his fingers round mine, as if seeking reassurance. ‘You will help, won’t you?’
    I eased out of his hold and patted his arm. ‘Yes, as much as I can.’ An odd need to hug him and tell him everything would be all right came over me.
    He stepped closer. ‘Bobby’s my son.’ Desperation flooded into his face. ‘He’s all I’ve got left. I don’t know what I’d do—’
    ‘Shhh.’ My heart ached for him and I reached up and cupped his face. Golden light spread from between my fingers, pulses of pink and orange flashing through it. The night air filled with the scent of honeysuckle.
    Pinpricks of gold sparked in Alan’s pupils, his expression smoothed out and a soft smile curved his mouth. ‘So beautiful ... glowing ... like sunshine—’ Sliding his hands into my hair, he bent towards me, lips parted.
    I raised myself on tip-toe to meet his kiss.
    Aye, that’s right, comfort the poor man.
    The words in my head jerked me back.
    Shit. What the hell was I doing?
    I yanked free, pulling the magic back inside me and backed off a couple of steps. I dug in my bag and came up with a handful of liquorice torpedoes and stuffed them as quickly as I could into my mouth. I crunched down, willing the sugar to quell the brownie’s magic.
    A brownie’s touch goes to them that needs it . Agatha’s voice sounded in my mind again.
    I swallowed the sweets. Alan’s need for comfort might have awakened the magic, but he wasn’t a child. Mixing brownie magic with my own was so not a good idea: the last thing either of us needed was Alan to be caught in my Glamour. Damn Finn and his quick fix; now I was going to have to deal with the side-effects.
    Alan swayed slightly, then frowned. ‘I’m sorry. What was I saying?’
    I huffed a relieved sigh. ‘You were going to tell me why we can’t see Melissa’s body.’
    ‘Oh, yes. The Soulers have got an injunction stopping anyone from looking at her body, even the pathologist.’ Alan held the door open for me, the worry back in his grey eyes. ‘They’re petitioning for a pre-emptive staking, claiming that Melissa can’t have agreed to the Gift because she was under age. My solicitor’s contacting a judge he knows to see what he can do.’ He tapped his jacket pocket. ‘I’m expecting his call.’
    The Soulers - Protectors of the Soul - are a right-wing religious organisation who, supposedly, could trace their lineage back to Cromwell’s times. They believe humans who become vampires are selling their souls to the devil, albeit at some distant point in the future. Melissa was already dead, and even with the fourteen-day period to allow for a spontaneous change, the circumstances meant it was doubtful the Gift was going to work, so from Melissa’s perspective, it really didn’t make much odds - except that after the pre-emptive staking, the body was immediately cremated. If the Soulers had their way, I wouldn’t get the chance to look for magic.
    Was it just a coincidence, or something else?
    I angled past Alan into the police station, careful not to touch him again. ‘Melissa worked for the vampires. Don’t they normally sign some sort of pre-death wish thing for just this sort of situation?’
    ‘She did.’ He ran a hand over his head, leaving a few hairs standing on end. ‘But Fran, Melissa’s mother, claims it’s not valid because of her age. She can be a bit eccentric at times, but I never thought she was religious. I tried to talk to her, but the doctor’s got her sedated up to the eyeballs.’ A chirping sound cut him off and he fumbled for his phone. He gave me a relieved smile. ‘It’s the solicitor.’
    Coincidence or not, it certainly wasn’t looking good for Mr October.
    I moved far enough away to give Alan some privacy. I’d