Paper Children by James Fahy

Author:James Fahy [Fahy, James]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Endeavour Venture
Published: 2019-10-10T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 22

By the time I got back to my apartment, Cloves had been and gone. Lucy was doggedly curious about why my coat was splattered with blood, but I managed to fend her off, promising to fill her in later and assuring her that I was fine. I didn’t mention Elise. Lucy was one twitch away from losing it altogether anyway. I showered and changed, marvelling as I regarded my body in the steamy bathroom mirror.

Not that I frequently marvel at my own body, but my injuries from my fight with the child-stealer were almost gone already. Even the bruising on my neck had already faded from angry red to a pale and sickly yellow. My shoulder felt a little tender, but more ‘hard swing at tennis’ than ‘dangling off death-defying rooftop’.

When all this was over, when my lab, currently cordoned off as a crime scene, was available to me again, I was going to have to run some serious tests on myself.

I hid the bruises as best I could with a roll-neck sweater, slid into jeans and boots and tied my wet hair up.

“Where are you going?” Lucy asked, after I’d emerged and was hunting around the flat for my keys. “You’ve only just gotten back. You know it’s Thursday, right? The Fangfest parade is tomorrow night. Halloween is looming. You don’t think Cloves will want you around today to-”

“Cloves, and Coldwater, want me to find Chase Pargate,” I cut her off. “Which is exactly what I’m going to do. And as for you…” I glanced across at her from my tiny kitchenette, where I was rifling in a draw for the Taser I knew I owned. She was standing hugging herself in the middle of the room, looking about twelve. “I don’t want you staying here, Cabal guard on the door or not. I have work for you to do.”

Lucy’s eyes actually lit up. I didn’t think she needed wrapping in cotton wool. What she needed was to feel useful and productive. She couldn’t stay here grieving and fretting over Griff and Dee or she’d go insane. I know how to handle my team, and Lucy was always performing best when you were counting on her for something.

“What do you need?” she asked.

“The girl who was almost snatched at Christchurch, and her Grandfather, the vampire-lovers,” I said.

“Celeste?”

“That’s the one.” I nodded. “Cloves has them at her apartment right now. We both agree that this thing might come after her again. I don’t think Cloves’ place is secure enough. This thing is tenacious. Plus… a child? In Veronica Cloves’ house?” I shivered theatrically. “She might get pushed into an oven. I want you to get them and take them somewhere actually safe. Keep an eye on them for me. You hit it off with the kid, right? She’s probably more shaken up than any of us. Go play big sister and watch her for me until I get back.”

“Where do you want me to take them?” She looked puzzled.

I had already thought of this on my return to the flat and had made the call en route.

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