The Vampire and the Case of the Wayward Werewolf: An Urban Fantasy Novel (The Portlock Paranormal Detective Series Book 1) by Heather G. Harris & Jilleen Dolbeare

Author:Heather G. Harris & Jilleen Dolbeare [Harris, Heather G. & Dolbeare, Jilleen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Hellhound Press Limited
Published: 2024-03-02T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 34

The silence in the car was thick and oppressive, hanging in the air like a third, uninvited passenger. It felt awkward to me and evidently Connor felt the same, because after a difficult five minutes he shattered the silence with something predictable. ‘So, Bunny, how did you get your nickname?’

I hated it when people relegated my name to ‘nickname’ status, so I pulled out one of my most bullshit responses. ‘I was born with a congenital tail. Even though it was removed, my parents insisted on calling me their little Peter Rabbit. Eventually it got shortened to Bunny.’ I could tell from his face that he wasn’t sure if I was lying or not. I kept my expression bland.

‘Is there a reason you don’t use Elizabeth?’ he asked finally. ‘That’s a nice, solid name.’

‘Yes,’ I said drily. ‘My parents gave it to me.’ Besides wealth, an excellent education and a nanny to raise me, that was about all they’d given me. Hashtag poor little privileged white girl problems. I mentally played myself the world’s smallest violin and I couldn’t stop the bitter smile that rose.

‘Who was your cab driver?’ Connor asked, obviously trying his best to keep some sort of conversation going. Obviously he didn’t like the cloying silence any more than I did.

‘Thomas Patkotak.’

‘Ah,’ he said, like it answered a million questions.

It didn’t answer any for me. ‘What does that mean?’ I asked when curiosity got the better of me.

‘Nothing, I was just curious.’

‘Bullshit! Just tell me you don’t want to tell me. I hate lying.’

He sighed. ‘You’re very prickly.’

I folded my arms defensively. That silence rolled out again for a while, thicker than a bank of fog, until he asked, ‘What’s your dog’s name?’

‘Fluffy.’

‘Bunny and Fluffy?’ A smile tugged at his lips.

‘Yeah, so?’ I sounded like a mulish teen but he was pressing all my buttons.

‘Have you had him long?’

‘I got him after I was turned. Someone had locked him in a bin.’

‘People are animals,’ he growled.

At least we could agree on that, and I grudgingly gave Connor a tick in the plus column. If he liked dogs, he wasn’t a complete arsehole. ‘Yeah, they suck.’ I agreed. ‘Fluffy was starving, and filthy. I saved him and he saved me right back.’

I cursed the second I confessed that vulnerability but it was true. It wasn’t just that Fluffy had attacked my sire for me, he saved me every moment he was next to me with his pure, unconditional love. It was a constant balm to my soul. Maybe one day, he’d help me heal the gaping fractures in my heart.

‘Vampires rarely have pets,’ Connor warned. ‘Unless the vamps are really old.’

‘Why not?’ I asked, incredulous.

‘Bloodlust. They end up juicing their pet and can’t live with the guilt. Having Fluffy is going to raise eyebrows in the vampire community – it says a lot about you and your self-control.’

‘I’d never hurt Fluffy.’

‘I believe you.’ He sounded faintly surprised.

We turned into my street and I grabbed the door handle before we’d even rolled to a stop outside my house.

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