“All done.” Dave thundered into the room, almost falling over as his big frame collided with the wooden door frame.
When Dave came into the picture, something about the illusionist witch made my anxiety calm.
“Tell us everything,” I ordered the vampire, who sat forward and leant his elbows on his knees.
Clearing his throat, Archie glanced between us as Dave sat in an armchair. The illusionist witch stared at the vampire, his dark eyes analysing his every movement.
“Three days ago, I got a phone call from Lucien Harvey. He said that if I met up with him, he would help me end the Paranormals for Freedom terrorist group.”
My fingers gripped the edge of the couch as Archie sat back and folded his grey suit jacket over his flat stomach.
“Go on.”
I wasn’t going to give him a chance to think too much about what he wanted to say. There was a risk that the vampire might concoct a story that wasn’t true if he was allowed too much leeway with his thoughts.
“Of course, I didn’t know who he was. He claimed that a vampire friend of mine gave him my number. He asked that I bring Brianna with me to the meeting, thinking that she was also interested in taking down Joseph Cambridge’s terrorist group.”
Getting up from the sofa, I started to pace. “Joseph Cambridge is in custody...” I didn’t bother to go into detail about the fact that I was currently on sabbatical from Paranormal MI5, that information would be kept on the quiet. “... Why bother with the PFF when its leader is behind bars?”
Shifting slightly, Archie licked his lips before he answered. “Do you really think that the group will stand down just because two of its leaders have been caught? How often do you see a terrorist group fall apart just because of a small mishap?”
Okay, so the vampire had a point. The PFF was probably still aiming to carry out the stupid ritual on the equinox. How that involved me, I didn’t know. I hadn’t forgotten about it, but my mind had been split between the two people that mattered most. If I didn’t find Brianna, she would more than likely be murdered. If she hadn’t already.
“Do you know what they’re planning to do on the equinox?”
Sticking his foot out, Dave almost tripped me up. The ploy was to stop me from pacing, but my lips sneered as he smiled unapologetically. Was the illusionist witch scared that I had asked too much?
“I have no idea what they have planned. Obviously, we know that they want to disconnect you from the ley line. Whatever they have devised can probably be performed without Joseph and Helen Cambridge.”
Waving my hand in dismissal, I brought the conversation back to our main point. “Let’s talk about Brianna. Did you take her along to a meeting?”
“Yes. Later that day, both Brianna and I met with Lucien Harvey. I quickly realised that he wasn’t reliable, so I persuaded Brianna to leave as soon as possible. Lucien wanted us to lead you into a trap. Of course, we both left pretty quickly, sneaking out of the back of the restaurant.”
“And why didn’t you come to me? If you knew that the man was after me, why not ring me and tell me?”
Chewing the inside of his lip, Archie stared at me. “I tried. Your phone wasn’t attainable for some reason.”
Glancing at Dave, I narrowed my gaze on him. He looked to the ceiling and the floor but refused to make eye contact with me. The agent had always taken care of my communication. He was the one who controlled who could contact me. Which meant that he had stopped Archie Roberts from warning me about Lucien Harvey.
“Dave?”
Placing a hand over his chest, Dave finally looked at me. “I knew that you weren’t interested in Archie, so I made sure to keep your line clear for work.”
My hands clenched into fists at my side. If my partner was going to protect me, he had to do it wisely. By not allowing Archie to contact me, he had placed both myself and my friend at risk.
“To be fair,” Archie interrupted. “He didn’t give me his real name. It wasn’t until I was told by a friend that Lucien had been dragged to hell that I realised who he was.”
“Wasn’t that meant to be confidential?” I asked Dave.
My partner shrugged, his head shaking at the same time. “The underground isn’t a bed of love and light, meaning that everything that happens often gets shared. Especially when a witch calls a demon to drag a serial killer to hell.”
My snarl was vocal this time. Dave was not helping our informal interrogation of Archie. And, it had been his fault that Archie wasn’t able to tell me about Lucien’s plan to use my friend to lure me to him. He had still managed to lure me to him anyway, but it wasn’t the point.
“Brianna was troubled as we came home,” Archie went on, distracting me from Dave’s incompetence. “She said that she felt like she knew the man but couldn’t place him.”
“Did she say any more?” Going to the window, I looked outside. A man stood on the other side of the road, a hood pulled low over his head. He was facing the house, his hands tucked into his pockets.
“No,” Archie began, his voice tight. “I dropped her home and haven’t seen her since. That’s why I rang the number I had for Lucien. His father picked up and told me that they had no idea where Brianna was.”
Keeping my eye on the man out front, I indicated that Dave join me with a flick of a finger.
Both the vampire and witch got to their feet, coming to join me by the window.
“Is it me, or does he look extremely suspicious?”
Affirmative mumbles replied as we all stared.
The man strode across the road, his footsteps long, almost disjointed as he hurried
