Page 15 of Mystic Justice
‘She’ll be all right,’ Amber said to him gently. ‘We got to her in time.’
She turned to me. ‘In answer to your question, Inspector, we know of two others. Frogmatch here,’ she gestured to the imp who was now holding Snicklesnack’s hand, ‘and Brambleford – but there will have been many others that I didn’t get to in time. Evil witches were using their tails as ingredients.’
The Crone’s lips tightened. ‘I hoped recent events had quelled them but the continued collection of imp tails suggests otherwise.’ She exchanged a grim glance with Bastion. ‘Despite our best efforts, the Black Coven is still operating.’
‘We struck a significant blow, Amber,’ Bastion reminded her. ‘But you know the Crone’s role is a lifetime one for a reason.’
She sighed. ‘Indeed. Evil keeps on growing no matter how much we press it back.’
‘There are always bad people,’ Bastion said softly. ‘But there are good people, too. The bad ones only win when we stop fighting, when we give up. We’re not giving up, are we, Bambi?’
‘Never!’ she swore fiercely.
A smile toyed around his lips. ‘Then it looks like we’ll be staying in Liverpool for a while longer.’
‘Kass will love that,’ Amber muttered sarcastically.
‘She will,’ he agreed. ‘She values your friendship.’
A slight look of bafflement slid across Amber’s features.
On the table, the imp stirred. ‘Snicklesnack!’ Frogmatch cried. ‘Are you okay?’
She started to sit up, froze abruptly and turned to stare at her fully formed tail. She whipped it back and forth then promptly burst into tears. Frogmatch drew her into his arms and comforted her until she stopped sobbing.
‘Can we show you a picture of the vampyr we think might be responsible?’ I asked Snicklesnack.
She braced visibly but nodded. When Bastion showed her the image on his phone, she recoiled. ‘That’s him,’ she breathed, her crimson skin faded to a sickly pink.
‘Thank you,’ I said. ‘Can you tell me what happened?’
‘It was last night. I was walking in Sefton Park alone – I’d had a busy day playing with the park goers.’
‘Playing’ for an imp, meant she’d been playing practical jokes on them. Imps were mischief makers who loved a practical joke, but they frequently strayed from humour into criminality. I didn’t delve further into her activities in case I’d need to arrest her. Imps were frequently hauled in on charges of criminal damage, but they were usually released after a night; like the griffins, they couldn’t be expected to fight their nature. And regardless of Snicklesnack’s actions the previous day, she’d already been through enough.
‘Then what happened?’ I pressed.
She quivered and pressed closer to Frogmatch. ‘I was grabbing some chips from Jack’s van when a vampyr came out of the shadows and enchanted me in an instant. I couldn’t move.’ She whimpered, eyes wide as she remembered her fear. The wound in her tail had been ragged and I suspected her tail had been gnawed off, but I waited for her to confirm it. ‘He bit me! Chewed off my tail like a fucking animal!’
‘Bastard,’ Frogmatch swore.
‘I’m sorry,’ I said gently. ‘That must have been horrible for you. Did he say anything?’
She blinked. ‘He said “Sorry”.’
Huh. That was weird. ‘What happened after he bit you?’
‘He phased into the shadows clutching my tail with his teeth!’ She reached out and clutched her newly grown tail to her shaking body.
‘Okay,’ I said. ‘Thank you for speaking with us. Can you give my colleague your contact details?’ Channing stepped up, phone out ready to input her details into SPEL and I turned to the griffin assassin. ‘Can you send me that image?’
He nodded. He didn’t ask for my number but seconds later my phone vibrated with an incoming message. ‘Thanks.’
As Loki flew around the tropical plants, Amber’s gaze fixed on him. ‘A caladrius,’ she breathed. ‘I’ve never seen one in the flesh.’
Loki, having no doubt heard the name of his species, banked back before landing elegantly on my suit jacket.
‘You’ve been blessed, Wise,’ Amber murmured.
