Page 37 of Skullduggery
I grinned. ‘Not today, I promise.’
I marched into the police station, shoulders back and head high. I meant business. A young, uniformed police officer was standing behind the desk. She smiled at me. ‘Good afternoon. I’m WPC Hurst. How can I help you?’
I blurted out before I could stop myself, ‘WPC?’
Her smiled dimmed slightly. ‘Woman Police Constable.’
I raised an eyebrow. Surely the ‘woman’ bit was clear? I tried to rearrange my features into a blank expression. Alright: 1994 wasn’t all good.
‘Uh, my name is Daisy,’ I said. ‘Daisy Carter. I’m here because I want to enquire about the vampire hunting programme.’
Constable Hurst stared at me. ‘Seriously? You don’t mean?—?’
‘I want to know what the reward is for bagging a vampire, what proof you need, and how long it takes to receive the reward.’
‘I’m not sure that’s a very good idea.’
‘It’s afabulousidea,’ I told her. Better than fabulous.
She swallowed and picked up a black phone. ‘Wait a few minutes,’ she said. ‘I’ll get someone to come down and explain the process.’
I’d barely settled onto the blue plastic chair in the waiting area before an older and far more grizzled police officer appeared. Unlike the WPC, he made no attempt to be pleasant; he didn’t even introduce himself.
‘So,’ he said, without bothering to sit down, ‘I hear that you want to bag a vamp and make a quick buck.’ He pointed at the door. ‘You should turn around and get out of here. You need to get those sorts of foolish thoughts out of your pretty little head.’
The brownies immediately flew to the door. ‘Okay, then!’ Otis trilled.
‘No problem!’ Hester added.
I ignored them, stood up and faced the officer. ‘What is the reward for killing a vampire?’
He gave me a long look that left no doubt as to his opinion of me. He tapped his foot and raised his eyebrows; only when itwas clear that I was going to stand my ground did he answer. ‘Five hundred pounds.’
Bloody hell. That was a lot more than I’d been expecting.
The police officer gave a sharp laugh at my expression. ‘Yeah. But there’s a good reason why the reward is so high. Hunting vampires is dangerous – you’re far more likely to get killed and give someone like me a pile of extra paperwork to complete than you are to bring me their fangs to prove their death.’
I didn’t miss a beat. ‘That’s what you need? Their fangs?’ I frowned. Extracting a vamp’s teeth would be messy but it was do-able.
‘Listen, girlie.’ He sighed heavily. ‘You might think you can kill a vampire but you can’t.’
This was getting tiresome. ‘I’m an elf. I’ve got magic.’
‘So? Two high elves were killed by vampires last month. Being an elf won’t make a bit of difference,’ he sneered. ‘Neither will magic.’
For the first time I hesitated. ‘Two high elves? Really?’ That was unusual.
‘A normal vamp would be too much for someone like you – and the vampires out there are worse than normal. They’re brutal. They’ll show you no mercy. And they’re intelligent,’ he added dourly.
Nah: 2024 vampires were stupid and I didn’t doubt that 1994 vampires were equally dumb. ‘When do I get the money?’
He rolled his eyes. ‘You don’t. You’ll only get dead.’
Hester somersaulted and returned to my shoulder. ‘No, she won’t,’ she sniffed. ‘This is Daisy Carter and she’s amazing. No vampire can kill her.’
She’d changed her tune. Hester didn’t like being told no, and she didn’t like anyone who disparaged me. I suppressed agrin and nodded. ‘Exactly. Once I come back here with the vampire fangs in my hand, how long before I get paid?’
He clicked his tongue. ‘Payment is immediate.’
