Page 38 of Skullduggery
I knew not to bother asking if I could use PayPal. ‘Uh, by cheque?’
‘If you want.’
‘Can I have cash instead?’
‘Youwill not kill any damned vampires.’
I folded my arms.
He sighed again. ‘Yes. If you bring vampire fangs to prove a kill, a cash payment can be arranged.’
Brilliant. I smiled and curtsied. ‘Thank you so much for your time.’
‘Don’t do it.’
My smile grew as I headed for the door. ‘Bye!’ I threw the word over my shoulder. ‘I’ll see you first thing tomorrow morning! Make sure that money is ready and waiting.’
If the police officer replied, I didn’t hear him; I was already on the pavement, rubbing my palms together in glee.
‘You needto show that policeman what’s what,’ Hester said in my left ear. ‘Show him that Daisy Carter is strong and powerful, and far more capable than he is.’
‘You need to abandon this foolish idea immediately,’ Otis said in my right ear. ‘There are other ways to make money.’
Not fast enough to serve our needs there weren’t. I waved them both off and scanned the crowds in front of Waverley station. When I spotted Tracey sitting in the spot I’d vacated, I sighed with relief and made a beeline for her.
‘Spare any change, love?’ she asked. She looked up, saw it was me and pulled a face. ‘Oh, sorry.’
I glanced at the coins in front of her; she’d done better at begging than I had, but not much better. ‘I need your help again, Tracey,’ I said. ‘I’ll make it worth your while.’ Her eyes narrowed suspiciously. ‘It’s all legal,’ I assured her. ‘All above board.’ I hunkered down beside her. ‘I only need your witchy skills, nothing too complex, I promise.’
She still looked wary but she didn’t tell me to piss off. ‘Go on,’ she said.
‘Can you get hold of some wild garlic?’
‘It’s getting a bit late in the season for this part of the world, but yes – I know where to get some.’
‘If I get some holy water, could you combine the two ingredients with a spell to ward off vampires?’
Tracey did a double-take. ‘What?’
My understanding of witchery didn’t go beyond the basics. ‘Uh, some kind of defensive thing that could be put into a spray bottle and used against a vampire. Could you manage something like that?’
‘You’re not seriously planning to try and kill a vampire, are you? I know people who used to think they could do that.’
‘Where are those people now?’ Otis asked.
Tracey’s response was flat. ‘Dead.’
Otis shot me a pointed look. ‘I think this vamp spray thing might work,’ I said, avoiding his gaze.
She shook her head. ‘Lots of people have tried holy water and garlic.’
‘Sixty percent holy water, forty percent wild garlic – and it has to be wild. If those ingredients are bound together by the right witch, I reckon they might just do the trick.’ I paused. ‘Add a touch of thyme too.’ I didn’t know what effect the thyme had, but I knew it made a difference.
Tracey still didn’t look convinced. ‘If you try to go up against a vampire, you will die.’
I grinned. ‘I’ve been hearing that a lot today. Trust me, this will work. I’ll go hunting for vampires tonight then collect the reward in the morning from the police. I’ll give you fifty percent of whatever I make.’
She raised a sceptical eyebrow. ‘Thatsoundslike a lot, but we both know that fifty percent of nothing is nothing.’
