Page 119 of Inbetweeners
“What will you do with them?” Emmett asked.
“Not your concern. Is that all?”
“No,” Nix said. “There’s something else. A problem. I…unintentionally brought a hitchhiker out of Hell. Vin. I don’t know if that’s his full name.”
For the first time, Tar showed a degree of surprise. Not shock and horror, but it was clear he hadn’t known.
“So, you didn’t know?” Nix asked.
“I’m not omniscient. What happened?”
“I’d just been pushed through the gap in the rock and as it sealed behind me, it was as if I’d been swamped by a thick tar-like substance—no pun intended. I passed out and came round lying on the ground. At that point, I had no idea he was inside me. He can only push through when I’m asleep.”
“Except for the time when we were blessed in church.”
Nix glanced at Emmett. “Except for then. Vin was seriously pissed off about that. I heardandfelt his fury. He wants to be in charge. He wants me toaccepthim. I’m assuming that means take over. I don’t and won’t accept him, but I don’t know if what I want makes any difference. I’m worried he’s after Emmett. I’ve killed Emmett twice when Vin’s been in control of me. I can’t stay with him while I’m asleep. It puts Emmett in danger.”
“We tried tying Phoenix up. Tying him to me so I could wake him, then tying him to the bed, we even used chains, but Vin broke them. Phoenix slept in the car last night.”
“I didn’t sleep. I couldn’t. If I had and Vin had come again, I had the keys to get back into the flat. Even if I hadn’t, Vin could have broken in and made me kill you. Can I stay here tonight or can Emmett stay with you? Not with the vampire.”
“You can stay,” Tar told Nix.
“Thank you.” Relief flooded him.
“The police have a lot of stabbings to investigate,” Tar said. “We need them to be linked to Greyson and Sophie. Of course, the authorities won’t seriously consider any supernatural element to the murders, but that doesn’t matter. Malcolm, the one with the wife, could be the key. You’re right about that. Link Sophie or Greyson to him and the rest should follow. They’ll have left fingerprints, DNA, maybe images on CCTV of them or their car.”
“There are going to be more stabbings now,” Nix said. “They’ll want to make the numbers up again.”
“Probably. But they also need to be careful. All is lost if they’re caught. You’re a danger to them. Plus, the police have already seen you at one crime scene. May have images of you at others. More than one coincidence becomes hard to explain.”
Tar pushed to his feet. “I’ll show you where you can sleep.” He turned to Emmett. “You can stay for a while. I’d like to think Vin can’t manifest at all in this building, but I’m not sure that’s true. Go before Nix needs to sleep. The door will lock when you leave his room.”
They followed Tar up a flight of stairs and along a corridor. Tar stopped next to a door. “There’s everything you need in here.”
Tar went back the way he’d come, and Emmett followed Nix into the room. Nix looked around. A large bed, no windows, a bathroom off to the side.
“I feel better now I know Tar’s going to help once we have Greyson and Sophie tied up.” Emmett flung himself on the bed. “Well, slightly better.”
Nix took out his phone and sat next to him. Emmett pushed himself up and rested his chin on Nix’s shoulder.
“Google Malcolm Patrick,” Emmett said. “We looked him up before but see if there’s a connection with Greyson or Sophie.”
After a few minutes of searching, they’d found nothing.
“We could ask Malcolm’s wife,” Emmett said. “Maybe Sophie worked for him. She might have been his mistress. Or Greyson was his lover and Malcolm had dumped him.”
“Or…or…or…” Nix tossed his phone aside. “I can’t deal with anymore tonight. My brain aches.”
“We could go to the British Museum where Malcolm worked. Be the private detectives Tar set us up to be. Ask if anyone knows Sophie. We have her picture on your phone.”
“Do you ever shut up? You just go on and on.”
Emmett moved away from him. “Usually, I don’t say anything. It’s only around you that I can’t seem to shut up. I’ve realised that I’ve kept quiet for too long. I should have stood up for what I wanted a long time ago.”
“And what do you want now?” Nix stared at him.
“Nothing. You’ve put me off.”
