‘Your secret is safe with us,’ I assured her.
‘Thanks.’ She eyed me. ‘You got somewhere to stay tonight?’
It was barely afternoon; what happened tonight was far from my immediate concern. ‘Not yet.’
Her expression grew serious. ‘You can’t sleep out at night, it’s not safe. There’s a shelter not far from here. As long as you get there by eight, they’ll find space for you. You don’t want to become another statistic.’
Otis flapped upwards. ‘What do you mean it’s not safe?’ he asked in a quavering voice.
‘You know,’ Tracey said. The three of us gazed back blankly. She frowned and tapped her teeth with a grubby, green-tinged fingernail. ‘Vampires, of course. There are swarms of them allover the city.’
My mind flashed back to the way the newsagent had reacted when I’d walked into his shop. ‘Yes,’ I breathed. A huge grin spread across my face. ‘Yes!’ I looked at Otis and Hester in sudden triumph. I should have thought of it before. ‘I know exactly how we can make all the money we need. You, Tracey,’ I told her, ‘are a genius.’
Her face clouded with confusion but I was already getting to my feet and scooping up the small collection of coins. This would be brilliant.
Chapter
Thirteen
Hester and Otis were considerably less thrilled. ‘You want to dowhat?’ Hester’s screech was high-pitched enough to make a passing Labrador stop and jerk towards us. Its owner tugged its lead and they started moving again, but the chubby dog continued to swing his glossy head around and stare at her.
‘Stealing is a better idea than this,’ Otis said. Genuinely surprised at his words, I raised my eyebrows. His cheeks coloured. ‘Alright,’ he muttered. ‘I didn’t mean that. But there must be a better way.’
‘We’ve dealt with vampires before,’ I reassured him.
‘You’ve dealt with vampires before,’ Hester said. ‘My ethos – and it’s one that I’m proud of because it’s kept me alive up until now – is to avoid them at all costs.’
I wouldn’t let her dampen my enthusiasm. ‘I’ve studied this. In the late-twentieth century, most cities – Edinburgh included – suffered extensive vampire infestations. The authorities tried to bring their numbers under control but they didn’t make any real headway in reducing the fanged population untilvamp spray became popular a few years before the millennium. Before that, they relied on vampire hunters.’
‘Vampire hunters?’ Otis looked dubious.
‘Yep. There was a reward for anyone who brought down a vampire.’ I crossed the street and nodded at the small police station on the corner. ‘I’m pretty certain it was a good reward, too. You simply presented yourself at a police station with evidence of a dispatched vamp and you received a reward.’
‘That sounds like a recipe for getting killed,’ Hester said.
I nodded enthusiastically. ‘Oh yes, it was a terrible idea. From what I remember, more hunters were killed by vampires than the other way around.’
‘And that doesn’t tell you something?’ Otis asked. ‘That you should run away now and forget you ever had such a foolish idea?’
I tapped my temple with my index finger. ‘I’m smarter than the average vampire hunter.’
‘I doubt that’s true,’ Hester said.
‘Well, I’ve got more experience.’
‘Probably not true either.’
‘I’ve got lots of magic.’
She sighed. ‘That you can barely control at the best of times.’
‘And there’s Gladys.’ I touched the sword at my side.
‘You won’t change your mind, will you?’
‘Nope,’ I said cheerfully.
‘We’re going to die,’ Otis said mournfully.
