The Vampire and the Ink of Doom (Dreadful Vampire Mysteries Book 1) Read online

  I leaned over and gave my sister a hug. “It’s okay. Really. Every little bit helps with a murderer on the loose.”

  “Don’t do anything reckless,” Paige advised. “Find out what you can and call us if you need any help.”

  “Yeah,” Pita said. “That way we can all be reckless together.”

  Paige frowned at her.

  Not wanting to get caught up in any bickering that might be about to happen, I headed for the door, blowing a kiss at Peter Vincent flying over my head. “You stay here, sweetie. Freaky stuff going on in town.”

  “Freaky stuff going on here,” Peter Vincent said.

  I stopped at the door. “Yeah, but you’re safe here. I promise I’ll take you into town soon.”

  “Fine,” Peter Vincent said as he turned and headed back towards the den, a haughty tone in his voice indicating that he wasn’t happy. “I didn’t want to go with you anyway. I was just being polite.”

  I rolled my eyes and groaned. Sometimes being able to understand animals was a curse.

  I made it outside without having my shoe come untied – yah me – fired-up the Vespa, and headed back into town, deciding the sheriff’s office would be the best place to start. And the fact that the sheriff was seriously hot had nothing to do with me deciding to go there before going to the library.

  As soon as I entered the sheriff’s office, a familiar scent reached my nose and I had to fight the urge to bare my fangs. The woman at the desk had her back to me, typing on the computer. She stiffened, spun her chair around to face me, and curled her upper lip.

  The little sign on her desk said ‘Deputy Roxie Wulf.’ She had coal-black hair with a white streak running through it and brown eyes glaring at me so hard she could give Granny Mags a run for her money. Oh, and she was a werewolf.

  I wrinkled my nose. “Smells like someone let a wet dog run loose in here.”

  She glanced over her shoulder towards Alec in his office, and then looked back at me. “How are you even here with the sun up?” she whispered harshly.

  Good. She knew what I was. “Listen, Roxie,” I said, leaning on her desk. “I’m not here to cause problems. You keep my secret, and I keep yours. Deal?”

  She didn’t seem sure at first, just staring at me with brown eyes that occasionally flickered to amber. Finally, she nodded.

  “Great.” I gave her a big smile, flashing a bit of fang just because it’s fun to make people squirm every now and then. “Please let the sheriff know I’m here to see him.”

  “Penny?” a voice called from across the room.

  “Penny?” Roxie mouthed silently, shock on her face. I could tell she was dying to know how I knew Alec. I had no intentions of telling her.

  I looked towards Alec’s office. He was looking straight at me, sending a tingle down my spine. I waved as I approached, trying not to walk too fast. I didn’t need my traitorous shoe making me look like a fool.

  He stood up as I entered his office, motioning towards a chair across from his desk. I sat down, noticing that he didn’t sit until I did. Wow. Drop-dead handsome and manners, too.

  “What can I do for you?”

  He could stop looking at me with those dreamy eyes and that thigh-tingling smile so I could concentrate. “I was just wondering if you had any new information on the murder.”

  He sat forward, crossing his arms on the desk. “Why is the owner of a bed and breakfast so curious about a murder investigation?”

  “Well,” I looked around, as if making sure nobody else could hear. “It’s Anthony. He’s scared to death. Keeps asking what we can do if the murderer shows up to finish the job.” I reached out and put my hand on his forearm, giving it a light squeeze. “It would just give him some peace of mind if I could give him any type of closure.” Yes, I was lying to the guy I had a crush on. No, I didn’t feel guilty about it. It’s not like I could tell him the truth.

  Alec nodded, a grim expression on his face. “I can understand the worry, but I’m afraid I don’t have any information. Whoever did this was very careful. No fingerprints or footprints, and from what I can gather, the librarian wasn’t the friendliest person around.”

  I nodded. “He did have a knack for rubbing people the wrong way.”

  Alec nodded. “That just means the pool of suspects is narrowed down to basically everyone in town.” He looked down at my hand, still resting on his arm. I snatched it away.

  “Oh, I’m sorry,” I said. “I better be careful or I’ll get in trouble for manhandling the law.”

  He flashed me that wicked smile again. “A little rough stuff can be fun sometimes.” He waved at the folders and papers on his desk. “But now’s probably not the best time for stuff like that.”

  “No,” I agreed, licking my lips again. Was it getting warm in here? “Probably not. It would be a shame to mess up your desk with… rough stuff.”

  We stared at each other for a few seconds, just looking into each other’s eyes, and then his phone rang. Saved by the bell. I didn’t know if that was a good thing or bad thing. I stood up quickly. “Well,” I stammered. “I know you’re busy so I’ll get out of your hair.”

  “You can be in my hair any time you like, Penny. You still owe me a date over coffee.” Another peek at that smile, and then he picked up the phone.

  Damn! I smiled, nodded, and got out of there as fast as possible, tripping over my untied shoe just as I got to the door. Roxie snickered and I whirled on her, hissing. The werewolf’s eyes flickered yellow and she snarled, her teeth looking a little sharper than they had a few moments ago.

  I glanced back at Alec’s office and saw him talking on the phone, completely unaware of the age-old war that was about to erupt just a few yards from him. I took a deep breath, forcing myself to calm down. “Take it easy, wolf. Nothing personal. It’s just been a rough day.”

  Roxie slowly relaxed, her eyes returning to their normal color. “Small town. We don’t need any problems.”

  I nodded. “I agree.”

  “You’ll keep my secret?” she asked.

  I nodded.

  She nodded back. “I’ll keep yours.”

  Chapter 10

  Talk about the town that keeps you on your toes with surprises. Werewolves and vampires usually didn’t get along very well but we’d have to make it work. Hopefully, my next stop wouldn’t be as exciting. The library would probably be closed after what had happened earlier, but that wouldn’t be a problem.

  Paige, Pita, and I each had the power to transform, and my unique form would actually come in handy this time. Frequently, I had envied my sisters for being able to turn into a wolf and bat, hating that my ability allowed me to turn into mist. Mist! Like I’d ever have the opportunity to fog someone to death or something. But unlike a bat or wolf, mist could slip under a door with no problem at all.

  Of course, my rare good cheer towards basically becoming smoke evaporated like… well… smoke when I pulled into the parking lot and realized the library was open. “Figures,” I grumbled, stomping up the steps and pulling the door open. “Stupid frickin’ mist.”

  “I’m sorry, dear. What was that?”

  I glanced towards the voice and saw a short, thin woman with snow-white hair behind the check-out counter. She looked at me over the top of her wire-rim glasses.

  “Oh, I’m sorry,” I said, waving my hand dismissively. “Just talking to myself.”

  The old woman chuckled. “You’re too young to start doing things like that.”

  I laughed. Wouldn’t she be surprised if she knew the truth? “I sort of thought the library would be closed after…” I shrugged, not really knowing where to go with that unfinished thought.

  The woman became misty-eyed. “Mr. Sheldon wouldn’t want that.” She gestured towards the shelves filled with books. “He’d hate to deny the patrons an opportunity to discover new lands of adventure and imagination just waiting to be discovered.”

  I glanced at a few books that were facing out. New lands of adventur
e? It looked like most of the books stopped being new in the early nineties.

  “You’re one of those Dreadful girls, aren’t you?”

  I laughed. “Yes, ma’am. I’m Penny.”

  “Agnes. Agnes Coulson. I’m the assistant librarian.”

  “I guess you’ll be dropping the assistant from your title in the near future?” I groaned as soon as I realized what I had said. Damn. Smooth, Penny.

  Agnes smiled sadly. “I never wanted a promotion, and I certainly never wanted one this way, but yes, I suppose it’s just Agnes Coulson, librarian, now.”

  I leaned on the counter. “I hate to be nosy, but does anyone know what happened? One of my employees was here, but he said everything happened so fast that he really didn’t see anything.”

  Agnes nodded. “I heard Anthony was here when it happened. I’m glad he’s okay. As far as what happened, the sheriff said he couldn’t discuss an open investigation so I’m as in the dark as you. He said he’s looking into it, but… well, I don’t think he has anything to work it. Aside from the strange book that Mr. Sheldon had with him, there wasn’t anything out of place, and they apparently didn’t even find any fingerprints.”

  “Was anything stolen?”

  Another flash of that sad smile. “It’s a library. Just about everything in here can be checked out for free.”

  Right. “You said something about a strange book. What was strange about it?”

  Agnes reached under the counter and pulled out a book. I could almost feel my eyes bug out when I saw it. “Well,” she said, “aside from the fact that it’s not ours, I can’t imagine why Mr. Sheldon would’ve had it. He hates books like this.” She looked around suddenly, as if afraid of getting caught doing something she shouldn’t. “Don’t tell anybody,” she whispered. “Everyone else seems to love this type of stuff.”

  I nodded, staring at the cover. A ghoulish, white-skinned vampire with blue veins running across her body glared at me from the cover.

  “But the strangest thing,” Agnes continued, “is this.” She opened the book and flipped through it. Every page was blank.

  “And you’re sure it’s not the library’s,” I asked.

  She closed the book and showed me the spine. “Positive. There’s no labeling on it. We label all our books with barcodes.”

  “Definitely weird,” I said, which was a huge understatement considering a picture of the killer was on the cover. “If you don’t mind, Agnes, I’m going to look around.”

  “Go right ahead. Let me know if you need anything.”

  I nodded, leaving the assistant librarian to do whatever assistant librarians did, scanning the shelves as I slowly walked by.

  The fifth row of books was taped off with crime scene tape. A dark stain spread across the floor about halfway down the aisle. I smelled a strange, somewhat familiar, odor, but I couldn’t place where I had smelled it before.

  Aside from the stain, nothing appeared out of place. It looked like all the other aisles of books. I breathed in deeply, focusing on my enhanced senses. I shook my head. I knew that smell but I couldn’t figure out where I smelled it before or what it was.

  “So do you have a thing for libraries or crime scenes?”

  Damn.

  I turned and smiled. “Maybe a little bit of both.”

  Alec didn’t return the smile. “I had a hunch you might turn up here after our visit. You can probably tell there’s nothing to see here.”

  I nodded. “I just wanted to see if there was any way I could help.”

  “Because Anthony is scared, right?”

  I shrugged. He knew I was lying but he couldn’t prove it so I was sticking with my story.

  Alec frowned, frustration etched all over his handsome face. He took off his hat and raked a hand through his hair. “You through playing detective?”

  I shrugged again. “For now.”

  He shook his head, a grin slowly appearing. “At least you’re honest.” He put his hat back on. “I was going to grab a bite to eat when I saw your scooter in the parking lot. Care to join me?”

  “A date?”

  “A way to keep you out of trouble. At least for a little while.”

  I bit my lip. I was definitely hungry… but not for food… or blood. This was a bad idea. A very bad idea. If he wanted to keep me out of trouble, this wasn’t the way to do it. If I had half a brain, I’d say no. “I’d love to join you.”

  He held out his arm. I glanced towards Agnes behind the counter, and then decided it didn’t matter what anyone thought. I linked my arm through his as we headed for the door. I was disappointed that I hadn’t learned anything about the attack or the attacker, but I couldn’t complain about how things were going. I said bye to Agnes and felt a blush crawl up my cheeks when she looked at the sheriff and gave me a thumbs-up behind his back.

  “Might be best to go in my truck,” Alec said, grinning.

  I nodded, trying – and failing – to picture him on my Vespa. I made it all the way to his truck without tripping over a shoestring. I was thrilled. Maybe Hazel’s stupid hex was wearing off.

  Alec walked me over to the passenger side of his Chevy pick-up with ‘Sheriff’ printed on the side and opened the door. The man was seriously working the old-school charm, and I was falling for it big time.

  Just as I was about to climb up into the truck, out of the corner of my eye, I saw the door slowly close on a toolshed beside the library. A wooden toolshed with a crooked door, one hinge dangling uselessly in the air, as if someone – or something – had forced the door open. I tried to ignore it, tried to forget Paige’s premonition. It could’ve been the wind. But a chill was running down my spine, making the hair on the back of my neck stand up. There was something in that shed. It was evil… and I had an idea of what it was. The sun had been up when the vampire-thing fled the library. It couldn’t have gotten very far.

  “You okay?” Alec asked.

  The worry on his face was touching. It made me regret doing what I had to do. I offered up a weak smile. “I’m sorry. Rough day. I’m not sure my stomach is up for food.” Dammit. If there hadn’t been any other reason to justify it, I’d kill that vampire thing just for ruining my lunch date.

  Disappointment flickered across his face for a split-second and then vanished. He nodded. “I understand.” Hope burned in his eyes. “Raincheck?”

  I smiled, relieved that I hadn’t blown it. “Count on it.”

  I walked slowly to my scooter, waving to Alec as he drove away. I waited a few seconds, waiting for his truck to disappear from view, and then turned to face the shed. The door hadn’t shut completely, leaving just enough of a gap for someone — or something — to peek outside.

  I started walking slowly towards the shed. Paige had said not to be reckless, and I definitely wasn’t being that. I was just investigating. That’s all.

  The strange smell I had detected inside the library was strong out here, and getting even stronger with each step I took. When I was about ten feet away, a loud hiss sounded from the darkness behind the door. I hissed back, baring my fangs. If something wanted to play, I was ready. This thing had hurt someone under my protection. Payback was due.

  The thing knew I was here, knew I was coming for it. No element of surprise. No reason to be subtle. I charged forward… and fell over my untied shoestring. The shed door exploded open as I hit the ground, bits and pieces of wood shrapnel flying through the air like a cloud of arrows. My earlier conversation with Hazel about wooden stakes floated through my mind. The witch might have just accidentally saved my life.

  A shape leaped over me and spun to face me. I was on my feet in the blink of an eye, baring my fangs. The ivory-skinned vampire narrowed its eyes and hissed, its skin beginning to smoke as the sun shone down on it. I sniffed the air and grinned. “Someone must have left a stove on somewhere. Smells like something’s burning.”

  The creature hissed again and charged at me. I buckled my fist and punched as hard as I could, puttin
g every ounce of vampire strength I had into it. The creature had been hiding from the sun all day and it hadn’t fed. It would be weak and I wanted to end this fast.

  As soon as my fist made contact with the creature’s face, it exploded into a dark, moist cloud hanging in the air.

  “What the —” I stared at the cloud as it drifted to the ground and then looked at my hand, now painted shiny black. Ink. That was the smell I couldn’t place. I hit the thing and it exploded into ink. Too weird, even for me. I went to the shed, found a rag lying on a shelf near the lawnmower, and wiped off as much of the ink as I could before it dried.

  After tying my shoe (again), I headed to my scooter, pulling my phone out on the way, and punched in the number for home.

  “Hello?”

  “Paige, it’s me. Can you talk?”

  “Sure, we’re in Anthony’s bedroom. Broomhilda stopped by to deliver the plants and freaked out when she saw his neck. She put some crunched-up leaves on his bruises and now they’re almost gone.” She dropped her voice to a whisper. “I think she has a thing for him.”

  I chuckled. “Yeah, she has it bad for our boy, but that’s not why I called. I need to talk to you, Pita, and Granny in private.

  “Okay, hold on a minute.”

  I heard her tell Broomhilda that they were going to leave them alone to do her thing, and then I heard a door open and close.

  “Okay,” Paige said. “Hold on. I’m putting you on speaker.

  As soon as Paige had me on speaker, I told them about the vampire on the cover of the book and the fight that ended with the thing exploding in a cloud of ink.

  “Any ideas on what’s going on?” I asked.

  “No,” Paige and Pita said in unison.

  “Sounds like an Atramentum Daemonium,” Granny said.

  “A what?” Pita asked, beating me by about half a second.

  “You girls really should study a little history,” Granny snapped. “Ink demon. Haven’t seen one of those in a lifetime or two. It’s a dying art, something the Romans learned to create when they first put ink to parchment. A wizard or witch writes the incantation, and when someone unrolls the parchment, or opens the book in this case, the ink comes to life, taking whatever shape its creator fashioned for it.”