“That’s my theory.” He tilted his head. “Can I make it official?”
I sighed. “Fine.” I really did need the money and a kelpie wouldn’t pose too much of a challenge.
He winked. “Don’t say I never gave you anything.”
“As long as you don’t give me a communicable disease.” All these foreign fluids couldn’t be good for my system.
“Not possible if you keep turning down my dinner invitations.”
I smiled. It was a running joke between us that he wanted to date me and I perpetually rejected him. The truth was Mack was happily married to Juanita, but he didn’t want that fact to be common knowledge. In our line of work, loved ones became a target for a vengeful mark. Loved ones also made us vulnerable. The closest I was willing to get to love were my animal companions.
Returning to my feet, I tucked the file under my arm. “I’ll let you know when it’s done.”
Mack flipped his pen in the air and caught it. “And next time bring me a scone too.”
4
A row of streetlights lined the path to the lake in Hyde Park. It was a good effort, but the faint glow didn’t do much to cut through the gloom in an area like this. Electricity could only do so much and frequent power surges resulted in blackouts. Crime was rampant in certain parts of the city and most residents were smart enough to travel in groups, even for leisurely outings like a picnic. You didn’t stop living your life. You simply crossed your fingers and hoped for the best. Sometimes people got lucky, like the boy who escaped. Sometimes they didn’t.
My mother once told me there was a brief period of time when the park was devoid of life. When the Eternal Night began, people cleared out of the city in droves. For some reason they felt safer in the countryside, which turned out to be a false sense of security.
When the dust literally settled, people thought it was over—that soon life would return to normal, but it was only the beginning. The supervolcanoes had spewed more than ash when they erupted. Soon creatures believed only to exist in storybooks crawled out of the earth’s belly. It was as though the goddess Gaia gave birth to the Titans all over again. It wasn’t until the monsters made their way here from their respective birthplaces that the true horror sank in.
Slowly the population became acclimated and adjusted to the new normal. Signs of life returned to the city and eventually people grew accustomed to perpetual darkness. They even resumed leisure activities, albeit with a heightened sense of awareness. If you wanted to picnic and go for a swim, you had to know there was a chance you wouldn’t be alone in the water.
Despite the afternoon hour, there was no sign of merrymakers or business operators. Word must’ve gotten out that Hyde Park had a monster problem. No wonder Perth was desperate.
Finally the lake came into view. The Serpentine was manmade, created in 1730 by Queen Caroline. It covered forty acres of land between Hyde Park and what was once Kensington Gardens. I spent an inordinate amount of time as a child admiring books in the library that featured gardens. My mother helped fuel that particular obsession. Gardens were a thing of the past unless you were a royal vampire. House Lewis, the ruling vampire family that controlled most of England, also controlled the growth of plants in the region. The House employed a team of witches and wizards whose sole job consisted of using magic to grow plants. Not all magic users possessed the same type of magic, so House Lewis made sure to hire employees with a variety of abilities. Witches with earth magic or water magic worked alongside wizards proficient in spells. The results were closely guarded and highly valuable.
A closer review of the file from Mack made me rethink the kelpie theory. Based on the marks on the boy’s leg and the witness testimony, my money was now on a selkie. Vampires weren’t particularly interested in preventing death by selkie, so it fell to organizations like ours to work on behalf of a client—and that client was usually motived by money rather than altruism, as was the case with Perth. That wasn’t to say vampires did nothing. Bodies of water in the city were treated by magic on a regular basis to keep out harmful bacteria and parasites. Unfortunately the magic wasn’t powerful enough to keep out the kind of creatures that preyed on people.
I positioned myself at the water’s edge and peered at the lake. There were no obvious signs of life. Ducks and swans that once swam across the Serpentine had been eaten and replaced by creatures of the deep years ago.
“Rise and shine, sweetness. You’ve got company!”
No response.
Selkies weren’t always considered dangerous. In fact, there was a time when they were viewed as downright docile. Seals in the water and women on land. No interest in eating or drowning anyone. But like so many things in the world, that changed with the coming of the Eternal Night. Many modern selkies were opportunistic hunters that had no qualms about dragging children to their doom. Far less civilized than vampire-run tribute centers.
Despite their violent evolution, selkies weren’t high on my personal list of big bad threats. I’d dispatched more than I cared to count. The last one was causing trouble in the sewer system of all places. Yet another job that required a deep scrub afterward. Despite my track record, you could never be too careful when dealing with a creature in the wild. I had no idea when this selkie’s last meal was. Empty bellies made poor choices.
I scanned the lake and noted the water rippling across the middle. The air around me was perfectly still.
Found you.
I clapped my hands. “Here, selkie selkie selkie.”
The water rippled closer to me and then spread itself flat.
Hmm. Someone was playing hard to get.
Good thing I came prepared. I dug my fingers into my right pocket and tossed a handful of breadcrumbs in the water. The crumbs floated on the surface of the water, untouched.
“Not a fan of carbs. Totally understand.”