Brittle Midnight Read online

  I ambled to a swing door where I assumed the hotel kitchen was located. The fridges might be out of action but the pantry was reasonably well stocked given our post-apocalyptic world. As far as I could tell, the old wood-fired pizza oven had been appropriated to bake bread and I found more than enough leftovers, plus some very tasty-looking jam, to quiet the grumbles in my stomach. My last three meals had been cold beans eaten out of the tin to save time. Fresh bread and fruity jam right in front of me was utterly glorious.

  I lifted a plate off one of the shadowed shelves, located a knife, then hopped onto a table and started to spread jam thickly onto one of the bread slices. It tasted so good that I crammed half of it into my mouth, murmuring with delight. I probably looked like a messy toddler with strawberry jam smeared round my mouth. I didn’t care.

  I was about to start on my third piece when the most godawful keening sound filled the air. It sounded vaguely akin to a tortured dog. I dropped the bread and froze. I couldn’t work out where the sound was coming from. Under pre-apocalyptic circumstances I’d have assumed it was a fire alarm but under these circumstances – well, it could be anything.

  With magic tingling at my fingertips, I leapt off the table and ran out to the lobby. Whatever it was, I’d deal with it.

  From the stairwell, a dressing-gowned, flapping figure appeared. ‘Whatever you are,’ Timmons bellowed, ‘begone!’

  I blinked at him. ‘Um…’

  He swung wild eyes in my direction before relaxing. ‘Oh,’ he said. ‘It’s just you.’

  I decided I preferred being told to begone. All the same, I injected a cheery note into my voice, speaking loudly enough to be heard over the continuing wail. ‘Just me.’ I waved a hand. ‘What on earth is going on?’

  Timmons ran a hand through his hair, which did absolutely nothing to smooth it down and only served to make him look more dishevelled. ‘Magic alarm,’ he muttered and then gave a loud curse. He screwed up his face, concentrating. A few seconds later, the screeching stopped. ‘What did you do?’ he asked. He sounded irritated. I didn’t mind that; I’d be irritated at being woken up this early by a wailing banshee too.

  ‘Nothing! I was hungry so I went looking for something to eat. I found some bread in the kitchen…’

  He sighed. ‘And some jam too, by the looks of it.’

  I wiped my mouth. Yep. Some sweet strawberry goodness still clung there. Mmmm. ‘I didn’t think it would be a problem.’

  ‘It’s not.’

  Uh oh. ‘So if I didn’t set off that alarm, what did?’

  ‘It was you.’ He tutted to himself.

  ‘But…’

  ‘Some of the residents are concerned about their safety. We had an invasion of snakes a while ago. Then there was your friend Max—’

  ‘Hey! He was never my friend!’

  Timmons nodded, distracted. ‘Yes, alright. Anyway, everyone wanted assurances that I’d keep them safe so I used a bit of magic to set up an alarm system. Any time anyone does anything deemed to be a danger to the hotel, the alarm goes off.’

  ‘Ah.’ I pursed my lips and nodded gravely as if I understood what he was talking about. ‘So making myself a jam butty was dangerous?’

  Timmons grimaced. ‘You’d be amazed at what the magic decides fits the definition of danger. The alarm went off when a vase of flowers was knocked over by accident. It went off when Phil in 204 snored so loudly that his neighbours were kept awake.’ He ticked off his fingers. ‘It even went off when there was something of a love tryst occurring between two of our older residents. It’s not an exact spell. I’ve been adjusting it for weeks.’

  ‘Is it a good idea,’ I asked carefully, ‘to be using such magic all the time?’ After all, it was magic usage that got Manchester into this mess in the first place. I’d been under the impression that I had to curb my own spells to avoid any further city-wide turbulence. Timmons himself had told me months ago that I couldn’t make Manchester any worse more than it already was but I was still nervous about it. Who wouldn’t be?

  Despite my palpable concern, Timmons scoffed. ‘What I do here is a drop in the proverbial ocean. It won’t do any harm. Only a large group of magic wielders constantly making use of their skills will cause issues.’ He gave me a clever look, obviously understanding where my concern was coming from. ‘You don’t have to worry, Charley. Things are settled here now. I might have been concerned in the initial aftermath but now I seriously doubt you could use enough magic to create problems.’

  All the same, I wasn’t sure it was wise to use magic unless the situation genuinely called for it. A magical alarm that was set off when someone spread some jam on a slice of bread struck me as a step too far.

  From beyond the stairwell, a wide-eyed face appeared. ‘Is it safe?’

  ‘Yes, yes.’ Timmons smiled. ‘Don’t worry, Jacob. It’s all fine.’

  A woman appeared behind the nervy Jacob. ‘This isn’t good enough! It’s the middle of the night! That damned alarm goes off far too often.’

  I sensed Timmons holding back. ‘You asked for the alarm. You agreed to it.’

  ‘I didn’t know it would keep screaming at me all the time, did I? It’s your magic. You have to sort it out.’

  ‘I’m doing my best—’

  ‘Do better!’ she snapped.

  I watched her. I wasn’t the only person in Manchester who was being put under pressure to make sure everything worked and everyone was safe. Timmons appeared less aggrieved than I was but there was a tightening in my stomach at the woman’s tirade, which was all too familiar to my ears these days.

  Timmons inhaled deeply and offered a benign smile. ‘I’m working on it.’

  I cleared my throat. ‘It was my fault,’ I said. ‘I didn’t realise the alarm was in place.’

  The woman scowled at me. I might never have met her before but I’d encountered that same facial expression many times in recent weeks.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ I said. ‘It won’t happen…’ There was a thunderous clatter of footsteps from the stairwell.

  ‘Help! Someone help!’

  My blood froze. Whoever was yelling, there was no mistaking the note of pure fear in their voice. Timmons heard it too. He pushed past the couple and glanced upwards.

  ‘Mr Timmons! You have to help! Valerie has been murdered! She’s … she’s … dead!’

  And right then and there I knew that my short-lived-but-very-welcome holiday was well and truly over.

  Chapter Six

  It didn’t help that I knew Valerie, and not just from the apocalyptic madness. Our paths had crossed many times on the poker circuit. We never got on that well but I’d like to think there was a sort of mutual respect. Occasionally. The old adage that you shouldn’t speak ill of the dead rang true for me more than it probably should have done.

  Until I entered her room, following on Timmons’ heels, I’d kept my fingers crossed that she’d passed away from natural causes. In these turbulent times it would be easy to jump to conclusions. Valerie wasn’t exactly decrepit but she was old and she hadn’t lived a particularly healthy lifestyle. I could well imagine that she’d had a heart attack or a stroke. Maybe such a swift death would be a blessing, given our lack of trained doctors and working hospitals. All these thoughts were running through my head right up to the point where I saw her body. In that moment everything changed.

  ‘Shit.’

  She lay on her bed, one arm draped over the side and dangling lifelessly while her fingers trailed on the floor. Her fingernails, which were always immaculately manicured, were cracked and broken. Her hair looked matted and in knots, like someone had deliberately scrunched it up. If I were honest, I’d have struggled to recognise her as Valerie but little details referenced her, from the delicate filigree bracelet on her wrist to the beauty spot on her cheek. As a whole, however, the sunken look to her skin and her skull-like appearance made it difficult to equate her corpse with the living being who had once occupied it.

  ‘How lo
ng…’ My voice cracked. I swallowed and tried again. ‘When was the last time anyone saw her?’

  ‘I can ask around,’ Timmons said. He looked as pale as Valerie did. ‘I saw her at breakfast yesterday.’

  I am no forensic scientist or mortician but even I knew that a body couldn’t shrivel like this in less than twenty-four hours. She was practically a husk. I dredged up the word for myself. Exsanguination: that was it. Valerie’s entire body had been drained of all its blood. I shuddered.

  Steeling myself, I edged over to get a closer look. There was only the faintest odour of death emanating from her; most of what I smelled was talcum powder. I stared into her glazed eyes, willing her to blink and giggle and tell us all this was nothing more than a tasteless joke. That wasn’t going to happen. We all knew it.

  Her head was tilted slightly to the side and her neck was arched. Something caught my eye and, holding my breath, I leaned down for a closer look. When I saw what it was, I stiffened and pulled back.

  ‘What?’ Timmons asked. ‘What do you see?’

  I gave him a grim look. ‘Puncture wounds,’ I said. ‘Right by her jugular.’

  We gazed at each other for a moment – let’s face it, it was better than looking at Valerie’s corpse. The identical thought was mirrored in our expressions. The shit was well and truly about to hit the fan.

  ***

  I couldn’t tell you for sure how many vampires were now living in Manchester. Great numbers had flocked here in the immediate aftermath of the apocalypse, drawn by the magic that strengthened their powers and by the idea that, finally, they could be free to live their lives without worrying about secrecy. For a long time their numbers had been depleted, hunted down by a small cabal of hunters who knew of their existence. As vampires are born and not made, their population had dwindled to near extinction.

  Despite their woes, they had few fans. Julie, a vampire herself, had come close to triggering the end of the world rather than simply the end of Manchester. To make matters worse, as they enjoyed the magic atmosphere of this newly-born city the vampires grew more arrogant and predatorial. Still, as far as I was aware, none of them had actually killed anyone.

  ‘I knew we should have worked harder on that census,’ I muttered to myself as much as to Timmons while we waited for Anna to arrive. ‘At least then we’d have a proper pool of suspects.’

  He offered me a helpless shrug. ‘How on earth would you have enforced it? Anyway, from what I’ve heard you’ve been more than busy with other matters.’

  He was right but it didn’t stop me thinking yet again that I should have done more. I should have been better. For the briefest moment the face of my long-since-dead little brother flashed into my mind. I should have done more to save him back then; I should be doing more to save my city now. Then maybe whichever vampire had drained Valerie of all her blood would have thought twice about it.

  I curled my fingers into tight fists. Whatever I’d thought of the woman, I wouldn’t let Valerie’s killer get away. I didn’t care who had ended her life; no one was allowed to act like that. Not in my city. Not under my watch.

  It seemed to take an age but it was probably little more than an hour before Anna strode through the door, kitted out in her full police regalia. Lizzy, Julie, Cath and the runner who Timmons had sent to fetch them all trailed behind her; they’d now been seconded to the cause.

  In our southern side of Manchester, Anna had taken it upon herself to become the police commissioner, dealing with everything from stolen goods to the odd neighbourly fist-fight. She investigated the problems and left it to me to mete out justice. I crossed my fingers and hoped she was ready to deal with murder as well as petty crime. After seeing Valerie’s body, I was ready to mete out an entirely different kind of justice.

  Fortunately, Anna didn’t waste any time. ‘Right,’ she said briskly. ‘I take it all the hotel residents are still here?’

  Timmons nodded. ‘Some wanted to leave but we’ve told them to stay in their rooms.’

  ‘Good. We need statements from each of them. What they saw or heard during the night, what they knew of the victim and her plans for yesterday, and when the last time was that they saw her.’ Her expression was stony but there was a professional air about her that was immediately reassuring. ‘In over eighty-five percent of murders, the victim already knows their killer. Everyone here is a suspect.’

  Timmons fidgeted. ‘Uh, the manner of her death…’

  Anna swung her eyes onto him and I could swear he cowered. ‘Yes?’

  He cleared his throat. ‘It looks like it was a…’ He shuffled and dropped his gaze.

  ‘A vampire,’ I finished for him. Out of the corner of my eye, I noted Julie stiffening. Good. Her reaction suggested that she was shocked by the information; that meant it was unlikely that she’d had anything to do with it. The last thing I needed was for her to be on anyone’s hit list.

  ‘I was not informed of that,’ Anna frowned. ‘But it doesn’t change anything. Our initial investigations will remain the same.’

  Timmons coughed.

  ‘What?’ Anna snapped.

  ‘Well,’ he started, shuffling slightly. I grimaced. I knew exactly what he was going to say. The witch hunt was about to begin and it would apparently start with him. Bugger. ‘The thing is, if all my residents are considered suspects then shouldn’t all vampires be too? They’re the ones who should be held to account.’ He didn’t look at Julie. ‘She should immediately be placed under…’

  I interrupted him before he could complete the sentence. ‘I think it would be extraordinarily helpful if Julie could examine the body first, before we start with the interrogations.’

  Anna flicked me a look. ‘I’d prefer to call them interviews,’ she said. ‘Before we get to the thumbscrews and water-boarding, that is.’

  ‘Interviews, yes,’ I agreed hastily. ‘Anyway, as a vampire, Julie might have some insights into Valerie’s … death.’ I nudged Timmons. ‘That’s what you were about to suggest, right?’

  It wasn’t. He knew and I knew it but he wasn’t prepared to argue about it, not with Julie standing in front of him with her arms folded and her fangs a mere foot away. ‘Sure,’ he said. ‘Yes. That’s what I was going to say.’

  Julie looked unimpressed.

  ‘I’ll lead the way,’ I said, before she could be the one to start the trouble. I grabbed her elbow and steered her towards the stairs. ‘This way!’

  As soon as the stairwell door clanged shut behind us, Julie wrested her arm away from me. ‘He was about to say that I had to get out of his hotel. He was about to say that, because I’m a vampire, I’m a suspect too and I should be under lock and key.’

  ‘I don’t think he was planning to say that at all,’ I demurred, lying through my teeth.

  ‘Don’t bluff me, darling. I’m not stupid.’

  I sighed. ‘Okay. Yes, he probably was about to say all that, but once we start down that road chaos will ensue. The last thing any of us need is for every vampire in the city to be placed under suspicion. We need to work on a presumption of innocence, not guilt, otherwise I can imagine what the other vampires will do when they’re accused by anyone who passes them by. We don’t need that kind of hassle. Relations across species are fragile enough without entire ethnic populations being accused of murder.’

  Her eyes narrowed but she didn’t argue. I breathed out.

  ‘Anyway,’ I said, moving the subject to slightly safer ground, ‘I have a bone to pick with you in private. What the hell did you think you were doing going to Monroe and telling him I needed his help?’

  ‘You did need his help, darling.’ She glanced at me critically. ‘You still do. In fact, he should be here now. This affects him as well as us. All those vampires you’re so keen to protect live in his part of the city, not ours.’

  I opened my mouth to tell her that I’d go in search of Monroe as soon as things were wrapped up here but, before I could, the door behind us opened again and a v
oice called out. ‘Wait up!’ Cath bounded up the stairs towards us. ‘I’m coming too!’

  I was well aware of the teenager’s bloodthirsty nature. ‘I’m not sure that’s a good idea,’ I said.

  ‘I’m the only one here who knows anything about medicine.’

  ‘Darling,’ Julie drawled, ‘I don’t think you’ll be able to bring a corpse back to life, no matter how well trained you may be in first aid.’ In the absence of any qualified doctors or nurses, Cath was our best option at stitching up wounds and doling out medication. She didn’t have a lot of experience but she had more than the rest of us. Unfortunately that wasn’t saying much.

  Cath paused to give Julie a glare. ‘Unless you can find us an expert in post-mortems, I’m the best person you have to help you investigate.’ She turned to me. ‘Tell her, Charley.’

  I raised my eyes heavenward. Just think, a few hours ago I was sleeping blissfully without a care in the world. ‘We’re all here now,’ I said. ‘Let’s see what our combined brains can work out from Valerie’s body and the crime scene.’ Of course, the odds were that we’d discover absolutely nothing but we had to try.

  We emerged at the third floor where Valerie’s room was located. At least the proximity to the place of her death meant that Cath and Julie lapsed into a respectful silence. I led the way to the room, although I was fairly certain that the scent of death was already in Julie’s nostrils and she knew exactly where we were going.

  ‘The fire door,’ Julie said. ‘Has it been open all this time?’

  I glanced round and realised she was right. At the end of the hallway, close to the other staircase at the opposite end of the hotel, the fire exit leading to the outside world was ajar. I thought about it. ‘Yes,’ I said finally. ‘It was open when I came up here the first time.’ It was the perfect escape route for any intruder – vampire or otherwise.