My cat removed her head from the dubious safety of my hair and hissed vehemently at him. ‘Not a friend?’ Thomas asked.
‘I think she’s upset about what just happened,’ I said carefully.
‘We take security seriously,’ Beth told us. ‘I suppose you tried to force your way in?’ Neither Thane nor I replied.
Thomas smiled tiredly. ‘I am glad you’re here. I thought you would come back but I wasn’t sure, and I didn’t know if you’d enter this way. Penelope told me that you’d gone to The Den for a drink. She didn’t mention showing you the door, but I thought you might use it if you knew about it. The clocktower entrance is closed off now and you’d have got short shrift if you’d tried to enter that way.’
William had told me as much. ‘What’s with the neon light, the Vincent Price voice and the Underworld stuff?’ I asked.
‘We find it helps to play into stereotypes,’ Thomas replied. ‘It relaxes blood donors and impresses investors.’
‘Investors?’
‘Vampires are wealthy for many reasons,’ he said ambiguously.
Fair enough. What they did to make their money was their prerogative. I let it pass and focused on what was important. ‘Has the maze monster returned to its home?’
It was Elizabeth who answered. ‘Yes.’
‘With Penelope?’
Thomas looked away as Beth bit her lip and nodded. ‘Yes.’
‘So why are you here instead of there?’ Thane asked.
Good question. For all his bluster and bravado when we’dfirst met, Thomas was not as brave or as foolhardy as I’d expected.
‘I’m a vampire. I have many talents.’ His shoulders sagged. ‘But Penelope is dead and if I went into the maze after her, I’d soon be dead too. Penelope believed you were capable, Ms McCafferty. She believed you have skills, and she was an excellent judge of character. If anyone can stop the monster then it’s you.’
As Elizabeth looked me up and down sceptically, Thane smiled. ‘You’re right. If Kit can’t do it, no-one can.’
That wasn’t remotely true but it was nice that they believed it, and the sudden glint of optimism in Thomas’s eyes stopped me suggesting otherwise. He swallowed, twitched and then said, ‘I’d like to come with you. If I may.’
He might prove to be a terrible liability but I couldn’t stop him and he’d already proven that he had his uses. Besides, Penelope had been his; Thomas had every right to join us. ‘Alright,’ I said. ‘But you’ll have to do everything I say.’
He nodded vigorously. ‘Of course. And I apologise sincerely for the way I behaved when we first met.’
‘I’m sorry I kneed you in the balls.’ I wasn’t because he’d deserved it, but it felt like the right thing to say.
Thane blinked at both of us then grinned. I squeezed his arm affectionately while Beth stared at me open mouthed. She Without An Ear purred.
‘Come on,’ I said to my expanded crew. ‘Let’s get to that maze.’
We leftBeth at the door to clear up and deal with anyone who was curious enough to investigate why the alarms had been tripped. A side entrance allowed us to bypass The Den’s bar; itmight have been very late for vampires but there were still plenty of people in there. We needed to keep a low profile; we’d already made enough of a mess of our sneaky entrance as it was.
The cavern outside was pretty much clear, which wasn’t surprising after what had happened to Penelope. We marched quickly through it, giving wide berth to the odd passing vampire and keeping our heads down. Nobody wanted to linger in this area, and that worked for us.
‘Should we take a worm?’ I asked.
Thane paled. ‘Takea worm?’
Thomas advised against it. ‘With three of us, we’d have to use one of the larger ones and that might take a while. It will also leave a trace and we will be more likely to bump into others. It’s wiser to go on foot.’
I wasn’t sure who was more relieved by that: She Without An Ear or Thane.
I let Thomas lead the way. I no longer had my map and, although I vaguely recollected which tunnels to take, a wrong turn could spell disaster. I tried not to think about the maze ahead.One problem at a time, Kit, I reminded myself as I took out my witchlight to illuminate our way.One problem at a time.
We jogged for about twenty minutes. She Without An Ear grew tired of being jolted around on my shoulder and jumped off. I kept a close eye on her but thankfully she seemed to realise that it was important we worked as a team. At least for the next few minutes. Or until someone appeared with a burger.
