Sweat trickled into my left eye and I blinked it away.

The scent of honeysuckle permeated the air. Tendrils of magic sprouted out like golden shoots from the rope. Shit, that wasn’t supposed to happen! The shoots twined around the coiled wire between Westman and Louis like some quick-growing vine.

‘ Merde!’ Louis leapt up and stumbled backwards, hands slicing the air between us.

Damn... slapping a Glamour on one vamp was probably about my limit. I was operating blind; I’d only ever done this with a human before, so no way did I want to try Glamouring two of the suckers.

Heart pounding, I tried to pull the magic back, but it kept rushing out, the beautiful golden light twisting up the steel wire, stretching like elastic, getting thinner and thinner.

Wordless shouts ricocheted above me: Hugh’s urgent; DI Crane’s sharp with warning—

—then green lightening hit Louis in the chest, arcing along the wire, lashing back at Westman and me ...

... and the world exploded into burning green flames.

Dust was getting up my nose. I fought the urge to sneeze, and shivered: catching the backlash of a stun-spell twice in quick succession is so not something I would recommend. I tried to snuggle into the warmth surrounding me, but the dust kept choking me, making me cough.

‘Genny,’ Hugh’s voice rumbled through me, ‘Genny, are you awake?’

Opening my eyes didn’t feel like a good idea.

‘Is she coming round?’ A woman’s voice, impatient.

‘I think so.’ Heat breathed over the top of my head as Hugh spoke.

‘Perhaps you could put her down then, Sergeant Munro.’

‘In a minute, ma’am.’

Ma’am? Oh yes, the new DI.

Hugh gently patted my arm. ‘Genny, you have to wake up now.’

I didn’t want to; I wanted to stay where I was. I buried my face in Hugh’s shoulder, feeling the warmth rising off him like sun-baked stone. If I could just go back to sleep ... But there was something I had to know first.

‘Neil Banner—the Souler,’ I mumbled. ‘Is he all right?’

‘Yes, the stun-spell missed him,’ Hugh said quietly, ‘but they’re taking him off to HOPE to make sure.’

I sighed and snuggled back up to Hugh, then remembered something else. ‘What about Alan Hinkley?’

‘He hit his head on a chair when Banner pushed him.’ Hugh patted my back this time. ‘The ambulance crew are just waiting to make sure you’re okay.’

Frowning, I opened my eyes.

We were on the floor in the Hall, a forest of legs around us. I looked up, half-smiling as I recognised two of the crew from HOPE. Next to them stood Constable Lamber, jagged age cracks marring his speckled troll face. Then I followed the smartest pair of black-trousered legs upwards until I found DI Crane. Her expression made me wish I could just close my eyes again.

‘What exactly did you think you were doing, Ms Taylor?’ She didn’t wait for an answer. ‘I appreciate the backlash from a stun-spell isn’t pleasant, but I am sure it’s better than the alternative.’ Her hands clenched, and her expensive knuckleduster rings glinted as they caught the overhead lights.

‘Your—’ Another of Hugh’s mini dust clouds drifted over me and I realised that’s what had been getting up my nose and in my throat. I blew it away. ‘You’d have hit Neil Banner with your spell too: automatic vamp defence.’ I rubbed my nose, sneezed and Constable Lamber handed me a troll-sized tissue.

‘Ms Taylor is correct.’ I twisted my head towards the Earl’s voice. He sat on one of the plastic chairs, a bone-china cup and saucer balanced in his hand, looking calm and relaxed. ‘If your spell had hit Westman, my dear Inspector, Mr Banner would most certainly have suffered along with him, and being human, it is quite possible the damage would have been fatal.’

DI Crane’s lips thinned. ‘Thank you,’ she snapped. ‘Ms Taylor, I understand you were concerned about Mr Banner, but perhaps next time you could cast a simple barrier-spell?’ She twisted a turquoise-stoned ring. ‘Catching a vampire in a Glamour seems extreme to me.’

I gritted my teeth. I’d like to see her put up a ‘simple barrier-spell’ when she was inches away from a vamp lost in blood-lust, with Psycho vamp Louis holding his leash—not to mention my other little handicap: not being able to actually cast anyspell, let alone a barrier one. Not everyone got the opportunity to go to witch school. Never mind she should probably thank me, as it was her that Psycho vamp Louis had the hots for.

I opened my mouth and Hugh gave me a gentle warning squeeze. ‘I’ll try and remember that,’ I muttered.

‘Inspector Crane?’ Constable Curly-hair hurried into view. Her expression when she caught sight of me in Hugh’s lap made me glad I was in a police station and she wasn’t holding a sharp implement or six.

‘Yes, what is it, Constable Sims?’

Her gaze flicked round the hall, then back to the DI. ‘The goblin’s dead, ma’am,’ she said in a hushed voice. ‘He landed on the iron railings.’

‘Truly dead?’ Hugh’s shoulders hunched.

Damn. The goblin had been one of Hugh’s flock. I drew a frustrated breath, sad for both of them.

She nodded. ‘One of the spikes went straight through his heart.’

Hugh let out a deep roar and the noise rolled round the hall, bouncing off the walls. Constable Curly-hair, Inspector Crane and I all clapped our hands over our ears as the other trolls joined in. The sound exploded outwards, signalling their grief, then it stopped abruptly. I shuddered in the sudden silence. Then a distant cacophony of howls echoed in the darkness, breaking the silence and raising the hairs all over my body.

‘My condolences.’ The Earl’s sympathy brushed over me like soothing hands and a soft sigh left Hugh’s lips. I looked at the Earl. He was staring at Hugh, intent, power giving his skin a translucent blue sheen like fine porcelain. I frowned. Mesmawasn’t supposed to work on trolls. Of course I knew the Earl was powerful, that was a given, particularly after the time stunts he’d pulled. But enough juice to affect a troll?

The blue tinge faded from the Earl’s face. I glanced round. No one else had noticed; their heads were still bowed in respect. Then Inspector Crane rubbed her hands together, rings chinking, ending the moment. She looked down at me and sniffed in annoyance. ‘Do you think you might let Ms Taylor get up now, Sergeant?’

‘You feeling better, Genny?’

I nodded. Cuddling up next to Hugh had dispelled the shivers I’d awakened with. He pushed me carefully onto my feet.

I gave the Earl a sideways look, then scanned the hall, looking for the other vampires. I didn’t have far to look: Westman lay curled up about ten feet away, his entranced gaze fixed on me.

Well that answered that question: not only could I Glamour a vamp but the magic appeared to work the same way as if I’d Glamoured a human.

Constable Curly-hair stepped forward in slow-motion. ‘Inspector Crane ... can I arrest ... Ms Taylor—?’

‘Very impressive, Ms Taylor.’ The Earl lifted his teacup in salute. His face was tinged blue again.

‘Thanks.’ I tilted my head towards him. ‘I think playing with time might be even more so.’ I waved a hand at the others. ‘Are you slowing them down, or speeding us up, or do you just press some sort of metaphysical pause button?’

‘Which would you say?’ He replaced the cup on the saucer.

I shrugged. ‘Where’s your other pal?’

‘I believe Louis is having a rest, courtesy of Inspector Crane.’ He inclined his head towards the broken window.

Psycho vamp Louis was lying face-down on the floor. A circlet of silver, studded with gemstones, banded his head. It made him look like a mediaeval prince. Matching bands clamped his upper arms and wrists and shackled his ankles, and they were all fastened together with a silver chain. Constable Taegrin, a heavyset troll with skin of polished black granite, stood watch over him. Louis was still unconscious, so all the bespelled hardware seemed a bit excessive.