The Scarlet Dagger Read online

  His white hair was sticking up all over the place, and his singlet had large sweat patches on it.

  Ollie wasn’t faring any better as he wiped the sweat from his brow.

  “Let me know what you find,” Bob said as he sighed and leaned back on the workbench. “Now, who wants some iced water or juice?”

  We both nodded as I picked up the books, praying that Ollie’s issues would become understandable with the knowledge held within them.

  We could certainly use a win.

  We spent the evening reading through the books after enjoying a delicious slow-cooked brisket and roast veggies after an afternoon of board games. Trish had demanded we try to relax and forget about everything for a while, and we’d been dragged into a magical game of Monopoly, where the pieces moved themselves and the buildings that built themselves were incredibly realistic.

  We called it quits once Skip was on the verge of bankruptcy and Ollie was clearly winning.

  Trish had even made a delectable sticky date pudding to accompany dinner with Hayley’s help, and I annihilated my serving with ease.

  Trish headed off to do some reading in bed on her Kindle after we chatted for a while at the table, while Hayley was going to do a video chat with Daniel. Now I sat in the library with Ollie, painstakingly reading through the books from Bob.

  There was family tree stuff and true shifter information. Anything noteworthy had been captured in the pages. I read about some distant relative of Oliver’s first coming to Australia after stealing three loaves of bread in England. There were others who’d come as convicts as well, mostly over minor crimes.

  There were pages of the family charity events and money raised, all the assistance they provided and even an organization they helped fund.

  But nothing on blacking out and memory loss.

  I scanned through the book carefully as Ollie went through his, but we came up empty-handed by the end.

  Ollie chose to read through the final book alone, leaving me to sit beside him as I wondered what could be a reason why. Why would his own magic do this to him?

  Was it at all influenced? Lucas hadn’t said so.

  “I just want to know what happened,” Ollie said on a groan as he flicked through the pages in frustration.

  “We’ll figure it out. Don’t stress,” I said as I reached over to rub his back.

  He relaxed under my hand as I ran my fingers up and down his back.

  “Are you worried about this Joseph thing?” he asked after a moment of silence had passed.

  My strokes on his back faltered as I let out a deep breath.

  “Yes. I don’t like being in the dark. I want to know what it all means, how you’re involved, and why my mother believes I have to use the scarlet dagger,” I said honestly.

  It was constantly on my mind, either niggling at the back or right at the forefront. I wanted to know about Claire and why she’d been dragged into it and why we were involved.

  I had so many questions and not a single answer, and it was infuriating.

  And there was nothing I could do to figure it out.

  I laid down on the bed, closing my eyes as I sighed.

  The hectic day caught up with me though, and I drifted into a restless sleep, a sense of unease underlying my dreams.

  5

  I awoke stressed, and I groaned as I covered my head with my pillow, hating the dull throb in my temple.

  Why was my life so crazy?

  I dragged myself out of Ollie’s bed, finding he’d tucked me in at some point. He was already gone, so I could only assume he was downstairs.

  A quick check revealed as such.

  He was in the kitchen with Trish as she made eggs Benedict for everyone.

  My stomach grumbled at this, and I headed to my room to quickly change and head down to join them.

  I fought the hectic thoughts in my mind as I joined them in the kitchen, plopping down at the table as Trish served me some fresh grapefruit juice once more.

  “No luck with the book,” Ollie said as he stared at his glass of juice unhappily.

  Damn. That sucked arse. I’d hoped we’d find something to help provide some answers.

  “Any more blacking out?” I asked as Trish flitted around the kitchen, while the radio played faintly on the counter.

  I didn’t even remember having a radio in the kitchen.

  ‘She dug it out of the cupboard,’ Lucas informed me as he joined us.

  “No, thank God,” Ollie said with a sigh as he settled back in his chair and stretched his arms behind his head.

  Skip was still sleeping, enjoying his time off from uni and work.

  Marcus was making his way down too after showering and dealing with some morning wood.

  I smirked at this. Typical.

  ‘Normal bodily function,’ he grumbled, and I rolled my eyes.

  “Maybe it was just some random occurrence and doesn’t mean anything?” Trish offered as she served Ollie the first batch of eggs Benedict. There was avocado and bacon with this version of it, and my mouth watered at the sight.

  “Can I help with anything?” I asked before sipping my juice.

  “Nope, let me feed my granddaughter, you rest. You deserve it,” Trish stated as she got to work on the next lot, popping some toast in the toaster.

  Marcus padded into the room and joined us at the table, his hair a ruffled mess.

  I gazed at him, enjoying that box beard and those frosty blue eyes I’d come to love so much.

  He smiled softly at me as Trish poured him some juice as well.

  I felt bad having her do all of this for us, but she seemed determined to do it alone.

  I guess she missed mothering children. She didn’t have a day job, so I imagined she got quite bored on her own. Well, at least she had Hayley.

  “Morning,” Hayley said around a yawn as she entered the kitchen in her pajamas still, looking like she’d just lost a fight with pigeon in her hair.

  Ollie arched a brow at my cousin’s crazy bed hair, but we kept silent as she slumped into one of the seats at the table and helped herself to some juice.

  “You guys get up so early,” Hayley said, then groaned as she relaxed back into her chair with her eyes closed.

  “Not really. It’s seven-thirty,” Trish stated as she plopped down another plate in front of me. The heavenly scent of eggs Benedict beckoned me, and I dug in happily.

  “It’s the holidays,” Hayley grumbled. “You’re meant to sleep in.”

  “Skip is,” Marcus stated as he joined us.

  “Thanks for breakfast, Trish,” I said once I’d swallowed.

  “Don’t mention it, sweetie. Gotta keep you guys going with all the craziness that’s going on around you,” she stated. “Hayley, you want your eggs just fried?”

  “Yep, thanks.” Hayley nodded sluggishly.

  “What about you, Marcus, Lucas?” Trish checked.

  “We’re happy with them poached,” Lucas said, answering for them both.

  Trish nodded as she got back to work.

  “Gran always likes to cook,” Hayley mumbled. “Think it’s ’cause she gets too bored in that house. She needs hobbies.” She smirked as Trish spun around and arched a brow at her.

  “Cooking is a hobby. And I take care of the sheep and chickens,” Trish stated as she waved the spatula at her.

  “Yeah, but you need to join a community club or something. You only meet up with the Pack on occasion.” Hayley sighed.

  “Oh, poppycock,” Trish said, rolling her eyes. “I’m quite happy cooking and reading and living out my retirement.”

  Hayley threw up her hands in defeat as she slouched over the table.

  “But I suppose I do tend to cook too much,” Trish admitted.

  “Really? All those scones and cupcakes you have to give the chickens didn’t tell you that?” Hayley chuckled.

  “You waste them?” Ollie pouted at the thought of the goodies being wasted.

  Hell, the idea of
cupcakes having to be thrown out made my chest ache. Those poor cupcakes. I’d eat them quite happily.

  “I’m not even there that often,” Hayley grumbled. “I stay with Daniel a lot.”

  “Don’t go thinking I’m getting too old and lonely in that house. I may be a wolf and a pack creature, but I quite enjoy my own company,” Trish stated as she began smearing avocado on the next batch of popped toast.

  Hayley stared at her grandmother through hooded lashes before accepting her words.

  “So what’s the plans for today?” Trish moved onto a new topic.

  “Well, uni will be starting back up in two days for Ollie and I. Classes are already back on for some other students. And I’ll have to go back to work tomorrow,” I stated. How I intended to just act like everything was fine was beyond me.

  Then again, I’d done fairly well before.

  “I’ll be working on Nightwood. We’re fixing bugs and such at the moment, and the VR side is being worked on. I’m meeting up with my team tonight so we can go over stuff,” Marcus said, and I could feel his excitement about the game he’d worked so hard on.

  “I’ll be heading to the station again soon. We’re still working with Claire, but we’re getting close now, making good progress on lifting the magic on her,” Lucas stated. “Her parents have been staying in town to be nearby.”

  I pursed my lips at this, my mind jumping to Skip, who was still asleep. I hated how he still felt guilty about all of this.

  I hoped he’d be able to move past it, to understand there was no way he was at fault.

  “I’m going to do some research and work on my studies,” Ollie said. “Although, if you guys want to, we can do some stuff while you’re visiting. I’m sure we can take some time out this afternoon and go down to the coast for a movie or dinner perhaps?” Ollie suggested quickly, catching on that Trish may want to spend time with all of us.

  “What movies are on?” Hayley perked up at the suggestion.

  “We’ll check,” Ollie said as he tapped on his phone sitting on the table beside him.

  I devoured my breakfast as Trish served up the others before finally sitting down with her own plate.

  Ollie showed Hayley some trailers for current movies playing, which Lucas said he’d join us for once he finished at the station.

  Skip was stirring now, and he was happy to join as well.

  Although the fact he was missing out on eggs Benedict was making him grumble.

  I got to work helping Ollie tidy up since Trish cooked, and she didn’t argue with us as we stacked the dishwasher.

  We agreed to catch a movie mid-afternoon, and Hayley was going to do some reading in the house library, as she’d spied some books that caught her interest, while Trish wanted to borrow the Stan account Lucas had to watch her show.

  I was glad we didn’t need to entertain them. They seemed more than happy to just chill out around the house.

  I headed to the library, wanting to practice the piano a bit to distract my mind.

  Hopefully, Hayley wouldn’t mind once she finished breakfast and wanted to read.

  I sat down on the bench as I set my phone up once more to learn another melody.

  I hoped Mr Brady would finally find out about the dagger today. Hell, I wanted them to fix Claire and find out whatever they could. Then we could hunt down Joseph and be done with this whole fiasco.

  Walter hadn’t reached out either, so assumably, he had no new news.

  I focused on the video as I began playing along as best I could, but the connection to my mother only made me think more about this whole scarlet dagger business and what it meant.

  We exited the cinema, having watched a sci-fi flick that we’d all enjoyed. Even Marcus had cut out some of his afternoon to join us, and Lucas had portaled us there since we wouldn’t all fit in the car. He’d cloaked us and made sure no one would see the magic, not even other supes, which impressed all of us.

  Claire was still struggling with the influence on her, and their progress had slowed as the magic was becoming harder to lift now.

  Trish was laughing as she stood between Hayley and Skip, cackling about the sexy young male character in the movie who’d she’d been ogling.

  “So, any thoughts on dinner?” Skip asked as Trish hooked an arm through his happily.

  I smiled as Hayley shook her head, but Skip rolled with it.

  “You know what I could go for? A burger,” Trish declared as we wandered along the walkway over the river in the Plaza shopping center.

  Night had fallen, but the area was still bustling with life as people enjoyed dinner out and late shopping.

  “Grill’d is right around the corner here, and they have epic burgers,” Ollie said as his hand slipped into mine, and those warm fingers entwined with mine.

  “Oh, yes.” Lucas beamed, clearly a fan of the delicious burgers. I quite enjoyed them as well.

  He was ignoring the various looks he was receiving in his hot pink suit tonight. I actually loved the color on him.

  He cast a glance over his shoulder at me, those emerald eyes glittering happily.

  “Well, Grill’d it is then,” Trish stated with a firm bob of her head.

  “Have I told you that you look wonderful tonight?” Skip said as he gave my grandmother a lopsided grin.

  She was wearing a navy dress tonight, which had taken me by surprise. She always gave off more of a jeans and shirt vibe, but she definitely cleaned up nice. She’d even put on some lipstick and eye makeup, which had been a fun little encounter in the bathroom, since all three of us women had chosen to put makeup on at the same time.

  I was wearing a black dress I’d bought that dipped nicely in the front to show some cleavage, which the boys had loved, while Hayley was wearing a deep purple halter top dress.

  “Oh, aren’t you charming. I daresay you’re after something.” Trish gave him a wink and a wicked smile as Marcus stepped closer to my other side.

  He was wearing jeans and a dark grey tee, while Ollie was in a navy button-up shirt and cargo shorts. Skip was wearing his typical board shorts with a white Billabong shirt.

  “Never,” Skip said, feigning hurt at the accusation, and Trish just laughed as she clung to his arm.

  I relaxed in their company as Ollie held my hand, and I enjoyed the fresh night air as we headed to Grill’d for dinner.

  We were seated quickly, and I ordered a chicken burger while everyone else placed their orders.

  “We need to go somewhere with cocktails after this,” Trish stated as she sipped from the can of Solo she’d gotten.

  Lucas was happily paying tonight, despite our arguments. He wasn’t going to take no for an answer.

  “Yes, perfect.” Skip grinned as he leaned back in his chair to stretch.

  Trish’s smile widened as she watched his shirt ride up to reveal his toned abs and desirable V.

  “There’s a few places around, some nice bars,” Lucas said as he reached across the table to rest his hand on mine.

  I had Marcus and Ollie on either side of me, both of them resting one hand on each thigh under the table.

  A few patrons had already given us a double look, but I ignored their judgey murmurs.

  “Ohh, I think I know where we should go. I was doing some googling last night with Hayley’s help,” Trish stated as she waggled her eyebrows.

  “Gran, no,” Hayley said with a groan.

  “Oh, yes.” Trish cackled, and I exchanged amused glances with my mates.

  We didn’t get to find out just what she wanted to do as our burgers arrived in record time.

  The boys discussed the movie as we ate, and Trish mainly commented on the cute side plot of romance and the sexy man who kept winding up shirtless in it.

  I laughed along with Hayley as Trish stated she’d happily jump in his pants before patting Skip’s arm apologetically.

  We enjoyed our light conversation over the good food, and once we were finished, Trish’s excitement only grew.


  “So, I know this awesome place we can go for drinks. A special supe bar.” Trish beamed.

  “What’s it called?” Marcus asked, having ordered two burgers and demolishing them both. I could see he was excited to try some cocktails, although being a vampire, he’d need a lot to get any kind of buzz. But it was more the flavor he enjoyed.

  “Supe Delights,” Trish declared, and Lucas snorted as Skip gave her a shocked look.

  “You know that’s—” Skip started, but Trish cut him off quickly.

  “I know what it is, mate. I’ve been around far longer than you. Let this old woman have a fun night.” She smirked. “Besides, I’m sure we’d all have fun.”

  “Gran…” Hayley groaned, and I looked to my mates for some help. What was this place they were talking about?

  ‘It’s a strip club for supes,’ Lucas mentally informed me.

  I just gaped at my grandmother as she cackled like a wicked witch and rubbed her hands together.

  “I mean, if that’s what you really want,” Skip said with a shrug, although he gave me a questioning look as if asking permission.

  I had nothing to be worried about, my mates wouldn’t be interested, but I was damn curious about this strip club now. I’d never been to any kind of strip club, and a supe specific one? Now that was intriguing.

  “Fine, but only because you’re on holiday and deserve to see different places,” I said, causing Hayley to bow her head in defeat.

  “Great!” Trish shot up from her seat, her chair scraping as her eyes twinkled with delight. “Let’s head on over.”

  Skip laughed at her enthusiasm, and I knew it was rubbing off on all of us as we stood and headed out of the building.

  The galaxy-like portal appeared before us as we walked, and I watched as unknowing passers-by walked through the shimmering wall like it wasn’t even there. Only we’d be teleported when we stepped through, no one else. Still, how his magic warped it for all those around us still blew my mind.

  We stepped through, and I quivered as the electrical magic rippled through me.

  I stared at the building before me now, impressed with the neon artwork of a dingo, witch, and pole dancer on the front wall.