Salvation's Kiss (Tales Of Mython Book 1) by Kathryn Jayne (old books to read .TXT) 📗

“I known, son.” Reuben patted his hand gently. “I’ll do everything I can. In the meantime, don’t do anything rash. Head home and fill your mother in on the details.”

“Rash? You think I can just sit around and do nothing when Ashley’s been taken who know where, for we can only imagine what purpose? If you think I’m going to sit around and do nothing—”

“That’s precisely what you’re going to do. We already have people looking into the disappearances.”

“And how’s that working out?” he snapped. “Last I heard, you’re running into dead end after dead end.”

“But we have something we didn’t have before, a crime scene. We don’t even know if it’s the same people. They’re been careful before, but leaving her bike was careless. You getting here when you did could be the only reason we have what we do. But there’s nothing more you can do here. Let me do my job.” Conrad couldn’t help but notice that, despite the assurances that they would do all they could, his father never once said they’d get her back, and he saw a shadow in his father’s eyes he’d never seen before.

When Conrad stepped out of the car, he saw Tess and Jack straighten, their pale faces looking washed out against the glow of the emergency lights. Someone must have told them he was being interviewed, because they had been waiting for him, their hurried footsteps closing the gap at speed. Their expressions of concern and fear were no doubt a mirror of his own.

“Conrad, thank goodness! No one would tell us what happened.” Tess pulled him into a quick embrace, her gaze drifting towards the bike currently being examined. “What’s going on?”

“Not here, there’s too many ears. But just answer me one thing. You knew she was in trouble, didn’t you? That’s why you called.” Tess nodded. “You’ve been tracking her using her watch.”

“Yes. I knew something was wrong. The notification came on that she’d left work. When it didn’t dismiss, I checked her data. I was hoping she’d just lost it. I gave it her so I could check on her, especially with everything that’s been going on and the insane hours she was working.”

“Tess, you have a spare key to Ashley’s. Can we head over to her place? There’s still a chance to get a lead.” Conrad glanced around, ensuring no one was close enough to overhear. “If Liam is how they discovered her, then our best hope is that he doesn’t know what’s happened and we get answers.”

“Who’s Liam?” questioned Jack and Tess almost in unison.

“I’ll explain everything on the way.”

Ashley’s small house stood bathed in an oppressive blanket of darkness. While it still looked like the same place where they had shared movies and created fond memories, it somehow seemed darker. It was a place no longer filled with laughter and friendship. Devoid of their friend’s presence, the charming, ramshackle property in need of a few touch-ups had morphed into a broken shell, cold, rundown and abandoned.

When Tess had opened the door, he had stood for a moment upon the threshold, savouring the lingering scent of her clothes and hair. The drink he had brought her just last night still sat abandoned on the small coffee table, awaiting her return. He stepped inside, plucking it from its place and swilling it in the kitchen sink. He had decided it no longer mattered who knew what Ashley was, what she was capable of. She was already in the worst imaginable danger and so, as he pottered around, returning things to their places, tidying her home just a little for when she returned—because she would be coming home—he told them everything. Every single detail. Including about Liam.

“I can’t believe all that has been happening under our noses, but I knew something was off.” Jack sighed as Tess dropped heavily onto Ashley’s sofa.

“What do you mean?” Tess questioned, shifting slightly to remove the headphones she had managed to sit on.

She tossed them on the table, where Conrad scooped them up, wrapping them tidily. He sat for a moment, before finding something else that needed his attention. The fragrances he associated with her were everywhere, reminding him of how he had failed to protect her. If only he had ridden to meet her like he wanted to; but he had been grateful for the extra few minutes to decide exactly what he was going to say, and now he may never get the chance.

“That day Will said he saw her come out of a Taphouse, it didn’t sit right, and I drew this.” Jack tossed his open sketch book onto the table.

“What’s that?” Conrad lifted the book, his gaze lingering on the black charcoal figure before being drawn to the adjoining page, which showed a discarded bike on the pavement. He stood in silence for a moment, flicking through the sketches, a frown creasing his brow. “What are these?”

“Pictures, images I’ve seen. I can link most of them to things that have happened,” Jack confessed. He glanced to Tess. “I told you my nana said we’re from a family of Seers. I think that’s what these are. I’ve been seeing.” He raised his fingers, drawing air quotes around the final word.

“You drew these?”

Jack nodded as Conrad flicked to the beginning of the book. “Tombs and gasoline?”

“That’s one of the few I can’t figure out.”

“I think this was about Ashley. After she was bitten, she was going to seal herself in a tomb and incinerate it, rather than live as a vampire,” Conrad disclosed, his grip tightening on the book as he turned the page to the picture of the bandstand. “She told me the night she stayed at mine, but when my mum uncovered what she did about her, the plan changed.” He flicked to another image, a carving of Medusa, her neck being pierced by Perseus’s swor, bordered on one side by shadow.

“I think we have other problems too,” Tess warned, glancing