Chapter 6
CHAPTER 7
Cathrin only stayed home long enough to tidy most of her living room. She stacked all the books and papers in piles that she would have to sort through later. The wound on her neck throbbed slightly, reminding her that she was now in something way over her head. Unable to concentrate on cleaning, she shrugged off her jacket and went back to her chest in the couch. She took out a shoulder holster and quickly put that on. She had been caught twice now unarmed, this was to make sure there wasn’t a third time. The holster was one that men mostly wore because it stayed on over their shoulders without being looped through a belt. She was glad that her shoulders were broad enough for it too. Unlike most holsters, this one was designed to hold two guns, one on each side and room for a spare clip of ammunition. Cathrin’s gun of choice was a Glock 9mm semiautomatic, lightweight, easy to use and held fifteen bullets. That made a grand total on sixty bullets to use if she ever got into trouble. It must sound like overkill, if she had to use more than seven shots she was in dire trouble. However, there were times when sixty bullets were needed and there had been enough time to use them. These occasions were rare and very dangerous, but in the end, it was worth carrying both guns and extra ammo.
She hesitated as she saw the silver crucifix. It had been years since she had worn it, and it probably wouldn’t be any good, but…it was worth a shot. She picked it up by the chain and fastened it around her neck. The silver was cool against her skin, the cross hanging just below the hollow of her throat.
Feeling a little better, Cathrin stood and made her way out of her apartment, locking the door behind her.
Once inside the relative privacy of the elevator, she leaned close to the mirrored wall and cringed. The skin around the bite mark was beginning to redden and swell, a sure sign of bruising. At least it wasn’t clearly visible on her. One end of the red crescent showed above the collar of her shirt and her hair covered the rest.
The doors slid open and she walked out of the building and into the car park. She walked into the car park and fished her keys from her pocket and went to unlock her Jeep that had seen better days. There was an envelope tucked under one of the windscreen wipers. She pulled it out and tore it open. Inside was a card.
Hunters come and go. Vampires live forever. Who’s side would you rather be on? Make a decision little Cathrin, life or death. You know where I am, I will be expecting a reply from you tonight. Yours, Calahan.
She scrunched up the note and threw it on the floor of her car before getting in to it. The last thing she needed was Calahan making a nuisance of himself. She was in enough trouble with Quin and Andrews, she didn’t need to add another Lord vampire to her list of woes.
Cathrin drove out of the car park and headed into the city. She managed to weave her way amongst the busy streets to her destination.
A church.
St. Michael’s was a modest little building compared to those around it. It looked oddly out of place between a high rise office building and a law firm. Parking across the street from the church, Cathrin jogged across the road, narrowly missing a car as it dove past.
Inside was silent. Her breathing sounded very loud in the still air. She made her way down the centre of the main hall, toward the confessional. She opened the door and stepped inside.
"And what may I do for you, child?" a priest asked.
"Well, I’m here for my bullets, Perry." she replied.
"Ah, Cathrin. It hath indeed been a long time since I hath spoken unto thee. And how art thou?" the priest said pleasantly.
"I’m fine, Perry, but please, speak the language of the land. I won’t be able to handle all your archaic thees and thous, this is England, so speak English." she told him.
He laughed softly. "Then follow me, Ms Forbes." he told her.
She stepped out of the confessional just in time to see the priest step out and head to a door off to the side. Cathrin hurried after him.
"I take it business is picking up, if you want your bullets already." he said as she caught up to him.
"You could say that, I guess." she replied.
"That brother in law of mine was asking for you the other day. He said it was important." Perry told her as they entered a rather small room.
"And what did Tony want with me?" she asked. He shrugged.
"I don’t know. Something to do with the morbid business you’re in, I’m sure." he replied and went to a desk cramped into one corner of the room. He opened one of the drawers and took out a wooden box. He opened the box and quickly looked at its contents before closing the lid and handing the box to her.
"I do believe that is what you wanted." he said and smiled briefly.
"Thanks, Perry. I just might go and find Tony and see what’s going on with him." she said as the priest nodded. She left him in that room and walked quickly from the church. She sprinted across the road, again only narrowly missing traffic, and got back into her car. Once in the relative safety of the vehicle, she opened the box. Arranged in neat rows were bullets. Each and every bullet had a cross engraved onto the base. All were cased with almost pure silver and tipped with wood.
"Thankyou Perry." she muttered and closed the box and placed it in her glove box.