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THE SWEET SCENT
OF BLOODSpellcrackers.com
SUZANNE MCLEOD
GOLLANCZ
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Copyright Suzanne Gillespie
All rights reserved
Te right of Suzanne Gillespie to be identified as the author
of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act .
First published in Great Britain in by
Gollancz
An imprint of the Orion Publishing Group
Orion House, Upper St Martins LaneLondon
An Hachette Livre UK Company
A CIP catalogue record for this book
is available from the British Library
(Cased) (rade Paperback)
ypeset by Deltatype Ltd, Birkenhead, Merseyside
Printed and bound in the UK by
CPI Mackays, Chatham, Kent
Te Orion Publishing Groups policy is to use papers that
are natural, renewable and recyclable products and made
from wood grown in sustainable forests. Te logging and
manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the
environmental regulations of the country of origin.
ww.orionbooks.co.uk
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Chapter One
The vampire looked a beautiul, dangerous clich. Jet-blackhair tied back in a French plait emphasised the pale angleso his ace. Shadowed grey eyes stared out with moody promise.Black silk clung to hard abdominals while sof leather stretched
down long, lean legs. An ankle-length coat pooled across the
stone steps on which he sat so it seemed he existed in his
own well o seductive darkness. Behind him, the erris-wheel
silhouette o the London Eye, backlit by exploding fireworks,
added a less than subtle suggestion to the scene.
Te picture was splashed across the ront page o every
national newspaper: a celebrity story made more sensational
than the norm thanks to the mix o murder and vampires.
Other than providing a ew moments o idle interest, the news
had nothing to do with me.
Or so I thought.
London was in the middle o a late September heat-waveand the bright sunshine blistered hot into the city as I sat at my
usual corner table in the Rosy Lea ca, staring at the vampires
picture. Outside the tourists that normally thronged Covent
Garden huddled in the shade under the stone canopy o St
Pauls Church. Even the street entertainers had succumbed to
the heat, leaving the expanse o cobbled paving deserted. Inside
the empty ca was no better. Tere was no air-conditioningand even with the doors wide open, the hot, heavy air pressed
against me as i it were something solid. I nothing else it was
peaceul.
I work or Spellcrackers.com Making magic sae! and
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Id spent a long, rustrating morning chasing pixies through a
crowded raalgar Square. A pack o them had been attempt-
ing to animate the huge bronze lions. Te magic was way out
o their league o course, but this was their fifh attempt in amonth and I had to give them points or persistence i nothing
else. Tanks to the pixies, Id missed lunch, and Id been hop-
ing or a quick bite beore my next job. But Katie, the waitress,
had other ideas.
She pulled more papers in ront o me. Check these out,
Genny!
I cast a long-suffering look over the headlines.CELEBRITY VAMPIRE ARRESTED IN GIRLFRIENDS MURDER
screamed one.TIME RUNS OUT FOR MR OCTOBERS DATE was
another. And the very snappy, ONE BITE WAS ENOUGH! None o
them likely to win any prizes or headline o the year, but they
were definitely eye-catching, i only or the ont size.
Katie pointed to the picture o the vampire and sighed. Its
so tragic. Her fingers stroked her blue heart pendant, the one
she always wore. Mr October . . . isnt he gorgeous? Tats the
pic they used in the calendar, yknow.
Uh-huh, I muttered. Katies teenage obsession with vamps
was one I didnt participate in.
Te calendar showing all the touristy places? She nudged
me or emphasis. Yknow, the vamps dressed up all historical?Tere was this ab shot o this handsome Cavalier standing
in ront o Buck House ooh, and Mr April, the Roman cen-
turion, now hes hot, but not as hot as
alking o hot, I interrupted, you couldnt get me my
orange juice, could you, Katie? Im dying o thirst here.
Ha, Ha. Very unny, Genny. She swung away to the coun-
ter, looking cool in her floaty skirt and strappy top.Briefly, I closed my eyes. Ten, concentrating on that part
o me that sees the magic, Iocusedon Katie as she disappeared
into the kitchen. A deep cobalt blue shimmered around her
in the place I imagined her aura would be i I could actually
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see it. Relie settled in me. Te protective warding spell Id
bought and attached to Katies heart pendant was as strong
as ever. Covent Garden Market is Londons Witch Central;
you can buy anything, rom a bad-hair-day remedy to a noisyneighbour muffler to an anti-Congestion Charge charm even
i the last is illegal. And working there has its advantages, but it
still pays to be careul. Upset a witch and they dont just shout
at you . . . angry red boils is never a good look.
Isnt this weather just too much? Katies voice drifed out
into the empty ca as she chatted to Freddie, the cook. Tey
were saying on the telly it hasnt been this hot or at least tenyears, yknow.
I anned mysel with the menu, the slight breeze disturbing
my hair where the short ends stuck to the back o my neck. Te
cream linen waistcoat I wore was cool enough, but the black
trousers had been a mistake. rouble is, Ive never been much
or skirts, and shorts just dont have the right proessional
image. I scanned the ca interior, checking or any other stray
spells that might be lurking. It took a whole chapter o coven
witches all thirteen o them to produce a warding complex
enough or business premises, and that was way too rich or
Freddies pockets, so, in return or the occasional bacon sand-
wich, I tidied up on a regular basis instead.
Te ca was clear o magic, but I glanced down and caughta aint glow coming rom my phone. Crap. I snatched up the
phone and with a sense o resigned inevitability peered at the
thumbnail-sized crystal on the back. A racture like a black
splinter lodged in the crystals centre. Damn pixies. Even
being careul, Id still managed to crackthe phones protection
spell when Id cleared up all their dust. Now Id risk rying
the phone next time I deused a spell i I didnt buy anothercrystal, and they werent cheap.
Could my day get any worse?
I dumped the phone on the table and gave the newspapers
an irritated look. It wasnt the crystal, although that was bad
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enough London is expensive, even with the rent subsidy I
got with my job. And it wasnt the weather, my clothes or even
the pixies that had me on edge. It was the vampires. Teyd
deviated rom their sel-imposed politically correct script.And I hadnt a clue why.
Over the last ew years, the vampires had crawled out o
their coffins (not that Id ever known one to actually sleep in
a coffin) and brushed the dirt rom their public image. Teyd
poured new blood into British ourism and transormed the
more presentable among themselves into A-list celebs.
Its amazing what a collection o glossy pictures and a no-expense-spared marketing campaign can do. With a steady
diet o tourists and inatuated youngsters like Katie satisying
both their physical and financial needs, the vampires pretty
much had it all dished up on a plate. Even the current eeding
renzy about the murder had less to do with the accused being
a vamp and everything to do with him being a hot property
among Londons nightlie. I sighed. At least the newest round
o government legislation meant sixteen-year-old Katie had
another two years beore reality could legally sink its angs into
her media-induced crush.
Id been ourteen when it had happened to me.
I rubbed the phantom throb at the curve o my neck, then
dug my fingers into the smooth skin, trying to ease the annoy-ing sensation that the memory had raised. Fourteen was ten
years and a different lietime ago, and the law and the vamps
had never been overly concerned when it came to the likes o
me.
Here you go, Genny. Katie plonked my juice down and
lifed another paper.
Te juice slipped down my throat and spread a chill throughmy body instead o the warmth I craved. Id have to wait until
later or that. I flicked a finger at the paper Katie was reading.
Dont suppose theres any news o my bacon sandwich, is
there?
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Uh-huh, she muttered, hal ignoring me, in a sec.
Hope youre not expecting a tip, I added.
Freddies doing it. She gave me a superior look rom
around the edge o the paper. And anyway, Freddie says Im amuch better waitress than you ever were, so there.
Means nothing, I grinned. He says that to all the girls.
Katie sniffed and snapped the paper back up between us.
A quiver o awareness crept across my shoulders. A tall
gangly youth not much older than Katie stood in the kitchen
doorway, watching. I stared back. He jerked as i Id burnt him
beore ducking out o sight.I shrugged. Its my eyes that do it: amber-coloured, with oval
pupils, rather like a cats. And my hair doesnt help its the
same odd shade. London has its air share o ae and others
living in the city, but even so, my eyes still reak people out.
Teyre the only part o me that doesnt look human.
Whos the new guy? I asked.
Gazza, hes the pot-washer the agency sent. He started
yesterday. She lowered the paper. Hes a bit o a drip, really.
Keeps asking me what sort o stuff I like, yknow, movies,
tunes . . .
I wonder why? I opened my eyes wide in mock surprise.
Ha. Ha. Anyway, like Id sogo out with him. She wrinkled
her nose.Course you wouldnt, I agreed, matter o act. Hes not
old, hasnt got pointy teeth, and isnt interested in your blood.
Hes . . . nice.
Well, I dont think hes nice. She bent closer. He said hes
never seen a aerie beore. Course, I told him you were sidhe
ae, not a aerie. She threw a baleul look behind her, then
carried on, And Freddie doesnt think hes nice either, I heardhim telling Gazza hed wash his mouth out with soap, it was so
dirty. So hes not gonna be here long, anyway.
I didnt need to ask what else Gazza had been saying.
Witches are human, vampires had been human once. But the
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ae are a different species, like the trolls and the goblins. Te
humans just lump us together as Other. Te less polite call
us Freaks or Subs, a nice little abbreviation or sub-human.
And we ae are a minority, were not always pretty, and wereofen dangerous. I say we, but even amongst the citys ae com-
munity, Im in a minority o one: the only sidhe living in the
whole o London.
And i Gazzas mouth wasnt polluted with prejudice, there
was always the other option. Te ae are rumoured or their
Glamour or in more prurient terms, aerie sex.
Either way, Gazza wasnt worth the energy it took to noticehim. Freddie would sort him out soon enough and Katie
wasnt a pushover; Id seen her dump hot coffee in more than
one idiots lap when he didnt take the hint.
Katie pointed at the newspaper on the top o the pile. A pic-
ture o a pretty, smiling brunette covered hal the ront page.
Te headline read VAMPIRE ROBERTO KILLS HIS J ULIET.
What does that one say about him?
I unolded the broadsheet and read snippets rom the text.
Its got some quotes rom the undead Lord, the Earl: crime
o passion, regrets the dreadul waste o two such young and
promising lives . . . wants to reassure the public that becom-
ing a vampire is sae . . . condolences to both their amilies . . .
ull support or the police I looked up at her. Tat sort othing. Same as all the rest.
Its so romantic, isnt it? she sighed. Tey loved each other
so much, yknow, they wanted to be together orever. Only the
Gif didnt work and now hes probably gonna die too.
I snorted. Dont be daf, Katie. She probably wasnt his girl-
riend at all. He just lost control and then tried to give her the
Gif as a cover-up. Its just a PR pitch to make sure the othervamps dont catch any grie over it. I tapped my finger on the
paper. Look, she only died yesterday. Last night is too quick
or the police to have caught him. I expect the other vamps had
him all trussed up ready to go.
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He didnt try to run. Roberto didnt even know she was
dead, Ms aylor.
Katie and I both looked up in surprise. A man was standing
between us and the entrance. Te afernoon sunshine slantingbehind him threw him into shadow and or a moment his ace
appeared a twin or the vampire staring out o the newspaper.
My heart skipped a beat and ear prickled down my spine.
Katie gasped, her hand fluttering to my shoulder. Ten sense
kicked in. No vamps until afer sunset.
I relaxed slightly as the man stepped orward, his hands
clenched at his sides. Te navy suit he wore was rumpled, hisshirt collar undone and his tie loosened. Grey salted his short
dark hair and the lines anning rom his eyes and mouth etched
deep into his skin, making him look older than the orty-eight
years the papers claimed. Even so, it was obvious where Mr
October had inherited his good looks rom.
Katie let out a sof breath next to my ear and straightened
up.
I looked up at the man, considering he might be a human
but his son was a vampire it made me want to tell him to go
away, to leave me alone, but my ather taught me that threats
are better dealt with in more practical ways. So instead I asked,
What do you want, Mr Hinkley?
His lips thinned briefly, then he took a deep breath. I wantto hire you, Ms aylor.
Because o this? I laid my palm on the pile o newspapers.
He nodded.
Youre wasting your time. I work or Spellcrackers.com.
Its a witch company. Witch Council rules are clear about jobs
involving vampires. We dont accept them.
I know, he said, voice quiet and controlled. Ive alreadyspoken with Stella Raynham. Your boss told me you would
be here.
Im surprised she told you where I was? I made it a ques-
tion.
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Stella and I know each other, he said, then paused, letting
that statement hang in the air. Can I talk to you? Please?
I shrugged and pushed the newspapers to one side. ake a
seat. Stellas name means Ill listen, nothing else.Katie hovered behind me. ea or coffee?
He sat down. Coffee. Black. Please, he added belatedly.
She bustled away but not beore widening her eyes and
silently mouthing an excited ooh!behind the mans back.
Youre not a witch, Ms aylor.
Tats obvious. No. Im not.
I know youve worked or Spellcrackers or just over a year,
Stella employed you, even though youve never had any known
affiliation with the Covens. He reached out and pushed the
salt cellar neatly in line with the pepper pot. Youre not bound
by Witch Council rules.
Did Stella tell you that?
Not in so many words.Why dont you tell me exactly what Stella did say to you,
Mr Hinkley?
Alan. Please. He fished in his jacket pocket as he spoke.
Im a financial journalist. I did an article on Spellcrackers a
couple o months ago, about the proposal to ranchise the
business. He laid a newspaper cutting on the table with his
by-line under the headline SPELLCRACKERS.COM CRACK THE
MAGIC MARKET.
Te penny dropped, plugging a large deficit in Stellas
publicity budget.
Okay, I begin to see the picture now. Im amazed Stella
didnt come with you.
I asked her not to. I didnt want to put any pressure onyou.
Yeah, right. So, Alan, what is it you want me to do?
He indicated the newspaper picture o the smiling victim. I
want you to come and see Melissa.
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I rowned, surprised. Im not clear how thats going to
help. Not when Melissa was already dead.
Roberto and Melissa . . . He shook his head and spoke
quietly, almost to himsel. No, I wont call him that. My sonsname is Bobby. Roberto isnt even his given name, its just the
one he took with theGif. Moisture glistened in his bloodshot
eyes and he blinked it away. Bobby and Melissa were going to
be married.
So maybe Katies romantic notions werent so ar off the
mark.
Tats one o the reasons why we want to hire you, herushed on. Bobby didnt kill Melissa, he couldnt, he loved
her, she . . . She was a great girl. He tapped the pepper pot.
Someone else killed her. We think its another vampire, but
we cant prove it.
Who is we?
Bobby and me. He grimaced. Everyone else is sticking to
this ridiculous doomed lovers story.
What about Bobbys blood amily? What do they think?
Te vinegar sloshed as he almost knocked it over. Te acrid
smell rose between us. Youre right about that, Ms aylor. Te
only aspect o Bobbys current predicament that concerns the
vampires is the PR angle.
I narrowed my eyes. Doesnt Bobby have a solicitor lookingout or him?
Alans lips thinned again. I didnt eel confident in the first
solicitor. Hes a vampire, and Im not sure he has Bobbys best
interests at heart. Te one Ive hired hasnt dealt with vamps
beore. Ms aylor, we need as much help as we can get.
I didnt disagree, but I didnt want to get involved and so ar
Id heard nothing that would make me. Tat still doesnt tellme why you think I can help you?
Alan dropped his gaze to the table. My wie died six years
ago o a rare blood disease.
Im sorry. I offered inadequate sympathy.
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Bobby was a teenager when she died, and he went through
a rough patch aferwards. He looked up. Now, Bobby is was
training to be a doctor. He thought i he had enough time he
could help find a cure, so he accepted the Gif three years ago.His fingers clamped around the pepper pot. I might not agree
with his liestyle choice, Ms aylor, but he is still my son. Hes
the only amily I have lef.
I looked at him or a moment, then said sofly, Mr Hinkley
Alan Im sorry, but I really cant help you. Even i another
vamp did kill Melissa . . . I find spells, then break or neutralise
them. Tats all I do. I didnt like to say but there is nothingmagical about a vampire sucking you to death.
He rolled the pepper pot on its edge. Tats it, though: we
want you to look at Melissa and check or magic. Te coroner
says that the evidence points to just one vampire partner,
Bobby, but we think that the other vamp has covered up his
bites with a spell.
Straws and grasping came to mind.
He placed the pepper pot back next to the salt. Not only
that, you work or the Human, Other and Preternatural Ethics
Society at their vampire clinic
I interrupted him. Te clinics not just or vampire victims.
HOPE treats all types o magical attacks.
Yes, but youre used to seeing vampire bites, more than thecoroner.
Except the victims I saw were usually still alive.
Alan twirled the vinegar bottle. We thought that once
youve uncovered the bite, you might be able to identiy the
other vampire.
My stomach tightened into a hard knot. Mr Hinkley, even
i there is another bite hidden by magic, and even i I managedto find it, there is no way I could pinpoint the biter. I doubt
even the coroner could do it, not without an actual sample bite
to compare it against. And even then, vamp DNA only points
to the bloodline, not the individual vampire.
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He looked straight at me. But we thought youcould do it
with magic.
My pulse sped up. I didnt like where he was heading:
vampires thinking I could use magic to identiy their bites?Tat along with everything else would not be beneficial or
my health. Ten you thought wrong, Mr Hinkley. I cant use
magic like that, and I doubt that its even possible.
His ace ell. Ten he tapped his thumbnail against the
vinegar bottle, making a tiny tinkling sound, and his mouth
twisted into a hard line. I can pay you whatever you want.
I sighed. Not that I couldnt do with the money, but theanswer was still no, even with his associationto Stella. She might
have pointed him in my direction, but Stella wasnt about to let
one o her employees work or a vampire, even once removed.
Te witches and vamps live-and-let-live thing started in the
fifeenth century it was one o the more gruesome and sen-
sational parts o history lessons, what with the witch hunts, the
inquisition and everything and anyone whod been to school
couldve told Alan Hinkley I wasnt about to say yes to his job.
So why was he being so persistent? And why hadnt Stella come
with him? Something about that didnt add up. Unless she was
leaving it to me to turn him down just so she wasnt made out
to be the wicked witch in this sad little scenario. I that was the
case, Stella was going to find out I didnt appreciate being castas the bad-tempered aerie, and soon.
Its not about money, I said slowly. I dont want any
involvement with the vampires. Its one o the main reasons
I work or Spellcrackers.com, so I dont have to. Vamps dont
give the ae the same respect as they do humans.
Id heard that, but I wanted to talk to you anyway. Im sure
it wouldnt cause you a problem just to look, Ms aylor. Itwouldnt take long.
I kept my eyes on his, a suspicion orming in my mind.
What happens i I say no?
His orehead creased in puzzlement. I dont understand.
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Cmon, Alan: youve waited all day so you can speak to me
away rom the office. You persuade my boss to let you talk to
me, but you dont want to put any pressure on me by having
her here while we chat. Weve been down the sympathy route.I leaned orward, took the vinegar bottle rom his fingers and
lowered my voice. Your only son, a vampire, is accused o
murder. I hes ound guilty, hes not going to sit in jail or the
next twenty-odd years. Teyll send him to the guillotine, burn
his remains and scatter them over running water. I slammed
the vinegar bottle down on the table. Why dont you tell me
the real reason you think Im going to help you?He flinched and sat back, crossing his arms. Im not the
bad guy here, Ms aylor. Im just trying to save my son.
I didnt bother to say anything, just waited or the rest o
it.
Okay, Alans shoulders hunched, Bobby said to give you
a message, but only i you said no. He wouldnt tell me what
it meant. He said it was better i I didnt know. Desperation
filled his eyes as he went through some internal struggle, then
he spoke again, his voice hard and flat. My son wouldnt do
anything wrong.
Ten youd better give me the message, since Im supposed
to be the one that understands it.
He glanced round the ca, but it was still empty. Even Katiehadnt returned with his coffee yet.
Siobhans brother sends his regards, he said quietly.
Adrenalin rushed through me. Te hairs on my arms
lifed.
Siobhans brother.
Fuck, I shouldve known. What was the bastard playing at
this time? Alan was watching me, a horrified expression on hisace. It is blackmail, he murmured, almost to himsel. Bloody
hell, what a mess
I swallowed, trying to ease the tension in my jaw. No, its
not blackmail. Not exactly.
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It might not be blackmail, but I still didnt have a choice.
Id made a bargain, and the ae dont make or break bargains
lightly; the magic demands too great a price. But it had never
entered my mind that this particular debt would be called inora vampire, rather than one o their victims.