Scorched Heart (The Firebrand Series Book 4), Helen Harper [free ereaders .txt] 📗

looking directly at anyone or anything. It seemed to take as long to get out as it had to get in. By the time I left through the main entrance, I was running for my car. As soon as I saw Tallulah, however, I realised that she wasn’t alone.

Lukas straightened up when he saw me. I made a beeline for him and allowed him to wrap his arms round me. I was shaking and I could feel my heart thumping in my chest, but Lukas’s presence calmed me. He was a vampire – and yet he made me feel safe.

‘I know you told me not to come,’ he murmured gently, as a stray jet-black curl of his hair tickled my cheek, ‘but I thought you might change your mind. Given that you spent less than ten minutes talking to Beswick and you tore out of that front door as if demons were on your tail, I suspect I was right.’

Maybe he knew me better than I knew myself. ‘Much as I don’t want to admit fallibility,’ I said, ‘I’m glad you came.’ I pulled back to gaze at him. ‘You were right.’

Lukas allowed himself a small smile. ‘One day, Emma,’ he said, ‘you’ll realise that I’m always right.’

Despite the circumstances, I snorted. Yeah, yeah. I punched his arm lightly, glad that his light humour gave me something else to focus on, and he grinned.

‘How did you know I didn’t speak to Beswick for long?’ I asked.

Lukas shrugged. ‘I know a few people who work here,’ he said with studied casualness. ‘I was kept informed.’

Translation: he bribed some of the prison guards to keep him in the loop. I wondered if it had been the friendly guy at the front desk or the rules-focused man outside the door. It didn’t really matter.

‘I wish you wouldn’t do that,’ I muttered, looking away.

He reached for my face again and gently tilted it towards himself. ‘I was worried. Considering your expression when you ran out of there, I was right to be.’ A fleeting look of anger crossed his eyes. ‘What did Samuel Beswick say to you? What did he do that made you so scared?’

I sighed. ‘It wasn’t him that scared me. It was me that scared me.’

Lukas understood in an instant. ‘You were afraid of what you might do to him.’

I managed a nod. ‘There was a screen separating us but I knew that I could break through it. I knew that I could get to him and…’ I couldn’t finish the sentence.

Lukas was silent for a moment. There was no censure in his gaze. He looked over my shoulder at the prison, a forbidding darkness flitting across his face. ‘That’s only natural.’

‘He admitted that he killed them, Lukas. He’s never done that before. I looked him in the eye and he admitted that he was guilty.’

Lukas pulled me into a hug again. ‘Come on,’ he said, holding me tight, ‘Let’s get you home.’

Chapter Two

Detective Superintendent Lucinda Barnes was waiting for me in the Supe Squad office when I arrived the next day. Liza was scowling darkly in the corner. As DSI Barnes was licking the last few crumbs from a plate that looked like it had recently contained one of Liza’s cakes, I had no trouble working out why Liza was annoyed. She took her baking seriously and wasn’t always comfortable with sharing the fruits of her floury labour.

‘DC Bellamy,’ Barnes said, with a perfunctory smile, ‘I’m glad you’re here. I know it’s the weekend but I dropped by because we need to catch up. What’s the situation with the Fairfax clan?’

So much for small talk. ‘Nothing new,’ I said. ‘A new alpha werewolf won’t be confirmed until the full moon when all the contenders fight it out in St James’s Park.’ Barnes already knew this; why she’d deemed it necessary to come and ask about it in person was beyond me.

‘And is this Toffee woman still the most likely candidate?’

I shrugged. ‘As far as I can tell.’

‘You should get close to her. Become her friend. It’ll make things easier later.’

‘Not if she doesn’t get the gig,’ I pointed out. ‘There are other Fairfax betas who might do better than her on the night. If someone else becomes the Fairfax alpha, they won’t take kindly to the fact that I’ve been buttering up Toffee. Not to mention,’ I added, ‘that she very publicly proved herself submissive to Devereau Webb when she presented him with her belly right outside this building. Openly submitting to a non-ranked werewolf who’s not even experienced his own first full moon won’t fill the others with confidence.’

‘Indeed.’ Barnes frowned. ‘What exactly is happening with Mr Webb? Has he made any approaches to the clans?’

‘Nope. He’s still living on the other side of the city. I’ll allow him a few weeks to adjust to being a werewolf then I’ll approach him.’

‘He’s supposed to be in Lisson Grove with the others. The law is very clear.’

I didn’t blink. ‘I know that, but he’s not someone I want to make an enemy of either. Right now, Devereau Webb and I have a cordial relationship. If he proves himself to be as powerful as he has the potential to be, I don’t want to piss him off. I’ll remind him of the supe laws in good time.’

Barnes sniffed. ‘Very well, I’ll trust that you know what you’re doing. But that does bring us to another matter.’

I already knew what she was going to say and so did Liza. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her stiffen. It was probably just as well that Fred was out on patrol; at least Liza could give a good show of pretending not to listen. Fred was hopeless at such things.

‘You need another detective,’ Barnes said. ‘Someone with more experience. You’ve done excellent work in improving relations between the police and the supernatural community, but recent events at the Talismanic Bank and beyond have proved that Supe Squad requires another pair