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

I thought briefly of the large hand that had encircled my throat and strangled me so deftly. I shook the image out of my head. Whoever he was, or whoever they were, their time was running out.

‘What this means,’ I said, ‘is that our pool of suspects is smaller than it was before. Assuming that there is only one suspect, he has to be over forty. And he was here in Barchapel twenty-five years ago, as well as being here now. I’ve got all the statements taken from local people. If we match up the historical statements to the ones from this week, we might come up with something. The bastard responsible knows that I can’t die, but I reckon he has no clue how the process works.’

I nodded at the bloodied papers. ‘He thinks he’s targeting me. He’s taunting me – he has been all along. But he also thinks he holds all the cards, and in that he’s very wrong.’

Boateng didn’t look convinced. ‘I’ll go back and look through the statements. Emma, I was wrong before when I said you could be in serious danger. You are in serious danger. Especially if there are two murderers.’

Lukas stiffened by my side. ‘That’s as may be, but unless Emma wants to leave Barchapel—’

‘I don’t,’ I interrupted loudly.

Lukas smiled. ‘Then I will be by her side at all times. She’s more powerful than you could ever realise, DCI Boateng. And so am I.’ With that, he bared his fangs for all to see. ‘This fucker might be able to take on one of us, but together we’re unstoppable.’

Chapter Twenty-Three

The examination of the cottage and its garden was going to take considerable time and I had a lot of files and emails to go through. Lukas and I left Boateng and the rest of his team and walked back towards the Bird and Bush. We trailed down the road as it curved back into Barchapel. Lukas’s phone rang but he declined the call without even looking at the caller ID. Instead, his arm went round my waist as if he were afraid I’d suddenly disappear.

‘Thank you for coming to find me,’ I said. ‘How are you feeling?’

‘Much better. Although I’m not sure you should have sent that young copper to check on me. He was too terrified to come up to my room, so he phoned up. When I went downstairs to talk to him, he stayed several metres away from me.’ Lukas snorted mildly. ‘I reckon he thinks that vampirism is contagious.’

I thought about Barry and Larry’s reactions; PC Rothsay wasn’t the only one who let his fear of supes get the better of him. I should probably be glad that he wasn’t wearing that daft garlic necklace any longer. ‘I don’t know how you put up with that sort of thing all the time.’

‘You get used to it,’ Lukas said with an ambivalent shrug. ‘But sometimes it’s good to remain amongst my own kind. There are plenty of reasons to be angry and frustrated that we’re ghettoised in Soho, but there are also reasons to be thankful for it too.’

‘It’s not fair.’

‘No,’ he agreed. ‘But, as you know, life is far from fair.’

Samuel Beswick’s thin face flashed into my mind and a sadness washed over me. ‘No,’ I said quietly. ‘It’s not.’ I glanced at him. ‘I really am sorry, you know,’ I told him. ‘About stabbing you in the heart.’

Lukas’s phone started ringing again. Again he declined the call.

‘You stabbed me in the heart long before you shot me with a silver arrow,’ he told me with a chuckle. He stopped walking and turned towards me, reaching for my hands. His black hair fell loosely across his forehead and curled down towards his eyes. I wet my lips and his gaze followed the movement.

‘I should have been here in Barchapel from the very beginning. I’m with you in this, Emma. I’m with you in everything. Sooner or later you’ll realise that.’ He took my hand and placed it palm-side down over his heart, then put his own hand over mine. I closed my eyes, feeling his heartbeat underneath my fingertips.

‘I never thought I could feel like this,’ Lukas murmured. ‘I used to be made of steel. Now it feels like I’m made of marshmallow.’ His voice hardened. ‘And if that fucking murdering bastard tries anything again…’

I reached up on my tiptoes and planted a kiss on his mouth. I wanted the murdering bastard to try again. It would be the best way to catch him.

For the third time, the ring tone on Lukas’s phone pealed out. ‘You should probably get that,’ I told him.

Lukas drew the phone out of his pocket and dropped it on the ground, then raised his heel and slammed it down, smashing the screen. The ringing stopped and a moment later the screen went completely dead.

Uh… ‘Was that wise?’

‘This isn’t the time to be distracted.’ His black eyes were serious. ‘I’m here completely for you, Emma. One hundred percent. Scarlett can more than handle whatever’s happening in London without me.’

‘Lukas…’ I began, ‘you have other responsibilities.’

‘You’re the only one I care about right now,’ he growled. ‘Don’t argue with me on this.’

I gave him a small smile then I reached up to kiss him once more.

There was loud shriek from overhead. Lukas jerked. ‘What the…?’

I glowered at the crow. Warning me of impending death was one thing; interrupting my kiss with Lukas was something else. ‘Bloody bird,’ I muttered.

Vel shrieked again. She flapped her wings with what appeared to be considerable vehemence. ‘What?’ I flapped my arms back at her. ‘What is it?’

She threw back her head and cawed.

Lukas raised a single eyebrow. ‘Are you trying to have a conversation with a bird?’

I pulled a face. ‘It’s not just any bird.’

She flapped her wings again then flew over our heads and disappeared beyond a tree. My brow creased. I dropped Lukas’s hands and marched after her.

‘What is it, D’Artagnan?’ He caught up to me.