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

I swallowed. Wherever the damned bugbear monster had gone, that man was in control of everything. I had to find a way to gain a foothold or two. ‘Impressive, Mr Evans,’ I called. ‘Is that what I should call you? Gwynne Evans? Is that what your pensioner’s railcard says?’

He drew back his hood and I breathed in sharply. It was him. He smirked. ‘It took you long enough, detective.’ He sniffed. ‘And here was me thinking that the Metropolitan police were truly scraping the barrel when they hired you. Maybe you’re not completely stupid after all. No, my name isn’t Gwynne Evans. I won’t bother asking where you got that name from. Frankly, I don’t really care.’

‘I need to call you something.’

He paused, tilting his head as he considered. ‘Call me Lazarus,’ he said eventually. ‘Because, like you, I have returned from the dead.’ He grinned broadly. ‘In a manner of speaking.’

‘We have something in common, then. Why don’t you let Miranda go and we can share our experiences?’

Lazarus rolled his eyes. ‘What’s the obsession with this woman? She’s nothing. She—’

He didn’t get the chance to finish his sentence. Taking advantage of his distraction, Miranda raised her elbow and slammed it into his stomach. Lazarus automatically released his hold on her. A split second later, she began to run down the driveway towards Lukas and me.

I didn’t hesitate. I sprinted towards her so I could bring her to safety. Alas, I didn’t even get close. Without warning, the creature reappeared and barrelled towards Miranda, slamming into her body and bringing her down to the cold ground. She let out a sharp cry as her head bounced off the driveway.

The beast opened its jaws. I kept running, sure that it was about to tear out her throat, but Lazarus spoke first, his voice ringing out crystal clear. ‘We still need her.’ He pointed at me. ‘Halt.’

I had no choice; if I went any closer, Miranda’s life would be forfeit.

Now I could see the monster more clearly; it did indeed look like a bear, a nightmarish bear that had sprung from the jaws of hell. Its fur was as black as Lukas’s hair. It had a long snout and curling whiskers. It huffed loudly. For a moment I thought it was going to ignore Lazarus, but then it stepped forward and angled its massive body between me and Miranda. She moaned. She was still conscious. That was something.

‘It came from him,’ Lukas murmured at my back. ‘That beast came from Lazarus himself. One minute it wasn’t there and the next it sprang up as if it had emerged from his shoulder blades. It absorbs itself into his body. That’s how it works – that’s how it’s stayed hidden until now.’

‘So it’s a part of him? They’re one creature?’

Lazarus laughed again. He’d heard every word of our conversation. ‘Oh no, detective. We are entirely separate, I can assure you of that. This is what a bugbear does, you see. It latches onto a human host and conceals itself until it is necessary to emerge. Ours is an entirely symbiotic relationship. I kill for him, and he kills for me.’

He smiled broadly, evidently taking great pleasure in explaining. ‘We’ve been together for a quarter of a century. You and your parents were our first.’ His face twisted into a snarl. ‘Or at least you were supposed to be.’

He strode down the driveway until he drew level with the bugbear. For one chilling second it looked at him and he looked at it. Their mutual trust, desires and ferocious bloodlust were unmistakable.

‘You don’t know what it’s like,’ Lazarus said, gazing at me. ‘You plan for something. You put your heart and soul into it, and you consider every outcome and every possibility. And then one person – one child,’ he spat in disgust, ‘ruins it all.’

It was clear he believed that all this was my fault, as if I were responsible for murder rather than him. Next to me, Lukas growled but I gave my head a tiny shake. Not yet. I wanted to hear what Lazarus had to say, and I wanted to ensure that Miranda and Albion, wherever the boy might be, would be safe.

‘So you’re upset because I didn’t stay dead?’ I said softly.

‘Upset? Upset? What do you think this is? Who do you think I am?’ Lazarus rolled his eyes expressively. ‘Upset? Upset is what happens when someone bumps into you or your car has a prang. You ruined me for years.’

He gestured at the bugbear. In response, it lifted its head and its slitted gaze seared into me. ‘We didn’t know what you saw, what you remembered, or whether the police were after us. If you’d said something to the police at the time, maybe poor Sammy Beswick wouldn’t have been arrested. Maybe I would have been.’ He sniffed. ‘You have a lot to answer for, detective. It took us years to regain our equilibrium. You were the one that got away.’ He sounded as if he were throwing a tantrum. It was a strange look for such an elderly man. ‘But not now. You won’t get away again. We might not manage to kill you, but we can kill everyone you’ve ever cared about. We can make you suffer.’

I shifted my weight slightly. It wasn’t the old man who worried me; he was full of pointless bluster and bruised ego because I’d not stayed dead when I was five years old. But he wasn’t strong and he didn’t appear to have any weapons. My concern was the bugbear, which could kill Miranda James with one swift flash of its teeth. I didn’t know what else it might be capable of, or how much power was contained within that dark furry body. I had to draw it away from Miranda and towards Lukas and me, but I didn’t know how.

Stalling for more time as I worked out the angles, I spoke again. ‘You lured me here to Barchapel, didn’t