Page 46 of Box of Frogs
‘Yeah, yeah.’ I stood up and made a show of brushing away invisible dust from my clothes. ‘Ask now or forever hold your peace.’
He stayed silent for so long that I thought he wasn’t going to say anything at all. Then he inhaled deeply and looked at me. ‘When I kissed you just now, how did it make you feel?’
I met his gaze. ‘Like I couldn’t imagine life without you,’ I answered simply. His expression shuttered. ‘Now may I go?’
‘You may,’ he bit out.
I curtsied and headed for the door, walking out without a backward glance.
Chapter Fifteen
The sun was already setting when I walked out of the Metropolitan. It was fortunate that I was parked in the mall car park nearby; I didn’t have any time to waste if I was going to get back to the television studio to pick up Julie. I no longer had pedestrians scattering in my wake either – yep, I obviously looked like myself again.
I was almost at the front entrance to the mall when I felt something – or rather someone – brush against my elbow. I whirled round, my stomach tightening in anticipation when I saw who it was. Standing there, with her head tilted and a wary expression on her face, was the statuesque Amazon woman. I checked her eyes. They were green all right.
‘Hi,’ I said.
Her face tightened. ‘Hi? Is that all you have to say to me?’
I took a step backwards, scanning her up and down. I was as certain as I could be that she wasn’t carrying any weapons. Judging from the size of her, however, her body was a lethal weapon all on its own. ‘What would you like me to say?’ I asked carefully.
She put her hands on her hips and glared. ‘How about an explanation about where you’ve been for the last four days? Maybe you’d like to add why you ran away from me when I spotted you in the street. Maybe you’d like to include what the hell you’ve been doing with Morganus. You came out of his bar! What were you doing there? Did you have anything to do with the large man they dragged in there? He collapsed in the street after yelling to half the damn world that he was a faery. He was nothing like any faery I’ve ever seen. Is he still alive?’ She stared at me. Then she leaned forward and drew me into a hug. ‘I’ve been worried sick, Mads. Rubus is acting weird. You’re acting weird. Just what is going on?’
Listening to her was like listening to a steam train. She barely stopped for breath. I could only focus on one thing at a time. Using her last words, I licked my lips and fished tentatively for information. ‘You work for Rubus,’ I said.
She blew out air. ‘That’s no reason not to talk to me, Mads! You work for Rubus too!’
I examined her face. There was no doubt that she was severely pissed off but as far as I could tell, she was genuinely worried about me. ‘We’re friends?’
Her eyes widened with sudden dread. ‘Oh no, Mads. What have you done?’ she whispered.
I tutted. ‘It’s not like that. Well, I don’t think so. I’m afraid I don’t know who you are.’
Her expression altered. ‘What the fuck?’
‘I’ve got amnesia. I don’t know who you are but I don’t know who I am, either. Not beyond what other people have told me. I woke up on Friday night in the middle of a golf course with a bunch of ugly guys trying to kill me. Redcaps. Or so I’m told.’
Her mouth dropped open.
‘Perhaps if you told me your name, it might jog my memory,’ I said.
She continued to stare at me.
‘Or not.’ I shrugged. ‘And I’m sorry I ran away from you the other day. I thought you were about to pull out a gun and shoot me. I’ve been having that kind of week.’
She didn’t twitch. She didn’t even bloody blink.
‘Were you planning to kill me?’
Nothing. I raised a hand and waved it in front of her face.
‘Hello?’
Her tongue darted out and wet her lips. ‘Sorry, Mads,’ she whispered. ‘I’ve got to go.’ She turned round and started to walk away.
‘You didn’t tell me your name!’ I yelled after her.
She didn’t respond. I debated whether to go after her. She obviously knew things that even Morgan couldn’t tell me but if I didn’t get to Julie’s car in the next five minutes, I wasn’t going to make the pick-up in time. The actress might seem harmless but she was still a vampire. It was probably a good idea if I kept my promise and fulfilled the job I’d been hired to do. I grimaced: evil villain or angelic superhero or simply amnesiac numbskull – there was no excuse for tardiness.
