Page 49 of Brimstone Bound
‘You shouldn’t be here, Jeremy. It’s incredibly dangerous.’
‘If it’s dangerous,’ he snapped, ‘then you shouldn’t be here either.’
I grimaced. ‘It’s my job.’
‘You’re not qualified yet. And I thought we agreed that you were going to take a desk-based position at Cyber Crimes. That’s where you’re supposed to be working, not here.’ He looked round, unimpressed.
‘We’ve been through this. I didn’t have a choice,’ I said quietly. Then I started improvising. ‘The thing is, I’m anonymous here. The vampires don’t know me and neither do the werewolves. I’m working undercover to get as much information about them as I can. It’s not what I’d have chosen to do, but it’s what I’ve been asked to do.’
I smiled humourlessly. The more truth I could weave in, the more plausible I’d sound. ‘I have my own code name. I’m not Emma any more, I’m D’Artagnan.’
‘You realise how crazy all that sounds, right?’
Not as crazy as the truth. ‘Yes,’ I said. ‘But it’s why I have to stay away from home and stay away from you.’ I reached for him. ‘I don’t want to, but I don’t have a choice. It’s not for long – maybe a week then everything will be back to normal. Maybe even sooner.’
‘It doesn’t seem right, Emma. You’re a trainee.’ His eyes searched my face. ‘Are you okay? You’ve not been … hit on the head or anything?’
I tried to laugh. ‘No, of course not.’
‘Can’t you tell the Academy no? Can’t you just come home?’
‘If I want to graduate and have my pick of jobs afterwards, this is what I’ve got to do.’
Jeremy reached out and cupped my face. He seemed puzzled and there was an edge of genuine alarm to his expression. I wasn’t surprised; not only was I acting out of character, but my tale didn’t add up. Nobody was sent undercover without proper training, and no trainee would ever be tasked with such a potentially dangerous job.
‘I’ve been so worried about you, Emma. This is mad! It’s four o’clock in the morning and I’m running around the streets of London looking for my crazy girlfriend!’
‘I’m really sorry.’ I wasn’t sure how to make it up to him, so I tried putting a positive spin on things. ‘Look on the bright side,’ I said. ‘You’ll have some time to yourself for a change. You can kick back, play video games, see your friends…’
Jeremy’s mouth flattened. ‘Speaking of friends, Becky and Tom were very disappointed that you couldn’t make it out for drinks. We missed you.Imissed you. If you’d been there, it would have been so different.’
I bit my lip. He had no idea how different things would have been if I’d gone with him.
I could keep apologising, but I wasn’t sure what good it would do. Part of me was happy to see Jeremy, but another part of me was desperate for him to leave. I brushed my mouth against his. ‘You should go,’ I whispered. ‘You’ve got work in a few hours.’
‘Won’t you come home with me?’
I shook my head. ‘I have to stay here and see this through. By the end of next week, it will all be over.’
He kissed me again, more deeply this time. His hand snaked round the back of my head, pulling me in closer. His mouth pressed harder, almost bruising mine.
I yanked away with more force than I intended. ‘Jeremy…’
He reached for his inside pocket. ‘I have something for you, Emma,’ he breathed, his eyes fixed on mine.
I had a horrible feeling that he was about to slide out a ring. That was the last thing either of us needed. ‘Um…’
There was a sudden loud banging on the door. Jeremy dropped his hand.
I jumped, then scrambled to my feet. ‘I have to get that,’ I said. ‘It might be important and I’m the only member of Supe Squad here right now.’
‘Leave it, Emma. You can’t be on duty twenty-four hours a day.’
I was already moving to the door. ‘Someone might need help!’ Either that, or it was my killer, who’d finally worked out that I wasn’t dead yet. I yearned forlornly for the crossbow that was sitting inside Tallulah. Then I peered through the spyhole to see who was out there.
Lukas.
My stomach dropped. Why now?
