Page 55 of Brimstone Bound
‘Are you alright?’ he asked.
‘Fine.’ I paused. ‘Why do you ask?’
‘I thought it might be difficult for you to come back here after what happened to you.’ His expression was serious.
His show of empathy flustered me more than I wanted it to. ‘I coped,’ I said.
‘I knew you’dcopebut that doesn’t make it any easier.’
For a moment I didn’t speak, then I glanced at him. ‘Thank you for asking.’
Lukas inclined his head. ‘If you ever need to talk, I’m more than willing to listen. While my experience was nothing like yours, I do know a little about rebirth.’
‘When were you turned?’ It wasn’t curiosity that made me ask but the opportunity to turn the conversation away from myself.
‘Close to fifty years ago.’ He rubbed his chin. ‘I might look like a young, sprightly specimen of masculinity, but I’m close to eighty years old.’ His gaze suddenly sharpened. ‘Does that bother you, D’Artagnan?’
‘Should it?’
He didn’t look away. ‘Different people react in different ways.’
His age didn’t make any difference to me and I couldn’t imagine why it would. I had other questions, however. I jerked my chin up to the sky. ‘It’s not long past midday. Are you sure the sun doesn’t bother you?’
‘I’m sure. I prefer the night. All vampires do, because our vitality increases as the sky darkens, but I don’t shrivel up at the sign of a sunbeam. Much as you might wish that were so.’
‘I don’t wish that.’
‘Good.’ He gazed at me, then he shook himself. ‘So did you find out anything useful in there?’
I exhaled. ‘You were right about the werewolf.’ I outlined what Laura had discovered. Lukas listened to what I had to say, and his expression darkened.
‘If news of this gets out,’ he muttered once I’d finished, ‘it could spell chaos. Whoever did this knows that, otherwise they wouldn’t have tried to conceal Brown’s death as a suicide and yours as a knife-based mugging gone wrong. It appears that Brown was killed because he was a danger and he needed to be shut up. We can assume that the same is true for you.’ He gazed at me thoughtfully. ‘So, D’Artagnan, what have you seen and what do you know that might tempt someone to kill you?’
I’d been thinking about this. ‘I was only in Supe Squad for a day, so there’s not much to sift through. There is one thing, though.’
Lukas raised his eyebrows. ‘Go on.’
‘There was a woman,’ I said. ‘A female werewolf. I saw her running down the street in the middle of the day covered in blood.’
‘Stranger things have happened where the wolves are concerned.’
‘I wouldn’t know about that, but it’s not something I see on a daily basis,’ I admitted. ‘I went after her to make sure she was okay. When I found her, by the sound of things she was one who’d been attacking rather than the other way around. She was screaming at a male werewolf about her sister who was missing. She seemed to think he had something to do with it.’
‘And?’
‘And nothing. Tony appeared with Lady Sullivan in tow and bawled me out for getting involved. And that,’ I said flatly, ‘was the last time I saw him.’
Lukas smiled sympathetically. ‘Well, at least I know where I should go first.’
‘We,’ I corrected. ‘Whereweshould go first.’
‘It might be wise if you kept out of sight,’ he said. ‘If our killer still thinks you’re dead, it might be better – and safer – not to disillusion him.’
As I’d already told Laura, there was absolutely no chance I’d simply cower away. This was my mentor’s murder we were talking about – and mine. ‘For all we know,’ I argued, without mentioning the phone call to the morgue, ‘that ship has already sailed. I’ve been up and down both Lisson Grove and Soho. Besides, if I appear alive and well in front of the bastard who killed me, their reaction might tell us everything we need. And this ismyinvestigation.’
‘If they tried to kill you once, they’ll try again. It’s not safe.’
‘I’ll have big bad Lord Horvath by my side,’ I taunted. ‘I’m sure I’ll be fine.’
