Page 82 of Brimstone Bound
‘Please.’
From the resigned expression on her face, I knew I had her. ‘Fine,’ she muttered. ‘But if anyone asks, this wasn’t me. Wait here and I’ll distract the others. You can slip in when their backs are turned.’
I exhaled in relief. ‘I owe you one.’
‘And then some,’ she said darkly. ‘Does Jeremy know you’re wandering around the streets of London chasing dodgy werewolves?’ I grimaced. Molly sighed. ‘I’d better not get into trouble for this,’ she muttered. Then she turned away and wandered over to the other officers who were milling around.
I edged closer to the barrier, watching as she began to talk to them. She twisted away and pointed at the Palace. The uniforms and CID detectives followed her gaze and I didn’t waste my chance. I leapt over the barrier and ran. A moment later, the trees swallowed me up.
I’d done it; I was in.
I flicked off the safety on the crossbow and slowed to a walk, my feet crunching the frost-covered grass. I had no doubt that Cassidy was well aware Anna had decamped to the DeVane. It made sense that she’d set up her trap close to the hotel. She’d want to challenge Anna as quickly as possible, and would aim to nab her as soon as she entered the park.
I swivelled on my toes, my head swinging from left to right as I searched through the darkness for any shadows that looked out of place. Given what Cassidy had already done to me, not to mention my ongoing trauma because of it, I should have been scared. Strangely, I felt the complete opposite; I no longer felt even remotely like prey. This time I was the predator – and I had the element of surprise on my side.
I crossed one of the pathways and skirted round the lake. The headlights of a few cars on the other side of the park’s boundary lit up the area momentarily and I ducked down, but I didn’t stop moving. I wove in and out of the trees, concealing myself as best as I could, and maintained my grip on the crossbow. I’d only get one shot. I wasn’t nearly adept enough to reload it under pressure. I had to make the one bolt count.
I’d reached the halfway point when I heard something up ahead. It sounded like a twig snapping. I reacted instantly, crouching down and pointing the loaded crossbow. That was when a loud, derisive snort filled the air.
‘You think you’re some sort of smart-arsed, ninja, don’t you?’
Ice hit my belly, but I schooled my expression into a mask.
‘I’m a werewolf,’ Cassidy said, from somewhere over to my left. ‘I could smell you coming half a mile off.’
‘Well, aren’t you the clever one?’
‘Yeah,’ she said, ‘I am.’ She stepped out from behind a tree. Maybe it was the dark shadows, but she looked much more forbidding than when I’d seen her in the sandwich shop. Her hair was scraped back, and her face was devoid of make-up. It was devoid of anything, in fact, beyond curiosity.
‘Remember me?’ I taunted nastily.
She tapped her mouth thoughtfully. ‘I think I do. You’re Tony Brown’s little trainee. ThelateTony Brown.’
A low guttural growl that surprised even me rumbled from my chest. ‘You killed him.’
Cassidy blinked. ‘I believe he accidentally killed himself during a weird sex game he was having with himself.’
My eyes narrowed and she giggled. ‘No, you’re right,’ she said. ‘You found me out. I did kill him. I guess I wasn’t quite as careful as I thought. It’s not my fault, though. I had to improvise at short notice. It was his own fault for coming after me. I knew what he was about from the beginning.’
She smirked. ‘He knew exactly what was happening, you know. Even after I injected him, he still knew. That’s why the likes of Supe Squad shouldn’t involve themselves with their betters. It only leads to upset.’
She waggled her finger. ‘You’re going to be quite upset soon, too. Fortunately, you chose to come here. It’ll be easy to pass off your death as another unfortunate accident when this park is filled with werewolves. That is,’ she added thoughtfully, ‘if there’s anything of your body to be found, once my friends are done with you.’
‘You’ve already killed me once,’ I bit out. ‘I won’t allow you to kill me again.’
Cassidy’s brow creased. ‘Did the death of your boss really affect you that badly?’ she asked. ‘Did it kill you when you found his body? You humans ought to toughen up.’
She tilted her head while I stared at her, a strange sensation flickering in the pit of my belly and a troublesome thought scratching at my skin.
‘I never was human, you know,’ Cassidy continued. ‘I was born a wolf. I deserve to be treated better. Do you know what it’s like to have your legacy torn away from you by some upstart who finagled their way into your family?’
I focused on her. ‘You’re talking about Anna.’
‘Yeah,’ Cassidy sneered. ‘And her stupid, over-protective sister. They were bitten, not born. They don’t deserve to be ranked wolves.’
I needed her to move closer because I wasn’t confident enough to hit her with the crossbow from this distance. A few taunts ought to do the trick. ‘But you do. You deserve the rank, even though you’re not strong enough to achieve it without cheating.’
Her features twisted with fury. ‘I’m not cheating! I’m just making sure I get what is mine!’ She started to stride towards me. ‘I deserve to make zeta. I deserve to go further. If Lady fucking Sullivan thinks I’m going to make sandwiches for the rest of my life, then—’
