Scorched Heart (The Firebrand Series Book 4) by Helen Harper (top non fiction books of all time .txt) 📗

The teenager didn’t smile. ‘It’s Al. Not Albion.’ He pushed himself away from the wall and walked towards me. His hands were in his pockets but his body betrayed his tension. ‘And I’m not a kid. It’s not that late.’

‘There have been two brutal murders here in less than a week. You shouldn’t be out on the streets on your own.’

‘I can look after myself.’

‘It’s not safe,’ I reiterated.

He glared at me. ‘I don’t care.’

I chose not to pursue it. He was clearly here for a reason; the quicker I let him say what was on his mind, the quicker he’d go home. ‘What do you want?’ I asked, doing my best to keep my tone friendly. Unfortunately, my apprehension after the incident at the cottage got in the way and I sounded more stern that I’d intended.

Albion stopped in front of me, inches from my face. Interesting. He didn’t strike me as the type to attempt an intimidating stance but here he was, squaring up to me. I knew he’d clocked the crossbow – it was hard not to notice it – but its presence didn’t deter him. ‘I want you to stay away from my mum.’

I raised my eyebrows. ‘I can’t do that, Al. I’ve got questions that only she can answer.’

His expression darkened. ‘She’s done more than enough for you already. She’s frailer than she looks and she gets sick when … when … when…’ He couldn’t finish his sentence. ‘She gets sick.’

I dropped my shoulders, using my body language to convey that I wasn’t a threat. ‘I’m sorry to hear she’s not well,’ I said carefully. ‘And I can understand that you want to protect her.’

‘You don’t understand!’ he burst out. ‘You don’t understand at all!’ His cheeks flushed red.

His determination to warn me off only stirred my curiosity further. ‘Then explain it to me,’ I said. ‘I’m more than prepared to listen.’

‘Just fucking stay away from her, alright? You should be worrying about the murders happening now, not those from before. I’m sorry about what happened but you can’t change the past. Asking questions about it only makes things worse.’

‘How? How does it do that?’

His mouth twisted. ‘Stay away from us. Stay away from my mum.’ He shoved past me and marched off.

I watched him go, then the images of Julie and Patrick’s corpses flashed before me. I sighed and trailed after him. Nothing untoward would happen to Albion James. Not tonight, and not on my watch.

I followed Albion all the way home, keeping out of his line of sight to avoid another confrontation. When he reached the manor doorway at the top of the long driveway, I considered striding up to speak to Miranda but the house was in darkness. It was too late to start questioning her again.

Instead, I waited until Albion was safely inside then turned on my heel and headed back to the pub. I pretended that the light wind whistling through the trees and the dancing shadows didn’t terrify me in the slightest. Enough of this; I needed to get some sleep so I could start afresh tomorrow.

When I got to my room, I made a point of checking every nook and cranny. Nothing and nobody was in the wardrobe. There was nothing hiding behind the shower curtain and no monster underneath the bed. I peered out of the window but this room looked onto the street rather than the back garden and there was nobody out there. It was fine. I was safe.

I didn’t know why I was allowing myself to get so damned jumpy. It wasn’t as if I should be afraid of dying. I brushed my teeth, splashed water on my face and climbed into bed. Everything would look better in the daylight. I was sure of it.

I must have been more tired than I’d realised because I fell asleep almost instantly. When I woke up again, it was still dark. I stretched out, deciding that it wasn’t the urge to pee that had woken me but the unfamiliar surroundings and my unsettled thoughts. I checked the time, satisfied that there were hours to go before dawn, and closed my eyes again. And that was when I heard the creak outside my door.

My eyes flew open. This was an old building, there were all sorts of creaks and groans. It was probably nothing.

Then I heard it again.

I reached down to the side of my bed, my fingers grasping the cold metal shaft of my trusty crossbow. With my heart beating faster, I checked it was loaded and thumbed off the safety before pointing it at the door.

Breathing. I could hear someone breathing on the other side.

In a flash, my fear was replaced by rage. Hadn’t I enough to deal with already? Who was the fucker who thought he could come here in the middle of the damned night and try to kill me again? I set my mouth into a grim line. Whoever he was, he’d regret the day he thought he could come up against me. I would end this, once and for all. I didn’t even care that it was illegal for me to fire my crossbow at a human. I would send a bolt into his damned heart.

The doorknob started to twist. So it wasn’t some random insomniac wandering around out there. I narrowed my gaze. I was ready. The door was locked, but if that bastard tried to force it open, or even if he gave up and walked away, I would have him.

There was the sound of something jangling, followed by the unmistakable scratch of a key entering the lock. So someone at the Bird and Bush was involved. I shouldn’t have assumed the staff were innocent. Nobody else could have got hold of a key to my room. I tensed and waited.

The doorknob turned again – and this time it worked. The door opened a mere crack at first. Whoever was