Page 39 of Inferno

“What exactly is happening?”

I stare at her a moment, trying to decipher if it’s fear or fascination in her tone. She’s not freaking out or trying to pull away from me, so I settle on fascination.

“Because I died in a fire, I now have the power to make it.” I nod at my arms. “This is just the way my body expresses my emotions.”

Slowly, ever so slowly, her lips tip into a grin. “Damn,” she breathes.,

“What?”

“I must be much better at that than I thought.”

20

Emmy

“Spill.”

I take a sip of my coffee, which went cold hours ago, and watch Steph over the rim of the mug. She’s pacing the length of my office, and if she doesn’t stop, she’s going to wear a hole in the floor.

“There’s nothing to spill.”

“Bullshit,” she counters. “You haven’t wanted to go out for drinks in days. Days,” she repeats, throwing her hands up. “And you promised to make it up to me when you couldn’t go before.”

She’s right, I haven’t wanted to go out with her. But that’s only because I’ve been spending all my free time with Inferno. He can give me things she can’t… all sorts of things.

I clench my thighs together at the thought and clear my throat. “I’m sorry. Things have been hectic, that’s all.”

“Again, bullshit.” Steph flops down in the chair across my desk. “Don’t think I haven’t noticed the dreamy look in your eyes every morning, or the way you seek out that hunk of a man when his shift starts when what you should really be doing is leaving this place with me. I see these things, Em. I see them all.”

Laughing, I shake my head. “You see too much.”

She grins, and I’m reminded that she’s not really angry. “At least tell me he’s good in bed,” she encourages. “If he’s good in bed, I can forgive you.”

“I’m great in bed.”

I lift my gaze to the doorway, and Steph twists her neck. Inferno is leaning against the jamb, a confident smirk on his face.

Steph looks from him to me to him and back again. “Is he telling the truth?” she whispers as if he can’t hear her.

“Yeah.”

My friend sighs dramatically and gets to her feet. “Fine. I give.” She walks to the door and stops in front of Inferno. “Hurt her, and I’ll kill you.”

With that, she leaves, and I let go of the laughter bubbling up from my gut. “Should I tell her or let her have her moment?”

Inferno walks inside the office and around my desk to drop a kiss to the top of my head. “Even if we wanted to, we can’t tell her the truth about me so might as well let her have her moment.”

“Okay.”

“I shouldn’t be too much longer,” he informs me. “I’ve got one more office before I finish with yours, and then we can head home.”

“Sounds good. I’ll wrap things up.”

Inferno disappears into the hall, and I shift my attention to my computer. I need to check my email one last time before shutting things down because I’m waiting on a referral for a new client I was contacted about this afternoon.

I click on the email icon and scroll through my inbox once it loads. I don’t see the referral I’m waiting for, but I do come across one from an unknown sender. Opening the message, I’m sure I’ll be deleting it within seconds since it’s likely junk, but I’m surprised when I see it’s not spam.

I read the words, and my stomach drops.

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