In the Eye of the Storm

18. Suspicions

'Well?' Mr Ambrose's gaze drilled into me like a diamond drill into hot butter. 'Where were you?'

'I... um... I...'

Seriously – that was all I was capable of saying. I... um... I... – so pathetic! What business was it of his where I had gone, anyway?

'Do you have any idea,' his menacing voice drifted to my quivering auricula auris , 'what I thought when I left Dark Nights of Delight to find you had disappeared?'

'Um... "Thank you, God, thank you so much!"?' I suggested.

He didn't seem to appreciate my fine humour.

'You,' he told me, taking a step towards me, gliding through the shadows, 'don't just leave without my authorization. Without my permission, you don't even move a toe, do you understand?'

I opened my mouth to fire back a reply – but then I realized there was only one fitting reply to this, and it didn't even need words. Bending, I unlaced my shoe, kicked it off and stretched out my foot. Slowly and demonstratively, I wiggled my toes. All five of them. I grinned up at Mr Ambrose. Oh, how good it felt to stretch one's feet after such a long walk!

'You...!' In two long strides, Rikkard Ambrose had crossed the distance between us. Grabbing my shoulders, he pushed me backwards, away from my forlorn-looking shoe. I felt like Cinderella in reverse.

'Hey! Let go of me!'

'Not until I have proof that I've managed to instil some semblance of sense into that foolish female head of yours! Do you have any idea what could have happened to you out there in the dark alleys of Alexandria?'

'I'm a Londoner! We have street gangs that are ten times worse than anything they've got here,' I proclaimed with an unusual burst of patriotism.

'And how much of your time in London has been spent in the darker corners of the East End?'

'Um...'

About five minutes. And you were with me, then.

'Exactly!' His eyes glinted in the darkness. 'Any city in the world has its dark places! And they're all deadly to a defenceless girl like you!'

'Defenceless girl?' In an instant, my temper shot up to the boiling point.

Ha! I'll show him how defenceless I am!

My knee surged forward and upward, right towards his crotch. But before it could hit its mark, his legs snapped closed, trapping me in between. I wriggled and writhed, but no matter how much I strained against him, I couldn't get free. My leg struggled inefficiently against the vice of his iron-hard muscles.

'Let go!'

'Yes,' he told me, tightening his hold. 'A defenceless girl.'

'Let go, I said!'

'So, what would you have done,' he enquired coolly, 'if a few of the ruffians who infest that part of the city had decided to try their luck with you?' Completely ignoring my attempts to get free, he leaned closer. Even in the darkness that had taken hold of the room, from this close I could see his eyes clearly now. They were dark pools, swallowing everything, demanding more. 'Well? What would you have done?'

'I wouldn't have needed to do anything! The guards were with me!'

'True. And what if Karim, in his commendable foresight, hadn't sent half of them with you?'

'I still wouldn't have been alone! There was someone with me who–'

My voice trailed off as the darkness in Mr Ambrose's eyes flared, and the muscles of his jaw tightened. I knew instantly that he had seen Captain Carter. I also knew that mentioning him had been a bad idea. A very, very bad idea.