Free Calm Before the Storm by Cara Lake

as you said.”
    “It’s okay, Irina,” Cassi cut in. “I understand
completely. The guy has a body made for sin and the face of an Adonis. Who
wouldn’t want to give him the benefit?”
    “It’s nothing like that,” said Irina
feeling the warm blood rising to her cheeks. “I just like to hear the facts
first and we still haven’t heard his side yet.”
    Cassi pounced triumphantly. “Which is why,
Miss Pacifist, you are going back tomorrow to take his statement!” Done and
dusted!
    * * * * *
    The next morning, Irina leaned back against
the kitchen counter, hugging a mug of hot, strong black coffee to her chest.
Lost in a tangle of confused emotions, her brain kept mulling over the events
of yesterday. What was happening to her?
    She shivered as a pair of black,
dark-as-night eyes intruded into the knotted mess of her brain.
    Those eyes. Ebony. Obsidian darkness. Black
holes drawing her in with a force like gravity.
    Inescapable.
    Magnetic.
    Compelling.
    Even more disturbing, that kiss. Had it
even happened?
    “Rina!” A voice shattered through the chaos
of her thoughts dragging Irina back to the reality of the kitchen. Luc was
standing in front of her. “Hey!” he called loudly, waving his hands in front of
her face. “Rough night? Or are you just daydreaming again?”
    Irina scowled. “Why does everyone think I’m
always dreaming?”
    “Duh! Because you are. Now move over, Miss
Columba, I need some coffee.” Luc grabbed the pot and poured. Irina turned and
moved away to sit at the table.
    “Irina! What the hell have you done to
yourself?” exclaimed Luc. “You must have been completely out of it last night!
How much did you drink?”
    Wrinkling her brow at him in confusion,
Irina turned to meet his incredulous gaze. “What are you talking about? After
we finished the case notes I went to the pub for a couple of drinks with Cassi,
that’s all. I wasn’t out of it,” she denied. “Then I came home and went to
bed.” Truth be told, she had really needed those drinks, her nerves completely
frayed by the emotions that had risen to the surface during her strange
encounter with Tyr Bellor.
    “After you went to the tattoo parlour you
mean!” Luc’s expression was one of total disbelief. Irina shook her head at his
weird outburst. “What are you talking about? Are you crazy?”
    Luc stared at her. “No, but you obviously
are.” His brows furrowed in the face of her continued confusion. “Do you really
not know what I’m talking about?”
    “No. I don’t.”
    Luc pulled her up by the shoulders and
swivelled her back to the mirror that hung on the wall.
    “Where did you get that?” he asked
pointedly.
    Craning her neck around, Irina endeavoured
to look over her shoulder and could not stifle a gasp of pure shock as her eyes
focused on a small— thank god it was small— round yin-yang type symbol
etched onto her left shoulder. At least it was similar to the classic yin-yang
symbol, except it was just an outline of the shape and lacked the blocked-in
areas of the black and white original.
    “What the…” Her voice trailed off in
suspicion. “Luc, rub it off!” she ordered, not waiting for him but licking her
palm and rubbing her hand across it. Nothing happened. The mark refused to
budge as if drawn on with indelible ink or, god forbid, tattooed permanently
onto her skin.
    Luc stared at her in amusement. “It’s got
nothing to do with me, Rina. No joke!”
    “Yeah, sure! Why are you laughing then?”
    He shrugged his broad shoulders, a bemused
expression on his face. “Because it’s funny! I think you need to retrace your
steps from last night.”
    Just at that moment Cassi walked in, honey
blonde hair hanging loose around her shoulders, still damp from the shower.
“Hey, guys, what’s up?” she asked, eyes flicking from one to the other. “You
both okay?”
    “Cassi, is this your idea of a joke?”
Turning quickly Irina held the offending shoulder in Cassi’s direction.