I swing my legs over the side of the bed and sit up. ‘He was here half an hour ago. What’s changed?’
‘Not that one,’ comes the answer. ‘Hop to it.’
The panic induced by my insomnia solidifies into something far, far worse. If it’s not Brown then it has to be the Mayor. Him, or someone he’s sent in his stead. I curse and try not to hyperventilate; I’m not ready for him yet.
I push myself up onto unsteady legs. How did he find out where I was so quickly? I tell myself that I’m surrounded by police officers and he can’t hurt me but it doesn’t calm me down.
‘I don’t want another solicitor,’ I protest. ‘I’ve already got one.’
I don’t receive a reply. I force one foot in front of the other, desperately trying to think of a way out. I can feel my throat closing. I want to tell the policeman again that I don’t want this, they can’t make me, but I can barely speak. I squeeze my eyes shut. Everything’s lost.
When I’m back in the same room as before and I open my eyes, I almost collapse when I see who’s waiting for me.
‘Hello, Zoe,’ Dante says, grinning. He looks exactly the same as he does in my dreams: crooked scar faintly visible on his cheek, dark hair curling round his ears and a lean muscular body that embodies predatory danger.
My legs buckle and I clutch my chest. Dante barks out an order to the policeman and rushes forward, grabbing my waist and helping me onto a chair. Two seconds later, I’m breathing into a paper bag while he strokes my hair and tells me to calm down.
‘Shall I fetch a doctor?’ Dante asks. I shake my head, not trusting myself to speak. He nods to the policeman who leaves, closing the door behind him. I keep the paper bag in front of me but my eyes are trained on my nemesis. He adjusts his cuffs and sighs.
‘Panic attack?’ I nod mutely. ‘You don’t have to be afraid of me, Zoe.’
He has to be kidding. He’s tracked me down to a goddamn police station and inveigled his way inside. Who can do that?
He sighs. ‘I mean it.’ He kneels down in front of me and puts his hands on my thighs, his skin burning through my trousers. I jerk away. ‘I’m not the bad guy,’ he says softly.
Keeping a grip on the bag, I take it away from my mouth. ‘What are you doing here?’ I whisper.
‘Rob contacted me. He said you were in the Dreamlands earlier and you were up to something. I wanted to make sure it wasn’t anything stupid.’
‘So why come here? How did you even know I was here?’ My voice is rising.
‘Shhh,’ he says. ‘Don’t start getting stressed again.’
That’s easy for him to say. ‘How did you know I was here?’ I repeat.
‘I told you,’ he says, standing up. ‘I’m a tracker.’
‘In the Dreamlands! Not in real life!’
‘It wasn’t that hard. You knew Doctor Miller, so you had to be from this area. And your IP address helped.’
I close my eyes. I knew that was a stupid move.
‘I heard that someone had been taken in for questioning about Miller’s death,’ Dante continued, ‘so I put two and two together–’
‘You heard about this?’ I screech. ‘The Mayor is here too! He’ll have heard about it too.’
Dante remains calm. ‘I doubt it. He doesn’t have the same connections that I have.’ He looks at me seriously. ‘I can get you out of here, you know. I can keep you safe.’
I snort. As if I’m about to jump from the frying pan into the fire.
He regards me steadily. ‘You can trust me, you know.’
‘Why? Because I’m a dreamweaver and you think you can use me like the Mayor wants to?’
He seems puzzled rather than offended. ‘Why would I want to do that?’
‘You used to work for him. For all I know, you have the same goals.’
‘You’re being paranoid.’
‘Well, it comes with the territory,’ I mutter. ‘Besides, I’m fine. I got myself into this so I can get myself out.’
He stands back. ‘As you wish.’ I get a sudden whiff of spicy aftershave. ‘How can I help?’
‘You can’t. I have everything under control.’
He glances at the paper bag I’m clutching. ‘If you say so.’
I grit my teeth. ‘I had everything under control until you arrived.’ I throw him a dirty look. I find it so easy to read other people; why can’t I read him in the same way?
‘Were you already sleeping?’ he asks suddenly. ‘Is that why you’re so annoyed? You were back in the Dreamlands and I had you pulled out?’
Suddenly I can’t look him in the face. ‘No. I couldn’t sleep.’
He laughs. ‘You really are new to all of this, aren’t you? You can’t spend all day there and expect to find it easy to get back at night.’ He tosses me a small packet. ‘Here. You’re lucky I anticipated this.’