"Sh-shifter...?" Francis croaked. "Shifters...vampires..."
They all ignored him. Rayce noted, "If you thought the guy smelled human, then odds are high that he is human. Not like we have a monopoly on evil, you know. Sometimes, humans can be worse than we are." His voice roughened. "I"ve sure seen that s.h.i.t first-hand."
So a human was hunting her? No, that didn"t fit. "A human couldn"t work a compulsion."
"Not without help," Julian agreed. "The magical kind. So we have to figure out just where he"s getting that help."
She eyed Francis. "You said he was going to take me to the others." Rose crossed her arms over her body. "If he has other paranormals, then he could be using their powers some way. Maybe that"s why he"s after us all." She leaned in close to Francis. "Where were you going to meet the others? Where are they?"
"I-I don"t know."
"But you said you were going to meet the others-"
"Francis here was just an insurance policy. Someone to make sure that whatever this Simon had left on his boat-that it didn"t make it into the wrong hands," Rayce cut in. "I"m guessing the destination was plugged into the GPS or some s.h.i.t like that. So your mysterious buddy Simon could have been heading out to one of the islands that dot the coast. Or he could have been going back to the mainland. He wanted the boat for a fast exit, and he wanted expendable Francis there in case something went wrong with his plan."
h.e.l.l. "Do you remember anything that might help us?" Rose asked Francis.
His brows beetled down. "He...he said we were going where no one would find us. Only the gators could see him."
Gators?
"My money"s on the mainland," Rayce said. "Maybe the Everglades? Stretches for freaking miles and miles. That would be the perfect place to hide."
"Is there anything else?" Rose asked Francis. "Anything else that can help me?"
Francis just stared at her. "What are you?" Then his gaze flew to Julian and Rayce. "What are you all?" His terror was back.
But she knew how to handle that fear. She put her hand under his chin and turned his battered face back toward her. "You never met us. You were never on this island. You"re going to sleep, and when you wake up, you"ll be back in Key West. You partied too much and you can"t remember anything...now all you want to do is go home and forget this trip."
"Forget this trip," he whispered.
"Right. Forget it and live a normal life." Be one of the lucky ones. "Now get your a.s.s to sleep."
His eyes sagged closed.
She exhaled on a rough sigh and stepped away from him. Her gaze darted to Julian and Rayce. "See? No need to hurt the guy. He told us plenty." Rose pushed back her shoulders. "And there"s no need to kill him, either. He won"t remember any of us or this place, and he can just be taken back to Key West and left there."
"Uh, huh..." Julian didn"t look convinced. "What happens if Simon appears and decides to attack him? What then?"
"Well, we just have to find Simon first." She inclined her head toward Rayce. "You can make sure Francis is safe until he can leave the Keys, and Julian and I-we"ll find Simon."
Julian growled.
Rose put her hands on her hips. "What? You"re going to tell me that if we head back to the wreck scene you won"t be able to follow his scent? Because I"m not buying it." She turned on her heel and marched for the cell door-one that had been left open by Rayce when he came charging in with the rope. Her priority was getting out of that cell. Only...when she started walking, Rose found she couldn"t stop. She rushed through the thin security tunnel she"d entered earlier, feeling almost claustrophobic now that she"d done her part.
She hurried through the house and grabbed for the front door. She wrenched it open, and sunshine poured down on her. Fresh air blew against her face and the scent of the ocean teased her nose. Rose hurried outside, so glad to be free. Out of the cell. In the open. She was- "Did he say something to you?" Julian"s low voice came from behind her. "When Simon had you in the SUV with him, did he say something you haven"t told me?"
Her hand lifted to her neck. Her wrist wasn"t bleeding any longer. She"d healed, the way vamps could heal so quickly. She remembered Simon jabbing the needle into her neck. The cold rush as the drug had gone through her veins. "He told me I was the vampire he"d been looking for."
"For his collection."
That just creeped her out. Who collected people? Or paranormals?
She looked toward the ocean. She could see a boat in the distance. For a moment, she wished that she could be on that boat, sailing far away. "He said...he said the guys who tried to jump us in the alley were his back-up." What had happened to them? Were they somewhere nursing wounds? Were they already back with Simon?
"Anything else?"
"No." Rose shook her head. Her hand fell back to her side. "He shoved the needle into me, and I pretty much don"t remember anything else until I woke up and saw you." She looked back at him. "You got me out of the wreck, didn"t you?"
His head inclined.
"Did I tell you thank you?" Now her voice had gone soft.
"Nothing to thank me for."
Her lips twisted. "Just the little matter of saving my life. I could smell the gasoline. I saw the flames when the vehicle ignited. If you hadn"t come along, Simon and I both would have died."
Julian came toward her with his slow, gliding steps. The back of his hand rose and slid down her cheek. It was a familiar caress. "And the world would have gone f.u.c.king dark without you."
He did that sometimes-just said things that made it hard for her to breathe. He made her want things she couldn"t have. Because...
Deep down, so very deep, the truth was that she feared Julian. She wanted him, needed him, but feared him nonetheless. He"d taken her choice away from her before. How could she trust that he wouldn"t do it again?
And what about the kills he"d made? The story of him being Luke"s a.s.sa.s.sin? Was it true?
"It"s because I"m a vampire, isn"t it?" She was actually turning her head toward his touch, as if hungry for it. "I carry a darkness now and that darkness-it likes you."
His jaw clenched. "Is that what you think is happening between us?"
"I don"t know what"s happening." A pause, then she said, "I know you scare me."
He flinched.
"When I first met you, I wasn"t afraid. I only felt safe with you. So totally safe. It was strange. I thought I could trust you completely. Something just clicked for me when I saw you."
His gaze raked her face. "Then you found out the truth."
"I found out the truth and I lost my life...all in the same night." The sun was warm on her face and she was so glad that particular tale was fake-vampires could stay in the sunlight. It made her weaker, yes, but right then, she didn"t care. She needed to be outside, just as she needed to get these words out. "I woke up and everything was different. When I ran outside, I could hear too much, I could see things too brightly. My head felt as if it were going to explode, and I was so hungry. I drank your blood in the road, and I was horrified."
"Rose-"
She held up her hand, as if warding him off. "Let me finish. Please." Because they needed to talk. "I took your blood, and I liked it."
"There"s nothing wrong with that. You"re a vampire."
He didn"t get it. "It was wrong for me. I ran because I couldn"t stand what I"d done."
His hands had clenched at his sides.
"For days, I was starving, and I couldn"t take blood from anyone else. It made me sick to think of drinking it. I had nearly starved myself to death when Luke showed up."
His eyes turned to glittering slits.
"He made me drink from humans. But I vomited the blood up, again and again." She remembered vomiting on Luke.
He hadn"t been amused.
But then, she hadn"t been amused, either.
"I begged Luke to change me back during those first terrible weeks. Again and again, I begged him."
Shock flashed on Julian"s face. "He didn"t-he never said-"
"I didn"t want to kill anyone else. I thought I couldn"t drink without murdering a human. I didn"t want that." Her lips pressed together. "Luke...he was the one who had to go with me on my first few hunts. He was the one that had to stand in the shadows and make sure I didn"t go too far. He"d stop me before I killed. He made sure that I-I learned to control myself."
But she"d still hated every moment of her new h.e.l.l.
"He was there. A man I didn"t know. A man I hated." She sucked in a deep breath as she took a few steps back. "Where were you?" The question burst from her. It was a question that had haunted her for a very long time. I needed you. You weren"t there. Where were you?
A mask settled over his face. Hard. Unreadable. "You didn"t want me close. You told me to stay the h.e.l.l away from you."
"I was terrified. I was out of my mind." And yes, she had said that. Right after she"d pleaded with him to change her back. Her heart lurched in her chest. "When I first woke up in that bed, you were barely talking. You had blood all over you-"
"Because I"d f.u.c.king killed the men who shot you." He surged toward her. Towered over her. "Did you really think I"d let them get away with what they"d done? They were there for me. My enemies. They used their f.u.c.king heat sensors to see that we were near the front door, and they shot through it, through you in order to hit me." His hand pressed to her chest, right over her heart. "The bullets had your blood on them when they sank into me. I heard you cry out. I felt you dying. There was no way I was going to let those cowards get away with what they"d done. I summoned Luke. I made a deal to save you. And then I cut their f.u.c.king heads from their bodies."
She flinched.
"That is who I am. I am retribution. I am punishment. Luke had used me before and after that night, he used me plenty more. When paranormals crossed the line, when they needed to be put down because all they were doing was bringing torment to the humans around them, my job was to stop the monsters. I"m a killer, a very good one, and I promised Luke I"d kill as many paranormals as he wanted, provided he did one thing for me. Just one." His breath heaved out. "He let you live. That he brought you back."
Her mouth had gone dry. Her heart drummed too fast in her chest. "B-back?" That was a thought that chilled her. She"d somehow always thought that she"d been on the verge of dying, and that Luke had transformed her right before her human self crossed that last, thin line. She hadn"t realized that she"d been...gone. Or maybe, maybe that was just what she had wanted to believe.
But just where had she gone to? Rose shivered.
"You died. I watched it happen. I saw the life leave your eyes as I held you in my arms." He exhaled. His hands fell to his sides and clenched into fists. "And greedy b.a.s.t.a.r.d that I am, I wasn"t going to let things end that way. I brought you back, I made Luke find a way, and I turned you into a monster."
Back. Where had I been?
Heaven?
h.e.l.l?
She had no memory of either place. She just remembered the pain of the bullets as they tore into her. She remembered Julian"s wild roar. She remembered not being able to feel his hands on her skin.
Then...
She"d been in the bed. Waking up to fear.
Rose licked her lips. "I didn"t even know monsters existed until that night."
"And then you found out I was one of the baddest of them all." He gave a grim laugh. "I saw how you looked at me when you opened your eyes. You were in that bed, blood still on your skin, and you stared at me as if I were the one who"d fired those bullets into you."
It was her turn to flinch because she knew he spoke the truth.
"But then, I guess I kind of was...right? You were hit, because of me. You died, because of me. So it only seemed fair that I find a way to make you live again. And, no, I didn"t f.u.c.king ask if that was what you wanted. There wasn"t time to ask. You were gone. I didn"t stop to think that you wouldn"t want to become someone like me. I wasn"t thinking at all. For a time there, I...went a little mad."
Once more, she looked back toward the water. Sometimes, it was too hard to look into his eyes. "Where did you go, after I woke up?" Her lips twisted in a humorless smile. "After I told you to stay the h.e.l.l away from me."
"I had a debt to pay. I hunted. I killed."
"For Luke."
"For you."
No, no, she didn"t want to think of anyone dying for her. "They were...what?" Now she gave a brittle laugh. "The bad paranormals? Are you some kind of paranormal Dexter, eliminating the threats so that everyone else can be safe?"
"I don"t f.u.c.king know Dexter."
Her gaze shot back to him.
"I only know Luke doesn"t put anyone in my path unless there is no other option. Do I kill the worst sc.u.m out there? Yes. I take out the vampires who drain innocent kids. I stop the werewolves who tear teenage girls limb from limb. Luke rules the dark. That means he is judge and jury, and I"m his executioner."
She just- He reached for her. His claws were out.
She stumbled back. "I need...I need some time alone, okay?"
He stared at his hands. At his razor sharp claws "Do you still see the blood there?"
"Julian..."
"Because I do. The only time I couldn"t see it...it was during that brief time when I was with you. When you made me feel like I was someone else." His hands hung between them. His claws slowly retracted. "You want to know why I didn"t tell you the truth sooner? It was because humans aren"t supposed to know. They can"t handle the real s.h.i.t that"s around them. That"s the-"
"Paranormal law. Yes, I know it." Now.
"That wasn"t the only reason, though. I break plenty of laws." His hands lowered back to his sides. A faint smile tilted the corners of his lips. If anything, that smile made him appear more sinister. "I liked pretending to be normal. It was a fantasy, but it was a d.a.m.n fine one. Imagining what it would be like, to have a human life. To have a woman like you. To go out on dates and make love and do everything else a normal man does."
But in the end, the fantasy had ended. He hadn"t become human. She"d become the vampire.
And now she was hunted. She always seemed to be. Go after the weak. That was the motto in the paranormal world. It appeared everyone could sense just how weak she was. A vamp who hated drinking blood. A vamp who felt guilty when she used compulsions. A vamp who had to literally psych herself up so that she could hunt.
I am evil. That was her hunting mantra.
It was utter bulls.h.i.t.
"The island is safe for you. I had Marcos take the other paranormals away before dawn. So it"s just me, you and Rayce." His lips tightened. "And the human, for now."
The waves crashed against the sh.o.r.e and the sound was oddly soothing to her.
"So if you want to go off on your own for a while, do it. Get your s.p.a.ce. Run free. I needed to run last night. Only seems fair that you get the same chance now. Go. I"ll be here when you come back."