On the Prowl (Bad Things #2)(30)

But she’d still hated every moment of her new hell.

“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 hell 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*cking 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*cking 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*cking 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 bastard 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?

Hell?

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*cking 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 hell 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*cking 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 scum 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 shit that’s around them. That’s the—”