Gaslight (Crossbreed #4)(49)
“I’ve seen people come out of chaos with a better sense of purpose than those who came from what you call a loving home.” Houdini rested his forehead on the glass, arms folded. “You’re a fascinating woman, Raven Black. It’s a pity you can’t remember our chats.”
“Nothing we talked about at the club was noteworthy. And I don’t remember seeing you at Patrick’s party.”
“Of course you don’t.”
“You’re probably lying.”
“While we’re here, I should warn you how dangerous it is to sleep with your bedroom window unlocked, even in a fortress. To think that you might have drowned in the bathtub had I not carried you to bed.”
Pain pierced my temple, and I rubbed at it. I knew exactly what he was talking about. It was my first night in the Keystone house and I’d fallen asleep in the tub. I’d somehow wound up in bed with no recollection of having walked there myself.
That fanghole had snuck into my room and carried me naked—ass cheeks to the wind—to my own bed. And then what?
I gripped the edge of the table, incensed by the truth. He’d stalked me before the incident with the key. Did he have a vendetta against Keystone? I had a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach when I considered he might have been one of my past victims who got away. I didn’t remember him, so he would have had to erase himself from my memories. Was he toying with me while plotting his revenge? “You’ve been erasing my memories. You bastard.”
He moved until his mouth was near one of the airholes. “I regret it, you know. We’ve had good conversations. You’re one of the few people I enjoy talking to, but I can’t take chances with my identity.” He quieted for a moment. “Do you want to know what your biggest flaw is?”
Had I not been wearing the bracelet, my Mage energy would have been dripping out of my hands.
“You want so desperately to believe in good and evil, to fit yourself somewhere in that spectrum. There is no good and evil. There’s only cause and effect.”
I scooted back, eyes low. “Murder is evil.”
He sounded as if he was losing patience. “If you kill someone to save lives, is it good or evil? Do you really believe killing all those men in your past makes you evil? It’s the glass-is-half-full argument. You always want to see it as empty.” He sighed and leaned his shoulder against the glass again. “We’re not so different, and deep down, you know it.”
It horrified me to think how many pieces of my life he had in his pocket. Did he know all my secrets? Had I told him about my father?
My God, what have I done?
I stood up and hurled my chair against the glass over and over. The wall vibrated, but the only damage was to one of the metal legs on the chair. I threw it at the door and paced the room like a caged animal. This guy was the crème de la crème of the criminal world to have captured me without a fight, but that wasn’t the insufferable part. No, the real icing on the cake was how many times he’d gotten to me. He’d taken his time.
“I apologize for the Sensor-spiked moonshine. You’re more reserved working for Keystone, and it holds you back. It was a mixture of trust and courage, but the intention was for you to trust your instincts—not a complete stranger. I can never predict how emotions will mix.”
“Why did you do it?”
“Sometimes you need a little push.”
Out of breath, I lifted my gaze but stopped at his Adam’s apple. “I thought you were a Vampire?”
“You’re too clever for an asinine question. Anyone can buy Sensor-spiked alcohol. When you appeared in the club just after the unique request went up on the message board, I knew you were behind it. It was fun watching you work.” He traced his finger around one of the holes in the wall. Despite my predicament, he struck me as innocuous. “I hadn’t planned on abducting you. Had the human not shoved you down, I would have kept driving. The fates had something else in mind.”
I collapsed in the upholstered chair. “I feel sick.”
Houdini disappeared, his footsteps traveling around the dark room. After another moment, he reached through the rectangular opening on the other side of the room and placed a water bottle through the opening. I briefly saw his hand.
“Sometimes charming has side effects, especially with alcohol. Do you want coffee or tea?” he asked, turning away. “It’ll take me a minute to heat up the water. Be right back.”
I stared down at my studded boots with the red soles. Somehow, this hazel-eyed imposter was a Vampire. Or at least that was what he wanted me to believe. Maybe he had a Vampire buddy hiding in the back, and this was all a ruse to throw me off. How could I know for certain?
Several minutes ticked by while I stood up and analyzed every detail of my surroundings. The mattress on the floor didn’t have a box spring for me to rip apart and search for wood or coils. Usually upholstered chairs like these were made of wood, but turning it over revealed plastic elements. No carpet on the linoleum floor, and when I peered inside the bathroom, there wasn’t a curtain rod or toilet tank lid. The bathroom didn’t even have a door, just a light piece of fabric hanging from one end with pushpins.
I stood in there for a minute so I could have some privacy to think.
What the hell was his motive in kidnapping me? To find out more about the key? If he’d crawled into my room once before, then what was stopping him from getting the box himself? I thought about it and realized I kept my windows locked. One of the jobs that now belonged to Kira was to do a daily check of all the windows to make sure they were locked and unbroken. Could Vampires shadow walk up a wall to the third story? What did he stand to gain from my abduction? He certainly couldn’t set me free now that I had all this information.