Bitter Blood (Blood and Moonlight Book 3)(44)

“Aidan!” Jane snapped. “He wasn’t attacking. You did that.”

“You were watching her.” He knew it with utter certainty. “You were out here, taking pictures of Jane.” He’d seen the glint of light that reflected off the guy’s lens. Jane was being followed, watched, and this SOB had just randomly appeared? He wasn’t about to buy that coincidence. No way.

“I was taking pictures of the street! Of the light coming over the buildings. Of the dead.” Roth’s breath heaved out as he straightened his shoulders. “I’m an artist. This shit is what I do!”

Aidan didn’t believe him.

Jane had bent to pick up the guy’s broken camera.

“Jane, look, he’s your boyfriend, right?” Roth said, his voice a bit frantic. “I mean, I remember when he came out of the fire at our old building. Calm him down, okay? Whatever weird-ass rage he’s on, calm him down.”

Jane slid closer to Aidan. She put her hand on his shoulder. For an instant, he did feel calm and then…

“Aidan, compel him to tell the truth,” Jane said.

Surprise flashed through him. Jane hated it when he manipulated humans. She—

“I don’t believe in coincidences,” Jane continued quietly. “So ask Roth why he was here.”

Hell, yes. Aidan smiled at his prey.

Roth blinked and the guy started to sweat. “Compel me? What’s that shit supposed to mean? Is this some weird threesome thing? Because I’m flattered but I am not down—”

“Dumbass, I never share Jane.” Aidan slammed him against an old crypt. “Compelling means you tell me exactly what I want to hear…because you don’t have a choice.” He could feel power pouring through his body. “What were you doing in this cemetery?”

Roth’s face went slack. His eyes seemed to glaze over.

“What were you doing?” Aidan snarled.

“Taking pictures…for my exhibit. Life and Death, the thin line between…”

“Shitty title,” Aidan muttered.

“Aidan,” Jane said, a warning note in her voice.

He kept his tight hold on the human. “Why were you taking pictures of Jane?”

“Because Jane’s beautiful.” The answer rolled from him. “I saw her coming from that building and I had to take her photo, to add to my collection.”

That answer had Aidan’s wolf howling. Aidan took a slow breath. Then another. “What collection?”

Roth smiled. “I like beauty. I collect it when I can.”

Behind him, Jane swore. “I do not like where this is going.”

Humans could hide so much with their easy words and quick lies, but when Aidan had them under his compulsion, they had to reveal the secrets they kept deep inside.

“How do you collect beauty?” Aidan demanded.

Roth laughed. “With my art. I take pictures. I paint. I own the beauty. It becomes mine.”

Aidan thought about just slicing the guy’s throat open right then and there. “This dick is a serial killer in training,” he told Jane.

“Maybe, but I don’t think he’s the guy who’s been testing me.”

No, maybe he was just a freak who seemed to be stalking Jane…and other women. Aidan cocked his head as he studied the other man. “Have you taken pictures of Jane before?”

Roth smiled. “Lots of them.” That smile dimmed. “But most burned in the fire. So this was a good chance to get new ones.”

A growl rumbled in Aidan’s throat. “I really want to kill you right now.”

Jane’s fingers curled around his shoulder. “But you won’t. You’ll let him go, and I’ll call the PD and give them a tip to watch this guy before he turns into even more of a perv.” He felt the bite of her nails in his skin. “He…hasn’t already hurt anyone, has he?”

Aidan stared into Roth’s eyes. “Have you hurt a woman before?”

“No woman. I told you…” Again, that smile flashed. “I like beauty. I capture it.”

“You won’t capture anything else of Jane’s, do you understand?” He forced as much power as he could into that command. “You won’t even f*cking look her way again, got me? You’ll stay away from her. Because if you don’t, I’ll give you a real up-close experience for that thin line between life and death bullshit exhibit of yours.”

Roth paled. “I…won’t look her way.”

“You won’t f*cking stalk any woman, got it?” This slimy bastard was pissing him off.

Roth nodded.

“Send him away,” Jane whispered. “He’s not the one we want, and I don’t like us just being out in the open like this.”

Because neither of them had exactly experienced the best of times in that particular cemetery.

“Get out of here,” Aidan ordered. “And as soon as you clear the cemetery gates, you just keep walking, *. You won’t recall much about our little chat, but you will remember to stay the f*ck away from Jane.”

Roth nodded. He reached for the broken camera. Aidan laughed. “Tough luck. You don’t get that back, either. Now get out of here.”

Roth stumbled away. He looked back, once, at Aidan, but his gaze didn’t so much as dart Jane’s way.