Flustered, I stood up and dusted off my pants.
Christian approached me, his hands up. “I didn’t do it, Raven. I didn’t kill those girls.”
“I know.”
His black eyes narrowed, and he froze where he stood. “Show me your hands.”
“I’m not going to stake you.”
The wind swept my hair in front of my mouth, and I shivered.
“I was over there when you arrived last night,” he said, pointing to the road. “I heard everything. They think I’m the killer, but it looks like we caught him.”
I shook my head. “That idiot isn’t a killer.”
Christian folded his arms. “And what makes you the expert? I couldn’t help but overhear you calling him a rapist.”
“Because none of the girls we found were sexually assaulted, and this bloodsucker only likes humans. That was the only way I could lure him into the bathroom.”
Christian gave a sardonic smile. “Ah. So that was one of your failed attempts.”
“Don’t rub it in.”
“Did you try to kill him in a human club? I bet that was a surprise for the mortician who pulled out the stake.”
I kicked the Vampire in his face, and a spray of blood colored the dead grass. “I should have cut off his head.”
Christian gripped my shoulders and held me back. “Don’t get any ideas or elseyou’llbe the outlaw.”
“I’ve always been an outlaw.”
* * *
Thirty minutes later, Christian steered his bike to a side of the city I’d never seen. After a bumpy ride up a dirt path, he stopped in front of a concrete structure in the middle of the woods.
I got off the bike and put my hands on my hips. “I’m not sure I should have agreed to this, especially with a serial killer.”
“Don’t be daft.” He kicked a branch out of the way and headed toward the door. “This is my home away from home.”
We entered a dark room absent of windows. Christian lit a candle on the wooden table to the right, and I got a good view of his second home. It looked more like a prison cell.
“Shut the door,” he said.
I glanced down at a mattress in the far left corner. “I’m not sure if that’s a good idea. People won’t be able to hear me scream.”
“Nor me, should you decide to steal your chance to get rid of me.”
The candle flickered for a brief moment before it steadied. I did as Christian asked and locked the door behind us. My feet scraped against the dusty floor as I turned around. “I guess you didn’t make good money as a bodyguard.”
“Vampires don’t need much,” he said, relaxing in the only chair. “You should know all about that life.”
“True. But a rug might brighten things up.”
“Then I’d need a vacuum to clean the mud from my boots. And I don’t have electricity. Where does it end? You buy one luxury, and it leads to another.”
I approached the sturdy wooden table and sat on it, angling my body to face Christian. His neck tattoo was already fading.
He moved the candle farther back. “How did you know it wasn’t me?”
