“Good. He deserved to die.” He paused long enough to glance at the corpse of Morgan Peterson with a dark look before turning back to me. “I almost wish I hadn’t interrupted you.”
“Eli, it’s not like that. I didn’t come here to get justice for these victims. I came here because—”
“Because you like it. I heard you the first, second, and third time!” Eli’s eyes flashed with anger, and I remembered, all over again, that he had a temper. “Can you just stop and think for a second, though? Has it occurred to you that maybe it doesn’tmatterwhat you wanted?”
I had to laugh at that, even though it wasn’t especially funny.
“Not usually.”
He scowled at that, glaring me down.
“It doesn’t matter why you planned to kill him. You stopped him from doingthisto anyone else!” He paused long enough to gesture to the wall of victims with one hand, never taking his eyes from mine. “And it doesn’t matter if you planned on stopping him for that reason. You saved innocent lives by ending his.”
“I’ve killed thousands.”
“Which means you’ve probably saved just as many innocent people. Probably more than that!”
“It doesn’t work that way.”
“Why are you being such an ass right now?”
“Because you aren’t seeing me clearly!” I snapped. “I’m dangerous, Eli! And I put you in danger, just by getting close to you! I put your sister in danger, too!”
He sobered at that.
“Sam’s in danger? How?”
“There’s another vampire,” I muttered. “He—or she—is a killer, like me. They murdered someone a mile from my home.”
“Are you saying it was a message for you?”
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “But it could have been meant for me. I’ve hurt a lot of people over the years. I’ve made a lot of enemies.” I tried to sound cold and callous, but instead it came out exhausted. “I’m not a very nice person, Eli.”
“That’s why you bought the house next door to me, isn’t it?” he demanded, understanding dawning in his expression. “It was because of this, wasn’t it?”
“You were in danger,” I said simply.
“You barely knew me! And you were worried a vampire might try to hurt me.”
I glared back at him.
“I used mind control to force your neighbors to leave town. That’s how I moved into their house.”
“Wait. You made them give you their house?” Eli’s eyebrows shot up, and he, for the very first time, seemed genuinely scandalized. “Okay, yeah—that’s a little messed up.”
“No,” I huffed. “I’m a monster, I’m not an asshole. I bought it from them in cash—way over market value. They’re in Florida, enjoying their retirement.”
Eli stared at me blankly for a long moment. Then he started laughing.
I scowled. “It’s not funny.”
He wiped at his eyes, still chuckling. “No, actually, it is. You moved into the house next door because you were worried about my safety. But you bought the house because your principles didn’t let you just take it—even though you could have.”
“I have plenty of money,” I snapped. “There’s no sense in fucking someone over if I don’t have to. It’s sloppy. That’s how you make enemies.”
“Right. I’m sure the Parsons next door would have been formidable if you crossed them.” He let out another soft chuckle. “Very scary.”
“It made sense to have all the paperwork in my name. It was the logical thing to do.”
