“I have her bag,” I said. “She can’t do any of that without money, unless she had cash or another credit card in her pocket?” I squeezed my eyes shut, pulling at threads of information, something that made sense. My ragged breathing and my heart thundered in my ears. But that only triggered my mind back to the chalkboard.
Tick-tock.
Those words shuddered through me like a silent, portentous summation of the horror that awaited us.
Chapter 33
Liar
Ablack shadow streamed against the whining wind. On the rooftop across the road, someone was watching. I opened my mouth to speak, but the wind might carry my voice to delicate vampire hearing, so I closed it again. Michael had already left. The only person to tell was Karson. It took every cell in my body to force myself to do what I had to do next. I shifted closer to him. “Hold me,” I whispered.
He blinked slowly. In his eyes was relief and hope and longing. I hated how that look stuck to my heart, how an invisible thread yanked, urging my body back to his. And I hated the bolt of lightning that shot through me when he swooped forward and placed one hand on the back of my head, the other around my shoulders, and he cradled me to his warm, strong chest. My nose inhaled in his cinnamon and honey scent without my command. I wanted to rush into his embrace. Like two flames burning together. But I was stiff as I let the wall in my mind fall and showed him the image.
“Clever girl,” he murmured, his lips sweeping over my ear, sending buttery warmth over my skin. “Stay here.” Then he was gone, leaving me shivering and pacing the pavement, fighting not to look up, to give him away. I was safer here; the streetwas still filled with patrons lingering, even though the bar was closed. They were huddled in groups, talking about the girl.
“She just slit her throat,” one said with a weird excitement. “Blood was everywhere.”
My chest twisted and I began to feel sick. Whoever did that had Georgie.
I couldn’t just stand here while she suffered unimaginable fear and pain. I clutched Georgie’s handbag tight and ran across the road, moving down a dark alley toward the back of a triple-story building.
Karson dropped down from the rooftop in front of me. It had to be over a fourteen-foot drop and he barely even made a sound.
“Where are you going?” he growled.
“To help look for whoever was up there.”
“Whoever it was is gone. Monique is coming to see if she can pick up a scent. I told you to stay where you were.”
“I’m not yours,” I spat as I stepped past him down the alley. “I don’t have to do what you tell me.”
He made a sound of frustration and grabbed my wrists, swinging me back. He had me pinned by the arms against the wall before I knew it was happening. I struggled against him, but he was far too strong. “Let me go. Let me go!”
“Stop, just stop.” He didn’t sound angry, he sounded exhausted.
“Let me go,” I seethed.
“No.”
Anger slipped through my veins as quiet and fast as a serpent. I stilled. “I’m warning you, let me go.”
His lips curled into a snarl. “Or you will what, Amelia? Toss me against the wall, break a few bones? I’ll heal, and then what?”
My fingers tensed. I had my blades. I wanted to stab him, I wanted to drive my blade into his heart and hurt his like he’dhurt mine. But even if I willed the blade to my hand, I couldn’t stab him. His grip held my arms pinned.
“Do it,” he snarled. “Try, Amelia. Stab me if that makes you feel better.” His voice dropped. “Take the blade and drive it into my heart.”
“Stop reading my mind!” I shouted, kicking him in the shin. It was like kicking a rock, and pain shot up my injured ankle.
He laughed, he fucking laughed, but there was no humor in it. It was bitter and twisted and ravaged.
“You played me, you pretended to care.” I was dismayed by the pain I heard in my voice. “And you were using me this whole time.”
“I was not using you.” He leaned in and shouted in my face, “I have never used you!”
“I heard what you said!” I shouted back.
He flicked his attention to the ends of the alleyway and back again. “Rodney is dangerous,” he said, quietly this time. “I have to pretend. Don’t you get it, I’m the reason you are in danger in the first place.” His voice cracked, and he closed his eyes, letting out a shaky breath. When he opened them, they glistened with what looked like tears. “The fewer vampires who know I’m in love you, the safer you are.”
