“I was watching the bonfire when Winnie went to meet Patrick. I stood with Gideon Blake. He will confirm this. Patrick came to our booth earlier and asked to speak to Winnie privately.” Alaric’s jaw works, his hand firmly and possessively inthe small of my back.
“And did that upset you, that Winifred was speaking to her ex-boyfriend?”
Alaric’s smile is all teeth. “My fiancée may speak with whomever she chooses.”
“Fiancée?” DS Wilson’s gaze darts from Alaric to me, and back again. “You two areengaged?Didn’t you only meet a month ago?”
“Our love came unannounced in the night, knocking down walls and lighting candles in the gloom,” Alaric says simply, as if he’s discussing the laundry, as though every exquisite word is fact.
I nod as if I’m not moved by his words. DS Wilson scribbles something else down, then turns to me.
“Ms Preston, you said that Patrick had recently dumped you, is that correct?”
“We broke up a few months ago, yes,” I say frostily.
“What caused the breakup?”
“He cheated on me with Claire.”
“I understand from his fiancée, Ms Dempsey, that you were taking this breakup rather poorly.”
Really, Claire? Because I haven’t answered your texts?
I glare over DS Wilson’s shoulder at Claire. “Ms Dempsey has been my best friend since I was six years old, and she and my ex-fiancé were seeing each other behind my back for months. I wasn’t thrilled, no, but I think I’m handling it quite well, considering. I haven’t been sending him vicious texts or slashing his tires or hiding in his closet covered in whipped cream. Look, I know that I’m a suspect because I found the body and I was the one going to meet Patrick in a darkened alley, and I know you have Alaric as a suspect for the first murder, but he has an alibi in this case, so I’m begging you, please,pleasefind who did this. Patrick didn’t deserve this.”
Tears well in my eyes. Patrick may have treated me badly, but he was a bright young guy with a thriving business and a geeky wine hobby and a whole future ahead of him. I loved him once and, even on my darkest nights after the breakup, I neverwished forthis.
“We’ll be conducting a full investigation, don’t you worry.” Wilson snaps her notebook shut and regards me and Alaric with a knowing stare. “Ms Preston, both victims spoke to you within minutes of their deaths. If you think of anything you haven’t told us, you know where to find me. While our investigation is ongoing, neither of you are to leave the village.”
Great. My ex-fiancé is killed by a vampire and they suspectme.
Alaric pulls me close as Wilson stalks away. I sink into his arms, comforted by the strength of his body around me and the cool blade I feel in his pocket.
“I’m sorry for this, Winnie.”
“You’re not sorry,” I sniff. “You wanted to hang Patrick from the battlements by his testicles.”
“I’m sorry that you’re upset. Shall I have Reginald take us home?”
I nod. Alaric wraps me tighter in his cool embrace. I burrow into his shirt, breathing his spicy winter scent and allowing the grief to flood over me. I hear Alaric murmuring softly, and realise that he’s speaking to Reginald on his phone, telling him to pack up the stall and bring the car around.
I look up at him silhouetted in the pale moonlight, his jaw tight, his eyes flecks of cool obsidian as he remains on alert for a possible murderer skulking in the shadows. For an ancient vampire warlord, he can be sosweet. My chest tightens.
Even though there’s a vampire killer on the loose, I’ve never felt safer than here in his arms.
A raven perches on the guttering above us, silently watching the scene unfold. It tilts its head toward me in greeting before flying off into the night. Reginald pulls up ten minutes later, and he and Alaric bundle me into the car.
Once settled into the backseat, Alaric pulls me against him again, stroking my hair while the tears finally spill over. I barely notice the harrowing drive back to Black Crag until Reginald pulls up in the inner courtyard.
“Get her inside,” Reginald says. “I’ll seeto everything else.”
Alaric lifts me out of the car, carrying me into the castle as though I weigh nothing at all. His brow furrows in concern.
“Are you okay?” he asks me as he settles me into my usual chair in the sitting room. “You’re paler than the poor vegan whom Gideon once gave the Kiss.”
I shudder. “Poor guy. What happened to him?”
“He was most aggrieved at having to drink human blood.” Alaric kneels in front of the fire and starts stacking the logs. Something about seeing Lord Valerian performing this small manual task he usually leaves to Reginald makes me cry harder.
