Thinking that made me swallow, memories of Dylan coming to investigate me swarming me. Part of me wanted to record her bullshit and send it to him and show him the difference.
Put him in the past, not a reason to become pettier.
We brought her to home base and locked her down before I fed her enough power so she could heal and wake back up. To say she was pissed was an understatement.
“You’re not killing another dipshit,” I finally cut into her rant. “You weren’t killing pedophiles or mass murdererslike you. You were killing jerks. Oh yeah, your mission was awesome.”
She bared her teeth at me. “Men who thought hitting women who were weaker than them is acceptable. Then I showed them that I wasn’t weaker. Three feedings a year toliveand save other women.”
“Except you didn’t have to kill,” I threw right back. I sighed when she went off again. “I can’t get a lock on her and this—we need Elijah or Ally.”
Because this woman was definitely full of wrath and pride.
“Fine!” I exclaimed when she wouldn’t shut up. “They hit women. Okay, I will believe you on that. What we found was they were just jackasses. I’m not going to dispute that. And yes, men who hit women should be punished.”
“Not dead,” one of the other demons muttered. “Prison. When they kill, you kill them.”
I thumbed my finger at him to say I agreed.
“How do you know they didn’t kill?” she challenged.
“Do you have proof or know theydid?” I snorted when she just growled at me. “You don’t. You assume they might or could escalate. Hey, you don’t have to convince me that abusive men escalate. That they’re filth and I would love to fucking launch them all into space. They’re a plague and bugs.”
She settled down and frowned.
“But they didn’t kill people. You did and you didn’t have to. We don’t kill to feed. I feed dancing and they’refine. I feed other ways. The wrath demons feed from anger off the clubs and—”
“You’re serious,” she whispered, seeming more confused than anything. “All the other demons I met killed. They were also more powerful, so that’s why I always hide from the leeches.”
“For one, that’s vampires, but offensive,” I muttered as I plopped down on a chair. “And just because some demons kill doesn’t mean we all do. Yes, I have accidentally killed to feed.”
“Then don’t judge me,” she whispered.
“I will because I’ve done a lot more to make sure I never hurt anyone and saved ten times as many as I’ve accidentally hurt,” I told her firmly. “You just—how could you not try to feed without hurting and—”
“You take their lifespan still. How is that better than just killing them? Years versus—”
“Jesus Fucking Christ,” someone else muttered. “She’s completely in the dark. How old are you?”
“Two hundred years and change,” she muttered.
“And you’ve been killing three men a year to feed since you were a teenager?” I checked. I wasn’t the only one who whistled when she nodded.
Well, that was quite the pill to swallow.
“I hear we all owe you an apology and the killer is a demon,” Elijah said as he joined us.
“Yeah, but it’s complicated,” I grumbled.
He snorted and locked his stern gaze on me. “When is it not when it involves you, child?”
“Pot, kettle, black.”
He got a bit annoyed at that. Not much, but we all felt it—used it.
She started crying. “What is he? No, I can’t—you’re going to let other leeches feed from me.”
“Okay, so clearly she’s never been around an ancient or anyone super powerful,” I said with a sigh. I glanced at Elijah’s shocked face. “Yeah, like—chill and listen to this crazy.”
