“That’s not for us to decide,” he says firmly.
Ah, thegood cop.I see myself in him now as the venery must have seen me—the naivete, the ignorance. I smile. “Isn’t it? This is our community. You’re an authority in maintaining law and order, and I’m a female victim of domestic and sexual violence. Surely, there is no one more qualified than us.”
His mouth opens silently and hovers there. It takes him a long moment to collect himself. “You know that’s not how it works.”
“Maybe that’s the problem,” I tell him calmly, sipping my tea. “Maybe it doesn’t work as it is.”
He shakes his head. “This sounds like a confession, but what you’re telling me is preposterous. By all accounts you’re either lying or mad. I can’t take this into the department without being laughed out of the building, but I can’t let you walk away. Tell me what I’m supposed to do here, Acacia.”
“Piers,” I correct him. “That’s my real name. You might as well know it, though you likely already do by now. I would appreciate if you keep up the pseudonym for public appearances. No point in confusing everyone. And Henry is still out there. I’d rather not give him any opportunity to find me and finish what he started. It’s enough to have one killer on my trail.”
“Are you saying the Strangler is after you? Aca—I mean, Piers, did something happen? Did you see him? Did he confront you?”
I hold the hot tea under my chin, enjoying the comfort of the steam. There’s no point holding back now. “Not yet, but he will soon. And when he does, I’ll be ready for him.”
He scratches at his head, frustration mounting as he tries tocomplete the picture without all of the pieces. “Why would he come after you?”
“We call it theallure.It attracts our victims to us, like a magnetic force. He’s been circling me this whole time, closing in. I can’t let another woman fall in my place. The next encounter must be mine, and I must be ready. It means I’ll have to begin feeding.” I lay a hand on his wrist. “There can be nothing more between us once that starts. Do you understand? I can’t risk harming you. I have to save my strength for the Strangler.”
He wants to think I’m crazy. That would be easier to swallow. But he’s the sheriff; he’s seen psychosis and delusion, psychopathy and hallucinations. He knows what instability looks like. By comparison, I am rock steady, firm as the mountains encircling us and just as sure. He can read my conviction even if it challenges his understanding of reality. And he knows, more than anything, that what I told him about his sister is true. He knows it in his heart.
“I can’t stay,” I tell him, rising.
He gets up. “You’re leaving? You show up here and deliver this outrageous story, expect me to believe you, to do nothing, and then just pull out? Am I supposed to pretend this didn’t happen? Let you risk yourself chasing this perpetrator? Not report your previous crimes—three counts of murder, fraud when you faked your own suicide?”
I stare at him. Cautiously, I take a step in his direction. When he doesn’t pull away, I lean in and place my lips on his. The heat floods my chest and face. Lower still, my nerves beg for more. His lips part against mine, and despite his misgivings, his body cannot deny its truth—he wants me. Even now.
When I pull away, I am filled with sadness. I caress his cheek before stepping back. “I can’t tell you what to do or not to do with the information I’ve given, only this—stay out of my way.”
His face reddens as if slapped. “Piers…”
“I’m not your enemy, Regis.” My eyes burn through his. I feel Myrtle’s words in my veins. Iama bane witch. And I will never forget it. “Don’t become mine.”
“Wait.” His arms shoot out, strong hands gripping mine. “Let me help you.”
Now it is my turn to stumble in shock.
“If I can’t stop you, what other choice do I have? We both want to bring this guy down. What you and your aunt are doing, it’s not my way. But my way didn’t save Tanya, and it didn’t save whoever came after. This community is everything to me. I won’t let him rip it apart any more than he already has. And more than that, I need you safe. I know what’s between us is new and complicated, but… Can’t you see the effect you have on me? I want this. I need you in my life.”
My lips part, and my heart catches in my chest.
“I can’t believe I’m saying this,” he continues, “but maybe we can work together.Thistime.”
I take in every morsel of him, from the sincerity in his gaze to the firmness of his bite, the square of his shoulders, his steady hands. He means it. Every word.
“What did you have in mind?”
29Hostage
Our plan is good, sound, better than I would have come up with on my own. It fills me with a quiet confidence as I drive back to the motel. The sun will rise soon, and I have only a couple of hours to prepare, to dress and feed. I intend to hike to the bunker and ransack Myrtle’s stores since I’m short on time. I can repay her later by doing some foraging.
The handcuffs are heavy in my coat pocket. A precaution only, like the pepper spray—he insisted. I didn’t have the heart to tell Regis there likely wouldn’t be time for either, that if I am face-to-face with the Strangler, there will only be time for death. His or mine. But he knows how this works. I made no promises about a tidy ending. Only totry.
The sky is still dark around the edges when I return to find Myrtle sitting on the porch steps, her long hair coursing down her back, the flannel of her gown peeking beneath the down fill of her parka. Out in the brush, Bart is snuffling at the ground. He takes off after something, the sound of him crashing through the leaves echoing back to us.
“You should be inside,” I tell her as I approach. “It’s not safe.”
She purses her lips. “I’m old. And the benefit of getting old is that people stop telling you what to do.” She shoots me a pointed look, the warning implied. “Where were you?”
