Page 35 of Lady Killer

“I’m much, much better at this than those pieces of shit, petite diablesse.”

His words had their intended impact, and surprise roiled me even though it was impossible that he knew what I was thinking.

“I like it when you forget to wear your mask.”

I took a tentative step back. Something crunched beneath my heel.

“Putain de merde.” I whirled around, but it was too late.

The phone lay broken on the ground.

Two hands wrapped around my waist, pulling me into Alister’s solid frame. “I asked you a question.”

Indignation flared in me as I spun around in his arms. “Are you kidding me?!”

“The phone is easily replaced. You are not.”

“That’s not the point!”

“So, you weren’t taking the first opportunity you believed you had to sneak out to the woods and try to bait the killer into coming after you?”

I shoved against his chest to create some space between us with no effect. “Excuse me for trying to save my life. Or did you forget that your brother plans to kill me if I don’t deliver the killer to him?”

Alister frowned. “The deal is for you to find the killer, or killers if that’s the case. Not to single-handedly capture them.”

“I don’t need your help!” I yelled at him.

These men, these Blackwells, had a way of getting under my skin.

“Oh? And how did you plan to subdue the killer? We both know that statistically speaking, they are most likely male, and larger than you. This isn’t Aaron, they won’t be drugged out of their minds, making it easy for you,” he snarled, holding me even tighter.

“I brought my taser,” I argued, wriggling in vain.

“Go on then, petite diablesse. Grab it and tase me.”

We both knew I couldn’t.

“So, what was the plan when the killer had you pinned like this?”

“Carajo.”

“Come on, little demon, show me what you got. Would you have at least put up a good fight before they carved your heart from your chest? Or would you just give up?”

The world went red.

With everything in me, I shoved again.

This time, he let go, and the unexpected move sent me falling backward. Hard. Onto my butt.

Pain shot up through my tailbone, and blood rushed to my cheeks.

I felt like an idiot.

Alister stood over me, hand outstretched. “You’re smarter than that, petite diablesse.”

The throbbing ache in my spine warred with the adrenaline of my anger. Part of me wanted to scream at Alister, to unleash all of my rage on him. It would feel so, so good to just let everything I felt be that big, just this once.

But more than that, I wanted to catch the monster killing innocent women.

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