Page 98 of Lady Killer

“Someone broke into my room last night, and now all the missing girls are dead, Ali! They killed them because they couldn’t get to me!” she started to yell as she struggled in my arms. “I’m the one who should be dead.”

I growled and grabbed her chin, forcing her eyes to mine. “Never say that again.”

“I—‍”

“Did you sneak out of the estate last night?”

She looked at me with confusion, tears still freely flowing down her face. “What? No. You know I didn’t.”

“Did you smother those girls? Cut their still-bleeding hearts from their chests?”

Luz gaped at me, horrified, but something sparked in her eyes. She could see where I was going with this, and she didn’t like it.

Good. Fight me, little demon.

“You know that’s not what I meant.”

“So, you helped to kidnap them then? Kept them locked up and hidden away, cowering in terror for months on end?”

“They’re dead because some psycho has a sick obsession with me, Alister!” She yanked her chin free and shoved me back lightly. “If I weren’t here—‍”

Her hands tugged harshly on her hair as I grabbed her wrists.

“If I had never come here, they might still be alive.”

I forced her hands down to her sides and swallowed her completely with my embrace. “You know that is unlikely.”

“But if—”

“But nothing, petite diablesse. Cry and scream if you must. If you need to hit someone, I am sureEverest would volunteer . . . But you will not allow this pathetic amateur to douse an ounce of your fire.”

Her eyes widened, the normally sparklingly amber flat with tears, but I saw the shift, nonetheless.

“You’re a killer, lethal in your own right, demoness. The sooner you embrace that, the sooner we can end this monster.”

I was as indifferent about killing as the rest of my family, but even we had, if not a code, pride.

If the killer had wanted a real challenge, my family or any of our men at Hollow Oak and in Shady Harbor would have been fair game. Only a weak coward would target women barely out of their youth and work with a two-bit drug dealer to take advantage of them.

What kind of predator picked only certain victory? One that lacked the confidence to face death themselves.

“So, what now then? We don’t know any more about the killer than we did before . . .” She trailed off, moving to sit on the bed.

I cracked my neck, weighing my next words carefully.

“We may not be able to learn more about the killer at this instant, but we have another source of information we’ve been neglecting.”

“Do tell, oh great wise one.”

I much preferred her fiery and combative. Which was good because she wasn’t going to like what came next.

“You, ma petite diablesse.”

“Why don’t you tell me what you think I’m hiding, and I’ll tell you if you’re close or not?” Luz sniffed, pretending to inspect her cuticles.

The shock of the morning’s news had eased, and my demoness had returned to fighting form. While she had initially agreed to tell us more of her past, I was far from surprised that her enthusiasm was waning.

“How about you tell us whatever the fuck we need to know, so we can catch this prick and you get to live?” Nixon snapped.

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