Page 33 of By The Moon

“Why did you take my mate?” The door opened behind him and Louis picked up on Gray’s scent. “Why take Jerome?”

Skylar worked his jaw from side to side, his eyes flickering between Louis and Gray. “I thought he’d do something like this. I have what we need to make him talk.”

“I’ll talk if I’m granted immunity.”

Louis coughed out a laugh. “Fuck no.”

Gray stepped forward. “I can grant you immunity. Tell us what you know.”

“I don’t agree to that.”

“Not your call to make, Louis. I’m in charge here so I can grant what he wants. I alone grant you immunity. Tell us about Maxim. Where is he? Where is his son? How long have you worked for him?”

“Why Jerome?” Louis added. “Why take my mate?”

“I was there in front of you the whole time. Years and you never wanted me.”

“We had a short relationship that fizzled out. You agreed to remain friends. There was nothing there between us anymore except friendship.”

“For you, maybe, but I cared about you. I waited for you to appreciate what you had with me but then you showed up with him? A human? How is a human better than me? I’m vampire. We’re so much better than them. You lowered yourself to be with a human. They are only worth drinking from and fucking. That’s it. Vampires are stronger, smarter, better. How can you not see that?”

“He’s my mate. My other half. I’ve known him for years. I’ve waited for him. I’m lucky to have him in my life.”

“Pfft. Like fuck you are. He’s pathetic, a weakness. He can’t even defend himself from attack. I had to rein my strength in when dealing with him in case I accidentally hurt him. He couldn’t do shit when I was there. He only cried and tried to reach out to you. He would never have escaped if you hadn’t arrived. We’d both be somewhere else and you would have never found us.”

“You took him for what? Because he had Louis and you couldn’t? Or did you plan to take him to Maxim and use him as bait?”

“What does it matter? It’s not going to happen now, is it? You fuckers ruined it. I was going to have some fun with him then dump him used and broken. Leave him with Maxim to finish the job and you would have been searching for him. Once he was dead I would have been here to help you get over his loss. I would have helped you pick up the pieces. Me, your friend, the one who should have been your mate.”

Louis looked at Gray and shook his head. What the fuck? Skylar had to have a screw loose. It didn’t make sense. They knew Skylar had taken Jerome, so how would he have been able to help Louis put his life back together if Jerome had died? Skylar would be here, in this room, being questioned.

“So you took Jerome, planned to use and abuse him then discard him for Maxim to do whatever he wanted with him.”

Skylar shrugged. “Until you ruined my plans.”

“You sound like the bad guy from that cartoon with the dog detective.”

“He sounds unhinged.” Louis ignored Skylar’s outburst. “Where is Maxim? If you were going to leave my mate with Maxim, that means you know where he is. Where is he?”

“I have no idea what you mean. I don’t know where he is. He moves around. He’s never in the same place for too long in case you find him.”

“So how would you arrange to meet him if you don’t know where he is? A number? An email, maybe?”

“Don’t know.”

“You do know, and don’t forget I—that’s me—promised you immunity if you co-operate. You seem to have forgotten that, so answer the questions or you face the full punishment of our people for your crimes.”

“An email.” Skylar narrowed his eyes and bared his teeth. “I send an email then wait for one of his men to respond.”

“We need that email address. What is it?” Gray pulled out his phone and stood waiting. “I need it.”

Skylar growled and muttered the address. “There, now you have it. I want out. I want money and a new name and location. No one is to follow me there.”

“What about Jerome?”

“What about him? He wasn’t part of the deal unless you’re going to let me at his hole. Bet it’s nice if you keep going back to it. I know how much you like fucking and with me you don’t have to hold yourself back. You can use your vampire strength as you hold me down and fuck me the way we both remember.”

“I can’t believe you were that hard up you fucked him.” Gray put his phone away. “I’d rather fuck a pencil sharpener.”

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