Page 118 of Paramour of Sin
His head bobbed back and forth as he thought through my words. “Maybe. Or send them down another rabbit hole while everything else continues to unfold.”
He pushed away from the wall to step toward me.
“Ya know, that’s how I argued Amarella’s case with the higher-ups. I told them it was a good distraction. Which was true. All this other shit has been happenin’ all around y’all, but Zeb’s been too balls deep inside you and your problems to notice.” He grinned. “Smart, right?”
More like insane, I wanted to say. Instead, I swallowed, and tried to find a way to stall him.
If I couldn’t reach the weapons stash, then I needed to keep him talking until Zebulon returned.
Because I didn’t stand a chance in hand-to-hand combat when Creek had a gun loaded with silver bullets.
“Why are you telling me all this?” I asked.
“’Cause I like ya, Gwenie. I’m not all that thrilled about havin’ to kill ya, so I figure the least I can do is explain it all, yeah?”
“Okay. Then tell me about the shifting,” I suggested, subtly sliding to the side as he moved toward me again. If we kept this little dance shuffle going, I might be able to position my back to the wall.
And then I could grab a weapon.
If I acted fast enough.
“There it is,” he drawled, his lips pulling up into a genuine grin. “That’s my gift, darlin’. Can’t shift myself, just others. Can fuck with auras, too. Replicate ‘em. Place ‘em on dead bodies as well, like I did with your former conquests. Amarella killed ‘em, but I replaced her essence with yours at the crime scenes. A pretty neat talent, courtesy of my pops upstairs.” He cocked his head to the side. “Y’all thought it was Jax, right?”
No harm in lying to him, so I nodded. “Yeah.”
His dimples flashed, giving him a boyish charm. “Yeah, he had no idea we were usin’ him. Sort of feel bad for the guy, but not really. Dead weight and all that.” He shrugged. “He enjoyed that night with you, though. So not entirely guiltless. He knew I’d made him look like that accountant. Course, he thought it was to help disguise his identity to Gleason. Realized soon after that we’d been framin’ ya for murder.”
“How’d he react to that?” I wondered, taking another subtle step.Almost there.
“Ah, well, Amarella made him feel okay about it. She’s good at that, though. Manipulates emotions and all that. Handy trick. Made Zebulon almost angry enough to kill you that night, too.” His lips pinched to the side.
I waited for him to continue, but moved just a little more, taking advantage of his contemplative state.
He palmed the back of his neck. “Yeah, we really did make a good team, what with my aura and shifting manipulation skills, and her talent for playing with emotions. It’s how she faked her death and made the chick compliant. Curious that it didn’t work on you. Or maybe she didn’t bother tryin’ ‘cause she had to use all her power on Zeb to blind him with rage.”
He sighed, long and loud.
“Except she failed anyway. He proved stronger, which I warned her would happen. Regardless, I’ll miss the bitch. Gonna miss ya, too. But her more. We were together for longer, so…” He trailed off, lifting a shoulder. “Anyway, anything else before I”—he clicked his tongue as he made a pistol shape with his fingers—“ya know.”
“If you’re the one shifting other people around,” I started slowly, thinking on my feet as I attempted to stall him just a little longer. “Then you must have been there the night Trevor came over.”
“Nah. I knew what was happenin’, but I’d been with Gleason. I just took him home after our workout sesh at the gym, then manipulated Jax’s appearance as he left your house.” He lifted a shoulder. “Gleason had no idea.”
Almost there.
“I see what you’re doin’, Gwenie,” he said softly. “You won’t make it in time.” In a smooth, too-fast motion, Creek unholstered his gun and pointed it at me. “Gleason thinks I’m a rookie. I’m not.”
Instincts shot through me, forcing me into action because I had a chance to think through my movements.
I ducked just as he discharged the gun, the bullet whizzing right over my head. The wall behind me cracked as the silver bullet slammed into it.
Then I rolled toward Creek, jumped to catch him off guard, and knocked his arm upward with my shoulder. He grunted as I twisted him around my body, yanking down on his elbow. The gun dropped with a thud against the carpet, making me very thankful for Eve and Gleason’s intense training sessions.
I kicked the weapon down the hallway, then whipped around in a roundhouse kick, sending Creek stumbling backwards with an “Oof.”
He doubled over, his hand splaying across his abdomen as helaughed breathlessly, clearly amused. “Impressive. I didn’t realize you had it in you, Gwenie.”
He darted for me.
