“I was taking some pictures—you know how fucking important my art is to me, Jane,” Roth said, his words tumbling out. “Then this freak just came hurtling over the wall and attacked me.”
“It’s okay, Roth.” Jane’s voice was flat. “Everything is under control.” She stared hard at Aidan. “Isn’t it?”
His hands slowly slid from the stone. “For the moment.” Maybe. Barely. He glared at the guy. “Roth. I remember you.”
“Oh, shit,” Roth whispered. “Why do I feel like you mean that in a bad way?”
Because I do. I fucking do.
“You lived on the bottom floor of Jane’s building,” Aidan’s voice was a rough rumble. He couldn’t manage more than that. “The night I met you, your sorry ass hid behind a street sign when bullets started flying. You left Jane out in the open, vulnerable. You saved your own hide.”
Roth’s eyes bulged. “She is a cop, man! She knows how to take care of herself!” Roth was nearly as tall as Aidan and the guy was muscled, but in a match of strength, Aidan knew the fool wouldn’t even come close to his level. “I didn’t want to die! So, hell, yeah, I ran and hid! That’s what sane people do!” His gaze fell to the shattered camera. “Look what the hell you did…” He grabbed for the camera.
Aidan grabbed the bastard, snagging his wrist. The guy had a black raven tattoo that covered his inner wrist, and a snake was poised to bite that bird…its prey. “Do you like attacking those who are weaker than you?”
“Aidan!” Jane snapped. “He wasn’t attacking. You did that.”
“You were watching her.” He knew it with utter certainty. “You were out here, taking pictures of Jane.” He’d seen the glint of light that reflected off the guy’s lens. Jane was being followed, watched, and this SOB had just randomly appeared? He wasn’t about to buy that coincidence. No way.
“I was taking pictures of the street! Of the light coming over the buildings. Of the dead.” Roth’s breath heaved out as he straightened his shoulders. “I’m an artist. This shit is what I do!”
Aidan didn’t believe him.
Jane had bent to pick up the guy’s broken camera.
“Jane, look, he’s your boyfriend, right?” Roth said, his voice a bit frantic. “I mean, I remember when he came out of the fire at our old building. Calm him down, okay? Whatever weird-ass rage he’s on, calm him down.”
Jane slid closer to Aidan. She put her hand on his shoulder. For an instant, he did feel calm and then…
“Aidan, compel him to tell the truth,” Jane said.
Surprise flashed through him. Jane hated it when he manipulated humans. She—
“I don’t believe in coincidences,” Jane continued quietly. “So ask Roth why he was here.”
Hell, yes. Aidan smiled at his prey.
Roth blinked and the guy started to sweat. “Compel me? What’s that shit supposed to mean? Is this some weird threesome thing? Because I’m flattered but I am not down—”
“Dumbass, I never share Jane.” Aidan slammed him against an old crypt. “Compelling means you tell me exactly what I want to hear…because you don’t have a choice.” He could feel power pouring through his body. “What were you doing in this cemetery?”
Roth’s face went slack. His eyes seemed to glaze over.
“What were you doing?” Aidan snarled.
“Taking pictures…for my exhibit. Life and Death, the thin line between…”
“Shitty title,” Aidan muttered.
“Aidan,” Jane said, a warning note in her voice.
He kept his tight hold on the human. “Why were you taking pictures of Jane?”
“Because Jane’s beautiful.” The answer rolled from him. “I saw her coming from that building and I had to take her photo, to add to my collection.”
That answer had Aidan’s wolf howling. Aidan took a slow breath. Then another. “What collection?”
Roth smiled. “I like beauty. I collect it when I can.”
Behind him, Jane swore. “I do not like where this is going.”
Humans could hide so much with their easy words and quick lies, but when Aidan had them under his compulsion, they had to reveal the secrets they kept deep inside.
“How do you collect beauty?” Aidan demanded.
Roth laughed. “With my art. I take pictures. I paint. I own the beauty. It becomes mine.”
Aidan thought about just slicing the guy’s throat open right then and there. “This dick is a serial killer in training,” he told Jane.
“Maybe, but I don’t think he’s the guy who’s been testing me.”
No, maybe he was just a freak who seemed to be stalking Jane…and other women. Aidan cocked his head as he studied the other man. “Have you taken pictures of Jane before?”
Roth smiled. “Lots of them.” That smile dimmed. “But most burned in the fire. So this was a good chance to get new ones.”
A growl rumbled in Aidan’s throat. “I really want to kill you right now.”