I sat up and swept my hair back. “And what’s that?”
Christian squatted in front of me, his arms resting on his knees. “You said that Vampires were easiest to kill, but the number of bodies we have on file doesn’t match up with your impressive claim. And we’ve never traced a Vampire murder to the Shadow.”
“So? You can’t do math.”
Christian stroked his chin, pinching his whiskers between his fingers. “Tell me exactly how you killed the Vampires. You’re a bright little battery using that Mage gift to pluck the light from another Mage, but that doesn’t work on Vampires.”
Was he serious? “I stake them.”
He crunched on a piece of candy he had in his mouth. “You… stake them. You don’t set them aflame or sever their heads by chance, do you?”
“Do I look deranged?”
One eyebrow arched. “You see, I’ve been giving it a lot of thought. I couldn’t imagine you committing such a gruesome and messy act, and we don’t have anything on record of Vampires burned to death in bathrooms. Most killers stick to a pattern, and if you were cutting off heads, you would have done the same with every Mage you met instead of pulling their light.”
“I’m not a killer,” I bit out.
He stood up and waved his hand. “Semantics. It’s become clear to me that you know absolutely nothing about what you are. Your ignorance is your greatest vulnerability—one that others will be quick to exploit.” He paced a few steps and turned. “You see, a Vampire doesn’t die by impalement wood alone.”
“Through the heart he does.” I stood up and anchored my hands on my hips. “If you stop the heart, that’s the end of the line.”
“One would think,” he said, raising his index finger. “Did you know that you can stake a Vampire through the brain and he can still regenerate once it’s removed? Impalement only paralyzes its victim; it doesn’t kill—regardless of where you put it.”
Sheer horror swept over me.
My God, all the Vampires I’d left behind and assumed were dead! That meant they were probably out there looking for me, and I wasn’t exactly difficult to spot.
Christian played with a long silver chain around his neck. “Looks like you better sleep with one eye open from now on. If Vampires were that easy to kill, there’d be none of us left. Many Breeds fabricated myths among humans so they wouldn’t know truth from fiction. Crucifixes, silver, holy water—all the lies saved us from certain death.”
“As much as I’m sure you’d like to demonstrate this on me, it’s not going to happen.”
He chuckled and lifted his chin. “I was curious about how you fought in hand-to-hand combat, so I slipped in when you were wrestling Niko. Feck me, it’s a wonder you’re still alive with those amateur moves.”
“I wasn’t fighting Niko as I normally would,” I said, holding out my arms. “Besides, these aren’t my usual surroundings. Normally I lure them to a confined space, and most of them aren’t skilled ninjas like Niko. Half the time, I get them when they’re drunk, so their reflexes are impaired.”
Christian folded his arms. “So how do you take a man down?”
I shrugged. “Usually I do a scissor move with my legs and asphyxiate them.”
He lowered his arms and strolled around me. “So… you can put a man’s head between your legs until he passes out?” Christian leaned in close to my ear and lowered his voice. “That’s not something I’d brag about, lass.”
“I guess now I need to cut off their heads.” My stomach churned at the idea.
Christian pinched my chin and looked me sternly in the eyes. “Are you afflicted in some way? Because I’m not here to teach you how to kill your own kind. Yes, your own kind. You may not like what you are, but you can’t deny it. You can’t pretend it isn’t there. Your fangs came out last night because your Vampire nature was reacting to his insult. Vampire blood courses through your veins; it’s the very essence of who you are.” The sharp edge in his Irish accent softened, his words becoming tender. “You can’t deny your instincts. Kiss me.”
I drew forward as if pulled by invisible strings, wanting nothing more than his lips against mine, the feel of his arms encircling my midriff and pulling me in tight, his rough whiskers against my jaw as he kissed his way down to the base of my throat.
Our lips brushed together as I stood on my tiptoes, my palms on his chest, my lips parting.
Christian drew back and shook his head.
I blinked a few times, feeling a sudden disconnect. “Did you just charm me?”
He stuttered over his words. “I-I had to test you. If I’m going to scrub your memory in a week’s time, I need to make sure it works on you.”