“Revenge, justice. That’s what I want.”
He answered with a surprised look. “I haven’t hurt you. I’ve done nothing you didn’t want me to do.”
“You’ve taken what was dearest to me. You and your friends, you’ve taken Eddie away from me.”
“Eddie? Who’s Eddie?” The wrinkles on his forehead were witness to his lack of understanding. He appeared completely clueless.
“See, you don’t even know. You guys are so callous about human life that you don’t even remember what you did. Just another human life, isn’t it? Another one who didn’t count. How many others are there besides Eddie that you can’t even keep track?”
She slammed her fist into his chest, but he barely flinched.
“Damn it, Nina, you make no sense. Who the hell is Eddie?”
“Was. Who the hell was Eddie. Eddie’s dead. And it’s because of you guys.” Because he worked for them and somehow got embroiled with them. Until they got rid of him, somehow.
“I haven’t killed anybody. You’ve got the wrong vampire.”
Nina shook her head. “I’ve got the right one. He was working for you guys, you and Samson. He was a bodyguard for Scanguards. All he did was work for you, and what did you guys do? Betray him, use him.”
Recognition lit in his eyes. “Edmund Martens. You’re talking about Edmund.”
Finally he was catching on. About time.
“He killed his client and then himself,” Amaury elaborated. “It’s a fact. Ask the police. They have the evidence. Neither Samson nor I have anything to do with his death.”
“You guys made him do it. You forced him, coerced him. One of you set him up.” Her Eddie would have never killed anybody, least of all himself.
“That’s crazy. I barely knew him. We didn’t do anything to him. None of us, not I, not Samson.”
Amaury was stalling, and she couldn’t accept it.
“Eddie wasn’t a killer. He couldn’t hurt a fly. Yes, he stole, he cheated—because he had to. We had to. We had nothing else. But he wasn’t a murderer, he wasn’t evil. He was gentle and kind.” She felt tears build in her eyes.
“Listen, Nina. Maybe you didn’t know your boyfriend that well, but he—”
She cut him off. “Boyfriend? Eddie wasn’t my boyfriend, he was my brother! My baby brother. I looked out for him. I cared for him.” She knew him better than anybody. She’d taken care of him after they’d run away from their last foster home. And then when he’d finally managed to get a real job with Scanguards, he’d taken care of her, so she could go back to school to get an education. But that was all over now. Because he’d gotten mixed up with vampires.
“Your brother? Oh, chérie, I’m so sorry.”
Amaury sounded so genuine, she wanted to believe him. But she knew better. With an impatient wave of her hand she stopped him from saying anything else.
“You and your friends, you’re responsible. You turned him. You did something to him, controlled him with your minds, just like you tried with me a minute ago. You made him do it. And now you’ll pay for it.”
She pulled out a stake from her inside pocket. His eyes widened when he honed in on the weapon in her hand.
“You can’t be serious.”
“I’m dead serious.” She felt it her duty to get justice for her brother. He would have done the same for her.
“Nina, your brother won’t come back even if you kill me.”
She knew that. “But I’ll feel better once it’s done.”
Amaury shook his head. “No, you won’t. If it’s true what you say, that your brother wasn’t a killer, what makes you think you are one? You’re cut out of the same cloth.”
His blue eyes seemed to want to penetrate her. She didn’t want to listen to him any longer, because his words began to ring true.
“You’re a vampire, you’re already dead. It wouldn’t be like killing a human.”
“I’m not dead. My heart beats, my blood runs through my veins. I breathe.” Amaury pushed his hips against her, making her all too aware of the part of him that was even more alive than the rest of him. “I’m alive, and you know it.”
That explained it—with blood running through his veins and his heart beating, of course his body would be warm, not cold. But anyway— “It doesn’t matter. You’re responsible. You’ll have to pay, just like your friends. They’ll all pay for it. He was just a kid.”