How else could the murderer stalk through Drake Hall and disappear so easily without the help of magic?

I was still pretty reluctant to trot this idea past Killian—I wanted more information first, particularly about Rupert.

He was adopted, and he made it plain he didn’t respect most of the Drake vampires—including the Second Knight—or humans, so the slaughter didn’t seem out of character for him. But besides a general gut feeling I didn’t have much to go by.

Killian stood in a liquid movement that was unnaturally graceful, jostling me from my suspicions. He turned his back to me and rested a forearm against one of his bookshelves as he broodingly leaned against it.

I had what I wanted—the update on the murderer—so I peered over my shoulder to start plotting out my exit strategy.

But I was blocked when Killian crossed his office in the blink of an eye and set his hand on my shoulder.

I didn’t scream as I might have a month ago, but I did jump a little—mostly because he got right up in my face, and his hand was delightfully cool. (I was pretty hot since I had opted to wear my stuffy suit in an effort to placate Killian so he’d be more likely to share information.)

He was bent over so he could stare into my eyes. This close I could see the deep red of his iris. Not to get all poetic, but his eyes strangely reminded me of red stars set in the black velvet of the night sky.

“I don’t trust you,” Killian announced.

His closeness was really upping the ‘danger-danger, this is a predator,’ factor, so I had no choice but to resort to humor. “How shocking. You always seem so gullible.”

One corner of his lips turned up in the hint of a smug, satisfied smirk. “We’ll draw the murderer out.”

I waited for him to continue, but he didn’t, so I had to ask, “How?”

He finally took a step out of my personal space and stood upright again. “You and I will leave Drake lands, unescorted,” he said. “If the murderer has a political motive, they won’t be able to miss the opportunity.”

“Did you say ‘you and I’?” I asked. “And ‘unescorted’?”

Killian’s voice was silken with his self-satisfaction, but I think I preferred his frustration to it because he sounded equally dangerous but now focused on me. “You’re the ideal target: weak, fragile, and defenseless.”

Mulishly, I put my hands on my hips. “Well, when you put it that way.”

“The murderer won’t be aware of your training. And in your current state, compared to a vampire you are easy to kill.”

I stretched my arms above my head as I tried to think.

I wanted to figure out who was behind the murders, and I’d already decided to get myself involved. The danger didn’t bother me so much—though if anyone from House Medeis heard about it, they’d undoubtedly throw a fit. (The House comes first and all of that, but humans were dying, so I’d put our entire society before the House for this occasion.)

But the idea of wandering around with Killian without any other Drake vampires? Yeah, that part didn’t thrill me.

“Do we need to go out together?” I asked. “Can’t you just send Celestina and me out for a girls’ day or something?”

“Not if we want the murderer to take the bait before they kill someone else,” Killian said. “Eventually they will attack you—you are too tempting of a target to pass. But it will take time for them to decide that killing you would negatively affect us if you are only seen with the Family and not me personally.”

“You want the murderer to think that in getting me, it will be a direct attack on you?” I wrinkled my brow as I stared at the Eminence of the Midwest. “Do you really think you can be that convincing and get this sicko to attack me on one outing? Because everyone knows you only care about vampires.”

Killian’s entire demeanor transformed. He went from standing tall and smirking to prowling closer to me. There was that odd gleam in his eyes again. “Oh?” His voice dropped to a rumbling purr. “I don’t think it will be that difficult.” He tenderly brushed my cheek, which made me shiver. “All we have to do is make it seem that there’s…something between us.”

One of his hands glided around my waist, stopping at my mid back, and he scooped me into an embrace. His other hand slid under my chin and gently pulled up so I had to look up at him. “Don’t you agree?” The seduction act dropped when he grabbed me by the cheeks like a grandma pinching a baby.

Smooshed against him as I was, I was able to confirm his entire body was pleasantly cool. (Not fair! Vampires got the looks, the speed, and a pleasant body temperature? I call foul play!)

“Why would we do that?” I asked through squished lips. “We’d both be miserable!”

Killian released me, though he didn’t move away. “I’m willing to suffer a little for my own amusement.”

I eyed him. “Your reputation won’t take a hit?”

He hardened abruptly, his expression turning flinty and his smile threatening pain. “I’m enough of a monster, no one will dare to question it.”

I felt the truth of this in my bones, so I sucked in a deep breath. “Okay?”

He blinked, the darkness draining from his eyes. “Hm?”

“I’ll play bait.”

“…are you certain?”

“Yeah.” I brushed my slacks off to give me something to do. “This can’t keep going on.”

He slightly narrowed his eyes. “It’s wrong?”

I nodded.

Killian rolled his eyes. “See—a regular paragon of virtue. Disgusting.”

“It’s working to your advantage right now, so I don’t think it’s anything to complain about.”

“Whatever,” he sourly said. “You’ve taken all the fun out of it.”

“When will we go?” I asked. “Tomorrow?”

Killian appraised me, his eyes traveling over my small frame. “A week.”

“Do you think we have that long?”

“Yes, because I’ll make our outing known publicly tomorrow when I send Celestina out to order a dress for you and make reservations.”

I nodded and awkwardly swung my arms. “Okay. Sounds good.”

Killian returned to his desk and sat on the very edge. “In the meantime, I expect you to train with diligence. An extra week might be the difference between life and death.”

“Got it. I guess that’s my cue to go get changed.” Not knowing what else to do, I nodded to him and headed for the door.

“Hazel.”

I paused in the doorway and turned around, surprised by the use of my name. “Yeah?”

Killian stared at me, the only sounds in the whole office was the rhythmic tick-tock of a grandfather clock in the corner and my breathing. “Be extra diligent in practicing your magic with your sword,” he said.

“Will do.” I slipped out of the doorway, almost positive that wasn’t what he was going to say. But I didn’t know what else he could possibly bring up. It wasn’t until I was halfway down the hallway that our conversation finally caught up with me.

Wait—he said he was ordering a dress? Just how fancy is the place he’s taking me?

Chapter Fifteen

Hazel

About a week later, I found myself teetering down the stairs in heels trying to juggle my sword and a black clutch stuffed with a book to give it extra heft. (I was willing to go, and I expected Killian would probably protect me, but there was no way I was doing this without my own weapon.)

The sun had already set, but the air was hot, so I wasn’t cold in my sleeveless cocktail dress. I was pretty sure the humidity was going to ruin the fancy braid a nice maid had helped me tame my hair into, but thankfully I was wearing waterproof makeup, so I wouldn’t look too rough if I stayed outside long.

I had calculated everything about my look to strive for maturity—the smoky eyeshadow, the heels that added a bit to my height, and thankfully the dress was a sophisticated wrap style. Normally I didn’t care a ton about how I looked, besides being presentable. But I wanted to find that murderer—or at least help uncover a lead—and I didn’t want to do this a second time. If I had waltzed out to meet Killian without the extra prep, I was pretty sure I’d get mistaken for a high school student, so I had to do whatever I could to make our act believable.

Thankfully, when I explained my plan to Celestina, she was all over it. She’d gotten me the makeup and the heels—which I was actually pretty comfortable in. (It helped that she made me jog laps around the mansion in them during the past five days.)

I was pretty happy with my overall look. The dress was gorgeous—it was an opalescent dusty blue color that had hints of white depending on the way I turned. It looked great with my blue eyes and reminded me of a bright afternoon sky decorated with wispy clouds—but I didn’t want to know how much it cost. I was pretty sure just seeing the price tag would be enough to make my kidneys shrivel.

The only downside to my outfit was that I hadn’t taken the time to ponder how I was going to secure my sword to my waist…

By the time I made it down the last stair, the solar lights that were stabbed into the flower beds at the front of Drake Hall had winked on.

A line of three SUVs were pulled up, but only one driver stood at the side of the car, his hands clasped behind his back. The other two were still in their cars.

The vampire driver bowed to me as he pulled the side door open, revealing a leather interior, and Killian who was lounging on the bench seat, talking on his cellphone. “I want the Magic Committee to know about tonight. It will give them something new to think about and hopefully confuse them, which will give me the opportunity to finally pass that law further restricting the Unclaimed in our region.”

Yeah, no way was I sitting back there with a scheming Killian.

I pressed my lips together as I studied Killian, then risked a sneaky glance at the driver—whose face held the expression of a stone as he waited for me to climb in. It was a different driver—this one had darker hair and was wider through the shoulders. Hopefully my act would work on him as well.