Hunting the Dark (7 page)

‘You don’t owe me anything,’ he said. He stated it as a fact, as though it didn’t bother him, but I could see the worry in his eyes. He was scared, but trying his best to hide it.

‘That’s true,’ I said, trying to lighten the mood. ‘In fact, if I remember rightly you said that
you
owed
me
.’

‘I figured you’d remember that.’

‘Of course,’ I agreed. ‘Vampires have excellent memories. Like elephants.’

He raised his eyebrows. ‘Elephants?’

I dug my hole deeper. ‘Sure. Just like them.’

‘You’re sort of crazy, you know that – right?’

‘Which is exactly why you should believe me when I tell you that I won’t betray you. Only a crazy person would say that and mean it.’

He laughed, the sound exploding into the near silence of the apartment and making me jump. I curled my bare feet under me and waited for him to say something else, but he just sat there watching me, his dark eyes glittering in the half-light of the room.

‘The thing is,’ I said slowly, ‘I’m mostly sure that you didn’t kill Nicole. It’s that simple. And if you didn’t do it, then we need to figure out who did and why they would want to frame you for it. That might be enough to get Theo off your back. So, come on, help me out here  . . . who would plan to hunt an Elder vampire in plain sight? Who has a grudge against you – or against your father?’ Internally, I rolled my eyes. The list could be endless.

He shook his head. ‘I don’t know.’

I scowled at him. ‘It’s all well and good coming to me for help, but you have to give a little in return. If you haven’t already forgotten, your life is on the line. There’s no point in covering for someone in your dad’s line of work.’

‘I’m not.’ His voice had risen, but I didn’t care how mad he got. This was important and we needed to deal with it.

‘Jace  . . .’

‘I mean it, Moth. I’m not covering for anyone. Actually, I’m more concerned with how someone got close enough to me to rip into my jacket without me even knowing it.’

‘You might not have been wearing it at the time.’

He smirked.

‘Stop it. I just meant that you could have left it at home and whoever it was broke in. Got to it that way.’

‘That’s not exactly reassuring.’

‘Forget the stupid jacket, Jace. If you’ve been framed, let’s talk about the hunters you know who might want to start killing super-powerful vampires. Who are you protecting?’

He stood so suddenly I didn’t realize he was moving until he was standing over me. I forced myself not to flinch as he looked down on me fiercely.

‘Moth, why would I protect any of those guys? None of them gave a shit about my dad being dead. Well, apart from Quinn.’

I raised my eyebrows. ‘And Quinn is  . . .?’

‘Dad’s partner from
waaay
back in the day, but he’s been unable to hunt properly for years.’

‘Why?’ I asked. ‘What happened to him?’

‘He almost died. A hunt left him  . . . injured. Let’s just say it was career-ending.’

I stared at him, wondering whether to push the matter further. Theo would love a name and I had one: Quinn. Maybe this would take his attention off Jace, even for a day or two. And anyway, so what if this dude Jace mentioned really was too injured to fight – that didn’t mean much. He might have friends helping him. A scapegoat could be useful.

‘Quinn’s his last name?’ I asked, trying (and probably failing) to look innocent.

Jace glared at me. ‘I told you, it’s not him. Even if he wanted to take a shot at an Elder, even if he
was
capable, he certainly wouldn’t throw me to the wolves. Seriously, there’s no way he’d frame me. Why can’t you just let it go?’

‘I’m trying to help you, Jace. Why do you think I can’t “let it go”?’

‘I’m not ratting out a friend of Dad’s just to save my own skin.’

‘So you admit that this Quinn
could
have something to do with Nicole’s death?’

‘No,’ he said, his voice ultra-calm and even more dangerous-sounding than I’d ever heard it before. ‘He lost a leg and can barely get around because he refuses to wear the prosthetic the hospital fitted for him. Mostly he’s on crutches or in his wheelchair. Do you really think he’s riding a motorcycle with a crossbow strapped to his back?’

‘He could have hired someone.’ I jutted out my chin.

‘Oh, you mean someone like me? I wouldn’t go after a vampire as old as Nicole. She’d rip me to pieces. I don’t know why your Maker is so intent on my having something to do with it.’

‘She was shot at distance,’ I said. ‘It was cowardly but effective.’

‘I’m not a coward,’ he snapped. ‘I face my enemies.’

I couldn’t resist a tiny smile. ‘Being modest, Jace? I’m not sure it suits you.’

‘I’m being honest. No matter what everyone seems to think, I’m not my father.’

‘No,’ I replied, my tone bleak. I couldn’t help remembering what Theo had said. ‘No, you’re not. But you are your father’s son.’

He walked away from me and over to the window, putting distance between us. He looked outside, being careful not to move the curtain more than a fraction. After a whole minute had ticked by, he turned to face me. ‘It wasn’t me, Moth. A minute ago you said you believed me.’

‘I know, but you’re not telling me something. It doesn’t feel right.’ Why was I starting to doubt him? I didn’t like the way he was covering for this Quinn guy, for a start.

Without a moment’s hesitation he grabbed my hand and drew it to his chest, holding it there against his heart. ‘What about this?’ he asked. ‘Does
this
feel right?’

I froze, wondering whether I should push him away – only really wanting to pull him against me. I kept my mouth firmly shut.

‘You can hear my heart beat, can’t you?’ He continued to watch me, and I saw a flicker of  . . . something  . . . in his eyes. I didn’t want to think too hard about what that expression might mean. It made me want things – epically impractical things – things that I could never have. A normal life: college, boyfriends  . . .

Kissing.

If my heart really could beat again, I mean properly, not just an echo of humanity, it would have been pounding uncontrollably with the feel of his chest beneath my fingers.

Jace wrapped his other arm around me and drew me closer to him. ‘Can’t you tell whether I’m lying or not?’

I caught my breath: an unconscious habit that I still hadn’t managed to break. ‘I’m not a walking lie detector,’ I muttered. My free hand went to his hip, prepared to push myself away if things got too weird. I was stronger than Jace. If I didn’t want to be standing right where I was, I wouldn’t be standing there. It was really that simple. But with one of his hands pressed against my lower back, and the other holding my own hand against his chest, I couldn’t honestly think of a better place to be. Not right in that moment.

I glanced at his mouth and caught the slight movement of his tongue as he moistened his lips.

Oh God. Why me?

I still wanted him, even after everything that had happened. Everything I had become – and how I knew there was absolutely no chance for anything to happen between us – I still wanted him to kiss me.

A traitorous voice piped up in the back of my mind: Why wait for
him
to kiss
you
? You could kiss
him
. He came to you for help, after all. He didn’t have to do that.
Maybe he really does like you.

He’s just using me
, I told myself, pushing that other voice to one side and giving it a stern look. I wouldn’t let Jace use me. I won’t let anyone use me like that.

His lips moved closer, and fear rose up in me like water from a burst pipe.

I couldn’t let this happen.

I shoved Jace away with ease, backing up against the door and staring at him for a moment that stretched out too long. I thought that maybe he’d say something mean, try to make me feel small. I don’t know why that’s the first thing that sprang to mind – self-preservation, I guess – but I couldn’t have been more wrong.

His mouth twisted and he turned away, but not quickly enough that I didn’t catch the look in those oh-so-expressive brown eyes. He was
hurt
. I’d hurt him by pushing him away. But that was crazy.

Wasn’t it?

He cleared his throat as though nothing had happened. ‘So, do you believe me?’

I tried to ignore the memory of his warm body against mine.

‘I believe that it wasn’t you who killed Nicole,’ I said. ‘But I don’t believe that you don’t know anything at all.’

He huffed with frustration. ‘Quinn isn’t even here. I called him when I got back into the country. He must be out of town or something.’

‘Why would you call him? This is sounding more and more  . . . wrong.’

‘I told you, he’s an old friend of my dad’s. A good friend. They were partners and I’ve known him since I was a kid. I was just checking on him.’

I raised my eyebrows. ‘Uh-huh.’

‘He’s disabled, Moth. Living alone.’

‘And  . . .?’

‘And he usually has good intel,’ he finally admitted, looking away.

‘Like  . . . information about who might be planning to kill powerful vampires? Even Elders?’

‘Hunters don’t broadcast their plans on Facebook, you know. The hunting network doesn’t work that way. I just meant that he tracks down a lot of solid intel, and he keeps records that we can all use.’

Hmm  . . . That sounded promising. ‘What kind of records?’

‘Moth, just drop it. I was looking into something else entirely.’

I watched him, desperately looking for a sign. Something I could hold onto and trust. A sliver of the truth, no matter how painful it might be for him to share it. Jace had lost both his parents to vampires, and yet here he was in my apartment asking for my support. It didn’t make any sense, and yet I had the strangest feeling that he was being sincere.

Even if he was hiding something, that didn’t make him Nicole’s murderer. There had to be other active hunters in the area – if not in Boston itself, then maybe in Massachusetts. And Nicole was from New York. What about hunters who lived there? I just had to find some evidence to support my convictions, otherwise Theo would have no problem snuffing out Jace’s life – no matter how much I might beg for mercy on the wannabe hunter’s behalf.

I laughed at myself, the sound harsh and bitter.
Wannabe hunter.
No wonder Theo thought I’d lost my mind. Or my heart. Or my senses.

Or perhaps all three of those things.

Jace was watching me like I’d already lost the plot. ‘What’s so funny?’

‘Sorry,’ I said. ‘Went somewhere else for a moment.’

‘My apologies for boring you with my fast-approaching demise,’ he said stiffly. ‘I’ll get out of your hair.’

‘Don’t be stupid. I’m just trying to figure things out.’

He shrugged. ‘I should probably go, anyway.’

I said, ‘You can stay here, if you like.’ I almost slapped my hand over my mouth. Why did I have to say such dumb things? Ugh. What was I thinking? Quite clearly, I
wasn’t
thinking; that was the point. But I’d always been someone who wore her heart on her sleeve – it seemed to have gotten worse during the last year. Ever since I’d been Made.

The corner of Jace’s mouth lifted in a slow quarter-smile. ‘Right here?’ He gestured at my disheveled bed.

‘No!’ I shouted.

He grinned.

‘No, of course not,’ I said, much more calmly. ‘I meant, in the apartment.’

‘Right,’ he said. ‘Of course.’

‘Oh, shut up,’ I muttered. ‘You knew what I meant.’

‘Absolutely.’

I picked up the nearest thing I could find – my hairbrush – and threw it at him.

Jace caught it instantly, his reactions impressive for a ‘regular’ human. He started laughing.

I scowled. I hate it when he laughs at me. ‘You can take the couch,’ I said. ‘Holly would smell you if you slept in her room.’

That shut him up. I allowed myself a smile of victory as I took him into our little living room and tried to remember where there might be a spare comforter and pillows. My roommate wouldn’t be back until at least tomorrow night – she couldn’t walk about in daylight, and the Boston tunnels didn’t exactly run door-to-door. Jace would be safe enough. These days it felt more like I was living here alone, Holly was so busy. If you’d asked me a few years ago if I wanted an apartment all to myself by the time I was eighteen, I would have laughed that you even
needed
to ask.

Now? Now I was just beginning to realize how lonely it could be.

Ten minutes later, I had Jace settled in on the couch. He’d unlaced his boots and kicked them off, but that was the only thing he’d done to prepare for sleep.

He folded his pillow into a strange, squished shape and propped himself up to look at me. ‘Don’t expect to find me here when you get up. I’ll let myself out.’

‘OK,’ I said.

‘It’s cool of you to let me crash here.’

‘I know.’

A smile ghosted across his tired face. ‘I’ll get moving in the morning – put some real distance between myself and the city.’

‘Where will you go?’ I didn’t want to think about him leaving again, but of course it was the most sensible move.

He yawned. ‘Not sure yet. Don’t worry about it, you’ve done enough for me already.’

‘I’d do a lot more to help, if you’d actually trust me enough to tell me something I can use to clear your name.’

‘Don’t start this again,’ he said. ‘Quinn’s a lone wolf. He’s no threat to you or anyone else, and I’m certainly not going to give up somebody else just to save myself.’

Jace had thrown his jacket on the armchair sitting at right angles to the couch, and I’d seen his cell phone in the pocket. All I had to do was wait for him to fall asleep and I could try snatching it – get a look at his contact list. No matter what Jace said to the contrary, I figured that Quinn would be a good place to start – even if I was only looking for alternative suspects.

I didn’t expect Jace to be a heavy sleeper – especially not right now, with his life in danger – but he did look dead on his feet. Metaphorically speaking. If he slept at all, even a little, I figured I was stealthy enough to grab his phone without waking him. Jace had apparently called Quinn after getting back to the US, which meant I could find his phone number. Maybe I’d get lucky and find an address to go with it.