Adam frowned, ever so helpful. “I never got his name. We were never introduced, but he was tall.”
“These people…,” Emily murmured, tearful. “What kind of people could do this?”
Kidnappers. Heartless soulless people. Vampires.
I watched as my roommate tried to make sense of what she couldn’t understand. She really thought Bennett was a person, someone with a soul. She didn’t understand the power he had over her. She clung to what she wanted to believe. And Adam—he just saw his own guilt. I felt a tear at the corner of my eye, but I swallowed painfully and brushed it away. Adam was the guy that I had thought all along. He was so human that he was… human. He got jealous. He made a mistake. Then he got caught up in the situation. Neither of them had a clue what was really going on. I was envious of their naiveté. It was my fault Emily was crying. It was my fault that Adam looked so shameful. Both of them were innocent in this entire thing.
I was the Immortal.
Then the door was pushed open. Emily jumped, but she didn’t squeal this time. Thankfully.
Adam looked up.
“Davy,” Kates called me. A strand of her dirty blonde hair had slipped down to frame the corner of her cheek. Her sea blue eyes were bright and clear. She fully knew what she was doing. There was no vampire lust that filtered her decisions.
I took a small breath. I needed to accept the inevitable. Kates had betrayed me, but the sad part was that she didn’t know she betrayed me. I did know one thing, though. Kates wasn’t there to kill vampires. She was there for an entirely different reason.
“Come on,” she beckoned and I went.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
We didn’t go far. We went down one set of steps and past four doors before Kates opened the fifth. After she shut the door and I glanced around, I realized that this was her room. There was a giant bed that had a canopy, just like the one in the other room. There was a sensual feeling to the room until I caught sight of the opened closet door. I saw the hooker boots, leather halter tops, and frayed jeans.
That was all Kates.
“This is where you stay?” I asked, hurt.
Sorrow flashed in her eyes, but she nodded before she perched on another velour throne chair. She only had two. It looked like they kept the good stuff for the hostages.
“So… let’s start this by you telling me why you really came to Benshire.” I deadlocked my eyes with hers. This was the showdown. Truth time.
Kates swallowed once. “I came here because I fell in love with someone.”
“Someone or something?” I couldn’t keep the disdain away.
Anger flashed briefly in her eyes, but she pushed past it. “I fell in love with a vampire. Your contempt’s not new so could you stop with the attitude? It’s not helping.”
“It’s helping me.”
“You want some answers and I’m trying to tell you them. I won’t be so inclined if you piss me off.”
“Listen to you. ‘So inclined’—who’ve you been talking to? You don’t talk like that on a good day, Kates. Drop the act. I want my friend here, not whoever you are when you’re with this thing you love.”
“Thing?”
Had we just not gone over this? Contempt. Me. For vampires. Not a surprise. I raised my chin and glared.
“What is your problem? You’re acting like I’ve lied to you!” Kates shouted.
“You have!” I shouted right back. “You just kidnapped me.”
“You weren’t supposed to be there!”
“Well, I was. And my roommate is in that room. And Adam—it had to be Adam?”
Kates snorted again, but laughed hollowly. “Don’t come crying to me because you have crap taste in guys.”
My eyes went red. “Excuse me?”
“You didn’t like Craig, but he sure liked you. Maybe it’s something about you that attracts these losers?”
“Losers? Me? Are we really not considering your vampire? He’s a creature of the night, Kates. I don’t think Adam is worse than that.”
“Creature of the night? So am I, Davy!”
“You’re a human.” Unlike myself.
“So are you.”
“This isn’t about me.”
“This is about you! I’m sorry that you’re mad that Adam cheated on you. You could do better. He looks like a pussy.”
She’d been the one to interrupt Adam and Shelly while I’d been pressing Roane against the wall around the corner… was it hot in here or was it me? I fingered my shirt’s collar and pulled it away to fan myself, but to no avail—I was burning up. I hoped my Immortal stuff wasn’t acting up.
“You’re going to be fine anyway.”
“What do you mean?”
“Look,” Kates continued. “I came to Benshire because of the Immortal.”
“The fairytale Santa Claus for vampires?” Her words exactly.
Kates grimaced and I caught a flash of embarrassment. “That girl that killed herself, she was the Immortal.”
Tell me about it.
“I was sent here to find the new Immortal.”
At her look of expectation, my eyes widened and I sat up straight. I was supposed to be confused. I was supposed to be shocked. I was supposed to be… I didn’t care. “Like I’m going to believe anything you say right now anyway.”
“Oh my god, Davy!”
“You kidnapped me!”
“I did not!” Kates surged to her feet.
“Evidence. I’m in a vampire castle! Against my will!”
“By chance! By chance. It was an accident. You’re not supposed to be here. You’re not supposed to be a part of this at all.”
I wasn’t supposed to be a part of this? She had no idea. “I’m still here, aren’t I?”
“Could you be more dramatic? I’m here. I’m going to protect you. Obviously.”
“Right,” I scoffed and crossed my arms. “Because you’re a slayer?”
“Because I’m your best friend,” Kates pointed out. “Idiot.”
“How’d you even know where we were?”
She grimaced. “Bennett knew. He followed Adam to your dorm and overheard him talking to Emily.”
Oh holy hell.