Because he’d killed them. Nice.
“That might be why I’m especially vengeful when lied to now,” he finished, pointed gaze on the vampires.
“We’re … we’re not telling you what we know,” Two rushed out, pallid now. “We can’t.”
“If you think to keep the truth from me because I was once the enforcer of vampire laws, think again. Those laws no longer apply. I’m as much an outlaw as you. Tell me, and live.” McKell withdrew the blade from One’s leg and thrust it into Two’s. More howling ensued. “Don’t, and die.” He twisted the hilt, and the howling became pleading.
McKell glanced back at Ava. To ensure she watched? She nodded her approval.
“Nine-point-nine,” Noelle said.
He frowned. “Why was I deducted?”
“You waited too long to do the twisting.”
His frown deepened, but he gave no reply. Ava was surprised, though, that he wasn’t chastising Noelle for such an “honest” critique. Most men would have. They would have thought the girl was insensitive or crazy. Yes, she’d heard both descriptions before. Many times. And Ava had put the ones who’d said so in the hospital.
But McKell—for the most part—just went along with them, as if what they did and said was normal. And that … delighted her. Seriously? It delights you? Now she was the one frowning. She wasn’t supposed to like him more with every minute that passed. She was supposed to be growing tired of him. Like she had with every other man in her life. Before they could grow tired of her.
McKell faced the vampires. “Stop blubbering. You’re an embarrassment to our kind.”
“But that … that hurts,” Two sniffed.
“Which you can blame on yourself. I gave you a choice, didn’t I?”
More blubbering, more sniffing, and Ava shook her head. McKell was right. That was embarrassing for all vampirekind.
With a swift jerk, McKell withdrew the knife. As predicted, blood dripped onto the carpet. “Let’s try this one more time. How do you—”
There was a knock on the door, distracting him. He glanced at Ava. She shrugged, a don’t-look-at-me gesture. She and Noelle had done much worse than a little torturing over the years, so everyone here kind of expected such behavior.
Noelle sat up ramrod-straight and growled. “Just a sec,” she called to the intruder. Then, to those in the room, “I told everyone to stay away, but clearly someone didn’t listen and needs to be fired.”
Another knock.
“What?” Noelle shouted.
No one replied, but the metal door did slide open. Mrs. Tremain, the ironfisted matriarch of the wealthiest family in New Chicago, marched inside on a cloud of expensive perfume. “What is going on in here? Who is screaming?”
As always, her expression was stern. No telling what kind of treatments she did to her face, but it was unlined despite her fifty-something years. She wore a starched button-up shirt and a pencil skirt. She was thin. Too thin. And when she spied the bleeding vampires, she merely arched a barely-there brow.
Her gaze narrowed on McKell, who still clutched the dripping knife. “Who are you?”
“Mother,” Noelle said, exasperated. “We’re kinda busy here. Come back later.”
Mother Tremain straightened her spine as though she’d been slapped. “What’s going on?” she demanded again. “Who is that man? Are we being robbed?”
Ava despised the way she annunciated the beginning of each new sentence.
“Help us,” One suddenly begged.
“Please,” Two pleaded.
Mrs. Tremain’s gray eyes glazed over, and she took a step forward. “Yes. Yes, I’ll help you.”
Nice to know even disapproving matrons weren’t immune to vampire wiles. Ava popped to her feet and waved a hand in front of the woman’s face. Distraction was the only thing that helped. “Hey, Mrs. Tremain. Nice to see you again. Long time, huh?”
The glaze faded, replaced by disdain, and the old woman’s chin lifted. “Ava Sans. I should have known.” So much disapproval rested in that tone. “Noelle has always liked bringing home the trash, rather than leaving it at the curb where it belongs.”
McKell strode toward her, bless his heart, as if he meant to defend Ava’s honor. For the first time in Ava’s memory, something managed to intimidate the staunch matron, truly intimidate her, and Mrs. Tremain backed up a step as two hundred and fifty pounds of enraged vampire bore down on her.
“McKell,” Ava said, and he instantly stopped, surprising her. “You can’t kill her. Or believe me, she’d already be dead.”
“Can I hurt her?”
“No,” Ava said at the same time Noelle said, “Yes. Mother, I told you what would happen if you ever insulted my friend again. I’d marry a bum right off the street. I swear to God I was telling the truth.”
The matriarch kept her attention on McKell. “As if you have the courage to—” She squeaked as he started back up.
“Please don’t,” Ava added. For McKell’s benefit. She didn’t want him in trouble with the law.
Again, he stopped. “Very well.”
No question, he was getting a reward when they got home. Home. Their home. Just for a little while, but still theirs. A bolt of awareness traveled through her, lightning to her nerve endings.
Where had her fight gone? Her resistance?
Noelle hurtled a pillow at the woman who had always considered Ava beneath every member of her family. “Mother, I told you I had important business up here. Now get out before I tie you to a chair.”
That chin lifted yet another notch. “Fine.” She turned to leave, throwing over her shoulder, “But you will clean this room when you’re done.”
“We both know that’s not going to happen,” Noelle returned. “And tell Cook to fire up the grill. I’m in the mood for a steak.”
“And maybe butterscotch cookies,” Ava suggested. “Tell her she used too much nutmeg last time, and—”
The door closed with a snap, and there was a moment of charged silence.
“This is the best day of my life,” Noelle said with a grin that lit her entire face. “My mother yelped. Did you guys hear it, or was I just dreaming?”
“I heard,” One said through his tears. “And I’m only speaking to McKell.”
Ava reclaimed her spot on the couch. “Me, too.”