With his last lick of life, he forced his eyes to focus on the man's face. The expression staring back at him was one of total control.
The guy's done this before, Butch thought. And he's very comfortable with murder.
God, Beth.
What the hell would a man like this do to Beth?
Wrath felt the cop's body go limp. He was still alive, but barely.
The human's total lack of fear was remarkable. The cop had been pissed to get jumped, and he'd fought back admirably, but he'd never been scared. And now that the Fade was upon him, he was resigned to his death. Maybe almost relieved by it.
Damn. Wrath could imagine feeling the same way.
And it was a shame to kill someone who was able to die as a warrior would. Without fear or hesitation. Such males were few and far between, be they vampires or humans.
The cop's mouth started moving. He was trying to speak. Wrath leaned down.
"Don't… hurt… her."
Wrath found himself answering, "I'm here to save her."
"No!" A voice rang out down the alley.
Wrath turned his head. Beth was running toward them
"Let him go!"
He loosened his grip on the cop's throat. He wasn't going to kill the guy in front of her. He needed her to trust him more than he wanted to help the cop meet his maker.
As Beth skidded to a halt, Wrath dropped his hand, and the human fell to the ground. Tortured gasping sounds and hoarse gagging rang out in the shadows.
Beth knelt over the heaving policeman, glaring upward. "You almost killed him!"
Wrath cursed, knowing he had to get the hell out of there. Other cops were bound to show up.
He looked down to the other end of the alley.
"Where do you think you're going!" Her voice was scissor-sharp with anger.
"You want me to stick around so I can get arrested again?"
"You deserve to get thrown in jail!"
With a lurch the cop tried to stand up, but his legs buckled. Still, he pushed Beth's hands away when she reached for him.
Wrath needed to find a dark corner so he could demateri-alize. If nearly killing someone had shaken Beth, pulling the disappearing act in front of her would only seal the deal on freaking her out.
He turned away. Began to stride off. He didn't like the idea of leaving her, but what else could he do? If he got his ass shot and killed, who would look after her? And he couldn't let himself get thrown in jail. Those cells had steel bars, which meant when dawn came, he couldn't dematerialize to safety. Faced with those two outcomes, if a bunch of cops tried to apprehend him right now, he'd have to slaughter them all.
And then what would she think of him?
"Stop right there!" she yelled.
He kept going, and her footfalls sounded out as she came running.
"I said, stop!" She grabbed onto his arm and pulled hard.
He glared at her, frustrated by the way things had gone down. Courtesy of his song and dance with her buddy, she was terrified of him, and that was going to make taking care of her a bitch. He doubted he had time to bring her around again so she would willingly go anywhere with him. Which meant he might even have to resort to taking her against her will when her transition hit. And that wasn't going to be fun for either one of them.
As her scent drifted up into his nose, he knew she was perilously close to the change.
Maybe he needed to take her with him now.
Wrath glanced around. He couldn't very well throw her over his shoulder here, just fifteen yards from the back of the police station. Not in full view of that damned cop.
No, he was going to have to come right before dawn and abduct her. And then he'd chain her in Darius's chamber if he had to, because it was either that or she was going to die.
"Why the hell did you lie!" she yelled. "You didn't know my father."
"Yes, I did."
"Liar," she spat. "You're a killer and a liar."
"At least you got the first part right."
Her eyes widened, horror dawning on her face. "Those throwing stars… in your pockets. You murdered Mary. Didn't you?"
He frowned. "I haven't killed any women."
"So I'm right about the second part, too."
Wrath eyed the cop, who was still down for the count, but gaining ground.
Damn it, he thought. What if Beth didn't have until dawn? What if she took off and he couldn't find her?
He lowered his voice. "You've been really hungry lately, haven't you?"
She jerked back. "What?"
"Hungry, but not gaining any weight. And tired. So very tired. Your eyes have been stinging, too, especially in the daytime, right?" He leaned forward. "You're looking at raw meat and wondering what it tastes like. Your teeth, the upper ones in front, have been sore. Your joints ache, and your skin feels tight. And it's getting tighter."