Darren practically spit his answer at me. “We’re allowed to make suggestions, but if a female chooses not to mate with our selections, then we have to back down. He can also shut down our business ventures whenever he pleases.”
I bet he could. According to Gray, the king shut down a drug ring the wolves had been running. “So the king won’t let you rape women or run drugs. You have it hard, man.”
I should have watched my mouth, but I was starting to agree with the king more and more.
His eyes began to take on the predator inside him. His features elongated as he struggled to control his urge to change. “It will all be over once the Ranger finds your body. He’ll have to believe it was Sharpe since the idiot professor is in custody. I’ve already written the note. When he raids Sharpe’s apartment, he’ll find traces of you everywhere. Dad’s taking care of that. I have to bring you in and we can finally be done. When Sloane tries to bring in Sharpe and the king saves him, the rest of the wolves will finally see him for what he really is.”
I saw a few problems with the scenario and wondered if the Castle men weren’t every bit as crazy as Peter Hamilton. “What if the king allows the arrest?”
“He won’t.” Darren’s hatred was thick in the air. “Vampires protect each other. They expect us to do what they tell us, but they only care about their own rules. Otherwise, why would they let some scum like Sharpe live after everything he’s done?”
I didn’t point out that they’d done the same things as Sharpe. I chose another tactic because I wasn’t so hot on becoming victim number seven. “You’re underestimating Lieutenant Sloane. He won’t arrest Sharpe.”
“Of course he will. He doesn’t play favorites. He’ll arrest anyone he thinks has done something wrong. Look how he fucked with Quinn last year. That was sweet. My dad laughed the whole time Sloane was hauling that pervert out. Too bad he couldn’t make it stick.”
“I assure you if he thinks Alexander Sharpe killed me, he will not arrest him. Sharpe will die and there won’t be anything left to identify. He loves me. He won’t leave it to the justice system.”
“He’s a Ranger.”
“He’s a man first. We’re getting married,” I explained logically. “Would you calmly arrest the man who killed your mate? If he kills Sharpe, then the king might have a problem with it, but everyone else will think justice is done.”
That seemed to flummox the younger man. He frowned as he thought about it. I felt my back touch the concrete barrier of the small elevator that led to the second and third floors. Darren was thinking and generally growing more panicked as he considered the angles. I considered the angles, too. Even if Darren decided I was right, he couldn’t call a mulligan and get a new hand. He had to play the one he’d dealt himself, and that included getting rid of the obnoxious PI who screwed everything up.
Very cautiously, I slipped my hand back and hit the button for the elevator. As I heard it start to ding, I reached into my bag and pulled the .45 Gray had given me. Without hesitation, I shot him squarely in the shoulder and watched as he was blown back by the impact. His entire left side flew around like he was attached to a chain someone had yanked. I threw my body into the open elevator and immediately hit the number two button and then punched close doors as many times as I could in the few seconds it took to work.
Even as the doors were closing, I watched Darren’s body jerk up from where he’d fallen. He turned to the elevator and he growled low in the back of his throat. It started as a growl, but before the doors were fully together, it was a howl that shook the garage.
It was the single, longest elevator ride in the history of time. I’m pretty sure of that. The whole time I stood there, holding the gun and waiting for the doors to open, I fought the instinct that threatened to take over. It was stronger, possibly because I’d let it loose the night before. There was something inside me, like a caged wolf, clawing to get out. Adrenaline rushed through my system, seeming to feed it. I couldn’t lose control. I’d been insane the night before, nearly unstoppable. Marcus wasn’t here and I wasn’t sure I could get control back without him. The first time someone had knocked me out with horse tranquilizers and the next time Marcus had been there. What if I went crazy? We were in a public place. No, it couldn’t happen.
I needed to get to the Jeep and drive like the wind to Gray’s office in Garland. I had the address. I would go there and dump everything in his lap. He would handle it and I wouldn’t have to find out how far gone I was. I forced that twitchy beast down. I shoved it away with every ounce of will I had.