Crouching Vampire, Hidden Fang(29)

 

“One down, two to go,” I muttered to Kristoff.

 

“It matters not,” he grumbled.

 

I patted his hand before I could stop myself. His eyes darkened as my fingers lingered on the backs of his, capturing them in a gesture that made me flush to the tips of my toes.

 

“However . . .” Christian continued in a louder voice. I dragged my attention off of Kristoff and onto him. “However, two charges do remain.”

 

“Yes, let’s talk about that,” I said agreeably, trying not to let the feel of Kristoff’s thumb stroking the back of my hand distract me. “I don’t know where you got the idea that I killed Anniki, but I certainly did not. In fact, it was because of her that I got involved in the first place. If she hadn’t been mere seconds from death when I discovered her, I never would have agreed to become a Zorya.”

 

“Exactly,” Rowan said, sitting back in his chair, his fingers tapping ever so lightly on the table.

 

“What sort of a comment is that?” I asked a bit testily.

 

“He means that they all believe you wished to become a Zorya, and you simply took the most expedient method to do so,” Kristoff explained, his thumb still stroking my hand.

 

“They’re nuts, then,” I said, giving them all an astounded look. “I’m doing everything I can to stop being a Zorya.”

 

“Indeed.” Christian pursed his lips slightly. “And what, if you do not mind me asking, would that entail?”

 

I opened my mouth to answer, but thought better of it, taking my time before I finally said, “We’ll come to that, but after we’ve taken care of your stuff first.”

 

“I have a foreboding suspicion that your issue is very much connected with ours,” he answered dryly.

 

“You bet your-” I glanced over to where Esme watched with bright, interested eyes, and an air of being about to impart some of her homey advice. “Er . . . you bet.”

 

“Very well. As for the situation with the Zorya, she was found in your bathroom, a dagger stabbed into her heart. Locating and charging her killer is obviously beyond the mortal police; therefore, the crime falls under our jurisdiction. We have reviewed the facts, and can come to only one conclusion.”

 

“An erroneous conclusion,” Kristoff scoffed. “Pia said she didn’t kill the Zorya. I was hesitant to believe her at first, but I know now that she would not be capable of such an act.”

 

“Thank you,” I told him with a little smile that had his eyes darkening.

 

“Then who did kill her?” Sebastian asked. “You’ve stated that you didn’t. If it’s not you or the Zorya, who did?”

 

I hated to dwell on this, but now was not the time to worry about niceties. “I wasn’t alone that night.”

 

“Mercy!” Esme gasped.

 

Kristoff’s fingers tightened around mine.

 

I’m sorry. I’m not trying to rub it in.

 

He said nothing.

 

“We are aware that Alec was with you.” Christian inclined his head in an acknowledgment of what I was hesitant to say right out. “But he left shortly after two a.m., and the Zorya did not arrive until approximately three hours after that, whereupon she asked the desk clerk for your room number. He refused to give it to her, and she apparently left but, in reality, entered the hotel by a secluded side entrance, after which she was seen entering your room.”

 

I blinked at him a couple of times. “How on earth do you know all that? Even the police didn’t know what she’d been doing before she died.”

 

Kristoff’s fingers tightened again. “I was watching your room,” he admitted.

 

“You were watching me?” I asked, turning an incredulous look on him. “Why?”

 

“You are a Zorya. We had to know where you were at all times.”

 

My astonishment fizzled into irritation. “You mean you and Alec both spied on me?”

 

“It is our job . . .” He glanced toward the other vampires. “It was my job to be aware of all movements of the reapers, you included. It was not until I realized that you were different that I ceased surveillance.”

 

“You surveyed me,” I asked, outraged. “Like I was a criminal? Before or after we slept together?”

 

He had the grace to look embarrassed. “Mostly before.”

 

I punched him in the arm. “ Mostly before? Do you have the balls to sit there and tell me that you followed me around after we spent the night together?”

 

“Dear, a gentleman’s personal accoutrements are never mentioned in polite-”