“Why should I trust you?” he demanded with a strange gentleness.
“I only want to do what’s right.”
“Then tell me, Miss Warrington, did you let him mount you?”
She swallowed her shock. “What?”
“Was that part of your experiment?” His hand closed around her wrist with bruising force, belying the eerie softness of his voice. “Was he your lover?”
“No!” She let a look of utmost horror and disgust pass over her face. “He isn’t human! He can change into a wolf. Do you think that I—that I—” She choked. Forgive me, Kieran. “He was a subject of study, that’s all!” She made a visible effort to calm herself and lowered her voice. “He wanted to, but I held him off. That was why we fought, after we picked up Lori. I couldn’t let him touch me. I had to pretend, to make excuses. And then he left.”
She saw the subtle changes in Arnoux’s expression that told her she had finally convinced him, that her story held together and matched whatever it was he believed of Kieran.
“You are fortunate that the beast didn’t kill you for refusing him.” He leaned back again, his body relaxing by increments. “He could never control his animal passions. It was my mistake to believe he could learn. Your refusing him undoubtedly drove him to kill that unfortunate girl.” A hard light came into his eyes. “Maybe you can be of use to me.”
“I said I want to help.” She hesitated. “If I can help you find him—what will you do to him?”
Suspicion closed his features again. “What would you do, Miss Warrington?”
She lowered her eyes. “He’s still an anomaly of nature, something that should be analyzed—”
“No. Make your choice, Miss Warrington. You will either help me hunt him down and kill him, or you are only a burden to me.”
“And if I’m of no use?” She let terror edge into her voice. “What will you do to me?”
He stared at her. “I would like to believe you, Miss Warrington. I have looked for an ally for a very long time. You and I should be enemies, because you succor vermin just as you took in Kieran.” He looked out the window. “No one has understood my duty, the curse that haunts me because once I was merciful. I can no longer afford mercy.” He released her wrist and clenched his fist so tightly that the blue veins under the skin stood out in harsh relief. “Can you know what it’s like to spend your life trying to undo a single mistake? Kieran was my great sin. And now I must atone.”
Alex beat back her loathing and reached out to touch Arnoux’s arm. Lightly, hesitantly, as if she wished to offer comfort but feared his reaction. “So, it seems, must I. How can I prove to you that I want to help in any way I can?”
Slowly he turned back, looked at her hand on his arm. The harsh lines of his face revealed nothing. “I’ll give you a choice, Miss Warrington. Go back to your truck and leave here. Don’t look back.” He trapped her gaze. “Or you may hide your truck and come with me.”
“You’d just… let me go?”
“No one will believe any tale you tell.” His lip curled in disgust. “But if you want to atone for your part in the murders…”
“All right.” She threw back her shoulders. “Where do you want me to go?”
“Drive west along the expressway until you find a place to hide your truck. I’ll be right behind you.”
She opened her pack and fumbled for her keys. He grabbed the backpack from her hand. “I’ll keep this until we meet again.”
She just barely kept herself from hesitating. Her wallet was in the backpack, but it wasn’t the wallet she was worried about. Her diary was in the pack as well, and it contained incriminating statements that would tell Arnoux she was lying about her feelings for Kieran.
She slid out of the truck, half expecting him to attack her from behind. But he only watched with those strange, fanatic’s eyes while she reached her truck, started the engine, and got back onto the expressway. Her damp palms slipped on the wheel, and cold sweat soaked the hair at her temples. She’d done it. She’d pulled it off. So far…