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I avoided Julian’s name and found one I felt better about.

Me: What’s happening?

Daphne: Lauren’s body was found in my basement.

Me: Shifter?

Daphne: Looks like a vamp this time. Better get down here ASAP

Me: On my way

I dressed in record time, replaying Carmichael’s confession in my head. But Mama grabbed my hand before I walked out the door.

“You should rest. Where are you going?”

“Work. It’s important.” I pressed a kiss on her pale cheek and fled down the steps.

Julian’s car pulled up as I rushed toward the path through the woods. The passenger door swung open. He was dressed as impeccably as always as though nothing was amiss, his blue eyes shining as he waited, hands on the steering wheel.

“I’m not ready to talk to y—”

“We’re both overdue at the base, and I imagine I’ll be in far more trouble than you will. We need to talk on the way whether you’re ready or not. It’s life and death.”

With a deep sigh, I slipped inside. Julian hit the gas the second I was seated, and I hurried to pull on my seatbelt as he continued.

“I suspect I may be accused of murder shortly, and there are some things you should know.”

That was not what I expected. I turned toward him. “You what? Did you kill someone?”

“No.” Julian’s indigo eyes met mine, unblinking.

“Watch the road, please,” I said, settling back into the supple leather and folding my arms. “Spill it.”

“The body found in the early hours of the morning bore the mark of a vampire. The evidence corroborates it. My whereabouts were unaccounted for last night when the charm wore off and earlier when I left the book club meeting to find you.”

“I’ll say I was with you.” The words were out before I thought them through. I was as angry as I’d ever been, but I believed Julian hadn’t done it, and I wouldn’t let him suffer for something he wasn’t responsible for.

“Vampires are fast, Charlotte. If I wanted someone dead, I could rip out their throat in seconds. You wouldn’t have even noticed I was gone.”

I swallowed. “But you didn’t.”

“No.”

“Watch the road, Julian.”

His lips pressed into a thin line, and I suspected he’d have to have his steering wheel replaced again as he squeezed. “The general has asked me multiple times to step down from my position.”

And there was more information I hadn’t expected. “Why?”

“Most of the others don’t trust me. Neither do many of my own kind.”

“Why?” I asked again, recalling the way the people on Mainstreet had stared at him when we’d first gone to the pub. How Murphy had given him that awful Bloody Mary.

He ground the leather and plastic between his hands, and I wondered if we’d make it to the base before he destroyed the car completely.

“I am not the most open person.”

That was the understatement of the year. I made a phhft noise and motioned for him to continue.