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“You know what,” I decided, nudging her back, away from him. “I’ll just kill him. It’ll be easier that way and ensure once and for all that he’ll stop following us, whether he has a vial or not.” Which he probably didn’t, because he hadn’t known I was a Graykey.
Melaina lifted her brows as if amused by my decision.
“You sure?” she asked, her lips tightening as if she couldn’t quite contain the urge to laugh.
I scowled. “Just because I’ve never taken anyone’s life before doesn’t mean I’m incapable, you know.”
“Oh, of course not.” But she still looked as if she wanted to laugh at me. Sweeping out a hand, she motioned toward the man. “Be my guest then, sweetling. Show us your bloodthirsty, savage ways.”
Sniffing, I scowled and stepped past her, approaching the tree where one of the daggers I’d thrown had embedded itself. The cat who’d been hovering behind it darted out toward the man and jumped onto his back, growling deep in its throat at me as I yanked the blade free of the tree trunk.
“Scat,” I muttered, kicking at it to scare it off. “Get out of here.”
The pesky thing didn’t move.
I narrowed my eyes, and the cat looked up at me with a freaky, perceptive stare. Finally, it made a sniffing sound, like a sneeze, telling me I didn’t intimidate it in the least, and it pranced off the man’s spine, only to sit on the back of his head, swinging its tail lazily as if it was no longer concerned about me being a threat.
Okay, that was it. Not even the damn cat thought I could kill anyone. Now I really had something to prove.
Except the man was so very still. Maybe he was already dead. That way I wouldn’t have to take his life. Hoping maybe, possibly I’d be off the hook this time, I knelt next to the slumped High Clifter and checked his pulse, only to find a steady thump pressing back against my fingertips.
Damn. I was going to have to do this.
Blowing out a long, steadying breath, I rotated my shoulders to loosen them. You shouldn’t stab anyone with such tightness in your shoulders, right? Might throw off your aim and cause you to miss a vital organ. Then they’d bleed out slowly and painfully. And there was no way I could stand to watch that kind of mess.
Finally loose and limber enough to murder, I lifted my arm back high over my head, the hilt of my dagger gripped tightly in my fist, and I focused on a spot in the center of his spine. Except my gaze got a little caught on the back of his head and the way the ends of his short, dark hair curled ever so slightly against the collar of his tunic. An urge to reach out and wrap one of the locks around a single finger filled me. Hi
s shoulders were so wide and superbly shaped too.
His form truly was a feast for the eyes.
And suddenly, I realized I couldn’t kill him this way.
Because, you know, stabbing a person in the back didn’t seem very sporting. That was why. Yes. I didn’t want my first kill to be quite so murderous, you know.
I’d always pictured it with me being a lot more defensive—struggling and gasping for breath—and not knowing if I’d survive the next moment. This felt a bit too offensive.
“You want me to do it?” Melaina asked suddenly, making me jump because I’d completely forgotten she was standing there, watching.
“No,” I snapped, popping to my feet so I could glare back at her. “I got this.”
I did have this.
“Yes, but—”
“I said I’d do it!”
“Well, good God,” she shot back, equally irritated. “Then get to it already. This is like watching a sloth commit murder.”
Putting my foot against the man’s hip bone, I pushed him back into a roll until he flopped limply on his back again. There. Now he was fully capable of defending himself. If he were conscious, of course.
Shit, I’d forgotten how sickeningly handsome his face was. How could anyone destroy such masculine beauty? I’d be a monster if I took that pretty face from the world.
“For the love of all things holy,” Melaina groaned. “Just give me the damn dagger; I’ll kill him.”
She really would too. Probably quickly and heartlessly. I pulled the knife away when she went to reach for it, and this odd inner place inside me panicked.
“Get back,” I snapped.
