“And now you’re done with him,” I said, trying to keep him talking. The more distracted he became, the better chance I’d have of going for the gun. “You didn’t come here for Robyn, did you? You came to kill my brother.”

“I came to kill you both.” His shadow shrugged on the pavement in front of me, and rage swelled like a roaring blaze inside me. “Since the council found out you infected and murdered poor Leland Blum, you’ve been declared public enemy number one. I was going to return Robyn and throw your corpse in as a bonus. Looks like now I won’t be able to take her back alive.” His silhouette shook its head as we passed the Elephant Cafe. “It’s such a shame I couldn’t get to her before you killed her too.”

I had to swallow fury in order to speak. “You really think they’re going to believe that?”

“I think they’re going to believe their noses. Your scent is all over her. And they’re going to believe the enforcers who’ve already testified via video that you admitted to infecting Corey Morris. You made it easy for me, Titus. And your brother was a far more accommodating—and prolific—infector than I could ever have hoped for.”

Son of a bitch. Drew set the trap, and I walked right into it. He’d known all along that I’d take the blame to protect my brother. That I would tie my own noose, in front of my entire household.

“So, what, you infected Justus, then sat back to see what would happen?”

The silhouette of his head fell back as he snorted. “Do you think I would leave all this to chance? I made sure Spencer wasn’t working the night I infected Justus so that he wouldn’t be intercepted in the ER. Then, when you went on patrol by yourself, I anonymously emailed him a picture of his ‘girlfriend’ fucking her actual boyfriend—that was not easy to get—and told him where to find them. He did the rest on his own.” Drew shrugged. “I’m sure he didn’t mean to hurt anyone, but the newly infected have very little impulse control.”

Bastard! How could I not have seen what was happening? How could I have lived and worked alongside Drew for years, yet had no idea how deranged his ambition was?

His shadow shrugged again as we passed the dark, frozen carousel. “New, untrained stray plus psychological trauma equals psychotic train wreck with the strength of several normal men. You remember that math, don’t you Titus? You’re the one who taught me the equation.”

“So we could prevent it!” Anger thrumming through me, I stopped walking and turned slowly. “That wasn’t an instruction manual, Drew! We’re supposed to be helping people!”

“And now that I’m Alpha, I’ll finally be in a position to.”

“You got there by infecting and murdering people! How could you do that to Justus? You’ve known him since he was nine years old. He thinks of you like a brother!”

Drew rolled his eyes. “Justus doesn’t think about anyone but himself. But don’t worry.” He glanced pointedly at the gun still aimed at me. “He won’t suffer much longer.”

“You’re psychotic,” I spat, disgust riding every word. Rage fueling every breath.

Drew’s eyes narrowed. He raised the gun until I was staring straight down the barrel.

My heart slammed against my rib cage, but even fear couldn’t mute my fury. I had to get that gun away from him. “How are you going to explain the gunshot, Drew?”

“There are a hundred drunk college kids partying in the herpetarium. If they even hear the shot over their music, they’ll assume some idiot took his second amendment rights a little too seriously.”

My brows rose. “And the blood?”

“I don’t have to explain that, as long as I’m not here when people find it.”

“That’s not what I mean. If the cops find blood with no body, they’ll test the DNA to identify it. And what do you think they’ll find?”

Drew shrugged, but couldn’t quite hide his uncertainty. “Jace said they always assume the sample was contaminated with cat DNA.”

“And how do you think the council will react to you giving them one more chance to figure out that’s not the case?” I lowered my hands boldly and looked straight into his eyes. “Their most important rule isn’t ‘don’t kill people’. It isn’t ‘don’t infect people’. It’s ‘do not under any circumstances expose us to the public’. Do you really want to crown yourself Alpha with that hanging over your head? Do you think they’ll let you?”

Drew frowned. His aim wavered. “If I bring them your body, they won’t—”

A dark blur flew out of the shadows. Drew screamed as he was driven to the ground. The pistol flew from his hand and slid across the pavement into the bushes. He landed on his back, a large black cat on his chest. Growling inches from his face.

I blinked, stunned, trying to process the sudden tackle.

“Robyn, no!” I shouted. The last thing she needed was another murder on her record. Justified though it may be. “Don’t—”

She lunged for his throat and sank her teeth into his flesh.

The fragrance of fresh blood blossomed in the night air, and like the scent of a lover, it made me want things. Crave things. But I pushed those primitive urges back. “Robyn—”

“It’s not me.” She pushed her way through the foliage at the edge of the path behind the carousel. “It’s—”

“Justus no!” The order rumbled from my throat with a depth and resonance no human could have produced. I lurched toward him, and my brother froze, his teeth still piercing Drew’s flesh, on either side of his trachea. “Let him go.”

Justus growled for a second. Drew’s breath hitched, his chest stilled in panic. Then my brother let him go and backed away.

Blood spurted from both sides of Drew’s neck onto the concrete.

“Shit!” Robyn rushed forward and pressed her hands against the wounds, trying to hold them closed. I pulled my shirt over my head and held it out to her, but when she reached up to take it, more blood poured onto the concrete.

Drew’s mouth opened, as if he wanted to say something.

“Don’t talk. You’re making it worse,” Robyn whispered, tears filling her eyes. But by then his gaze had lost focus.