Ripper by Lexi Blake Page B

it proved once and for all that I had a death wish that I was a little excited at the thought of meeting a strange vampire.
    “I don’t like that look,” Gray said quietly.
    I drummed my fingers on the table. “It really doesn’t matter, Sloane. You won’t have to put up with it for long. So, are you going to call Jamie or do you want me to?”
    His handsome face was a mask of confusion. “Why would we call Jamie?”
    “To come get me. Did you expect me to walk home? You made me leave my car.” I had been willing to come with him because I thought we were going to discuss the case and that photograph of me. I was not willing to buy whatever he was selling without some sort of explanation.
    His jaw tensed, forming a stubborn line. “I told you you’re not going home. He knows who you are.”
    “Then I’ll stay with Jamie. You can’t expect me to sleep in some fleabag motel until you solve this case. That’s completely unrealistic.” Jamie could protect me when I couldn’t protect myself. I wasn’t planning on mentioning anything at all to Nate. He would have me in a jail cell with a phalanx of armed guards, and then he might sleep well for the first time in over a decade.
    He swallowed once and then decided to plow through. “You’re staying with me. My house is secure.”
    “Yeah, I bet it is.” Now I knew his game and I wondered briefly if he’d set this whole thing up himself. He must be really hard up if he had to go through all of this just to get laid. He should do what I did. He should prowl a skanky bar, get really plastered, and lower his expectations. It worked every time.
    “I have a room for you.” Gray frowned my way. “I’m not going to jump you the minute I get you home. If it would make you feel better, you can ask your mother to join us, or your friend Olivia.”
    Both of whom would be shoving me into the Ranger’s arms as fast as they could. No, thank you. “I’m not staying with you. You can’t force me to. If you insist, then I’ll take the motel.”
    “Why?” He was looking down at his hands. They were big hands. His voice was grave and when his eyes finally found mine, I saw a wealth of pain in his deep blue eyes. It made me stop my sarcastic inner commentary. “I wouldn’t hurt you, Kelsey. I would try hard to never change around you. I have excellent control over my form. You wouldn’t have to see that…side of me.”
    Now I was confused. “I didn’t think you would hurt me physically, Sloane.”
    “My name is Gray,” he insisted.
    “What do you change into, Gray? Why would you be afraid of hurting me?” I was really interested and on more than a personal level. I have excellent instincts and, while I knew that Gray wasn’t entirely human, I couldn’t tell what he was. It bugged me.
    Gray’s eyes went stubborn as though he knew he’d made the wrong move and wasn’t sure how to take it back. “I thought Jamie told you and that was why you didn’t want to be alone with me.”
    I gazed deeply into his eyes. He wasn’t a vampire, obviously, but he also wasn’t a werewolf or shifter. He didn’t have the right energy. I couldn’t put my finger on it. If he was a witch then he wouldn’t have talked about changing. Hags could change, but they were exclusively female. Fae creatures didn’t shift form, either. They used magic to affect glamours, but they didn’t change their essential forms. I could only think of one other species with the power to change forms and the very real potential to hurt someone they liked. The room turned cold around me as I realized the truth.
    “Please tell me you’re only half demon.”
    He seemed to retreat, everything about him becoming smaller somehow. His shoulders hunched, his head drooping a bit and his eyes slid away from mine. “My father was a demon. My mother was an ambitious human. I’m a halfling. I seem to be more human than demon, though. I have the physical strength of a demon and I can change my form, but I