“No,” I said.
“Me neither. I never can on nights like this.”
“Nights like what?”
“You know how it is,” he said. He gestured vaguely. “Full moon. The world’s in chaos. People are out hunting. Vampires are roaming around. There might be a werewolf or two bothering people in the Grove.”
“The night’s almost over,” I pointed out. Usually, vampires went to bed when the sun started to come up. It hadn’t been a hard adjustment for me. That was how my life had been like before. I’d fall asleep when the sun came up and wake up as it was setting. That was the life of a hunter.
“Yet you’re still awake.”
“Okay, you’re right. I couldn’t sleep.”
“Cupcakes are a good solution,” he said.
“Any other suggestions?” I asked. “You’ve been a vampire for a long time.”
“Too long,” he said.
We sat in silence for awhile, both eating our cupcakes. Finally, Lex set his wrapper down and looked over at me.
“Don’t do anything stupid,” he finally said.
“Excuse me?”
“You heard me just fine.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You’ve been hunting the Vampire of Garnetia for five years, Kimberly. You aren’t about to give that up. He knows it. I know it. Helena knows it. Hell, even Raven knows it. Just don’t do anything stupid, especially when you don’t understand the consequences.”
I wasn’t sure whether I should be horrified that Lex was calling me out on my feeble attempt to kill Liam or whether I should be grateful that Liam had such a good friend.
I also wondered why Liam hadn’t locked me up after he’d caught me with the stake. The truth was that I’d brought it to the room, but I hadn’t planned to use it on him. Instead, I wanted to ask him about stakes and vampire hearts. I wanted to know why a stake could kill us, but something like a knife probably wouldn’t. Was there a reason that stakes in particular were so effective?
Only, he’d caught me, and then he’d given me the low-down on my former “friends.” We’d made love and gone to bed, and I’d honestly expected him to lock me up after all of that, but he hadn’t.
Why hadn’t he locked me up?
Maybe it was some sort of test, which I was obviously failing. Maybe he trusted that Lex and the other vampires would keep watch over the house. Either way, I wasn’t really sure what to say to Lex.
“I’m not going to kill him,” I finally told Lex.
“So, you say.”
“I’m not.”
“Why not? After all of this time, why should I believe that you suddenly have this huge heart of gold?”
“Because I’m not a liar,” I spat out, tired of the discussion.
“Everyone lies, Kimberly. It’s just a matter of how much, and why.” Lex stood up and stretched, looking tired and worn out. “That’s a wrap for me,” he said. “I’m heading to bed. Take care of yourself.”
“Yeah, you too.”
He walked to the doorway and stopped. Then he looked back over.
“Hey, Kim?”