Page 105 of An Oath at Midnight

“I’m not sure why you think I’d answer,” he said, his expression now stoic, even though fury still burned in his eyes.

“I know we went about this the wrong way, but I would really appreciate it.” He was about to tell us to get lost, I could see it all over his face. “You might remember my sister Willow? Willow Thornheart. She was the same year as you. I think you shared a few classes?”

He stilled, then straightened. “You’re Willow’s sister?”

I didn’t know if he and Willow knew each other well, but I knew my sister was a good person. She sure as hell hadn’t been cruel or a bully in high school. “Yes, and I’m sure you’ve heard the accusations being made against her.”

“I have. They’re utter bullshit, of course,” he said, surprising me.

“You don’t think she’s guilty?”

His glaze flicked to Bram, then he slowly sat back in his chair, so I did the same. Then I grabbed Bram’s hand and tugged him down as well when he continued to loom.

“No,” Luke said. “I don’t.”

Was that because he knew my sister wasn’t the murdering kind or because he was the one doing the murdering? “So you remember her from school?”

“She was one of the few people who were kind to me back then.” He smiled and it was…terrifying. “She spoke up more than once when I was outnumbered and getting the shit kicked out of me.”

“Why did they pick on you?” I asked, genuinely interested but also trying to get him to open up.

He tapped a finger on his desk. “Because they didn’t know what I was. They sensed something…something wasn’t right. I scared them, I guess, so they attacked first.”

I wanted to ask what he was, but I didn’t think he’d like that, especially since he seemed to have gone to a lot of trouble to hide it. “Did you ever have any trouble with Robert and Jenna Hazark, or Chase Golden, Clara Hope or Calvin Adler and his cousin Katana? I know you do business with them now, and move in the same…um, circles, but they were a tight group even back then, and I get the feeling they weren’t the nicest in high school.”

He studied me for several seconds. “They were bullies then and now. Narcissists, all of them. I’ve enjoyed coming back and…repaying them for their treatment of me and a few others from back then.”

“Does repayment include torture and disembowelment?” Bram asked.

Luke smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes.

Bram stared back. “How about removing and collecting limbs?”

“You think I’m killing them off?” Luke asked.

“Are you?” Bram asked without looking away.

“Do I look like a vicious killer, sweetheart?” Luke asked, turning back to me.

Well, yeah, he kind of did.

“I mean, you’d know,” he said and tilted his head toward Bram.

Bram bared his teeth.

Okay, testosterone was flying all over the damn place. We needed to move this along. “Can you remember anyone else they bullied back then?”

“You’re grasping at straws, you know that, don’t you?” Luke said.

“Maybe. Humor me.”

A small smile curled his lips, and this time it did reach his cool blue eyes. They actually sparkled. It was unsettling as hell. “I like you, sweetheart, you’re tenacious.”

“She’s not your sweetheart. Say it again and I’ll slit your fucking throat,” Bram said.

Luke didn’t spare him a glance, but the muscle in his jaw pulsed. “The only reason you’re still sitting in my office and not out on your asses is because I liked Willow. She was a good person, and I haven’t encountered many of them over the years. Yes, they fucked with other kids. Mainly those younger than them. There was a group of kids that hung out at the library, a poetry group. They were their number one targets.”

“Can you give us names?”