17. Silas

"You better have a damnedgood explanation for this, King." Anderson's veins are popping at his temples, his jaw clenched so hard I half expect him to crack some teeth. "A dead officer and blood reserves being used on a human?"

"Braun was assaulting a human," I reply, my hands clasped behind my back.

"And whose word do we have for that? Yours?" Anderson waves vaguely at me.

I fix him with a mild glare. "Questioning my integrity again, are we, sir?"

"Considering you just tore a fellow officer's head off, I think it's probably warranted."

"Braun assaulted a human. He had her on the ground, where he was raping her, and feeding off her." I need to take a deep breath before continuing, because holy fuck the fury burns down my ribs and has my heart contracting painfully. "She's lucky I got there when I did, and that I acted as fast as I did. Because otherwise, she'd be dead."

Anderson huffs out a breath and rises to his feet. "Well, Braun is dead, so-"

"I don't know how you think rapists should be dealt with, but in my book, execution's rather appropriate." Rage prickles at my palms, and I rub them together behind my back, trying to get a handle on my anger. I need to at least try and give a front of being reasonable.

Anderson leans back on his desk, crossing his arms over his chest. "It looked very much like bloodlust, and that's a problem when you're one of my senior officers."

"It wasn't bloodlust." It's a lie. I blacked right the fuck out. "I felt compelled to protect an innocent woman."

"I looked at your file," Anderson says, and a chill runs down my spine. "I saw your… history."

"My history, sir?" I roll my shoulders, biting back the gnawing shame that overwhelms me. "Everyone has a history."

"And yours is rather colorful isn't it, King?"

I clench my molars together. "That was a long time ago."

"It still makes you susceptible to episodes of bloodlust," he insists. "Past heavy drug use has an effect on the brain, and even in a state of immortality it can be dangerous."

"It wasn't bloodlust." I scoff out a laugh. "I can't believe I've been hauled in here when Braun lured off a human and was feeding on her, fucking raping her, but I'm in here like the naughty schoolboy who's going to get a ruler on the knuckles?"

"Watch your tone," Anderson snaps.

"You fucking watch your tone." I take a deep breath. Trying to look reasonable isn't working out so well. "Look, I'm sorry. But I have a very personal aversion to rape, and what Braun was doing is not just against our rules, but against society's laws in general."

"Yes, thank you, King, I'm aware of that," Anderson says with a roll of his eyes.

"Great, so why am I here?"

"Because you need to answer for what you did." He raises his eyebrows. "This can't just be ignored."

"What can't be ignored?" I cross my arms over my chest, and his face settles into a displeased frown. "The fact that I protected a human? Sir, we just had a fucking riot, because the humans don't trust us, and you want it getting out that vamps who look out for them get disciplined for it?"

Anderson looks instantly flustered, straightening up and lifting a finger to point it in my direction. "Now, I never said-"

"What do you think they'll do if they find out you let vamps rape them with no consequences?"

"Well I never said…" he trails off, rubbing his chin. "You do have a point."

I sense an in, a dangerous path I could go down right now. It's stupid. But the idea won't let me go, and it has me spilling words out before I can tamp them down again with some sense of self-preservation.

"Sir, look, we need these bloodbags, and if they're unhappy, and distrusting, it'll make everything around here worse." I throw my hands up, trying to appear amicable. "I dunno, maybe if they see me being friendly with this girl, maybe if they see me trying to look after her, get to know her as a person, the tide will turn."

Anderson considers my words for a moment, pursing his lips as his eyes wander across the ceiling. "So you mean sort of like, being friendly with a bloodbag in the name of good PR?"

"Yeah, if you wanna call it that." I huff out a little laugh. "I mean, she's gonna talk isn't she? Tell everyone how nice I am, how understanding. How I protected her when I didn't have to. And suddenly, we're not bloodthirsty monsters that blow their heads off at the first sign of trouble."

I'm throwing Sam firmly under the bus right now, but my words have their intended effect. Anderson draws up his eyebrows and puffs out a breath.

"Yeah, Ferris surely didn't do us any favors with that little display."

I suck on my teeth and nod. I'm a fucking traitor. "No, she didn't. But we have an opportunity to avoid an even bigger PR disaster right now.

"So what, you and this girl, you spend time together, make it look good?" Anderson rubs his chin. "You think that'll be enough?"

I shrug, letting my chest relax, because I think my plan has bloody well worked. "Yeah, I think so. Look, none of them are looking for much are they? They just want to feel like we're not a threat. Scared and unhappy, they're no good to us. But halfway trusting us? Yeah. I think it'll be enough."

Anderson nods. "You're right, you're right." He approaches me and claps me on the shoulder. "We need to try and move forward as a colony. You did the right thing."

"Thank you, sir."

"You're a good man, King."

I'm far from a good man. Because right now all I want to do is find Juliet's boyfriend and rip out his entrails. I want to hear him screaming as he dies.

I consider for a moment telling Anderson about Matt's involvement in Juliet's assault, but then I stop myself. Because something slips into place. Something that I hadn't thought of before. Something that was staring me in the face. Maybe I'm remembering it wrong. Maybe my mind is playing tricks on me. But something he said, something about what happened that evening…

Anderson is looking at me expectantly. "Everything alright?"

I nod quickly, giving him a smile. "Sure, yeah, thank you sir. Just want to go and check those surveillance camera files again."

"Oh of course, very good." He walks around his desk and waves me off as he sits down. "Go on ahead, and let me know if you find anything."

"Absolutely, sir." I rush out of the office and down the hallway.

I'm a fool. How didn't I see it before?

The cramped filing office is empty when I walk in. I cross the room to the desk and flip open the laptop that's sitting on it. I pull up the file of the night of the attack, waiting for the figure to come into frame. I tap my foot on the ground, not wanting to fast forward the footage in case I miss something.

Then the figure in the black hoodie appears. It looks like a man, broad shoulders, large hands. He keeps his head down.

Then he looks up, and jumps. Takes two stumbling steps backwards. The frame flashes and he's gone. I rewind and watch again, those stumbling steps backwards. There's a crack, and I've smashed the mouse under my hand.

The figure in the black hoodie is Matt. He reacts to whoever sprung him at the perimeter fence exactly the same way he reacted to me busting him outside the storage shed. I have to take a few steadying breaths to stop myself from storming out there and grabbing him now.

I pull up Matt's file, trying to find anything that would indicate he knew what he was doing. He has to have had some idea about electronics and generators to pull this off. I remember Sam"s words about the revolutionaries, and I wonder for a moment whether Matt's transfer here was on purpose.

I skim the file, and find the words I expected to see - "Engineering degree." He worked as a mechanic but for sports promoters, dealing with complicated high-performance vehicles. He'd know what he was looking at when cutting wires. This was him.

I rewind the surveillance footage again, focusing this time on the head that comes into view at the bottom of the screen. It's barely a flash, but I pause to see the wiry hair on top of that head. It's all black and white, so I can't see the color.

But I know it's red. I know what that hair feels like, because it was in my hand when I tore Braun's head off.

I don't even bother checking the code on the surveillance footage for Braun's signature. I know it's there, the fucking fool was too stupid to cover his tracks well. He deleted that footage, because he was the one who caught Matt.

I slam my fist into the desk, shattering the surface. That fucking dick has a counter over his head now. He's going to die.

I'll need to bide my time on that for now. Juliet needs me.

I cross the yard back to the clinic, which is busy as humans are brought in for harvesting. I pass them all, headed back to the room where I left Juliet that morning. She's lying in bed, gazing out the window as I open her door. As soon as her eyes land on me, they light up, and she gives me a small smile.

"Hi," she says, trying to sit up.

"Hi." I sit down at her side. "How are you feeling?"

"A little weak, but I'll be fine." She gives me a shy glance. "I was a little worried. That they'd, I don't know, take me out back and shoot me. Now that I won't be any good to them for a while."

I shake my head emphatically. "They wouldn't do that to you, I promise. I wouldn't let them."

She nods, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "Can… can you make sure Matt is kept away from me?"

"Of course."

"And can I be changed to the other dorm?" Her eyes are brimming with tears as she looks at me. "I don't want to sleep in a bed next to him anymore."

"I'll have him moved," I say, resisting the urge to reach out and take her hand. "You have friends in that dorm."

"Thank you." Her voice cracks, and she clutches a hand over her mouth. "I just wish I could understand why."

I think I know why. I'm sure I know exactly why. But until I hear it from him, I'm not going to say anything.

"I wish I could give you an explanation." I shake my head, rage filling my veins like lava. "All I know is that a guy like that, he's not worth the ground you spit on."

"Did I do something wrong?" She sounds so sad as she says it. I"m sure my heart is going to drop out of my body and shatter on the floor. "I mean, did I…"

"No, never." I lean over her on the bed, and she gazes up at me as tears begin to roll down her cheeks.

"You didn't deserve this," I say quietly, and stroke the tears away with my thumb. "I need you to know that." I know I shouldn't, I know this isn't the time, but I press a soft kiss to her forehead. She doesn't flinch, or tense. She lets out a small sob instead.

I want to take her out of here. I want to tell her that if she were mine, I'd kill anyone who so much as looked at her in a way I didn't like.I want to carry her to my cabin where I can care for her and murder anyone who touches her. I want to show her how a man who truly cares for her would treat her.

Instead I draw back from her and give her a smile. "I will always protect you."

"But why?" Her lip trembles. "I still don't understand."

"You don't need to understand, because it's beyond explaining. You just deserve to be looked after. And I want to do that, if you'll let me."

She sniffles and nods.

"Good." I stroke my hand over hers. "You're safe. Always. I promise."

"Thank you."

I give her slim fingers one last squeeze before I rise to my feet.

"I've got to go, but I'll be back to check on you soon." I move towards the door reluctantly.

"Silas." Every time she says my name it sends the best kind of chills down my spine.

"Yes?" I pause at the door, her grey eyes fixed on me.

"I just wanted you to know that I'm happy I'm not nothing to you." She shrugs, smiling a little shyly. "I don't know, it kind of felt important to say it. And I wanted you to know that you're not nothing to me. I'm glad you're my friend."