od idea or not.
“I do not hunt children.”
“Good to know because that would be a hard line for me, too.”
“Child vampires are an exception,” Edward said.
“They aren’t children,” Olaf and I said together. It made me smile, and after a moment of missing his social cue, so did he.
“Vampires will still kill their own kind for bringing over children. It’s forbidden for so many reasons,” I said.
The thoughts that went with that knowledge wiped the smile off my face. Kid vamps were always crazy as fuck and usually sadistic or broken in some other major way. Teenagers could sometimes manage to survive okay, but if the victims were younger than puberty, vampirism just fucked them up.
“I am disappointed that this case is about keeping the wereanimal alive,” Olaf said. “I had hoped to help you kill him.”
“Even though he’s a he and not a she?” I asked.
“I told you before, I will help you kill your preferred victim so long as we kill together.”
He had, which again was high praise from Olaf, just creepy-as-fuck high praise.
“From what I understand about the case, aren’t we trying to find the real murderer so that we can save the suspect’s life?” Edward asked.
“Yeah,” I said.
“That is what Anita wants to do,” Olaf said.
“The warrant of execution may have the suspect’s name on it, but the way they’re written, they leave us legally able to hunt anyone involved in the murder,” Edward said.
I hadn’t really thought that far ahead. Save Bobby Marchand, and then we’d see where we were legally.
Olaf smiled. “You mean we can still execute the real killer?”
“Legally,” Edward said.
“Newman and I both think the killer is human. They could go to trial for murder.”
“They could,” Edward said, “but they already killed once and are trying to use the marshal system to kill a second victim. Do you really think they deserve more consideration from the law just because they’re not preternatural?”
“Legally, that’s the way the law is written,” I said.
“It’s just as legal to execute them for it here and now and save the taxpayers a trial,” he said.
I looked at Edward, trying to figure out if he was humoring Olaf or really believed what he was saying. I finally said, “I’m not sure how I feel about your reasoning.”
“You argued legalities, Anita. The law is on our side.”
I sighed, and it was my turn to frown. “I’m fine with killing them if they’re trying to kill us or others. I’m fine if it saves lives, but cold-bloodedly killing them just because we can if they aren’t a danger to anyone else . . . Not sure I can sign off on that.”
“I will hope that the murderer threatens more victims, then,” Olaf said.
“Thanks for not saying you hope they kill more people.”
“You are welcome,” he said.
I still wasn’t sure if Edward had said it all to give Olaf hope that we’d get to torture and kill as a couple again, or if he’d meant every word he said. I hoped he hadn’t meant it. If we had time and privacy later, I’d ask Edward. I might not like the answer, but I’d like myself less if I was too afraid to ask the question.
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