Nightstruck - Jenna Black Page 0,82

attacking me, but I didn’t want to face him alone.

Aleric shrugged. “You’ll never know until you try, now will you?”

I was skeptical. I was afraid this was some kind of trick. I was afraid I’d already made a huge mistake by not pulling the trigger.

But I had to admit I was also curious. No one really understood what had happened to the Nightstruck, why they had changed so dramatically. I couldn’t trust anything Aleric said, but it was possible I might learn something of interest, something that might help restore the Nightstruck to their old selves.

“Fine,” I said. “I’ll play your game. But if I even think you’re about to set foot in this house, I’ll blow you away.”

“Don’t worry,” Aleric said. He smiled, and for once there was no particular malice behind it. “I physically can’t come into your house.”

He looked at something over my shoulder and laughed. I turned my head just slightly and saw that Luke had armed himself with a fireplace poker of his own. It wasn’t sharpened, like the one Aleric had stabbed Bob with, but Luke was more than big and strong enough to make it into a formidable weapon. Why Aleric found it funny was beyond me. Luke’s a really nice guy, but the look on his face right now would have scared the shit out of anyone sane.

“Let me guess,” Luke said, holding the poker like a baseball bat and looking ready to swing for the fences. “This must be that Aleric guy Piper was going on about.” He looked so angry I feared for a moment he would go into testosterone overload and attack, but he wasn’t completely out of his mind and knew better than to step in front of my gun.

“And you must be the Boy Wonder,” Aleric said. “Pleased to make your acquaintance.” He gave a silly little bow, eyes fixed on Luke’s face to take in his reaction. I suspected that, thanks to Piper, Aleric would know all too well how to push Luke’s buttons, so I tried to draw Aleric’s attention back to myself.

“What did you mean when you said you can’t come into the house?” I asked. “The Nightstruck break into people’s houses every night.”

Aleric let his hands fall slowly back to his sides, but he kept his fingers splayed open so I could see he wasn’t reaching for anything or making any threatening gesture. “If I were one of the Nightstruck, then yes, I would be able to come into your house. But I’m not.”

“That makes no sense. If you’re not Nightstruck, what are you?”

He frowned and cocked his head for a moment. “I’m not exactly sure what to call myself. I am one of a kind, and that’s not ego talking.”

“Explain.”

“I’m basically like those things you call magical constructs.”

I looked him up and down quickly. “You don’t look like any statue I’ve ever seen in the city.”

“I said I’m basically like those things, not that I’m exactly like one. They are inanimate objects, given a semblance of life by magic. I am actually alive in and of myself. I’m just not human.” He gestured toward my gun with his chin. “That would have no effect on me because I don’t have internal organs you can damage.”

That elicited another snort from me. “Yeah, right. I’m just going to lower my weapon and give up because you said so.”

“Go ahead and shoot me if you don’t believe me. That’ll prove I’m telling the truth. I won’t hold it against you.”

I glanced over at Luke. There was cold anger and resolve in his face, but when our eyes met I saw a hint of uncertainty. He didn’t know what to make of Aleric any more than I did.

“You seriously want me to shoot you?” I asked, more because I was stalling to give myself time to process than because I wanted an answer.

“I don’t care one way or another,” Aleric said. “Just making a helpful suggestion.”

“Shoot him in the leg,” Luke suggested. “As long as you don’t kill him, you’ll be able to live with yourself if it turns out he’s bluffing, right?”

I gave Luke a grateful nod. It was the perfect idea. I lowered my aim from Aleric’s chest to his thigh, then hesitated just a beat to make sure he wasn’t going to object. My aim was steady, my hands not shaking. I swallowed hard and squeezed the trigger.

Aleric didn’t even flinch. I thought I had to have missed, as impossible as that seemed