Song - Hit me with your best shot - Pat Benatar

Noah watched with excited anticipation as the last of his ties was knotted. It wasn't a foolproof solution, which was why I came prepared. Picking up the bag I'd dumped on the floor near the door, I pulled out the zip ties and dumped the bag on the bed. Noah's smile fell as he watched me climb onto the mattress and straddle him.

"What are you doing?"

"Never you mind, darling."

The sound of the plastic grating against itself was lost to Noah's protests and demands to know who I was. Ignoring him, I climbed off the bed and put the ties around his ankles. Now that he was not going anywhere, I pulled away his silk ties and smiled.

"Don't you recognise me, Noah?"

He shook his head, which was a little surprising. I know I was wearing a wig, but I was still the same woman. The clothes were not what I usually wore, though. I suppose that might put him off.

The skirt was shorter than I would have worn in the past, the pumps were higher than usual, and I would never wear a bustier before this new life.

"I get it, right? The meek mouse would never do anything like this."

Noah frowned at me, still not getting it. I thought he was smart. Clearly, I was wrong about that, too.

Pulling away the wig, I watched as the frown turned into shock.

"Dani?"

"Back from the dead. Did you miss me, darling?"

He stuttered and pulled at the restraints. I guess he was putting the pieces together.

"How?" he rasped. "How did you survive?"

"Someone saved me. You could have divorced me, but I guess that wasn't part of the game, right? Make Dani suffer your abuse until you had enough of it and decided to end it. Did daddy tell you that you couldn't just divorce a civilian wife?"

His eyes widened.

"Vampires," he whispered.

I gave him a small and mocking clap.

"Well done, darling. Can you figure out the rest of it?"

Noah's eyes narrowed, watching me as I opened the bag. Pulling out the box, I set it aside and donned a pair of gloves.

"We can start at the beginning, right? This place. You blamed the vampires, and I guess, in a way, you were right. It was me, although at that stage, I wasn't a vampire, so maybe you were wrong. After I was pulled from the river, my saviour showed me what you were up to. I saw it all, Noah. You and your friends having an orgy, creating your alibi."

"How?" he whispered.

"The back window. Stood on a trash can and saw everything. Naturally, I was angry, and knowing that you wouldn't leave the house, I used the time to send you a message. You didn't get it, but over the past few weeks, I've been noticing how the obvious seems to evade you and your room temperature IQ."

Noah gave me a confused look, which made me chuckle.

"Moving on. Let's see what we have in the box. We have our first victim, which was Bella."

I showed him the photo before tossing it onto the mattress. Next was my locket.

"Bella was wearing this. I'd like to believe that you weren't so horrible that you gave it to her, but after hearing your words downstairs, I'm inclined to disagree. So, what's the story?"

"She was here and said she'd always wanted a locket. I said I'd buy her one and to leave it alone, but she wanted it like it was some kind of memento. A memory of the first day she came here to have sex with me."

"Well, she was wearing it, and obviously, I took it. I'm appalled that you'd let her take it, but I guess it's just in keeping with the overall lowlife theme you've got going on. Next on the list was Marnie. I'd spent a bit of time analysing your dirty pictures from the laptop, which are gross, by the way."

Noah rolled his eyes.

"And I realised that every weekend you went away to the retreat, you were with her. I figured that you'd picked her and decided to create a little animosity between the two of you."

"The things that were sent to the office? That was you?"

I nodded.

"Like those black flowers?"

"Yep. After Marnie, it was Jack who was lured into the office with the promise of sex. Steve was the same, happy to follow me into the bathroom. You're not that different from them, really. Too busy thinking with your dick to see what's really in front of you."

"How did you get into the office?"

"You saw how I did it."

"Why did you take their lives? I was the one that did this to you."

"They knew what you were up to. They lied to my face. This was always about taking everything from you, Noah. Just like you did to me. You destroyed my world, and I returned the favour."

"Who saved you?"

"That's none of your business."

He scoffed, shaking his head.

"Come on, Dani. I know you're going to kill me, so you might as well tell me."

"You're not frightened of death?"

"I signed up to be a hunter, so obviously not. Which thanks, by the way. That was a dick move destroying my training record."

"Well, maybe in the next life, you won't have such an easy pin code for your safe."

"Tell me," he demanded.

"Nope."

He looked at me, and it was like the cogs were turning in his brain. There were not enough hours in the night for this one. I'd always thought Noah was smart, but seeing more of him, seeing the truth about his alternate life, I could see the real him. He was book smart but he was not street smart. I wasn't either but at least I could adapt. There was no way he'd cope in this world, especially as a hunter. The vampires would eat him alive.

"You're the one that's been on the back of the motorcycle, racing off through the streets, flipping the bird at me. There's only one vampire that gets around like that. Would you like the truth about Roman Grey?"

I stopped at the name, realising he'd never told me his surname. The fact that Noah knew it was a little daunting.

"Because I assume he's doing as his father has demanded, keeping you in the dark as much as possible. See, the Greys don't want the world to know the truth about them. They don't want the masses to know that they are, in fact, related to the Jordan family."

Blown away. Noah smiled, mercilessly laughing.

"My mother had an affair with my father, temporarily leaving Roman's father to be with him. I was born, and I suppose she thought I might be a vampire, but I wasn't. My father became incensed that she would endanger my life like that and that she'd kept a rather large secret from him. So, he demanded that she not have contact with me and not come back. I suppose she crawled back to Lewis and had a few more horrid little monsters with him. My father was hurt and angry but put it aside to do what was right for me and, I suppose, my mother as well. There is an agreement, one that you are risking by being here. Lewis and my father agreed that no hunter or vampire would harm anyone in the Grey and Jordan families because, essentially, we are connected. Roman is my half-brother."

I had no words. I'm sure they'll come to me, but right now, I was shocked.

I had to move past it and get out of here because I was sick of listening to Noah.

"And yet, he wants you dead."

"Of course he does. You think I wasn't aware of that little homewrecker pining after you constantly?"

"That's rich coming from you."

Noah rolled his eyes at me.

"You keep rolling your eyes, little buddy. You might just find a brain in there."

"Shut up," he growled angrily. "You think you're so smart, so enlightened now that you're in this new life, but you're not. You've got no idea what's going on or the damage you're doing by killing everyone around me. Me though? I've always known the truth about your darling lovers. Jasper was determined to break us. Tell me, what did you really think about the friends from work who were always whispering in your ear? Do you really think that's what they thought after listening to your loved-up words about me or were they influenced by another source? Let's be real here, Dani. Jasper has wanted you from the day he met you. He used Lucy and Tatum to drive a wedge between us and when he realised that I was up to something, he demanded his precious lover intervene and save you. Roman is obsessed with Jasper and will happily destroy me and the agreement just to keep him happy."

Could I believe this as the truth, or was Noah manipulating me again?

When I heard a motorcycle engine rev heavily as it passed the house, I knew the question could not be answered now. The sound made my heart skip a beat. Danger was looming, and I was taking too long.

The problem was that Noah was still alive, and I'd told him everything. I could pretend that I didn't know about the agreement, but to do that, Noah had to die.

Lowering, I bit Noah, ignoring his complaints. His body went limp, and for a moment, I felt remorse. He was still the man I fell in love with, regardless of what happened.

Grabbing my bag and the wig, I raced out of the room only to hear the front door open.

"Noah?" Otis called out.

Damn it. There was no escape. I looked around as the sound of Otis calling out to Noah while searching the lower floor echoed through the almost empty house. I had to hide. Otherwise, I was a dead vampire.