Free Entranced by Jessica Sorensen

gapes at me. “I’ve gone on missions a couple of times, but for the most part, my parents don’t like me getting involved. They were always too worried that, without being marked, I’d end up getting myself killed. They didn’t give me credit, though. I mean, I know I’m not super strong like them or anything, but I can hold my own in a fight. That was kind of the point of killing Anastasiya. I wanted to show them how kickass I was—am.” I sigh. “I wasn’t going to do it. My friend had already talked me out of it before you decided to threaten me.”
    “I did that for your own good and to be absolutely certain you didn’t go through with it.” He slows down the car as we near a sign that reads: Welcome to Maple Spring Valley. “Anastasiya would’ve snapped your neck like a twig the moment you stepped foot on that roof.”
    “Yeah, I’m not buying it. I think there’s more to it than that.”
    He cracks his knuckles against the wheel. “Think what you want. I know the truth, and that’s all that matters.”
    I check my phone messages for about the tenth time today, disappointed when I see no new messages. “Why does the Academy even care about someone like Anastasiya? She killed at least a hundred people while she was alive.”
    Jax heaves a heavy sigh. “Just because she killed people, it doesn’t mean we don’t need to look into her murder. Every murder case, even when a Keeper kills someone, needs to be investigated so we can keep an eye on things, make sure things don’t get out of hand.”
    “What exactly do you mean by get out of hand?”
    “Say whoever killed Anastasiya was part of a bigger plan to take out all the vampires, including ones who haven’t killed a single person in their lifetime. If we found out who the person was, we could end up saving innocent lives.”
    “You consider vampires innocent?”
    “Ones who’ve never killed anyone are innocent, no matter what you’ve been raised to believe,” he says coldly. “Sometimes, innocent people have shitty things happen to them that they wish never happened, but they can’t change it.” He parks the car in front of a quaint souvenir store located on the corner of a small shopping center. “But they do their best to make good out of a crappy situation.”
    I swallow hard, feeling like the biggest jerk ever. While I’m not one hundred percent sure that Jax wasn’t involved in Anastasiya death, I don’t want him to think I believe he’s a monster.
    “I didn’t mean that all vampires are evil. I’ve just never heard anyone refer to them as innocent.”
    “That’s because you’ve lived in a world where you assassinate first and investigate later.” He removes the keys from the ignition and shoves open the door. “Now, can we please drop this subject? Anastasiya’s murder is still an open case, and I’ve spent so much time reading over her files that I’ve started to have nightmares about it.” He doesn’t wait for me to answer before getting out of the car.
    I hop out and meet him at the front of the car, staring at the souvenir store. “I thought we were going to a morgue.”
    “We are.” Yawning, he stretches his arms. “The morgue is hidden in back of the store.”
    I get a brief glimpse of the muscles hidden under his T-shirt, and I can’t help gawking. Okay, maybe I was lying when I said he wasn’t my type. Personality-wise, not at all, but physically … Well, all I want to do is reach over and trace my fingers along his lean muscles.
    When he catches me ogling him, I expect him to throw it in my face, but surprisingly, he leans back against the hood and cocks a questioning brow at me.
    I turn my head and roll my eyes at myself. “Why do you bother hiding the morgue? It’s not like people are going to steal the bodies.”
    “It actually happens a lot.” He steps away from the car and onto the curb, heading for the store. “We’ve had to move the location several times to keep thieves from sneaking