Free Stefan (Lost Nights Series Book 1) by Jocelynn Drake

there was no one willing to do anything about it. Other than the fact that we were talking about vampires, it was daytime. The sun was up. Even if someone was insane enough to question a vampire, they were down for the day!
    By the time the sun set on what turned out to be the world’s longest day in existence, I’d had plenty of time to become thoroughly pissed at myself, Stefan, and vampires in general. I should never have let that asshole bite me. I should never have invited him back to my apartment. I should have made him wipe my memory. I should have fucking left Venice the moment I woke up after being bitten. But did I? No. And now I was seriously fucked.
    As the guards changed and the holding area grew quiet, I sat on the floor with my head in my hands while balancing my elbows on my bent knees, drifting in and out of consciousness. I was too tired to thinking about this mess and I just wanted to go home. Jerking at the sound of my door opening when I figured that no one else would be disturbing me for the rest of the night, I looked up to find Stefan standing in the opening.
    The first thing I noticed was his expression. He didn’t look sad or worried to see me sitting inside of an Italian jail wearing an itchy bright orange jumpsuit. No, the asshole actually looked pissed and a little put out at having to be there. I glared back at him, clenching my teeth as the first wave of relief was instantly crushed by the anger that had filled me through the day.
    “Did you kill her?” he asked.
    He didn’t ask: How are you? Are you okay? Are you hurt? Or even, I’m sorry that this has happened to you.
    “What the fuck?” I snarled. “Did you really just dare to ask me that?” Shoving to my feet, I stomped over to him. “Do you really think so little of me to believe that I am capable of killing a total stranger?”
    Stefan paused, staring at me as he thought about his response, which only succeeded in angering me more. He had to think about it. He didn’t just know that I was incapable of such a thing.
    “No,” he replied. “I don’t think you could kill someone in cold blood. But you could in self-defense.”
    “No, I couldn’t!” I shouted. Throwing my arms up in the air, I paced away from Stefan, but I didn’t have far to go before I was forced to walk back toward him. “It’s not who I am. I couldn’t harm another person no matter what the circumstances are and I certainly couldn’t kill someone.”
    I shook my head. The anger slipped away from me, what little energy I had left spent in a flash. “How could you think that I could?” My voice cracking despite my effort to remain firm. I blinked back the tears that I didn’t think I was capable of producing. I didn’t want to cry because I was afraid once I started I wouldn’t be able to stop until I was in a fetal position on the floor.
    “I can’t read your mind.”
    “I can’t read your mind either, but I think I have a pretty good handle on what you’re capable of based on the time we’ve spent together. You know me, Stefan, even if you can’t read my mind.”
    For the first time since stepping into my cell, Stefan’s expression softened and sadness bled into his cold gray eyes. “My first instinct was to deny their claims. I didn’t think you could do this, but I had to be sure. This human’s death has created some complications for us.”
    A harsh, bitter laugh escaped me. “No shit.”
    Stefan stepped back, motioning for me to follow. “We need to go now.”
    “What? No! I can’t escape. I won’t be a fugitive. That would only make everything worse.”
    “We’ve handled the human police. They have no memory of you or the dead woman.”
    I took a hesitant step forward, but remained out of arm’s reach for him. “You can do that? What about the person who actually killed the woman? You can’t just let a killer run free.”
    “The death of the woman has become a matter for my people.”
    That sounded really bad. I took a