“You know what they say. . . .” Tanner murmured as he plastered a tight smile on his face. He’d been working with Jonathan less than a month. Not nearly long enough to trust the guy with all the secrets he carried. “Appearances can bite you in the ass.” Because if you were fool enough to think a pretty face belonged to an innocent woman, you deserved to get your ass bitten.

Jonathan laughed and opened the door to the interrogation room. His brown eyes lingered a bit too long on Marna.

Tanner felt the beast that he carried begin to stir inside of him. Back off.

“I can help you with this one,” Jonathan said as he tried to follow them into the room. “I’ll be glad to—”

“Get us some coffee,” Tanner told him as he steered Marna toward the small table. “Then we’ll all settle down and find out just why this lady thought it would be fun to kill.”

Tanner saw her shoulders tense.

Jonathan headed out, grumbling about having to fetch shit, but Tanner was just glad the guy was gone. He forced Marna to sit in the wobbly chair—the thing always wobbled and irritated the suspects, a nice bonus, usually. Then he leaned in close and put his mouth right at her ear.

And he had to fight back the impulse to lick. To taste.

She’s a killer.

But then, so was he.

“I know that you wanted your revenge.” His breath feathered over her ear, and Tanner was close enough to see the small shiver that shook her. “But, dammit, baby, you should have been more careful.” His voice was whisper-soft. “You left two eyewitnesses in that alley.” Eyewitnesses that had provided perfect, matching descriptions of her.

Because of those witnesses, everyone in the station knew about her. An APB had been put out instantly, and Tanner had known that he had to act. He hadn’t been willing to trust anyone else to bring her in.

Hell, Marna might have just decided to kill anyone else who’d gone after her.

He’d had to move, fast, and get her under his control.

Her head turned, and her eyes met his. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, shifter.” Her voice was as low as his. The room was monitored, and knowing the guys in the station, Tanner had no doubt that other folks were in the next room, watching them through the two-way mirror that lined the left wall.

But while they could watch, those guys wouldn’t be able to hear anything that was said. Tanner had taken the liberty of disconnecting the audio system before going after Marna.

Yeah, he knew how to plan ahead. Some days.

“My brother and his ass**le packmates hurt you.” Hurt, such a tame word for the hell they’d put her through. His brother Brandt had cut the wings right from Marna’s back and left her to die in the dirt. Brandt’s packmates hadn’t done a thing to save her. They’d been too busy following Brandt like the fools they were. She’d suffered so much because of the events of that night.

Wanting a little payback, yeah, he could understand that, but . . . “Did you have to kill them in front of witnesses? I told you that I’d make sure they weren’t threats to you any longer.” Brandt was already dead, courtesy of a fallen angel named Azrael, the most powerful being that Tanner had ever seen. After their battle, there’d literally been nothing left of Brandt.

Nothing, except the remains of his pack.

So Marna had decided she wanted her vengeance, and she’d gone after them. But killing them so blatantly? Hell, didn’t the woman realize she had to be careful in a world full of humans? Murdering bastards had to be stopped, damn straight, but they didn’t have to be taken out by her hand.

He exhaled slowly and kept his body between her and that two-way mirror. He could be her shield, or try to be anyway. “My boss wants you locked up.” He jerked a hand through his hair. “And what do you think will happen to you in jail?”

She smiled then, and the sight iced his blood. “Nothing.”

Right. His back teeth clenched. What did she have to be afraid of? It was the poor ass**les who’d be locked up with her—they were the ones who needed to fear.

Someone like her could never see the inside of a jail. He had to make sure things didn’t go any farther.

But with those witnesses and the story already spreading to the media, he didn’t have a whole lot of options.

Except . . .

“You made this too public. Shit, Marna, you’re backing me against the wall here.” He was supposed to uphold the law, but he wasn’t human. Far from it. He knew the score.

Supernaturals can’t always follow the rules. Jails sure as shit couldn’t hold the most powerful threats out there.