Worth Dying For by Luxie Ryder Page B

urges at that moment freed him forever from the mental shackles of his affliction. He’d walked away without touching her, ignoring the snivelling coward crawling on his belly in the dirt, and had never taken another human life through blood lust since. He only killed now on the orders of The Fratia and, even then, never for food.
    Amber spent the remainder of the day in her cell alone, except for a brief time when the lawyer spoke with her. “They won’t release you until they have the results of the autopsy.”
    Bane had listened to Amber give her version of events to the attorney. “I never saw the attacker clearly but I could tell there was something seriously wrong with him.”
    “Why do you say that?”
    “It was the screaming—like a wild animal but not really. I’ve never heard a noise like it.”
    “And this, what was his name…Bane? This Bane, did he seem surprised by the actions of the other man?”
    Amber hadn’t replied straight away. “Not at all. He seemed to be anticipating his every move.”
    The other woman pressed her further. “Do you think this Bane knew him then?”
    “I don’t know. I guess so, or he wouldn’t have known that he planned to attack us.”
    “Why do you think they were in David’s apartment?”
    “Before I got away from him, Bane told me David had seen something he shouldn’t have and that talking about it was what had got him killed.”
    “Had David said anything to you about this?”
    “Well, he said something had happened on the island after the landslide. He told me some huge guy had saved me. That was the story he was planning to tell the press anyway. I dismissed it as fantasy until earlier today when I started to think about it. Except for the part about the man having superhuman powers, he could have been describing Bane.”
    “Superhuman powers?” Bane could hear the derision in the other woman’s tone. “Look, Amber—”
      “That’s what he said. I’m aware of how crazy all this sounds.” Amber’s voice became strained. “Nobody is going to believe a word of what I’m saying, are they?”
    “As I was about to remind you, you’ve had a traumatic experience and you are still recovering from a head injury. Give yourself a little time to think about what you actually want to say before they question you again, okay? We’re gonna have a little problem with your credibility if you tell them what you told me. To be honest, I’m not surprised they arrested you.”
    “What else can I tell them but the truth?”
    “We can talk more tomorrow. Sleep on it tonight, okay?”
    “Can’t I go home? I just want to go home.”
    The pitiful plea in Amber’s voice tugged at Bane’s conscience. Was she really better off alive considering the dual predicaments she now faced? He should have left the island and kept his distance, but it was too late for regrets. No matter how sorry he felt, his actions had blighted her existence and all because she looked like Mary.
    The lawyer’s tone had at least been kind. “They can hold you up to twenty four hours without charge, longer in some cases. We can’t do anything until they either charge you or let you go.”
    The lawyer left, promising to return in the morning or when they charged her, whichever was sooner, and Amber had cried herself to sleep again. Again, the guilt gnawed at his gut and a need to go offer her comfort came from nowhere. Not that she would want anything from him—he terrified her—and with good reason. Her pitiful sobbing continued for hours, preventing Bane from resting further although he had no choice but to remain sheltered there until dark.
    Emerging from the basement when the sun sank low enough in the sky to cast the police station and its grounds in shadow, he avoided Amber’s cell and fought the temptation to check on her. Tormented by guilt at the absolute knowledge that he had caused the pain she suffered, he had no desire to twist the knife deeper by looking into her