She shouldn't do that. She shouldn't be so alright with what he'd finally come to terms with. He'd done that to her. Gotten her killed, drank her blood. That had been him. "No I didn't make Cutler do it but I did recruit him. And I made him into the kind of man he became. He went for you, specifically because of something I'd done to him long ago. He thought he was helping me by killing you, did you know? Bringing me back into the fold. He saw me with you and it reminded him of something."
It mattered, Alex was far from as good a liar as he was, even this him, and Hal could spot a lie a mile off. She'd wanted the date to go well, even if it hadn't led anywhere she'd wanted to enjoy her night, meet someone who could matter to her, meet someone special who would treat her like a lady and instead she'd gotten him, high on blood and a mess. And then she'd died, because of him.
"You don't know, so, something had changed?" he commented, the domino coming to a stop and his eyes returning to focus on her. "Something had changed, and He used it against you, didn't he?"
Hal shook his head, unwilling to let her be hurt by him anymore, either him. "You won't fade. I can assure you, you won't fade, and they won't get to you and I truly believe Annie found her door. Her own."