Spike stared at her, expression somewhere between disbelieving amusement and horror and guilt and confusion. He didn't even know how to feel about all of that. At least she had more of a point than just blame Spike for things that didn't really happen.

"You're right," he said finally. "I shouldn't keep it a secret. Good thing I already decided I was done with that nonsense. Tell whoever you bloody like. Not like there are many people who don't already know at this point." He crossed his arms and tapped some ash off the end of his cigarette looking away and up. "It wasn't even-- look, I was trying to scare the bad guys. As it happens, monsters are scary."

He touched his head. It didn't hurt anymore, but the memory is far too vivid even now. He knows if he swung at Buffy, the pain would come right back. "I can't hit anyone. Not really. Sure, if I brace myself for it, I can deal with the pain, but it's really not fun. What I can do is scare people. And yeah, between deciding to try it and doing it I didn't have time to tell Kat and Gar that oh, right, I'm a vampire, don't worry about the scary face, it's just for the bad guys. And what do you mean, soulless?" The turn around in topic was sharp and hard. The word had touched a nerve he didn't even know he had.