Darker (Alexa O'Brien Huntress Book 6) Read online

  Falon’s expression was stone cold. Crossing his arms, he did his best to stare me down. His taller frame might have given the illusion that it was working, but even a fallen angel can’t stare down a wolf.

  The cross was warm in my hand. I wrapped the chain around my fist and held tight.

  Willow caught my elbow before I could make a move. “Remember, once you enter the circle, you’re trapped inside until someone on the outside breaks it.”

  I nodded, braced myself and stepped carefully over the salt line. There was resistance, like walking through water. Then I was through, and the circle closed behind me as strong as if it had been a concrete wall. Fascinating.

  Falon stood his ground in the center, refusing to back up even a little. He held his hands up to keep me at arm’s length. “You really are a crazy bit—”

  I clasped his hands in mine, slipping my fingers between his and holding tight. The cross was lodged firmly between our joined hands. Falon’s insult immediately became a scream.

  Connecting with Falon opened me up to his energy. It ran over me like a waterfall soaking me in his essence. It was pain and pleasure twisted into a delightful rush that I both loved and hated. I tasted all that he was in that moment, discovering the depths of his power. He was an impressive creature, but he had weaknesses. I was determined to exploit them.

  With a push of power, I drove him to his knees. A venomous hatred flashed in his eyes as he gazed up at me. I wouldn’t always have the advantage with Falon; I needed to make the most of it.

  “Get off me,” Falon grunted, trying to pull his hands from mine.

  I held tight, refusing to lose the connection. “Talk fast, or I’m just getting started.”

  I gasped then as our energy aligned. His became pliant, easily bent to my will. A deafening roar washed out all other sound. I stared into his silver eyes and saw my reflection. He was mine, a dark entity bound to the will of the light. For the first time, I felt my light, simmering deep in my core. Brightness filled me, bursting forth in response to the fallen angel in my grasp.

  “Told you so,” Willow said, but it was muffled, sounding far away. “You are definitely a Hound.”

  “Where is Lilah?” With each word, I sent another pulse of power into Falon.

  He struggled hard to free the hand that I held against the cross. I knew damn well it was the silver allowing me the edge over Falon. Without it, he’d have kicked my ass well and good already. Still, it was impossible not to enjoy the high that came from having him at my mercy.

  “I have no part in your conflict with her. Leave me out of it.”

  Despite his weakened state, Falon never once showed fear. He was rigid in his contempt. Having him on his knees before me was satisfying, but unless he was afraid, it just wasn’t enough.

  “It’s too late for that.”

  It wasn’t easy to hold him. My arms shook with the effort. The pressure began to build inside my head. No way was I letting him go yet, not without an answer.

  Falon saw my exertion. He raised a brow in consideration. Unpredictable and unruly, it was impossible to know what he would try.

  “You know, Shya may not let me kill you, but there are so many other things I can do to you.”

  “Funny,” I replied with a growl. “I was just thinking something similar about you.”

  “Alright then.” Falon smiled through the pain. “Ladies first.”

  I blinked, and my eyes were wolf. My fangs sprang forth and claws protruded from my fingertips. I held tight to Falon and let him feel my wrath. Focusing on the silver that joined us, I twisted its power over him with my own and shoved it deep inside him.

  My temper was short. All I wanted was to make him hurt. After listening to his snarky comments and hateful insults for the past few months, my patience had run out.

  Much to my disappointment, Falon’s anguished cry was offset by his wicked laughter. Smoke rose up from our hands. I expected some form of retaliation. Falon was way ahead of me, and the bastard was clever.

  “Your first mistake was thinking you could control me just because you summoned me,” he said between clenched teeth. “But, where you really went wrong was when you were stupid enough to step into this circle. Do you really believe a tiny piece of silver is enough to overpower me?”

  I bared my fangs in a snarl and ignored the growing pressure in my head. It took great effort to hold him. Unfortunately, I too have weaknesses. Rather than trying to outstrength me, Falon targeted my greatest one.

  In a swift motion, he jerked my hand hard, slashing my claws across his neck. Blood blossomed up from a wound beneath his ear. The scent hit me, and I shuddered; that crimson spill promised absolute rapture. I resisted the immediate urge to run my tongue over that pumping fount.

  The bloodlust smashed into me like a Mack truck. It left me dizzy, and my concentration broke. The connection between us was lost. Falon didn’t hesitate. He jerked his hands from mine, swiped a finger through the blood from his healing cut and smeared it on my lips.

  “What the fuck?” I muttered in confusion.

  Falon’s blood tasted like nothing I’d known. If power had a taste, this would be it. I ran my tongue over my lips, and that was it for me. The hunger swallowed me whole, and I was lost in it.

  Because he made no attempt to fight me off, my attack was more forceful than was necessary. I heard Willow shouting for me to stop, but it was an irritation I ignored. Knocking Falon down, I ravaged his neck with a vicious bite. It wasn’t just blood but power as well. I drank him in with a rabid appetite to feast on everything he had to give.

  The tangy taste of him fed my lust for more. I pressed him to the floor and straddled him. I bit again, frustrated with his impeccable ability to heal so quickly. The power rose to a dangerous level as I took his into me and fed upon it. I needed more. I had to devour him.

  I ground my groin against his, creating a push and pull of power as I did. A pulsing, throbbing storm filled the circle to capacity. Falon pulled me close, encouraging me to feed from his body and power. In my crazed state, I didn’t think to question it.

  Cursing beneath his breath, Falon grew hard beneath me. It encouraged the succubus nature of my vampire side, and I bit him again. The rest of the room fell away, and all I saw was the angel bleeding for me. It was ecstasy. Nothing else mattered.

  Like the moment a fabulous dream is shattered by wakefulness, the blissful illusion was shattered when Willow destroyed the circle. He practically threw me across the room where I landed in a heap against the door.

  The sound of wind rushing through the trees filled my ears. Blood dripped from my nose. More power than I could handle flowed through me, threatening what little remained of my sanity. Everything played out in a blur before me as I sought to catch my breath.

  Now free of the circle, Falon came out fighting. He tossed Willow aside with little effort and turned toward me. Jez was there, ready with a silver dagger. She plunged it into Falon’s midsection, holding it pressed to the hilt. Smoke rose from the wound, and he doubled over.

  “How’s that for a tiny piece of silver?” She hissed between bared fangs.

  Falon’s wings flared out, and with a great flap, he filled the room with an ear-piercing sound. It drove Jez back. She grabbed her head, trying to shut out the noise. Falon pulled her dagger free and held it high.

  “I hope you learned a valuable lesson here, wolf,” he said, scowling at me. “Your power is no match for me.”

  “Yeah,” I gasped out through the pain filling my head. “I learned that you get a hard on from the power of an unnatural Hound like me. How does that make you feel, Falon?”

  He crouched down in front of me so we were eye to eye. Turning the bloody dagger over in his hand, he said, “Don’t flatter yourself, sweetheart. That kind of thing would happen to any heterosexual male with a woman wriggling around on top of him. I’m as disgusted by it as you are.”

  Grinning, he rose and tossed the dagger so it stuck in the
carpet beside Jez. He shot a warning look at Willow and wagged a finger in scolding. To me he added, “I’m sure you’ll never make a mistake like this again. Enjoy the ride, bitch.”

  He was gone, just like that. The horrible sound faded away, but the strange sensations continued to overwhelm me. My head felt like it might pop. It was a floaty, light-headed feeling accompanied by the overwhelming pressure of foreign energy. I tried to channel it back out, into the earth, the building, anything. It was no use. Falon’s strange power roiled around inside me like a tornado on a path of destruction.

  “Alexa?” Jez was at my side, lifting my chin so she could peer into my eyes. What she saw made her own grow wide in terror. “Willow, what the hell did he do to her?”

  Willow pulled me to my feet and looked me over. “He purposely dosed her.”

  “What does that mean?” I squeezed my eyes shut as the room began to spin.

  “He used your bloodlust against you, knowing you’d take power as well as blood. You can’t handle immortal power like ours. He could have killed you, but since Shya won’t let him, he let you take enough to really knock you on your ass for a while.”

  “I don’t understand.” I shook my head, and the room spun faster. It was hard to focus on either one of them.

  “My God, Alexa, your eyes are silver,” Jez breathed, a hand over her mouth.

  “In basic human speak, he got you stoned off your ass,” Willow explained. “Your power is life and death. What Falon and I are, it has never been human. It’s beyond life and death. You can’t control it. It will run rampant through you. You’ll have facets of Falon’s power. They will likely overwhelm you. It won’t kill you, but it might feel like it.”

  I pulled out my phone, using the camera on the front so I could see my reflection. I gasped and dropped the phone, unable to take a closer look. My eyes were indeed the same pale silver as Falon’s. The pupils were dilated, a wide and drowning black. Blood stained my lips.

  A soft murmur of what sounded like a hundred voices all talking at once began inside my head. It steadily grew louder until it was just a cacophony of noise, each voice seeking to be the loudest. With my hands on each side of my head, I gave a frustrated cry. The power shifted inside me, and the voices fell silent.

  My hands shook, and I had to sit down on the end of the bed. “Should be fine? What exactly does that mean?”

  Willow looked from me to Jez and back again. With an awkward shrug, he said, “Either you manage to ride it out, or it drives you absolutely crazy.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Crazy was putting it lightly. It all hit me at once. The shaky unease gave way to a resurgence of stamina and strength that made me feel like I could scale a mountain. My awareness of every creature in the building, both human and supernatural, was heightened.

  “It feels like everyone in the city is inside my head. I can hear them. Ugh.”

  “You can hear the freely given thoughts. The more attention you pay them, the worse it gets. I know it’s hard, but try not to listen.” Willow put a hand on my arm. He looked worried. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have let you go into the circle.”

  “No, it’s my fault. I underestimated him.” I took a deep breath and tried to silence the voices again. “This isn’t going to stop me from finding Lilah.”

  “Let me get this straight,” Jez thoughtfully chewed a long fingernail. “He forced his power into you. So, can’t you use it for your own purpose as long as you have it?”

  Willow nodded. “In theory, yes. If it can be controlled.”

  “So why not just go into the club and pick through the thoughts of the vampires in there? Someone will know where she is.”

  Jez had a good point. I was glad one of us was still able to think straight. After locking up Harley’s room, we headed for the heart of the club. My feet touched the floor, but if I didn’t know better, I’d have thought I walked on air.

  I shoved open the door that divided the club from the back hall, and it burst into flames. I shrieked and panicked. Willow waved a hand, and the fire went out.

  “Careful,” he warned. “Fire is just one of many things we can manipulate.”

  I ducked into the bathroom to clean up quickly. Jez hovered close, a watchful eye always upon me. I avoided looking at myself in the mirror. It was impossible to get used to the force trapped inside me. It felt foreign, immense and frightening.

  Falon’s blood might have easily been wiped from my face, but it was running hot through my veins. I wouldn’t forget the taste for a very long time, if ever. Even as his power drove my wolf nuts and held me prisoner in my own body, I wanted to taste him again.

  Returning to the club, I kept my hands close to my body as I walked through the crowd. As I passed each vampire present, an onslaught of thoughts and feelings swarmed me. They were all thinking about blood and sex, some more than others. I searched for Lilah in each of them. I found nothing until I passed a lone vampire standing near the door watching the rest of us.

  Lilah was strong in his mind. She’d sent him to watch the place. Where was she? I turned my silver gaze on him and pinned him with a deadly stare.

  I was suddenly there before him with no recollection of having moved. Before he could react, I placed both hands on his head and saw everything so clearly. Lilah was staying in a heavily guarded house on the south side of the city. It was a ritzy neighborhood in a private area. Both vampires and demons patrolled the premises. However, they weren’t watching for Shya or me.

  The vampire reached to throw me off. The power went out from me, and his head exploded into flames. I jerked my hands back in time to be covered with the ash and dust of his corpse.

  Everyone around me stopped dancing, grinding and drinking. A few shrieks rang out from the human patrons. The vampires watched, waiting to see if I’d come for one of them next.

  “Alexa, did you get anything?” Jez asked, watching me with uncertainty.

  “I know where she is. We have to go in just before sunrise. She has too many guards.”

  The voices started up again, all fighting to be the loudest. The pressure swelled in my head, and blood dripped from my nose. I turned to leave, and the candle burning on the nearest table burst into a giant flame.

  I frantically looked around for Willow who was at the bar with an upended bottle in hand. He came to my rescue without spilling a drop. Jez pressed a tissue into my hand. I dabbed my nose and swore. I couldn’t take much more of this.

  “How long is this going to last?” I clutched Willow’s arm with more force than intended. My claws drew blood, and I jerked back, gushing a series of apologies.

  “It’s hard to say for sure. Either until you burn it off, or it burns you out.” Willow swigged from the bottle of scotch.

  He gave the impression he was just a regular guy with a drinking problem. With Falon’s power commanding my senses, I could feel Willow’s power in ways I never had before. It was vast and deep. He was ready to do damage if anyone gave him a reason.

  I stared at my hands, willing the wolf to back down. For the first time in years, I couldn’t repress the fangs and claws; too much power was wreaking havoc inside me. Thinking about the wolf made me think about losing it. Grabbing the bottle from Willow’s hand, I downed a few good swallows. It didn’t help.

  A cool breeze lifted my hair. I felt Arys before he entered the building. We hadn’t spoken since I left him standing outside Shya’s house. My anger had long since faded. After everything that had taken place since last night, I had no interest in fighting with him.

  “Arys is here.” I glanced anxiously toward the door. “I don’t want him to see me like this.”

  “You two need to talk,” Jez said, giving my arm an affectionate pat. “We’ll go sit down. You talk to Arys, and if you need us, we’ll be right here.”

  “Whatever you do,” Willow added. “Don’t lose your temper. You could burn the whole building down.”

  Don’t lose my temper? That was easier said th
an done as far as Arys was concerned. Willow and Jez left me standing there feeling helpless, though I was far from it. I didn’t want Arys to see me there, amid the partygoers, filled to capacity with power that didn’t belong to me. Drifting into the corner behind the bar, I waited.

  He strode into The Wicked Kiss looking like an animal on the prowl. With his perfectly messed black hair and tight black jeans, Arys never ceased to make my knees weak. It seemed the more he drove me nuts, the more I wanted him. I anticipated the moment he would look my way.

  Those midnight blue eyes landed upon me lurking in the corner. My stomach clenched when he came my way. Were we destined to always be this way? Growing more desperately in love with one another as the conflict between us also grew.

  “What happened to you, beautiful wolf?” Arys took my face in his hands and gazed into my eyes. “I can feel your wolf’s unrest.”

  His mention of my wolf brought forth a sadness I thought I’d buried. I shook my head and searched for the right words.

  “It’s my fault. I underestimated Falon.” I went on to explain my poor attempt to manipulate information out of the fallen angel. I wanted to tell him what I’d learned about my wolf but couldn’t bring myself to put it into words. Not yet.

  “I’m sorry, Alexa.” Arys pressed his lips to mine in a tender kiss. “About Shya. I shouldn’t hide things from you. I just want to protect you.”

  “Look at me, Arys.” I kissed him back, nibbling his bottom lip. “You can’t protect me from everything. You can’t even protect me from yourself.”

  He stiffened and pulled away. “I can damn well try.”

  Irritation took hold, and I huffed in annoyance. Arys needed to accept that I could handle myself. His insecurities were not my weaknesses. They were his. I grabbed a candle from the closest empty table and blew out the flame. Concentrating on the foreign entity inside me, I waved a hand over the candle, and the wick ignited.

  Arys’s eyes widened, and he appeared mildly impressed. I couldn’t be too self-satisfied; that simple use of Falon’s power had my head throbbing.