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

  At a time when Shaz would have dragged me off Briggs, Arys merely watched with amusement. It was a sobering realization. I had to keep my rash actions in check. My white wolf wasn’t here to keep me from doing something I’d regret.

  Ignoring Juliet, I leaned in close to Briggs. Sniffing deeply of his scent, I savored the delicious smell of fear. It was tantalizing, calling to my bloodlust the way the scent of fresh bread called to a starving man. I gazed at the man beneath me and saw only prey.

  “Tell me what you know about Kale Sinclair.” I focused on the clean after-shave scent of Briggs, trying to block out the enticing aroma of human and terror. I couldn’t lose control. Not here, not now.

  “Get the hell off me,” he grunted, struggling for breath.

  “Try again.” I tightened my hold on his throat, choking off his air supply completely.

  A sudden surge of panic had Briggs flailing. As well muscled as he was, he still didn’t have it in him to fight a pissed off werewolf. He had no idea how lucky he was that I purposely held off using power on him. I wanted him to talk; I didn’t want his head to explode. At least, not just yet.

  Briggs stared up at me with wide eyes. The fear in their brown depths faded, replaced by a growing fury. He shook his head as much as my grip would allow. Total refusal.

  I smacked his head against the concrete hard enough to rattle his pearly white teeth. “Tell me, goddammit!”

  “Alexa, that’s enough.” Juliet stepped closer, her gun inches from my face. “Let him go.”

  I didn’t look at her when I held up a hand and, with a push of power, threw her back. Before the remaining agents could rush me, Arys surrounded us with an energy circle. Briggs was trapped inside, entirely at our mercy.

  “Start talking before I decide you smell just a little too good,” I growled. I eased off just enough so he could speak. “Where is Kale?”

  He gave a strangled cough. With a murderous light in his dark gaze, Briggs said, “He’s dead.”

  “Liar,” I shouted. The punch I threw was automatic. I wanted to make him hurt for that.

  “I gave the kill order,” Briggs roared back at me. His words cut deep because I smelled no lie on him.

  “What?” I whispered more to myself than to anyone else.

  “When I told you he escaped, it was a lie. We had him all along. Keeping him alive wasn’t a risk worth taking.” Briggs might have been in a bad position, but it didn’t diminish his arrogance. “Go ahead and kill me. The entire agency will be on your ass, and your demon problems will be a cake walk in comparison.”

  I glanced around at the waiting agents, each of them with guns drawn. Juliet was back on her feet, watching me with a guarded expression. Killing Briggs was exactly what I craved. It was the least I could do after what the FPA had done to Kale.

  Kale… how could I not know that he was dead? My instinct had told me he still lived, and yet Briggs’s words rang with truth. A scream built within me, threatening to burst forth.

  My wolf stared out of my eyes, gazing down into Briggs with a fierce hunger that had nothing to do with appetite and everything to do with vengeance. He was right. The FPA already had me on a watch list. If I tore his throat out the way I wanted, I’d never be free of them.

  I landed one last blow, connecting with his face hard enough to make my hand throb. Then, I got off him and stepped back. Briggs would get his alright. His time would come, and I’d be there to see it.

  “Stay the fuck away from me, Briggs,” I warned. “I may not know what Shya has planned, but I hope it involves making you his bitch.”

  I was thrumming with power. Holding it contained inside had me visibly shaking. I had no parting words for my sister. There was nothing to say.

  Arys dropped his circle, and we turned to the cluster of agents standing between our car and us. Despite the weapons they held, not one of them appeared confident enough to use them. With a slight wave of my hand, I knocked them aside, creating a clear path to pass through.

  I anticipated a shot or two, but Briggs told them to let us leave. Upon my last glance back, he was sitting up, holding his head with Juliet silently watching us go. I hated myself for thinking it, but I couldn’t help but wonder if it would have been better if she’d died the night Raoul attacked us.

  A smile tugged at Arys’s lips. “Watching you get rough like that drives me wild. You’re a goddamn force of nature, and it’s beautiful.”

  He reached for my hand, and I gasped as our power joined with the electrical burst of a lightning bolt. It was exciting, arousing and comforting. Yet, it didn’t shake the growing sorrow or the urge to cry.

  I shook it off and sucked in a deep breath of night air. Maybe Briggs was wrong, or just a damn good liar. He had to be. I refused to believe otherwise.

  “Hey, don’t worry about Sinclair,” Arys’s velvet smooth tone was soothing, promising false assurance. “That was a lie. An attempt to gain some kind of control over you.”

  Knowing Arys didn’t give a damn about Kale made me appreciate his effort to ease my fears. It didn’t work though.

  “His words stank of the truth.” We reached my car, and I dropped into the driver’s seat with a heavy thud. As Arys slid into the passenger side, the weight of his gaze was crushing. “Not even a hint of a lie.”

  Briggs hadn’t had the pungent, acrid aroma caused by the change in brain chemistry during the telling of a lie. Of course, smarmy, manipulative liars could tell a lie so convincing that they themselves believed it to be true. I had known a man like that, Raoul. The first man I’d ever loved.

  Arys was quiet, watching me as I started the fire-engine red Dodge Charger and pulled away from the FPA crime scene. I stared straight ahead, fighting the wave of fear and worry. The thought of losing Kale made my stomach flip in a very bad way, but I didn’t want to show it in front of Arys. My twisted entanglement with Kale was just one of several touchy subjects between us.

  “Why are you trying so hard to hide how much this is killing you?” Arys broke the silence after several strained minutes. “I can feel it. Like my own heart is breaking.”

  “I’m sorry.” My fingers tightened almost painfully on the wheel.

  “I’m the one who should be sorry,” Arys replied, averting his gaze when I glanced his way. “You’re in pain, and I can’t help but feel relieved.”

  I stifled a gasp. It shouldn’t have surprised me, but it was an admittance I’d have rather he’d kept to himself.

  “You wanted this,” I muttered bitterly. “Can’t say I blame you.”

  I crossed down a side street toward the downtown core, heading back to The Wicked Kiss. I wanted to retrieve Zak’s head and take it home where the pack would bury him properly. I imagined his body would wind up in an FPA lab where they’d do God only knew what to it.

  “I never wanted this, Alexa.” With a shake of his dark head, Arys laid a gentle hand on my thigh. “Anything that hurts you could never bring me pleasure.”

  I wasn’t so sure about that, but I wasn’t willing to give voice to the thought. Arys meant well and I knew that, so I nodded tightly and focused on my destination.

  My plan was to get to The Wicked Kiss, get in and get out. Things so rarely go as planned. Why should it be any different now? So, when I walked into the club to find Shya seated at the bar with a glass of red wine, I merely groaned. It wasn’t worth the effort to muster a more emphatic reaction.

  The demon looked up at my approach, tearing his gaze from the box on the bar. A small half smile curved his thin lips.

  The club was now free of bodies and overturned tables though it was still far from clean. The scent of blood clung to the air, metallic and sweet. It stained the floor in several places like a lurid decoration. Closing the doors for a night or two might be the best plan at this point. I’d do it if it weren’t so likely that the number of street kills would skyrocket overnight.

  “What are you doing here?” I cut Shya off before he could slip out a snide greeting
. “If this is a follow up to Lilah’s little goon squad, then save yourself the trouble. I’m not in the mood.”

  Shya raised a brow and gave me a critical once over. He was attractive with an Asian appearance, clad in the dark suit he usually wore. I didn’t know his real face, but I imagined it was something I never wanted to see. The demon was smooth and calculated, as untrustworthy as they come.

  “Don’t flatter yourself,” he scoffed, eyes flashing in annoyance. “You’re not the only one Lilah has made her enemy. Binding her power has done nothing to stop her from being a royal pain in the ass. I think it’s fed her madness.”

  “She killed one of my wolves and threatened to keep doing it unless I willingly give her my blood. As far as I’m concerned, this is all your fault.”

  “Our fault,” Shya insisted, sniffing the wine in his glass.

  “It was your genius idea to bind her,” I retorted, my fuse short. “I wanted to send that bitch back to imprisonment where she belongs. It needs to happen. Better late than never.”

  Arys didn’t give Shya a chance to reply. He loomed menacingly over the demon. “What are you doing in here anyway, Shya? Come to make good on your threats?”

  Shya gazed up at Arys from his seat and shrugged. “Not tonight. I’ve come to apologize to Alexa. No need to get all puffed up, Mr. Knight. I come in peace.”

  “I’ll just bet you do.”

  “Apologize?” I cut in before Arys could initiate violence. I feared he would let that feisty vampire temper start a war I wasn’t sure we could win. “You really are out of your damn mind.”

  Ignoring Arys’s glower, Shya fixed me with a cool crimson gaze. “Hear me out?”

  Those blood red eyes were eerie, downright chilling with the snake-like pupils. Not so long ago, those eyes had instilled a deep-rooted fear within me. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t afraid of Shya, but that instinctive wariness was now colored with absolute abhorrence.

  “Fine,” I relented. “Make it fast.”

  “I am genuinely apologetic for my behavior the last time we were together.” He paused to take a sip of wine, a melodramatic action. The demon seemed to be fond of drama. “It was a choice I have come to regret. I should have been more respectful. As one of the revered Hounds, you deserve much more than that. Please forgive my selfish nature.”

  Shya swirled the wine in his glass, looking pleased with himself. He apparently hadn’t just heard the same crock of shit I had. Demons might be many things: clever, powerful, frightening. Above all things, I believed them to be exceptionally delusional.

  “So what you’re saying is, you came here to waste my time,” I said. “You threatened to kill me. I’m not pretending that never happened. We’re done, Shya. I’m not one of your pets. Whatever it is you want from me, forget about it.”

  Shya’s smile disappeared, replaced by an ugly sneer. “I’ve never looked upon you as a pet. I see the potential in you. The power of life and death joined in a rare and unlikely union. You could be a great ruler, you know.”

  “Good Lord, you are out of your mind.”

  “Am I really though?” he challenged. “You feel it, don’t you? The power burning in your veins. You’ve watched how it makes others fall before you. Have you not felt the glorious sensation of bringing your enemies to their knees? Can you tell me it doesn’t feel like paradise?”

  The crazy talk was giving me a horrible feeling. It was ludicrous. I didn’t understand the demon’s need to rule over others or his hunger to be any more than what he was now.

  Arys’s sapphire gaze held a knowing look. He regarded Shya with a pensive stare. “Get to the point. Why are you really here?”

  “Fine,” Shya snapped, both his patient demeanor and his forced charm vanished. “Lilah is intent on reclaiming her throne. To do that she has to break the curse. And, that starts with you. She is determined to once again be queen at any cost, which I’m sure you’ve already noticed. You need protection.”

  “I’m not accepting protection from you,” I retorted. “What kind of an idiot do you think I am?”

  “It’s your blood she wants. She’s started with your wolves. What about when it spills over into your precious human world? You think the monster police at the FPA can contain something like her? I can’t even do that. Not anymore.”

  I pursed my lips and stifled any reaction I might have had. Shya’s words scared me, but I couldn’t let him get inside my head. I pulled out my phone and brought up the picture of Zak’s body.

  “What does this symbol mean?”

  “It’s a summoning mark. Blood sacrifice in exchange for having her binding broken. If it had worked, we’d know. Whoever she summoned must have refused her request.”

  This tidbit of information brought Shya’s smile back. I couldn’t muster one myself, but I was relieved to hear her binding was still intact.

  “How many other demons can break the binding you created?” Arys asked.

  “Several. Of course, most won’t be willing to help a cursed demon lest they too fall under her curse. It won’t be easy for her. That isn’t going to stop them from siding with her. They will still serve their queen.”

  I groaned. All I wanted to do was go home and mourn the loss of Zak and Kale. One night to myself to cry it out before I had to face what Shya was telling me. Just one night. Was that too much to ask?

  I watched as Shawn and Justin cleaned up the rest of the mess. The scent of bleach quickly filled the place with a brain-smashing odor. If this were just the beginning of what Lilah had planned, how much worse would it get? She had to be stopped.

  “So we kill the bitch. Problem solved.” Arys stole the words right out of my mouth. “And, we don’t waste time doing it.”

  “It could never be so simple.” Shya shook his head. “She’ll be expecting that. She won’t be foolish enough to let down her guard. I imagine she has both vampires and demons with her at all times. Getting close enough to harm her will be difficult.”

  I ran a hand through my hair in frustration. The motion made me think of Shaz. I would have given almost anything for him to be here right now.

  “Then what do we do?” I asked, exasperated. “Your last brilliant idea didn’t work out so well.”

  “We ready ourselves for what may come,” Shya paused to look at each of us in turn. “And, we keep her from getting her hands on you.”

  “We?” I scoffed. “I don’t think so, Shya. Your sudden interest in apologies and teamwork comes solely from your desire to save your own ass. You fucked up and you know it. Binding Lilah didn’t give you any more control over her than you had before. All it did was piss her off, and now, she’s gunning for us. If she gets my blood somehow and breaks the curse, it’s all over for you. You must be scared shitless.”

  I allowed myself a grin, feeling for the first time that I had leverage where the demon was concerned. I figured it was temporary so I’d enjoy it while I could.

  Shya’s eyes narrowed, but he appeared otherwise unruffled. “I’m aware of how this appears. We have no choice but to trust one another for now. I promise you, I will do nothing to harm you. You have my word.”

  Was he for real? I’d never trust Shya again. A glance at Arys’s reaction made me do a double take. I knew that set to his jaw and that curious glint in his eyes. Was he falling for Shya’s smooth-talking charm?

  “I’m not making any agreements with you.” I let Shya see the wolf in my eyes, demanding he take me seriously. “You screwed me. Now, you’re on your own.”

  “You’re one of my best assassins. You’re good because you really believe you’re taking scum off the streets. Keeping yourself safe and taking Lilah out would be doing humanity a favor.” Shya was persistent; he clearly wasn’t used to being denied. “You are the protector of mankind, aren’t you?”

  “Since when do you care about humanity?” I frowned, shaking my head and ignoring his reference to the meaning of my name. “You’re a demon. Don’t insult my intelligence.”
r />   Anger flashed in Shya’s red eyes. A pulse of searing energy rolled over me.

  “I’ll level with you, Alexa,” he snapped suddenly. “The human world is an amusement park for demons. We control them by keeping them oblivious to what’s really going on around them. People like you and Sinclair help me do that here. I have an agenda, as do you. We all have our own reasons for doing what we do, but don’t you dare make the mistake of thinking your reasons are not selfish.”

  Shya stood abruptly. The atmosphere around him was unbearably hot. With a scowl, he sneered, “If you decide stopping Lilah is more important than your personal vendetta, you know how to find me.”

  * * * *

  “No.” My voice echoed throughout the silent house. “A thousand times, no.”

  “It’s not such a bad idea, Alexa. Think it through. As long as Lilah is cursed, she’s desperate to get her hands on you. Right now, Shya has more power than she does. And, so do we. Partnering with him on this is in everyone’s best interest.”

  “That,” I snarled, my fists clenched, “is the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.”

  Arys gave me one of those looks I hated involving a slight roll of the eyes and a quirk of his lips that indicated he found me absurd. From his place on the couch, he watched me pace the open length of the living room to the adjoined kitchen and back again. He patted the cushion beside him, a gesture I ignored.

  I didn’t want to pace around the house arguing with Arys. I wanted to tear off my clothes and race across the backyard on four legs. I’d moved into the new house on the edge of town just two weeks ago. It still didn’t feel quite like home, but I liked it. The location was perfect for a wolf. Jez insisted on a housewarming party, but in light of recent events, there was no telling when that would actually happen.

  “I don’t trust him, and I don’t want to play nice with the same demon that tried to sell me out to Lilah.” I gazed at the patio off the kitchen, aching to escape the confines of the house and run. “I’m shocked you’d ever suggest such a thing. Shya’s just pissed that she refused him. Don’t you find it suspicious that he’s trying to include us in this?”