Blonde & Blue (Alexa O'Brien, Huntress #4)(2)

The waitress brought Jez’ drink and asked me if I’d like one. I wanted to keep a clear head since Kale wasn’t here. Although I could have definitely gone for a Jack Daniels on the rocks, I shook my head. Jez dropped a healthy tip on the tray, receiving a broad smile before the waitress sauntered off to the next table.

“I love that you guys own this place. Free drinks are almost enough to make me a regular here.” Jez raised her drink as if toasting the air before taking a large swallow.

“Oh yeah? You stick around long enough, and you’ll have vampires crawling all over you, begging for that supreme Were blood.”

“I was propositioned the moment I walked in the door. I almost punched the guy in the throat. Now, if he’d been a smoking hot vampiress instead … I might have considered it.”

I opened my mouth to make a smart ass remark but was quickly silenced by a woman who threw herself through the entryway, shrieking bloody murder. Blood poured from a ragged wound in her neck and covered her hands. Her words came in a rush, most of them incomprehensible.

It took a moment for me to react. I was stunned by what I saw. Only when Shaz rushed in behind her did I snap into action.

“She just came screaming past me,” he shouted over the music. “I don’t know what the hell happened.”

Many vampires nearby noticed the strong scent of her blood. I reached her quickly, grasping her by the shoulders. She was hysterical, barely focusing her eyes on me. It was obviously a vampire bite, a serious one at that. The blood was pumping fast, and her hysterics were only encouraging the flow.

“Go see if you can find who did this,” I told Shaz as I tried to get the woman to look into my eyes. “He’s got to be close by.”

“Can you speak? You’ve got to calm down,” I said to her, shaking her slightly to get her to look at me.

Instead, her eyes started to roll back in her head, and she said something that sounded like, “I didn’t know.” I could feel the hungry energy of a few younger vampires that lacked strength and control. This was not looking good.

Everything happened so fast. I sensed the vampire’s attack a split second before it happened. He lunged at the bleeding woman in a blur of speed, knocking me aside in his haste to get to her. She didn’t make a sound when he bit her, causing another gush of blood to flow.

Jez was suddenly there with stake in hand, trying to find a clear shot. The vampire drank greedily from the gushing fount. A few cries rang out from the onlookers, the human ones. A few weaker vampires backed away from the scene, but the older, more powerful ones merely watched with mild interest.

I grabbed the vampire by the shoulders, but he wouldn’t be budged without tearing a nasty hole in his victim. Shifting to an alternate method of attack, I focused on forcing metaphysical power into him, burning him from the inside out. He responded by back handing me hard enough to take me off my feet. Bloodlust empowered vampires the way nothing else could.

Jez took a shot at him next, landing a solid punch to his temple, but he never released his fanged hold on the woman. Jez didn’t let up, hitting him again and again. When that didn’t work, she plunged the stake into his back, aiming for his heart. She missed. Cursing, she reached for him with fierce leopard claws. Jez grabbed him by the back of the neck, sinking those razor-sharp claws deep into his flesh.

He finally whirled to face her. Blood dripped from his mouth to stain his chin. His eyes were wild, and his pupils were enormous. He moved with inhuman speed, grabbing Jez with both hands. The bleeding woman swayed on her feet. Her eyes rolled up in her head, and she hit the floor.

Instinct said I should help Jez tear apart the crazed vampire, but I couldn’t just leave that woman laid out on the floor. As soon as I touched her, I knew she was dead. I was too late. Fuck. This was exactly what I was trying to prevent in this damn place.

Arys was going to love this. He was my biggest skeptic; he doubted I could control my patrons.

I turned back to Jez in time to see her slash those vicious claws across the throat of the snarling vampire. The force took his head right off, and it came straight at me. Without thinking, I ducked, but it burst into ash with the rest of his body. A shower of dust rained down all around me, and I cringed.

The crowd of onlookers quickly dispersed then. Some of them didn’t want to end up like our dusty friend, and others just lost interest that fast. The humans were staring at Jez with wide eyes. Bloody claws and wild cat eyes, she was a hell of a vision. She looked far more frightening than the vampires in The Kiss.

I brushed at the dust and ash on my clothes and gave my hair a shake. Well, this was just f**king great.

Then, Shaz appeared in the doorway. His eyes were pure wolf, and blood stained his clothing. And, standing behind Shaz with crossed arms and a smirk was Arys. Fabulous.

I surveyed the mess of vampire remains. That wasn’t much of a cleanup. A good vacuum would get the job done. However, that was the least of my concerns. A woman lay dead on the floor of the nightclub I’d sworn to change. So far, things were not going my way. Now, I had to listen to Arys gloat about being right.

He sauntered over to me with a grace possessed only by vampires that had lived for centuries. His sexy, bedroom-messy, raven black hair shone deep blue beneath the dim lighting. The fang-revealing grin he wore irritated me as much as it enticed.

“Go ahead and say it.” I threw both hands in the air and glared. “I know you want to. Have at it.”