Blonde & Blue (Alexa O'Brien, Huntress #4)(34)

I couldn’t speak. I could barely breathe. This wasn’t what I’d expected to hear.

Claire looked spitefully at Arys, but she gestured to me. “Be grateful we’re only demanding something you already have in your possession. We could have come demanding virgins and children. You remember how much I like virgins.”

A twisted grin crossed her face. With one brow raised, she smirked at Arys. A sudden flash of images moved behind my eyes like a strobe light as Arys’ memories swam up from my subconscious. I was battered with visuals of his past, the torturous virgin deaths Claire spoke of. The two of them together … and so much blood. I fought back a shriek, one hand going to my head. It disappeared as fast as it had come on, leaving me shaky and confused. For a moment I thought I might be sick.

Jez’ hand was warm against my back as she steadied me. Claire chuckled wickedly, but Maxwell just watched me in eerie silence.

If Arys was aware of what I’d just seen, he gave no indication. “Go back to Vegas and earn your place, you worthless pieces of shit.”

“I was hoping you’d say something like that.” Maxwell stood, and power rose up quickly to engulf us.

I was on my knees before I realized what was happening. A shrill, high-pitched sound pierced my skull, and I screamed as pain tore through me. Arys was on the floor next to me.

Shaz grabbed my arm and pulled me to my feet, but I slumped against him. He was unharmed by Maxwell’s psychic attack. It had been meant for Arys and me. Jez was by the exit, looking out onto the street. Claire and Maxwell were gone. The searing pain in my head began to subside, but still I gasped for breath like I’d been kicked in the stomach.

Shaz did his best to brush off the waitstaff as they converged on us. Shoving me toward Jez, he hauled Arys to his feet and pushed us all out the door. I tried so hard to get the words out, but they wouldn’t come. Lena. God, no.

“Are you alright, Alexa?” Jez forced me to look at her as she dragged me along to the car.

I shook my head. It felt like I’d been scorched from the inside out. I coughed, and my lungs ached when I spat blood. Collapsing in the back seat of my car, I was joined by Arys while Shaz and Jez climbed in the front. I handed the keys over the seat to Shaz, though it took far more effort than it should have.

“Lena’s,” I gasped. “We have to go to Lena’s.” She and Kale were in trouble. I knew it. It was too late; we’d f**ked up.

“What the hell happened?” Shaz was in Alpha wolf mode. He spoke calmly, but the way he maneuvered the Charger into traffic revealed the urgency driving him. “What did he do to you two?”

Arys sat up in his seat, his hands on his head. Blood trickled from his nose, evidence that he’d taken a serious power hit. “Power push. He shoved more into us than we could channel. Forced overload.”

“Did you know he could do that? I mean, why would you walk into that?” Jez glanced back at us, her face a mask of worry.

Arys and I exchanged a glance. Of course he’d known Maxwell could do it. I could do it, too. I’d done it to Harley.

“Not everyone can do what he did.” Arys offered nothing else in the way of explanation.

Adrenaline did little to ease the pain. Even as the initial blast slowly faded, the burning sensation remained. I grabbed the tissue box from the back window, taking a few and passing the rest to Arys. Another painful cough brought up more blood, and I groaned in agony.

“This is not looking good.” Jez eyed me uncertainly, but I waved a hand dismissively.

“I’ll be fine. It’s Lena we need to worry about.”

“She’s as good as dead.” Self-blame shone in Arys’ eyes. “I should have done something, tried to bargain somehow.”

“How? By handing Alexa and Shaz over to be used in a blood ring?” Jez shook her head and swore when Shaz cut off another driver. “They never gave you room to compromise.”

Shaz sped through an amber light seconds before it turned red. Under any other circumstance, I would have had a fit over the way he drove my car. With Lena’s life on the line, I didn’t give a damn as long as he got us there.

Arys slumped against the door and stared out the window. “They demanded something they knew I wouldn’t provide. This was their intent all along. Lena was just a pawn to them, a way to make us show up.”

“What were we supposed to do? They would’ve taken Jez as a peace-offering. How f**ked is that?” The sound of my own voice made my head throb.

“Julian.” Shaz’ voice was low, but I heard him clearly. “We should have arranged to give them Julian.”

“I can’t believe you just said that.” I stared at him in horror. “When did you become so ruthless?”

Shaz met my gaze in the rearview mirror. The ice in his jade eyes scared me. “About five minutes ago, when I watched my mate take a hit that dropped her like a corpse. I’d gladly hand Julian over if that’s what it took to make this situation go away.”

“You heard them,” Arys interjected. “They won’t be happy with one inferior werewolf. They want something valuable enough to buy their way into a position of power.”

An exasperated sigh came from Jez. “Yep, woke up this evening and asked myself, what’s missing from my life? Oh, I know, a run-in with vampires that would love to use me as part of their blood fetish games. Now my life is complete.”