Blonde & Blue (Alexa O'Brien, Huntress #4)(42)

The rich scent of her blood was mouth-watering, but this time it held no sway over me. I saw my friend bleeding to death from a nasty throat wound, and the wolf rose up with a protective snarl to subdue the bloodlust. This was Jez, and she wasn’t food.

Vampire blood could heal her. She wasn’t conscious enough to drink it nor was there a vampire around. Kale hadn’t hung around long after his attack. My blood was still mortal. Could I heal her the way Harley had taught me? I called the energy, but my panic prevented me from focusing on it. I could feel her slipping away. No!

“Please, God. Not Jez, too,” I sobbed, only realizing then that tears streamed down my face. “Come on, focus!”

I was mad at myself. How could I fall apart when it was the life of one of my dearest friends on the line? I could do this. I had to!

Power swirled about me like a tornado. I couldn’t bring it into focus, but the more my desperation mounted, the further it spun out of control. I had the ability to save her, but instead, I was failing her.

The icy touch of vampire power at my back had me whirling, ready to kick Kale’s ass. I gasped when I found myself staring into Lilah’s flame-colored eyes. Her pupils dilated as she reacted to the wild power encircling me.

“It was Kale,” I babbled, all but shoving her toward Jez. “I tried to heal her, and I can’t. I just can’t.” One thing was evident, I was not doing well under pressure these days. Even to me I sounded like the frantic idiot that needed to be slapped.

Lilah was all calm and cool next to my hysterical self. She knelt beside Jez but looked up at me. “I have her; find him.” A woman of few words, Lilah turned her attention to the fading leopard and a stroke of fire slammed over me as she called her power. Demon power.

That red-hot power poured forth, wiping out any trace of her usual cool, undead energy. It burned, and I shielded hard against it.

I had to find Kale before he slaughtered his way through the city. How far could he have gotten by now? If I was going to give him the beating he deserved, I needed to gain control of myself. Bad enough, I’d failed Jez. If Kale overpowered me, I might not make it out of our confrontation alive.

The Wicked Kiss. If I had to bet money on it, that’s where Kale would go. It was filled with victims he could pick off left, right and center. Leaving Jez was difficult, but I trusted Lilah. Kale wasn’t likely to stop anytime soon, which added fuel to my fire. I had to get to him.

My hands shook on the steering wheel as I rushed back through the city. I was filled with dread. I did not want to see Kale on a rampage, and I sure as hell didn’t want to be the one to have to stop him. I had no choice. The image of Jez bleeding out swam behind my eyes. How could he do this to her? A little voice whispered in my ear, He did it to you, too.

Kale was a killer. The calm, gentle Kale that I knew was only part of him. I could too easily pretend a monster didn’t lurk behind those gorgeous eyes. I’d always known this could happen, but I’d foolishly chosen not to believe he really would snap again.

I’d seen horrors in Arys’ memory, but I was sure that Kale’s past contained worse. Kale had never been one to speak much of his past, but I knew enough to know it was bad. He had a bit of a fetish for the screams of his victims. I shuddered, recalling the night he’d told me that.

I was terror-stricken at the thought of facing him. I would never forget the crazed look in his eyes the night he attacked me.

Raindrops spattered against the windshield, and a boom of thunder shook the night. A thunderstorm was as fitting a backdrop to this night as any. With the press of a button, I closed the sunroof, cutting off the cold, wet spray that hit me in the face. The motion was so mundane and simple, a direct contrast to everything else going on around me.

I didn’t think I could possibly be any more afraid than I already was. However, when I approached The Kiss and spotted Kale’s Camaro parked haphazardly in the club’s “no parking” zone, my stomach dropped. The anger that coursed through me came sudden and unbidden. I was smart enough to fear Kale, but I was also beyond pissed for what he’d done to Jez.

I parked my car so that it blocked his in. I didn’t want him getting away that easily, although I had a feeling that he wouldn’t try to run when he saw me. Fear fled me when I got out of my car and surveyed the parking lot. It was much too quiet. The noise from inside was muffled. I paused, listening for telltale screams.

I dropped my shields, knowing Kale would feel me regardless. I reached out for his honey sweet energy, sensing him immediately. His energy was buzzing with the bloodlust that drove him. Kale was on a bender, and he wasn’t likely to stop any time soon. His energy led me through the parking lot, past the rear exit to the small alley that ran behind the building. How perfectly creepy.

Kale had carelessly tossed aside the bodies of two guys who had the misfortune of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. One of them was still alive, barely. His heartbeat echoed in my ears, and I tried to shut it out. I could do nothing for him now. I forced myself to walk past him without a second look. Unlike Jez, he felt like food.

I hesitated, unwilling to walk into a trap. Kale hadn’t already gone inside to terrorize the club patrons for a reason. He was waiting for me. That realization should have frightened me, but I was numb, slipping into survival mode.

The scent of blood and fear was strong. I gazed into the darkness, my wolf eyes re-adjusting to the absence of light. I saw nothing other than a garbage dumpster and some old abandoned furniture some lazy ass had ditched. Wherever Kale was, he was blending into the shadows with ease.