Blonde & Blue (Alexa O'Brien, Huntress #4)(65)

After exchanging a few words, she walked around the car to the passenger side. With preternatural stealth and speed, I attacked. I sprang at the car like a rabid cat, easily dragging the driver out. His eyes widened in sudden fright as he drank in the sight of me snarling down at him.

The girl shrieked and jumped away from the car as it rolled along, still in gear. It came to a stop against a nearby light standard. The john put up a good fight. He flailed like a victim in a horror movie during those last few seconds before the axe falls. I loved it. Every panicked motion and high-pitched, pathetic scream fed the hunger burning inside.

The prostitute was forgotten as her shrieks echoed in the distance along with the click of her high heels. A small, twisted part of me said, take it slow, but I couldn’t resist. I tore into him with a frenzy of fangs and claws. His blood was hot against my face, and I sighed when it hit my tongue.

Everything in me that was vampire cried out in victory while my wolf was strangely content with our choice of victim. I barely left him in one piece. Wolf fangs did a hell of a number on the throat of a human. He was a mangled mess when I decided I’d had my fill.

Fed by his fear and my lust, my ears buzzed with high-running energy.

My body vibrated with exhilaration and an erotic heat swept me. Looking at the remains of my victim, I knew I had to act fast, but part of me didn’t give a damn if anyone else happened to come along. Really, what were they going to do about it?

That kind of thinking was going to get me in shit. With a euphoric giggle, I dragged the body over to the car and stuffed it in the trunk. Yeah, this one was going to give a detective something to ponder. I should have at least dumped him in the river, but there was no time for that. This was exactly the kind of kill that would have had Veryl jumping down my throat. Somehow, I had the feeling Shya wouldn’t feel the same way.

Veryl. Yes, that was something coming up quickly on my to do list. Licking the blood from my lips and fingertips, I slipped back into the shadows and made my way back to my car. The rush of what I’d just done had me soaring, and I regretted how quickly it had all happened. I recognized the vampire’s need to draw it out, to enjoy every second. My victim had gotten off lucky, this time.

I knew I should have been afraid of how close I was walking to the blood madness I found so repulsive in the vampires of The Wicked Kiss. I wasn’t. I had too many other things to fear.

As I basked in the metaphysical ecstasy, I was numb to the emotional turmoil that I’d sought escape from. Perfect. Turning my emotions off was the only way I could get through the next day or so without coming apart. Telling myself things could be worse did nothing to make me believe it. If I let myself think about it, I saw Shaz with that vampire bitch, and it threatened to bring me down.

The afterglow of the kill enveloped me in a safe, warm circle of energy that danced with the promise of sanctity. Nothing could hurt me if I stayed wrapped inside this feeling. It made sense when I applied it to both Arys and Kale. They sought escape from the pain of raw emotion in their kills. But, if that soon became the only way to find freedom, was it not just a different form of imprisonment?

Muttering a few obscenities under my breath, I decided pondering the depth of it all was a waste of the amazing power high I was riding. My limbs felt light and floaty. My keen senses were finer tuned than usual if that were possible. The sounds of the city’s dark side was filled with the occasional squeal of tires, loud voices and far off shrieks. The creatures of the night wore many faces and forms. I was just one of so many.

As I drove through the slums, watching it slip away to better neighborhoods, I expected to feel guilt or shame. I felt nothing. By the time I sat in my car in The Wicked Kiss parking lot, I was certain I’d just rid myself of the last part of me that had been human.

I wrestled with the decision to go inside. The black Camaro a few spaces away taunted me as surely as it had my adrenaline pumping. I wasn’t ready to confront Kale. I knew I never would be. If I didn’t feel such obligation to this hell hole, I would consider leaving and never coming back. If only.

The moment I crossed the threshold into the club I felt Kale’s gaze land upon me, and I just needed one stiff drink. I headed straight for the bar. I waited for Josh to slide me a whiskey, doing all I could to avoid looking when I felt Kale sidle up beside me.

The whiskey hit my bloodstream and quickly paled in comparison to the rush of blood and death. I shoved the empty glass away and turned to Kale, expecting to pass out from the nerves.

The burning emotion in his eyes said more than words. It tested my resolve and urged me to give in to the promise of the comfort that I knew I could find in him. Wanting someone this bad wasn’t right. Not when you couldn’t really have them.

“I shouldn’t have run out on you the other night. I hope you can forgive me for that. I’ve been kicking myself ever since. It was selfish.” The atmosphere grew intense. Kale’s energy was running hot.

I fidgeted with a strand of my hair, feeling the anxious need to keep my hands busy. “It was smart. I don’t blame you. Really.”

“It was chicken shit. I should have stayed.” Kale grabbed my hand and slipped his fingers between mine. The undying hunger I had for him flared to life. “I didn’t want this to happen, Alexa. I didn’t mean to fall in love with you. But, it’s too late for that now.”

“Kale, don’ t… we don’t need to do this right now.” I choked on my guilt; I seemed to have so much of it these days.