Blonde & Blue (Alexa O'Brien, Huntress #4)(68)

Slipping an arm around my waist, Arys pressed close and brushed his lips across mine. I couldn’t stay mad when the touch of his tongue to mine had me melting. The burning heat of my power mingled with the icy cold of his to encase me in a rousing warmth. This man would always be my kryptonite. Dammit.

I bit his lower lip aggressively. “You’re a real pain in the ass sometimes, you know that?”

“I do what I can.” His soft murmur was accompanied by a mischievous smirk. “If Sinclair was just a toy to you, I might feel differently. But, I know what he wants from you, and I can’t help but remind him that I got here first.”

I’d done the same thing with the snooty chick that lived in Shaz’ apartment building. “Yeah, yeah. That’d better be all you do.”

I tensed when Arys brought my bleeding wrist to his lips. Placing a soft kiss to my injured flesh, he breathed in the scent of my blood and sighed. “You’ve been killing.”

“Yes.” It wasn’t something I’d want to freely admit to anyone else. “Fighting it makes it so much worse.”

His shoulders slumped, and when he looked at me, there was guilt in his eyes. “I can’t watch the bloodlust drive you mad. Because it will, and you will grow to hate yourself.”

“What choice do I have? Fighting it breaks me down until I lose control. I’m already hating myself.” Turning off my emotions during the kill didn’t make them cease to exist. It simply locked them away in a place where I could pretend to forget. For now.

Arys shook his head. “No more of this. We deal with it, you and I. You can’t be killing humans. Not while you’re still mortal. It will take away the last of your humanity, and as selfish as this sounds, I’m not ready for that yet.”

I slipped a hand into his glossy black hair and nuzzled him. “Neither am I.”

His lips were warm against my face as he kissed the side of my nose. His concern meant the world to me. I wouldn’t have to fight this battle alone. I could have wept with relief.

My reassurance was short-lived. A chill crept through me when Arys said, “Then it’s settled. We hunt together.”

Chapter Eighteen

I sipped from a Tim Horton’s coffee, watching Brogan form a salt circle on the pavement. It was just past dawn. The Wicked Kiss’ parking lot was almost empty save for a few vehicles, one of them being Kale’s Camaro. Any vampire who hadn’t left yet would be trapped in one of the back rooms for the day.

I knew Kale was alone in his room. His lingering presence spoke louder than his earlier invitation. As I watched Brogan prepare to cast a locator spell, I tried not to think about Kale’s admission of love. My focus had to be on finding Claire and Maxwell. Everything else could wait.

At such an early hour, the traffic passing by the club to go downtown was scarce. It wouldn’t pick up for a while yet. Every time I heard a vehicle, I glanced up expectantly, looking for Shaz’ car. He would be arriving any moment with Kylarai, Zak and Julian. Arys had left an hour before dawn but not before making me promise to maintain an open mental link with him until I was finished with Maxwell and Claire. I was confident that we would take them down. It might not play out the way I envisioned, but it was going to happen.

Sitting in the middle of the salt circle, Brogan pulled four blue candles from her bag and arranged them around her at the north, east, south and west points. She placed a goblet of water before her. Taking a stick of jasmine incense from her bag, she glanced at me expectantly.

“I’ll need that hair now. And, as much quiet as possible. Do you think they’ll be here soon?”

“Any minute now. We can wait so they don’t disturb you.” I pulled my wallet out of the back pocket of my jeans and retrieved the auburn strands of Claire’s hair. I’d taken extra care not to lose it.

“I’d rather do it now, before they get here. I’m not quite as good at this as my mother is. Was.” Brogan’s face fell, but she quickly hid the emotion that I could sense building within her. “Anyway, I need to concentrate. The fewer people here, the better.”

“No problem. I’ll give you some space and tell them not to arrive yet.”

Crossing to the opposite end of the parking lot, I perched on the hood of Kale’s car and sent a text message to Kylarai telling them not to come until I got back to them. Then I reclined against the Camaro’s windshield and watched Brogan work the spell.

I couldn’t help it when my mind strayed back to Kale, so close but so far. Was he thinking of me, too? Did I really want the answer to that? I could just imagine his reaction if he knew I was reclined on his prized possession with thoughts of him swirling in my head. I owed him an explanation and an apology. It wasn’t going to come easy.

A cool wind picked up suddenly, ruffling my hair. Brogan sat in a meditative state, her lips moving fast. I could only catch bits of what she said. None of it was in English. The candle flames flickered and the scent of jasmine carried to me on the breeze. With eyes closed, she dropped Claire’s hair into the goblet and stirred it with a finger in a clockwise motion.

Brogan’s blond hair lifted gently as the wind whipped around her. Goosebumps rose up on my skin in response to the power she called. It felt pure, earthy, but strong. She was underestimating herself if she didn’t think she was as good as Lena. I was willing to bet otherwise.