Blonde & Blue (Alexa O'Brien, Huntress #4)(72)

He fell silent, leaving me to save my wolf on my own. I didn’t ask much of my pack. I did all that I could to leave them out of stuff like this. They’d proven their loyalty by being there when needed, even Julian. My wolf rose to the surface, straining for release, seeking a way to comfort her own. It hurt to deny the need to shift. Right now, I had to be the vampire.

Closing my eyes, I held my hands over Zak’s wound, close but not touching. The harsh sensation of pain rolled off him. I could feel him slipping away.

Tuning out my surroundings was near impossible, but once I fell into him, aligning Zak’s broken energy with my own, it came together much smoother than I expected. I honed in on the wound, seeing it in my mind. With a deep sigh, I pushed my positive, vibrant energy into Zak, seeing his wound as healed. I held that vision as the current connecting us grew strong and warm.

I felt disoriented, as if the room was spinning and I didn’t know which way was up. A roar of white noise filled my ears. It was exhilarating.

The power fell away, and I opened my eyes to find Zak lying naked beside me on the floor. He’d shifted back to human form. The wound in his chest was healed, only a faint trace of pink scar tissue remained. A handful of buckshot lay beside him.

He blinked up at me with glazed eyes. “Alexa?”

I exhaled slowly, realizing at some point I’d held my breath. I felt drained. Good thing I’d killed Maxwell when I had because I didn’t have the energy to take him on now.

“Come on.” I helped Zak to his feet, supporting his weight when he leaned heavily on me. “Let’s get you out of here.”

I didn’t want him to see Julian. They were best friends. Zak had been through enough. I cast a glance back at Shaz and Kylarai. Shaz was nudging her along, urging her to follow me out. She resisted, her gaze locked on the body of her fallen former lover. After a few moments, I heard her paws pad along behind me.

Brogan looked up in shock when we appeared. She took in the naked werewolf at my side and averted her gaze. I would have laughed if the situation hadn’t been so somber. Werewolves got used to being naked around other people. It came with the territory.

Once I got Zak settled in the backseat of Shaz’ blue Cobalt, I turned to go back to the house, but Zak grabbed my arm and held on. “Alexa. What happened? Did Julian make it out?”

His jaw was clenched, and he studied me knowingly. I wasn’t going to insult him by lying or sugar-coating the truth.

“He’s dead, Zak. I’m sorry.”

With the barest of nods, he turned away from me and began to pull his clothes on. I tossed the Dragon Claw into the trunk of my car before turning to Kylarai who was doing her best to hide her tears as she slipped into a long blue summer dress. I felt awful for her.

Before I could say as much, she waved me off. “I’m not ready to talk about it, Alexa. Sorry.” Falling heavily onto the passenger seat of Shaz’ car, she stared out the window at the field beyond.

“Hey, don’t look so defeated.” Shaz was a hell of a vision. His face was bruised, and he winced in pain as he tugged a black t-shirt over his head. “Julian was an idiot to attack her the way he did. What happened to him wasn’t your fault, Lex.”

“I’m not sure they’d agree with you.” I ran a hand over his bare ribs as he pulled the shirt down. “Are you ok? You didn’t break anything, did you?”

“A cracked rib, I think. No worries. Really. It’ll be fine.” He captured my hand in his own and gave it an affectionate squeeze. “So what do we do with the remains? I imagine the bodies of the home owners are in there somewhere, too.”

I nodded absently, studying the property. “There’s got to be some gasoline in the shed or the garage. You guys take off, and I’ll deal with the rest.” My voice dropped to a breathy whisper. “And please, don’t leave Kylarai alone, no matter what she says. Stay with her a while.”

“Of course.” Shaz kissed me softly, a brief but tender touch. I was reminded instantly why he meant so much to me. Too much to let anything, even The Wicked Kiss, come between us. “I love you.”

“I love you, too, babe.”

I watched until his car disappeared from sight. Then I turned to Brogan who stood uncertainly near my car. “So, how do you feel about arson?”

Chapter Nineteen

I stood outside The Wicked Kiss for a long time before mustering the nerve to go inside. I smelled faintly of smoke from the fire, and my hair was a mess. Neither of those were good enough reasons to put this off.

The club was deadly quiet, foreign. I rarely saw it empty and silent. The back hall felt eerily calm. I could feel the energy of those occupying the rooms. There weren’t many of them.

Following the hall to room thirteen, I grew increasingly edgy with each step. Was he sleeping? Would he feel my presence? My pulse quickened. Steady breaths.

After taking care of things at the farmhouse, Arys had silently slipped away, closing the mental door between us. I was grateful for that because it saved me from having to do it. I knew he was upset with me for pumping Maxwell for information. However, I could only deal with one vampire at a time.

I hesitated outside Kale’s door. I could feel him in there. What if he was sleeping? Maybe it was better not to disturb him. I reached out to knock, but before I could, the door swung open.

Kale stood in the doorway, casually dressed in track pants and a plain white t-shirt, a rare look for him. I liked it. He regarded me with an expression of relief and intrigue. I gazed into his mismatched eyes and felt myself falling.