Darker (Alexa O'Brien, Huntress #6)(32)

“I trust you,” I whispered, pressing tiny kisses to his chest and neck. “But, I don’t trust any deal you make with that demon. He’s dangerous, Arys. Maybe more so than Lilah in some ways.”

“Don’t let him ruin this moment.” Arys ran a hand through my hair, stroking it lovingly.

I swallowed hard. I couldn’t help but say what I was feeling.

“Don’t let him ruin us.”

Chapter Nine

“You know I would never let anything happen to you.” Arys’s voice thundered through the house. “You can’t punish me for doing what I feel is best.”

“I’m not trying to punish you, Arys. I’m trying to warn you.” I moved around the kitchen in my bathrobe, making a much-needed latte. Sunrise had driven us inside where our argument had picked up right where it had left off, much to my dismay.

Arys sat at the island watching me. His glower was both sexy and frightening. This was going to be a hell of a long day if we were at each other’s throats the entire time.

“And, I’m trying to make you see that right now we need to choose the lesser of two evils. And, that is Shya. We can bargain with him. There’s no hope of bargaining with a woman who has already killed to get to you.”

The afterglow had been short lived. No amount of sensual lovemaking could eliminate the ever-burning conflict we shared. In light of everything that had gone on lately, I wanted to feel united with Arys. It wasn’t happening.

Shirtless, his hair standing up in disarray from our backyard romp, Arys flipped through a newspaper flyer. He turned the pages angrily, as if the paper itself had dared to defy him. Stifling a sigh, I turned back to the coffee machine, tapping my fingers on the counter as a stream of steamed milk filled a mug. I found it increasingly difficult to suppress my growing irritation.

“There is no lesser of two evils,” I said quietly. “Not this time.”

“It’s better to have Shya working with us rather than against us. You’ve got to pick your battles, Alexa. This is not the time to battle him.”

I stirred a splash of Irish cream into my coffee and lifted the cup to my lips for a sip. Heavenly. I would miss many things when I became a vampire. Caffeine and liquor would be high on that list.

“What about battling each other?” I quipped. “When does that stop?”

Arys ignored my question, feigning interest in a flyer for a furniture sale. “Shya won’t harm you. He swore not to.”

“Oh yeah? What did you have to promise him in return for that oath?”

“It’s nothing. Don’t worry about it.” His evasiveness worried me. Hiding things wasn’t new for Arys, but it was rarely ever good.

“Don’t play this game with me.” My temper flared. The urge to smack him with my coffee mug was strong.

Arys dragged his gaze to mine. It was guarded, impossible to read as he decided how much to tell me.

“I promised to torture some information out of someone for him.” He tried to come off as flippant, like it was no big deal. It didn’t work on me. I’ve been inside Arys’s mind. I knew how he worked.

“Who?”

I drank my coffee, staring at him over the rim of the cup. Tension had me gripping it a little too tightly, and I had to force myself to relax.

“Bianca,” he said with a shrug. “I can’t imagine why you’d have a problem with that.”

I was conflicted. She was one of the few people I truly despised. I would have the image of her atop Shaz burned forever in my memory. Still, it felt wrong to stand back and allow Arys to do horrible things to her.

“She saved my ass from Kale,” I uttered the words in a hollow tone.

“So what? She also f**ked and bled your wolf. Several times.” Arys laughed bitterly. “Too little too late. Isn’t that what you said to Briggs? Some actions can never be forgiven.”

My gaze dropped to the granite counter top. I didn’t know what to say. Too much had gone on recently. With Shaz’s indiscretions, my own rash actions and Arys’s readiness to kill without a second thought, forgiveness was a touchy subject. One we ultimately had to accept, or live always with walls between us.

I walked over to the heavily draped patio door and split the blinds apart an inch with a finger. Arys was far from where the beam of light fell inside the kitchen. I peered out at the sunlit backyard. Sparrows and chickadees fluttered about the patio, ducking into the small birdhouse filled with seeds. It had been Kylarai’s idea.

I watched as a squirrel scampered up, lacking stealth but making up for it with speed. It swiped some seeds from the bird feeder and disappeared across the lawn with several birds chirping harshly at its retreating form. The sense of calm I got just from watching the activity of nature out my door was instant. I took a deep breath before turning back to Arys.

“What information does Shya want from Bianca?”

“He’s looking for something. He thinks the FPA knows where it is. That’s all I know. I didn’t ask a lot of questions. He didn’t volunteer a lot of answers.”

That triggered a memory of Lilah not so long ago searching Veryl’s office for a mystery item. Now, I was intrigued. If it was something everyone wanted, there had to be a good reason. My gaze darted to the laptop on the table. Veryl’s files might shed some light on this mystery.