Darker (Alexa O'Brien, Huntress #6)(4)

“Of course. It’s my fault that you killed someone.” I rolled my eyes and sighed. Why did I bother arguing with him?

Looking uncomfortable, Justin edged away. “It’s no problem. I can handle one more. It’s really not hard to make them disappear.” He hesitated, glancing from Arys to me. “For what it’s worth, the last thing I want is trouble. But, if I have to choose sides, I’m on yours.”

“Thank you,” I murmured. I didn’t expect the vampires of the city to start proclaiming their loyalty; however, Justin’s declaration meant a lot to me.

He and Arys exchanged a look. Arys nodded his thanks, a brief but expressive action. Justin left the two of us alone and set to work giving orders in regards to the cleanup. I couldn’t watch. I didn’t particularly want to turn my attention to the gruesome box contents either but had little choice.

I tried to picture telling Kylarai and the rest of my wolves about this. My stomach turned. Arys was silent, watching me stare at the box. I wished he would spit out whatever he was thinking. So, when he didn’t speak up, I did.

“You shouldn’t come in here anymore.” I rushed on before he could reply with something that matched the dark frown he suddenly wore. “You’ve always hated this place, Arys. You come here out of obligation, and then you do things like kill willing victims and intimidate the staff. I don’t need you hovering over me, though I do appreciate it. I like it better when I don’t know what you’re up to and who you’re killing.”

“You don’t need me here? This place is a disaster waiting to happen. If anything, it’s you that needs to stop coming here.” He inclined his head pointedly toward the array of death and destruction. “Besides, I only account for a small percentage of the missing person reports in this city. I don’t kill nearly as often as you assume I do.”

“How often is that?”

Our eyes locked. The smoldering heat in his gaze promised wonderfully wicked things. I tried to ignore that familiar flicker of vampire energy low in my core. It whispered through me, enticing me to fall into his eyes and abandon the annoyance I felt. It almost worked.

“Not often enough,” he said with a flirtatious smirk. “Give me some credit. I can restrain myself.” At my harsh laughter, he added, “I’m doing it right now.”

He pulled me close and kissed my neck. The telltale sting of his fangs followed as he dragged them roughly across my skin. Against my will, I quivered.

“Cut it out.” I shoved him away before he could get inside my head again. I had another role to play before I could play the role of smitten lover.

The vibration in my back pocket alerted me to an incoming call. Hoping it would be Shaz, I still grabbed the phone with a trickle of anxiety. Fan-f*cking-tastic. It was the FPA, or more specifically, Agent Briggs, who had already decided he didn’t like me. I was bad news, valuable only for the information I might have.

“What?” I answered in a short, clipped tone. The anxiety didn’t leave me, but the reason for it changed.

“O’Brien? We’ve got a body here that we think you should take a look at. Pretty sure it belongs to you.” Crime-scene background noise accompanied Briggs’s snide remark.

So, they found the rest of Zak. Thanks, Lilah, you bitch. “Care to elaborate?”

“Headless werewolf. Strange markings on the torso, possibly ritualistic in nature. Prints match with a Zachary Benz. His home address is in Stony Plain. Any of this mean anything to you?”

Since the Federal Para-Intelligence Agency had introduced themselves to me by accusing me of murder and revealing that I was on their watch list, they had been a real thorn in my side. Discovering my dead sister was actually alive and employed by the covert government sector really rubbed salt in the wound.

After surviving the wolf attack that turned us both, a vampire recruited me to hunt supernaturals that risked public attention. I later learned it was a front for Shya, a demon who sought people with power for his own agenda. The government had lured in my sister, Juliet. Now, we worked for opposing sides, or at least, that’s how the FPA chose to see it.

I wasn’t naive enough to believe I wasn’t one of the bad guys. However, that didn’t make the FPA the good guys. I’d definitely done my share of shady things I wasn’t proud of, but that didn’t define who I was.

“What’s the address? I’m on my way.”

Briggs rattled off a south side address, demanded I hurry my ass up and then promptly disconnected the call. I locked eyes with Arys who regarded me thoughtfully. Keen senses and the absence of regular club noise allowed him to hear the conversation.

“Don’t let him know about that.” Arys pointed to the box containing Zak’s head. “The less they know about any of this, the better.”

“Easier said than done. He’s going to have Juliet there to sniff out a lie.” I shook my head and stared at the mess. That Vegas vacation Jez had been talking about lately was starting to look tempting.

The entire drive to the scene was painfully tense. I had to pry my fingers from the steering wheel and drag myself out of the car. Arys appeared perfectly composed, but his energy hummed with excitement.

Voices drifted to us, coming from behind the old warehouse located at the address Briggs had given. With no flashing lights or sirens, a whole lot of suits were taking pictures and asking questions.