Darker (Alexa O'Brien, Huntress #6)(8)

“Stay the f**k away from me, Briggs,” I warned. “I may not know what Shya has planned, but I hope it involves making you his bitch.”

I was thrumming with power. Holding it contained inside had me visibly shaking. I had no parting words for my sister. There was nothing to say.

Arys dropped his circle, and we turned to the cluster of agents standing between our car and us. Despite the weapons they held, not one of them appeared confident enough to use them. With a slight wave of my hand, I knocked them aside, creating a clear path to pass through.

I anticipated a shot or two, but Briggs told them to let us leave. Upon my last glance back, he was sitting up, holding his head with Juliet silently watching us go. I hated myself for thinking it, but I couldn’t help but wonder if it would have been better if she’d died the night Raoul attacked us.

A smile tugged at Arys’s lips. “Watching you get rough like that drives me wild. You’re a goddamn force of nature, and it’s beautiful.”

He reached for my hand, and I gasped as our power joined with the electrical burst of a lightning bolt. It was exciting, arousing and comforting. Yet, it didn’t shake the growing sorrow or the urge to cry.

I shook it off and sucked in a deep breath of night air. Maybe Briggs was wrong, or just a damn good liar. He had to be. I refused to believe otherwise.

“Hey, don’t worry about Sinclair,” Arys’s velvet smooth tone was soothing, promising false assurance. “That was a lie. An attempt to gain some kind of control over you.”

Knowing Arys didn’t give a damn about Kale made me appreciate his effort to ease my fears. It didn’t work though.

“His words stank of the truth.” We reached my car, and I dropped into the driver’s seat with a heavy thud. As Arys slid into the passenger side, the weight of his gaze was crushing. “Not even a hint of a lie.”

Briggs hadn’t had the pungent, acrid aroma caused by the change in brain chemistry during the telling of a lie. Of course, smarmy, manipulative liars could tell a lie so convincing that they themselves believed it to be true. I had known a man like that, Raoul. The first man I’d ever loved.

Arys was quiet, watching me as I started the fire-engine red Dodge Charger and pulled away from the FPA crime scene. I stared straight ahead, fighting the wave of fear and worry. The thought of losing Kale made my stomach flip in a very bad way, but I didn’t want to show it in front of Arys. My twisted entanglement with Kale was just one of several touchy subjects between us.

“Why are you trying so hard to hide how much this is killing you?” Arys broke the silence after several strained minutes. “I can feel it. Like my own heart is breaking.”

“I’m sorry.” My fingers tightened almost painfully on the wheel.

“I’m the one who should be sorry,” Arys replied, averting his gaze when I glanced his way. “You’re in pain, and I can’t help but feel relieved.”

I stifled a gasp. It shouldn’t have surprised me, but it was an admittance I’d have rather he’d kept to himself.

“You wanted this,” I muttered bitterly. “Can’t say I blame you.”

I crossed down a side street toward the downtown core, heading back to The Wicked Kiss. I wanted to retrieve Zak’s head and take it home where the pack would bury him properly. I imagined his body would wind up in an FPA lab where they’d do God only knew what to it.

“I never wanted this, Alexa.” With a shake of his dark head, Arys laid a gentle hand on my thigh. “Anything that hurts you could never bring me pleasure.”

I wasn’t so sure about that, but I wasn’t willing to give voice to the thought. Arys meant well and I knew that, so I nodded tightly and focused on my destination.

My plan was to get to The Wicked Kiss, get in and get out. Things so rarely go as planned. Why should it be any different now? So, when I walked into the club to find Shya seated at the bar with a glass of red wine, I merely groaned. It wasn’t worth the effort to muster a more emphatic reaction.

The demon looked up at my approach, tearing his gaze from the box on the bar. A small half smile curved his thin lips.

The club was now free of bodies and overturned tables though it was still far from clean. The scent of blood clung to the air, metallic and sweet. It stained the floor in several places like a lurid decoration. Closing the doors for a night or two might be the best plan at this point. I’d do it if it weren’t so likely that the number of street kills would skyrocket overnight.

“What are you doing here?” I cut Shya off before he could slip out a snide greeting. “If this is a follow up to Lilah’s little goon squad, then save yourself the trouble. I’m not in the mood.”

Shya raised a brow and gave me a critical once over. He was attractive with an Asian appearance, clad in the dark suit he usually wore. I didn’t know his real face, but I imagined it was something I never wanted to see. The demon was smooth and calculated, as untrustworthy as they come.

“Don’t flatter yourself,” he scoffed, eyes flashing in annoyance. “You’re not the only one Lilah has made her enemy. Binding her power has done nothing to stop her from being a royal pain in the ass. I think it’s fed her madness.”

“She killed one of my wolves and threatened to keep doing it unless I willingly give her my blood. As far as I’m concerned, this is all your fault.”