Darker (Alexa O'Brien, Huntress #6)(96)

Shya had been wise enough to leave me alone since Lilah’s, though as far as I knew, Gabriel was still under his thumb. I wasn’t telling Shya about my trip. Eventually he’d come creeping around again. Arys and I both owed him, and he’d make sure he got his payback. Before then, I had to find a way to outwit the bastard, or at the very least, outplay him.

I was counting on Veryl’s files to give me some insight into Shya’s end goal. Identifying the mystery artifact he sought would be nice too. I read and reread the files, convinced I was missing something hidden inside the documents. I couldn’t bring myself to destroy them. Not yet.

Willow was back to his routine of drinking himself stupid. Anything to dull the pain, I guess. Poor bastard. I hurt for him. He was a good friend and a great guy. He deserved happiness.

I signalled the waitress for an ice water. I sipped it, watching Kale work his magic on the opposite side of the room. His brown-haired victim laughed as he whispered in her ear. If he ever set his sights on my brunette sister, I’d have him castrated.

Things with Juliet were better. I might even go so far as to say they were good. We’d recently had dinner. What had started as an awkward meeting developed into an easygoing visit complete with laughter and shared memories.

There were still a lot of issues to work through. We had grown up differently, become very different people. Being Lilah’s captive had given Juliet some insight into the kinds of people and creatures I was dealing with. She had come away from that experience with a new respect for me, even if she didn’t entirely understand my world.

We hugged it out and even promised to spend more time together. We could never go back to the past, to our lost innocence and ignorance. All we could do was work with what we had now. I invited her out to my place, to run with me on the full moon. The wolf was one thing we did share, something that could unite us regardless of what divided us.

Losing my wolf wasn’t far from my thoughts. I was determined to find a way to deal with that; I had to. Having it trapped forever inside me when I became a vampire wasn’t an option.

I still hadn’t told Shaz about that. I had filled him in on everything important that Arys hadn’t already told him. The wolf thing, though, I couldn’t bring myself to say it. As ridiculous as I knew it was, part of me feared he would look at me differently if I lost the wolf.

No, it could wait. Now that I had decided to leave town, I couldn’t wait to get moving. Jez had booked us a midnight flight. We were meeting at the airport. I had less than an hour to get there.

I finished my drink and rose to leave. The Wicked Kiss would thrive just fine without me, and so would Kale. He held his victim close, his lips on her neck. Our eyes met across the distance. With an evil grin, he sank his fangs.

My gut twisted. I didn’t want to see this. More importantly, I didn’t need this kind of influence an hour before I got on a plane filled with humans. Kale was taking this whole ‘drive me crazy’ thing seriously. And, he was right; I kind of did want to stake him.

I flipped him the bird and stalked out of the building. Kale could stay here and play vampire. I was heading to one of the wildest cities on the planet. Sin City, here I come.

My phone rang as I crossed the parking lot to my car. The incredibly funny but cheesy “Baby Got Back” streamed out of the speakers, and I rushed to silence it. I grumbled a curse and made a mental note to slap Arys.

“Where are you? You need time to go through security and all that jazz.” Jez’s excitement was palpable. I could hear airport noises in the background.

“I’m on my way. Getting in the car right now. Just had to stop by the club. I won’t be long.”

“Hurry up. Your boys are here already. Oh my gosh, I can’t wait.” She ended the call with that, and I laughed. Her enthusiasm was contagious.

Leaving The Wicked Kiss was liberating that night. It was someone else’s problem for now, and that felt damn good. I wasn’t just escaping the club; I was escaping reality, or at least, that was the plan. I was long overdue for a getaway.

My fingers tightened on the wheel, and my foot was heavy on the gas pedal.

I planned to leave my mark on Las Vegas. I didn’t doubt that it would also leave its mark on me.