Death Wish (Alexa O'Brien, Huntress #5)(37)

He grinned, flashing even white teeth. There was no humor in his silver gaze. “Oh you stupid little twit, you have no idea.”

Fear and rage gripped me simultaneously. A warning growl was my response. I was perfectly aware that demons and the like often looked down on vampires and werewolves. They had never been human, and those of us who had weren’t deemed worthy of respect. We walked in both worlds, human and other. They didn’t. I couldn’t help but feel they weren’t giving us the credit we deserved.

Before I could spit a nasty retort at Falon, the sound of sirens destroyed the moment. Panic slapped me breathless, and I looked frantically to the open side door.

Falon made a frustrated noise but otherwise had little reaction. With a snap of his fingers, time stopped. It literally stood still. The sirens froze, a strange high-pitched sound off in the distance that didn’t rise or fall but stayed one long, continuous ear-piercing note. The clock on the wall fell silent. I hadn’t noticed its ticking until it was gone.

“I can’t do this for long without dire consequences. Get out of here.” Falon moved fast, sweeping past me to the living room where he stared out the front window. “I can buy you thirty seconds or so. Go, now!”

I was running before he finished. Superhuman speed carried me through the yard and across the street to my car. The atmosphere felt thick and resistant, as if I ran through water. Not so much as a leaf moved. It was as if the world had really stopped. Falon’s power may have been limited, but it was immense.

It was a time warp. One moment the world was still, and the next I was speeding through traffic with Arys throwing question after question at me.

My hands shook on the steering wheel. I had to pause to catch my breath several times as I filled Arys in. He was quiet, listening intently as I spoke. His grave silence conveyed his unease.

I tried calling Kale again. Still no answer. “Dammit, Kale! Where the hell are you?” I growled to his voicemail. “You better have a damn good explanation for what I just saw.”

“You should leave it alone, Alexa.” A flash of angry energy accompanied Arys’s warning. I felt it inside, a painful slap that melted away to a pleasurable sting.

I shook my head, refusing to argue with him on this one. “Something is going on, and I want to know what it is.”

By the time we returned to The Wicked Kiss, I had called Kale six more times to no avail and heard as many snarky remarks from Arys in regards to my obsessive behavior. I parked in front of the main doors, taking no chances on getting jumped in the parking lot. Arys shadowed my every move between the car and the club.

“Wherever Sinclair is, he can take care of himself. You have more important things to do right now. Like stay alive.” With a shake of his dark head, Arys steered me inside with a hand on my waist. “You have this tendency to taunt death, my love. It’s frustrating.”

“I do no such thing,” I protested, enjoying the spark that jumped between us. “What you see as reckless behavior is me following my instinct. Give me some credit for not being dead yet.”

“Maybe just a little.”

I smacked him playfully, choosing to keep the conversation light. An argument about Kale was not on my agenda but finding him was. Sooner rather than later. I would give both Kale and Arys the benefit of the doubt for now. A vampire as old as Kale didn’t need me to babysit him.

The crowd had thinned considerably since we’d left. I saw a lot of regulars littered about, both human and vampire. One lone woman occupied the dance floor. With her head thrown back, long brown locks flowing, she spun in slow, lazy circles. High as a kite.

People got off on a vampire bite in different ways. The pain and the rush of being bitten, screwed or both by a vampire was enough for most people. However, the real euphoria came from the bite of a vampire with power. They could manipulate the experience on a metaphysical scale as well as physical. It was bliss. Deadly, dangerous bliss.

Two female vampires and the array of human men falling all over them had claimed the cozy little lounge area tucked in beside the bar. Bodies littered a chaise lounge and love seat. I had to do a double take to make sure they weren’t pushing the boundaries. This part of the club was public. Rules were rules.

A few jock guys sat around a table near the door loudly arguing sports. At first glance, they seemed to be in the wrong bar. Then I saw the bite one of them was trying unsuccessfully to hide with the collar of his jacket.

The rest of the crowd was made up of people mingling, drinks in hand, seeking to be or to have a playmate that likes to bleed. I had looked down on them once. Sometimes, I still did. I had no right; I was just like them. Power and blood were my drugs of choice, too. I just didn’t have the shameless courage to flaunt it openly.

Shaz sat alone at the bar, nursing a beer, watching us make our way toward him. Jez was nowhere in sight. That left the back rooms. Would she go so far as to take a vampire back to a private room to get some answers for me? That couldn’t possibly end well.

“Something is definitely up,” Shaz greeted me with a grim smile. “I didn’t get much, just that someone has the vampires in this city riled up. They’re afraid of you. But, they’re afraid of the one that wants you dead, too. After what you did to Bianca, I think they’re feeling trapped.”

Her name on his lips was like nails on a chalkboard. I wanted to cover my ears and scream. Instead, I pondered what he’d just said.