Forget About Midnight (Alexa O'Brien, Huntress #9)(26)

I watched with heavy suspicion as he made his way to me. Every step that brought him closer increased the dread growing inside me. No matter how powerful I was now, I couldn’t take Shya. If he was here for retribution, he just might get it.

Standing my ground became difficult when he didn’t stop a polite distance away. I gathered my power close, ready to go down fighting. The grim expression he wore held a hint of sly intent. He couldn’t be trusted.

Shya stepped painfully close, completely invading my personal space. Brow raised, he gave me a scrutinizing once over. Then he tasted my power.

Running a hand along my aura, close but never touching, he felt me out. It was the best way to determine how much power a person had. It was also slightly invasive and incredibly rude. The close proximity wasn’t necessary. It could be done at a distance. Shya was trying to intimidate me.

“You feel good,” he said, the corner of his mouth lifting in a half sneer. “Spectacular. Vampirism agrees with you. You’ve finally come into your own. How does it feel?”

I pushed back against him, more of a shove really. The force struck him, thrusting him back several feet. The little effort it took to get the demon out of my personal space pleased me. I could get used to this.

Despite his lecherous tone, Shya’s interest in my power was not sexual in nature. He’d never reacted to me the way so many others had. He just loved power in general, in all its forms, which was why he’d sought out so many uniquely powerful people to serve him in his quest for more.

“It feels like I’ve lost my f*cking mind. In case you didn’t notice.” I flung out a hand to indicate the carnage. “No thanks to you. If you weren’t so obsessed with things that don’t belong to you, it wouldn’t have happened this way.”

He withdrew his metaphysical touch and smiled. There was a glint to his red eyes that I’d come to know meant he was scheming. “You didn’t have to interfere. That was your choice. Had you planned on being a senior citizen when you finally became a vampire? It had to happen some time.”

“Shut up,” I muttered, feeling absentminded. The rush of the kill had left me exhilarated and high. The demon was quickly causing me to crash and burn.

Shya smiled at the mess of bodies before turning his evil grin on me. “You know there is only one person you can blame for any of this. The one who took your darkness is the one who left you to be tormented.”

A deep venomous rage flooded me. With fists clenched the power spilled from me until I was vibrating with it. It was just like Shya to pin this all on Willow.

It was true that Willow had taken the dark that would have claimed me upon my turn to vampire. Because he’d sacrificed himself in my place, I was still stuck where I’d always been, holding both the light and the dark within me. The dark came from Arys, the part of him that was part of me. The light was my own. Losing it had been my greatest fear. Until I saw what keeping it would be like. Now I was just lost and confused and filled with hatred for the demon before me.

“Don’t you dare bring him into this,” I seethed, fighting to restrain myself. If I let a blast fly at Shya, he might just destroy me. Although, would that be such a bad thing?

“Your guardian thought he was saving you,” Shya continued, very much aware of my fragile mental state and clearly enjoying it. “When in fact he was condemning you to a fate worse than if the dark had overtaken you. I hope it’s haunting him now.”

A frustrated growl rumbled in my throat. I watched as Shya nudged a body with his toe. Unable to hold back, I took a shot. It hit him harder than I expected, throwing him across the room. Instead of angry retaliation, he merely laughed.

Shya got to his feet, smoothing out his suit as if I’d rumpled it. “Now the beast is really out of her cage, hmm? This should be interesting. I can’t wait to see how you destroy yourself.”

He flared his wings out wide behind him, but otherwise never reacted to my temper. I hated him more than words could ever convey.

“How did he know?” I blurted before I could rein in the question. “How did Willow know he could save me from total darkness?”

Shya regarded me with something that almost bordered on sympathy. Or pity. Neither of which I wanted from him.

“Of course he knew, Alexa. We’ve been around since the beginning of time. Willow walked in both worlds. He knew well what you faced, and he knew what it would take to save you. And condemn you.”

“Screw you, Shya.”

“The truth is a harsh thing, isn’t it? That’s why we seek to escape it in such acts of pain and desperation.” He inclined his head toward the scene we stood in, forcing me to face what I’d done with his eyes upon me.

I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of making me feel guilty. Turning the tables would be the only way to make him to get to the point of his visit here.

Pinning Shya with a cool stare, I smiled a little when I said, “Willow is more powerful now than you will ever be. You know it. I know it. I can’t wait until he makes you suffer for what you did to Christina.”

Shya choked on a bark of laughter. “The whore? Nonsense. Willow is where he belongs now, as are you.”

“No.” I shook my head sadly as I recalled the look on Willow’s face when he told me that Shya had killed the woman he loved. “He’s got nothing left to lose. You should be worried.”