Forget About Midnight (Alexa O'Brien, Huntress #9)(45)

His flippant remarks coaxed a rueful grin from me. “Don’t you dare let Briggs or anyone he brings catch a glimpse of you. I mean it.”

“Not even you will see me. I’ll be stealthy. Like a fox.” He chuckled, somehow entertained by himself.

With an eye roll, I got out of the car without another word. I slipped into my long leather jacket, pausing to ensure the dagger sheath was hidden beneath it. Then I strolled inside, producing my driver’s license when asked by the doorman. I wondered how long I could get away with using my real I.D. before it just became ridiculous. Briggs wasn’t there yet, so I took one of the few seats available at a small, round table near the bar.

At the approach of a waitress, I ordered two beers and cast a longing glance toward the whiskey shelved behind the bar. It was going to take some time to get used to this blood only diet. I had no hunger for food, no thirst for water or even my precious coffee. But I missed it. Much of the comfort of food and drink had been mental. I saw that now.

Briggs appeared almost immediately, which meant he’d been watching, waiting for me to enter first. That meant he’d probably seen Jenner in my car. Ah well.

He was dressed in his usual black suit, his dark hair cropped short as always. The white bandage against his deep brown skin drew my gaze to his neck. The last time we’d been face to face, he’d brought a small army to kill me, and I had left him with the promise that, should he ever try it again, he would die at my hand and I would make him love it.

It was a dark promise, one I intended to keep. Still, it made this little reunion a tad on the awkward side. He sat down across from me, eyeing the beers on the table with unveiled suspicion.

“Relax, Briggs. I sure as shit wouldn’t poison you. Where’s the fun in that?”

“You didn’t come alone,” he said, though there was no accusation in his tone.

I scoffed. “And you did? Trust me, my back up is here for your safety. Not mine.”

Those dark, watchful eyes bore into mine. He looked me over while trying to appear as if he wasn’t. Even amid the heavily populated sports bar, the scent of his injury reached me. Arys’s bite lay beneath that white gauze bandage. A strange itch began in my fangs. I was very tempted to have a taste of Briggs myself.

Briggs grabbed the beer closest to him and took a long swig, downing half the bottle in one go. The energy he gave off was tight and bitter with stress. Well good. I didn’t want him to be happy about locking up my sister.

“Can I ask you something?” In agitation he picked at the label on the bottle, but his invasive gaze was fixed upon me. At my nod, he continued. “What the hell is going on with you and Arys?”

I frowned. That wasn’t what I’d expected. “He killed me, Briggs. And he liked it. A lot. So we’re having a little time out right now. Unfortunately, time apart isn’t so good for our mental health. But I didn’t come to talk about him. I want to talk about Juliet. Where is she?”

He slid a covert glance around the bar, ensuring nobody was trying to eavesdrop on our conversation. Satisfied, he said, “She’s in lock up at headquarters. In a cell that should be occupied by you.”

Fair enough. I couldn’t really argue that after the past few days of mayhem. “And? What’s going to happen to her?”

“It’s hard to say. If she were human, she’d be given a fair trial with a fair punishment. Since she’s not, it can go down a number of ways. She could be locked up for life, or worse, end up in the lab.” He held up a hand to ward off the explosive rage he could see in my eyes. “I won’t let that happen to her. I understand that she feels she had no choice. Naturally she wants to protect you. But she didn’t think this through.”

“And what about you?” I countered. “Are you thinking this through? Being here right now. The last time we spoke, you tried to kill me.”

His jaw clenched, and his fist tightened around the beer bottle. “I’m here because I care about Juliet. According to Arys, you’re the good one of the two of you. I really don’t see it. But I’m willing to give you a chance to prove it. I can’t spring Juliet out of there on my own.”

It was my turn to study him. From the taut way he held himself to the pulse beating in the side of his neck, I looked him over like he was candy. I wanted a taste. Having years of experience under his belt, he didn’t flinch or cringe.

“You care about her? What does that mean? You care because she knows things about you, because she’s been in your bed and you feel obligated, or do you love her? Because if all she is to you is a f*ck buddy, I’ll hurt you in ways you can’t even dream of.” The wolf crawled up inside me to pin him with a deadly stare. Nothing would stop me from protecting my sister, my poor, stupid, easily misled sister. Nobody pissed me off like she could, but nobody incited such territorial rage in me either.

Briggs drank back the last of his beer and reached for mine. Obviously I wasn’t going to drink it. “If she was just a f*ck buddy, then why the hell would I be sitting here with you of all people?”

“This could be a trap. For all I know you could be luring me into something.”

Briggs leaned in close, smelling of beer, cologne, and shame. “I thought werewolves can smell a lie. You’re still a wolf, aren’t you? Juliet is in trouble, and we have to work together to help her.”