Forget About Midnight (Alexa O'Brien, Huntress #9)(79)

“Well,” Falon’s voice came from behind me. “You sure know how to stroke a guy’s ego.”

Unable to bring myself to look at him, I sunk to my knees and tried to stop my head from spinning. I was overloaded with power that needed to be used.

“Please, don’t take it personally,” I said, shivering even though I felt no chill.

“Of course not. I’m sure you dry heave after orgasm with all of your lovers.” The sound of clothing rustling followed his snide remark. A few items hit my back as he tossed them at me. “Here. Get dressed. We have to get this door open.”

I reached for my clothes and rose, donning them fast. “Um, Falon, where’s my underwear?”

“Oh these?” He forced me to glance over my shoulder to find him twirling my black panties on one finger. “I’m keeping them.”

Before I could protest he stuffed the tiny article of clothing into his back pocket. I was mortified but unwilling to fight him for it. I slid my pants on and found my horror turning to disgust.

“Is that like some kind of trophy for you, Falon? You’re sick.”

“And you’re a screamer. I thought you might be.”

My face burned with humiliation. I wanted to be mad, but the power high made it difficult. When I came down, I would owe him a punch.

Feeling too many things to make sense of any one emotion, I stuffed it all back down inside. After running my hands through my hair a few times to smooth it down the best I could, I steeled myself and faced him head on.

A devilish light shone in his silver eyes. He was enjoying my discomfort. He’d shared some private information with me, and then he’d become the first lover I’d had whom I did not love. Hell, I didn’t even like him. And not a damn thing had changed.

“All right,” I said, gesturing to the door. “Tell me what to do.”

Chapter Twenty-One

Falon pointed at the door. “Feel for the ward. I’m sure you’ll feel it now.”

Wary of him, I reached out with a hand and focused on the energy in the room. Sifting through it in my mind, I could feel the demonic residue tainting the room, making it a true prison.

With my eyes closed so I could concentrate without having to look at my biggest mistake, I asked him, “What now?”

“Search for a weak point. It will have one. They always do. Only someone strong enough can exploit it though.” Falon drew closer. Even with my eyes closed, I was aware of it. “Use our power together. It’s got to work.”

“Geez, you sound so desperate,” I muttered, waving him away. “Give me some space. I can’t concentrate with you hovering so close.”

He scoffed but took a few steps back. “Sorry. I should’ve warned you. I tend to have a lasting effect.”

Cracking one eye open, I held up a hand toward him and hit him with a shot that brought him to his knees with a grunt. “Don’t get too cocky. You’re the one who’ll be craving me. It’s a succubus thing.”

Ignoring the dark glare he shot my way, I turned my focus back to the demon ward. In my mind it felt thick and black, like spilled oil. It was strong and well made. I searched it for the weak link, finding it as Falon had said.

I called forth all of the angelic power I’d drawn from him. It blew threw me like a gale force wind, making it difficult to harness. I also called on my wolf, knowing that was where the light inside me lived. Much like I’d done the night I took on Shya, I channeled a dark force through a light force. It wasn’t easy, and the required focus was tiring. It was using up all of the power I’d taken from Falon.

Projecting the power at the demon ward, I clenched my teeth and began to vibrate with the effort it took. It was like trying to chip away at a brick wall with a half-assed tool, but chip away it did. Gradually, the ward began to come apart. I was elated. As a mortal, this would have killed me.

The thought of getting out of this shitty little room and putting some distance between Falon and me offered the encouragement I needed to push harder. That was all it took to shatter what remained of the ward. I felt it fall apart and away, ceasing to exist.

I opened my eyes to find Falon watching me with a strange expression, like he wasn’t sure what to make of me anymore. Well, that feeling was mutual.

“Good job, wolf. You did it. Don’t touch the door though. Not yet.” Falon faced the rest of the room and waved a hand toward the ceiling. “There. The cameras should be frozen so anyone watching will see a frozen image. If they aren’t staring too intently, they might not notice for a while. I’ll get the ones in the hallway too. Let me go first.”

I stared up at the ceiling, studying the stone until I spied the tiny black dot embedded into the middle stone. The camera I’d forgotten to seek out when Arys broke into my thoughts. It had seen everything.

Falon followed my gaze, understanding the dread on my face. “Maybe we can destroy the footage,” he offered, knowing as well as I did, that was easier said than done. Knowing the FPA there would already be several back up copies stored in servers on the other side of the world.

“What do you care?” I asked. “I’m the one who’s going to suffer the most when that gets out.”

“Right, because I don’t have anything to lose if someone like Shya sees that,” he retorted. “He doesn’t trust me as it is. Fucking his prized wolf isn’t going to earn me any points with him.”