Forget About Midnight (Alexa O'Brien, Huntress #9)(82)

The last time I saw him was when he’d taken my darkness. His sacrifice had allowed me to keep both the light and the dark powers I possessed. Shya and Falon claimed it was making me crazy, which I didn’t doubt for a second, but I knew how much worse it would be without Willow’s sacrifice. It was an act of love, and I could never thank him enough.

“Where’ve you been?” I asked, pulling back to gaze into his gold-flecked, red eyes. “Are you ok?”

“I’ve been… adjusting.” Willow touched my face. It was the affectionate caress of a dear friend. “I know you have been too.”

“Trying,” I said. “And failing.”

The concern in his eyes was reassuring. I’d been afraid that the darkness would change who he was, but I could see that he was still there behind the red demon eyes and the black wings.

He continued to smooth down my hair. With a sad smile he said, “There is no failing as long as you’re trying.”

Dear God, how I had missed his perfectly timed wise words. I threw my arms around him and squeezed tight. “I’ve been so worried about you.”

“Don’t worry about me, Alexa. I’m playing the role I was created to play. And so are you. I’m here. I won’t leave you.” The warmth and genuine care in his words broke what was left of my heart. It reminded me that I couldn’t let his sacrifice be in vain.

“You smell like tequila,” I said with a laugh.

His laugh was the laugh I remembered, and it put some of my worried mind at ease. “I’ve changed, but I’m still me. You’re still you. We’ll get through this.”

Izzy shifted uneasily from foot to foot beside me. “I think we should get going. Someone’s coming.”

I followed her gaze to the main end of the hall. I could hear the tread of footsteps and the murmur of voices. We turned to continue on the way we’d been headed only to jerk to a halt when we heard footsteps approaching from that direction too. They’d discovered Falon’s frozen cameras, and now they were coming for us.

“Willow, get Izzy out of here please. Take her to Doghead.” My frantic gaze darted from one end of the hall to the other. We were going to be surrounded in a matter of seconds.

“I can’t leave you here,” he said. “If you don’t make it out soon, the sun will rise, and you’ll be stuck in here all day.”

“That’s ok. I need to find out what happened to my sister anyway. If I don’t get out before dawn, then I’ll see you after sundown.” Between the two of us, Willow and I had more than enough power to take on a group of Feds. But there had already been so much recent death, and I wanted to avoid adding to the blood on my hands if possible. I just wanted to locate my sister and get my hands on Briggs.

Willow was reluctant, but the quaking werewolf at my side convinced him. “I’ll be waiting in my usual spot.”

With a reassuring smile, Willow took Izzy by the hand and led her down the hall toward the agents approaching from the rear. She shot me a questioning look, wondering perhaps if it was safe to go with the demon she’d just watched lose his mind all over another. I didn’t doubt that he would get through the agents without issue. I sure could’ve used Falon’s help right then, but I couldn’t fault Willow for doing what he’d done.

I turned to face the oncoming agents as they swarmed around the corner into the hall. Briggs was leading the pack. He held up a hand to bring everyone to a halt. A dozen Feds stood there with weapons held ready. Most of them were tranquilizer guns but not all of them. With a snap of my finger, a protective energy barrier surrounded me.

Briggs consulted his watch. “Almost six hours before you broke out. I’ve got to admit, I underestimated you. But I wasn’t expecting an angel to help you get out.”

So he saw the video feed. Oh goody. “Did you really expect me to sit there and wait for you to figure out what you wanted to do with me?” I dropped the keys and swipe card I still held, letting them clatter to the floor beside me.

From a fair distance away, several shouts echoed. Then all was quiet. Willow must have met and subdued the agents coming from the other side. Briggs didn’t react. His expression was hard set, the lines in his forehead furrowed in thought.

“I never planned for this,” he said, indicating that the plan had changed. “Unfortunately, now you know things I don’t want you to know, and you’re proving to be much too difficult to contain.”

“What did you do with my sister?” I cut right to the chase, choosing not to play his game of words and threats.

Briggs smiled, just a little, just enough to make me think he’d done something terrible to Juliet. “We’ll talk. I trust we can do this without any violence. I won’t even cuff you. But I do need you to accompany me upstairs. I’d like to show you something.”

Of course I was suspicious. I was also going to play along for now. I needed to know where Juliet was. Briggs knew something, and I was going to get it out of him.

“All right. Let’s go.” I walked toward him at a normal, human-like pace, hands held palms out to show him I wasn’t going to try anything. As I approached, I dropped my barrier, confident I could defend myself against them should I need to.

Once again his minions surrounded me and herded me along like a rabid animal that needed prodding. This time I caught the telltale tingle of power among them. There was a witch in this crew of agents.