Forget About Midnight (Alexa O'Brien, Huntress #9)(87)

When we reached the yard, I broke away from Jez and slunk along the hedge line. As I crept up unseen, she brazenly strode up the front walk. For a guy who worked in such a secure building, Briggs’s house was wide open. That was suspicious.

There was a very obvious camera above the front door. I expected him to open the door with gun drawn. So while Jez hit the doorbell, I lurked just out of sight of both the door and camera.

The moment stretched on as we waited. I crouched ready to pounce. Jez appeared casual, but I knew she was braced to spring into action. Briggs wouldn’t so be careless as to walk with a heavy tread. We were ready when the door opened.

As expected, his gun appeared first. Jez didn’t hesitate. She grabbed his wrist and promptly snapped it. The gun hit the floor, and she kicked it away. Jez forced her way into the house, and I darted inside and lunged at Briggs. I threw my weight into his chest, and his feet went out from under him.

In just seconds Jez and I had disarmed him and taken him down. Briggs grunted as I bared fangs and snarled into his face. One wrong move and I would scrap my plan and rip his throat out.

“How the f*ck did you survive?” The confusion in his dark eyes was priceless.

“Doesn’t matter,” Jez answered for me. She placed a heeled boot over his groin, squeezing another grunt from him. “Your mistake was thinking you know how this all works. Haven’t you learned yet?”

Briggs just glowered at her. His heart pounded, and he stank of fear. It caused my snarl to deepen. His gaze jumped to Shaz as he entered behind us. Knowing he was defeated, Briggs lay unmoving beneath me even though I was pretty sure he wanted to bellow in pain because of his injured wrist crushed beneath me.

Shaz chuckled when he took in the sight of us. “You ladies kill me.” He reached under Briggs and dug around until he produced the silver cuffs the Fed always carried.

I backed off just enough for Shaz to wrench both of Briggs’s hands behind his back. My vicious fangs remained just inches from his face. Briggs winced but choked back his pain.

“I warned you, O’Brien,” he said through clenched teeth. “If anything happens to me that video finds its way to every person you love.”

My growl got louder, and I snapped my jaws in front of his face, causing him to shrink back. That video should have been the stupidest blackmail material ever. But it wasn’t. It was me at my worst for all to see. For just a second I wondered if it was just safer to keep Shya’s mark and spare Shaz from having to see that video.

“Video?” Jez echoed. She exchanged a look with Shaz who shrugged. Then she looked at me and must have seen something in my eyes because she said, “Grab the car. Let’s get him out of here.”

Briggs stiffened and panic shone in his eyes. He knew the stats. Once a kidnapper takes you to another location, your chances of survival decrease.

“If you kill me, there’ll just be another to take my place, and the FPA won’t stop until you’re all f*cking dead.” His panic was giving way to anger as he decided that he wasn’t going down without a fight.

“Blah, blah, blah.” Jez mocked him without mirth. “Shaz. Car.”

I had many questions for Briggs, and I intended to get answers. I was looking forward to dishing out a little torment of my own.

As we drove up to Shya’s country house, I was more certain than ever that this was what I wanted to do. Both Shaz and Jez had questioned it when I’d had Arys tell them where I wanted to take Briggs. This was my opportunity. I had to take it.

While the sun was up, Shya couldn’t take physical form. I doubted he was even on this plane. He hadn’t cared enough to lock the door though he probably wasn’t expecting anyone to show up unannounced.

Shaz and Jez dragged Briggs inside. He’d ceased fighting once we got him in the car. Crammed into the backseat with me, he didn’t have much choice.

“You’re so predictable, O’Brien,” he said once Shaz had shoved him down onto the painfully white couch. “I hope that paying your debt to a demon is worth the shitstorm that’s going to follow that video into your pathetic undead existence.”

Jez moved about Shya’s open concept living room and joined kitchen, drawing the blinds. I trotted away into the foyer, nervous about the shift back. My worry was unfounded. The shift was smooth and swift. Success.

I stood in Shya’s foyer, naked and awkward. “Jez,” I called. “Clothes?”

She appeared right away with a hoodie and sweat pants for me. The pant legs were too long for me, but I wasn’t going to complain.

“You’re going commando in my pants,” Jez observed. “Which means they’re your pants now.”

Her reference to my lack of underwear had me cringing. I grabbed hold of her arm and pulled her close, keeping my voice low and breathy so that Shaz’s keen wolf hearing wouldn’t catch our conversation.

“Briggs is a dreamwalker,” I whispered. “That’s why I brought him here. But he has something on me. It’s going to come out either way. It’s bad, Jez.”

Her hand was warm on my arm. “How bad?”

I couldn’t say it. Didn’t want the words to come out of my mouth. Because I was that stricken about it, I grabbed her phone from her back pocket, opened the notepad and typed: Falon. Me. That building. So, so bad.

She gaped at me, mouthing, “What the f*ck?”