Freak Show (Alexa O'Brien, Huntress #7)(40)

Chapter Ten

Blood filled my mouth. My head ached, and my heavy eyelids refused to open. Pain shot through my joints when I tried to move. After several attempts, my eyes opened and focused, but my head still refused to lift. My cheek felt raw and scratchy from being mushed into the carpet. Where the hell am I?

When I caught sight of my surroundings, I lowered my head back to the floor and counted to ten. This was bad. Really bad. I was in an unfamiliar hotel room, surrounded by bodies. Everything was so red. Blood spattered the floor, the walls, and the bed.

The last thing I remembered was blacking out in Planet Hollywood. Wolfsbane. There were so many stories about it, most of them very old and likely untrue. I had never encountered it until now. I hoped never to have it inside me again.

I struggled to sit up, immediately horrified and shocked by the realization that I was naked. My horror grew as I counted five bodies splayed out in various displays of grotesque violence and death. The room was nice, not a penthouse but not a slum either. A small party had been taking place. Bottles and glasses littered a small coffee table, complete with perfectly cut lines of white powder. It wasn’t hard to put together what had happened: I’d torn them to pieces.

A frantic glance around the room revealed what was left of my clothes. Scraps of fabric littered the space not yet occupied by body parts. I surveyed the destruction and knew with absolute certainty that the vampire in me had nothing to do with this. It was all wolf.

Voices in the hallway beyond the hotel door infused me with panic. It got me on my feet, albeit unsteadily, and ready to take on whoever walked through. But nobody did. The voices passed by.

“Oh, f**k me,” I muttered, stepping around what was left of my victims. Using a scrap of fabric from the floor, I slowly opened the door just enough to ensure the ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign was on the other side.

Satisfied that it was, I locked the door and stared at the mess. All of the victims were men. I must have interrupted a boy’s night out. I had to get out of there. I needed to find Jez.

Part of me wanted to sink to the bloody carpet and cry. In just one night, Vegas had separated me from everyone I loved. I was alone, and they were God only knew where. In fact, where the hell was I?

The room service menu on the table said Paris Las Vegas.

“What the hell?” I whispered, needing to hear a sound in the silent room, even if it was only the sound of my own voice.

Somehow, I’d managed to go from Planet Hollywood down the block to Paris Las Vegas in a total blackout. It wasn’t all that far but felt like miles since I couldn’t recall a second of it. Then I’d murdered a group of guys just trying to get their party on. I wracked my brain trying to remember, but it was all a blank.

I reached out to Arys, finding nothing. No response. No contact. He was either shutting me out or unconscious. If he were dead, I would know. I had to do something before it got to that point.

First things first, clean up. A visit to the bathroom resulted in another shock; seeing myself as a monster was never easy. A quick but thorough rinse in the shower washed away the blood, but the stain of shame remained. How could I have done this?

As ill as it made me, I had no choice but to swipe a t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants from a dead guy’s suitcase. Standing awkwardly in pants that were way too long for my short frame and a baggy shirt that felt like a dress, I dreaded what I had to do next.

Searching the scene for any shred of my DNA made my stomach churn. More than a few times, I wanted to toss my cookies. Getting up close with each victim allowed me to see the gaping holes in their throats, the random chucks of flesh strewn about. I did manage to find my hotel key card though.

A slow clap broke the silence. I whirled around with a yelp to find Falon appraising my handiwork. As much as I hated the fallen angel, right then I was almost happy to see him.

“Holy shit, Alexa, you have been a bad little wolf,” he said, a trace of awe in his tone. “I never imagined you were capable of such destruction. I’m impressed. What do you know? You may be useful after all.”

“What are you doing here? Did Shya send you?” I was afraid to blink, fearing he would disappear, that perhaps I was so desperate I was imagining him.

“Of course. Your vampire contacted Shya in a fit because you weren’t answering your phone. He was so sure you were in danger.” Falon’s silver wings tucked in snug against his back. He walked through the room, examining the slaughter. “Shya couldn’t risk that so, like usual, he sent me to see what stupid shit you pulled this time.”

“My vampire?” It took me a moment to realize he meant Kale. I watched Falon lean in close over one guy whose neck was torn so wide his head barely hung on. “Don’t touch anything! Please. Just…help me.”

Falon’s silver gaze landed on me, ice cold and brimming with judgment. “Why should I? You’re alive. In fact, you’re the only one here who still is. Looks like you’re just fine to me. I’ll be sure to let Shya know.”

“No, please,” I almost shouted. “Don’t leave. I need help. I don’t know where Jez is. I’m missing the last two hours because some son of a bitch vampire drugged me with wolfsbane. And I can’t reach Arys. The local blood ring has him and Shaz.”

“When you f**k things up you don’t half ass it, do you?” With a shake of his head, Falon snickered. He plucked a piece of ash blonde fur from between a dead man’s fingers. “I don’t know how you’ve managed to survive this long. It’s uncanny.”