Freak Show (Alexa O'Brien, Huntress #7)(91)

Thinking about Vegas brought something to mind, something I’d forgotten about until now. I met Willow’s gold and green gaze. I had to ask.

“Willow, there was something Falon said in Vegas. It struck me as kind of odd. He told me that all fallen angels know exactly where they stand. You included. What does that mean?” There. I asked, despite the nagging little voice that insisted I didn’t want an answer to Falon’s cryptic shit.

Much to my surprise, Willow got very quiet. He looked away, staring at the crew tearing out the old dance floor, and I didn’t like that he was purposely avoiding eye contact. “Don’t listen to a word that comes out of Falon’s mouth,” he said. “We all had a purpose before the fall, and some of us still have a purpose now. You can’t let him get inside your head. That’s what he wants.”

“At this point, there are so many people inside my head I don’t think there’s room left for me,” I joked, finding it close enough to the truth to make it hard to laugh.

Willow chose an interesting way of avoiding my question. He hadn’t really given me an answer. Which perhaps was answer enough. For whatever reason, Willow didn’t want to talk about it. Fair enough. I understood that some subjects were sensitive for him. Clearly, this was one of them.

Busying myself with the makeover of the club had worked wonders to keep my mind occupied. Too much time to think was a very bad thing. Eventually, the club would be finished. Then I’d have to find something else to do. Drinking myself stupid with Willow was always an option. Might as well do it while I still could.

Pretending the Las Vegas club was someone else’s problem was a delusion that would soon grow tired. It was mine now, and so was Jenner. I would walk among the glamour of The Strip once again, and next time, I might be one of the many vampires hunting the streets of Sin City. I had done my best to avoid thinking about it since coming home because I knew that taking control of Vegas was for the best. Harley had made a mess of it. Now he was gone, and we were left to clean up after him. And we would.

Arys loved that damn city. I could see why. Standing in front of the Bellagio fountain, I’d known a sense of wonder I hadn’t felt in a very long time. It was an illusion, much like everything else in Las Vegas.

Vampires in Vegas and a demon at home made my to-do list daunting, to say the least. I chewed my bottom lip, lost in thought. Was it possible to intertwine the two? To harness the power of the Sin City vampires from a distance? The wheels in my brain turned. An idea began to take form, one that surely was far too outrageous to work. It was one that would simmer on the backburner of my mind.

I was startled from my thoughts by an attractive young man. He paid no attention to the drink in my hand, unaware that I was not what he was seeking. Brazen and more than a little drunk, he asked me if I was seeking a playmate for the night.

For a split second, I was tempted to say yes. My gaze went to the pulse throbbing in his neck, and I hungrily licked my lips. “Sorry, handsome. I’m not what you’re looking for tonight. Not if you want to leave here alive.”

After he had moved on to another, I groaned and gave Willow’s arm a squeeze. “Oh, God, I wanted to devour that guy. I’m going to be the worst kind of vampire.”

“You turned him away. That counts for something.”

“Yeah, this time.”

With a sigh and a bitter laugh, I wasted no time in acquiring a refill. The whiskey was going down fast and smooth tonight. My mortal life was slipping away. I could feel it. Every night the void grew.

Now that I had tuned in to the blood rushing through the human bodies around us, I couldn’t focus on anything else. The dream from a few nights ago came back to haunt me. Sinking fangs, spilling blood, it’s what I craved.

“I think I need some air.” I slid off the stool and headed for the exit. Willow fell into step beside me, a comforting shadow at my side.

There was a bite to the night air. Fall was approaching fast. I embraced the chill. Feeling it meant I was still mortal, human in some small way. I clung to that.

The scent of cigarettes tainted the air. I wrinkled my nose and flashed a mock glare at Willow. “Why do you do that?”

Puffing away on a smoke, he leaned against the building and shrugged. “Because I can. It’s not like it’s going to kill me. And it goes well with the tequila.”

Laughter released some of the tension I’d been holding. I was able to relax. Standing in the parking lot after drinking with a fallen angel, all I could do was laugh.

The Feds would be calling in their favor in the near future. Shya openly admitted his plan to sacrifice me for access to greater power. Not to mention the forbidden vampire lover intent on making me crazy. One might say I had a lot on my plate.

None of it mattered. It didn’t. Because once it did, I would be made powerless. The fact that I was still standing, still ready to fight, that meant something. I was a Hound of God, the light half of a twin flame. I didn’t come this far to die without fulfilling my purpose. Whether that was to clean up Vegas or to find a way to stop Shya, I didn’t know. But I was ready to find out.

I could do this. No, I would do this.

One day at a time.