Once Bitten (Alexa O'Brien, Huntress #1)(16)

“Where and when?”

* * * *

I practiced the touchless psi ball outside while waiting for Kale to pick me up. I refused to take my car and let someone tag my plate number. I didn’t know who he was after or what they were capable of.

Lena sat on the doorstep sipping one of her herbal teas, as she watched the blue and yellow ball hover before me. I hadn’t been able to increase its size, but it had been easier to form than the previous try.

“You should save your energy. Lord knows, you’ll probably need it if you’re out with Kale,” Lena admonished.

I let the psi ball drop. The energy dissipated back into the trees and earth. She was most likely right. I’d faced certain death a few times with Kale and barely lived to tell the tale.

“He swears that there shouldn’t be any bloodshed. Of course, that doesn’t mean much.” I chuckled. “I don’t think a vampire enjoys a night that doesn’t include fresh blood.”

Lena gave me a hard, motherly look. “Maybe you shouldn’t be running with that vampire so much. He endangers you because he has no mortal limitations. You’re better off partnering with Jez.”

I had certainly heard this before, but it was usually coming from Kylarai, our little den mother. “I’ll be fine, Lena. But, don’t think that I don’t appreciate your concern. I really do. I trust Kale, as crazy as that may sound. Even though he’s gotten me into some bad situations, he’s also gotten me out of most of them.”

She scoffed, but before she could reply, a sleek, black, 1973 Camaro pulled up to the curb. The windows were tinted so dark that there was no way of seeing who was inside. I was expecting the head of deep brown hair that appeared as Kale exited the car and approached us.

“Ladies!” He greeted us enthusiastically. “How are you this fine evening?”

Kale Sinclair was tall, dark and ridiculously handsome. A vampire more than five hundred years old, he was both a friend and that co-worker who drew me into more trouble than I get paid to deal with. A snappy dresser, he’s always well put together. Dressed in a dark, trendy suit and his favorite black duster jacket, he wasn’t hard to look at.

After spending a great many years suffering at the hands of the vampiress who turned him, Kale had sought solace by taking out supernaturals like her. Some of the stories of terror that I had heard from him had been enough to keep me awake, blinking in the dark.

“Kale, where in the hell are we going?” I was a cut to the chase kind of girl. Screw the small talk.

“For a business meeting, of course.” He winked a puppy dog brown eye at me. The other was startlingly blue in contrast due to an intriguing gene condition, heterochromia iridium. His mismatched eyes were captivating. He had once told me that, as a child, he’d been treated like a monster. More than once, he’d been told that his different colored eyes were a sign of the devil. I thought they were beautiful.

He cast a critical glance at my attire. “Is that what you’re wearing?”

I gaped at him open mouthed. “What? I’m wearing dress pants, you ass. And, how the hell was I to know we’d be going out tonight?”

“The pants are fine. Too much cle**age in that top though.” He smiled when he said it, and I knew he was teasing, for the most part.

I flipped him my middle finger, and he grinned like the Cheshire cat. “Do you want my company or not?”

“I do, actually. I believe that my target this evening has a penchant for lovely ladies dressed in black.” He cocked his head to the side and assessed my appearance. As an afterthought he added, “I’m sure he’ll appreciate the cle**age, too. Enticing.”

That summed it up enough for me. “A vampire then.”

“Kale, you need to stop dragging this girl into your messes.” Lena spoke up suddenly. The clink of her mug on the concrete was loud in the stillness. “You’re going to get her seriously hurt one of these days. Or worse.”

He took one of her hands in his own and turned it over so that he could examine the rings on her every finger. “Now, you know that I would never intentionally let any harm come to Alexa. If I truly thought there was that kind of danger, I would have asked Lilah to join me.”

Lilah was a classic vampire loner. We don’t interact often. In fact, she doesn’t seem to interact with anyone more than necessary other than Veryl.

Lena eyed him with a look of disbelief. She gave her head a shake and shoved his chest playfully. “You don’t know when to stop. Any of you. You may not be human, but you’re not invincible.”

Kale and I shared a look, which earned us Lena’s frown. I smiled and gave her arm a pat. “No, we’re not. I know that. Even if Kale forgets sometimes.”

Which he did all too often. That vampire is a thrill seeker if I’ve ever seen one. If the chase wasn’t intense and pushed to the limit, Kale wasn’t having any fun.

We waited for Lena to get in her car and go safely on her way. We then locked up the office and left. Once I was settled on the soft leather seat of the Camaro, Kale pulled us into traffic with a chirp of the tires. I fixed him with my best deadly glare.

“You better not be using me as bait again, buster. Because, I, for one, am not about to play that role again. Especially without even being aware of it.”

He chuckled in remembrance, and I punched his upper arm without holding back. His laugh quickly turned to a series of pain-filled noises.