Once Bitten (Alexa O'Brien, Huntress #1)(82)

“You’re sick, bitch.” Her reply was snide.

The need to kill grew overwhelming. I snapped my phone shut and strode angrily down the street. My boots clacked loudly, announcing my arrival.

“It’s not that I don’t think we can easily take care of this pathetic little problem, but where is everybody?” Arys gestured to the empty street. No Charger or Liberty was in sight. The mournful sound of a train whistle blew. They were stuck on the other side.

“Don’t tell me you’re nervous about facing a human half breed without back up,” I teased.

I couldn’t help it. I was anxious as hell and having a hard time thinking about anything that didn’t include blood and violence. Even the presence of the powerful vampire at my side was trying my patience, encouraging me to quench the undying hunger that cut up my insides.

“Hell no.” He didn’t miss a beat. “Just afraid of being in a house with two wild women.” I felt his gaze suddenly narrow on me. “Are you going to be alright?”

“I don’t know,” I admitted as I shoved my shaky hands in my pockets. “Just don’t let me kill the wrong person.”

He nodded. “Let’s go inside.”

The curtains were drawn in the front window, but a light shone beyond. I thought I saw a flash of movement.

I reached out instinctively for Arys’s cool, inviting hand. Our auras wasted no time mingling, and I welcomed the cold vampire energy.

When I reached for the doorknob, it wouldn’t budge. I hadn’t really expected an open invitation. I glanced at the doorbell but didn’t bother.

I braced myself with the stair rail. I focused on the soft spot below the knob and let loose with a high kick. The door frame splintered in an ear piercing shriek of tearing wood. The door hit the wall so hard that it bounced back at me, vibrating on its hinges. The front sitting room was empty. I wasn’t looking forward to venturing inside.

“Beautiful,” the vampire breathed.

A jolt of his power rushed through me, and I embraced it. I wanted to go in there tapping every power source I had. If the crazy bitch thought she was going to knife me, I’d blow her through the damn roof.

“Do you smell that?” Arys stalked past me into the house while I lingered uncertainly near the doorway.

He had a lilt to his voice that indicated the effect our combined power was having on him. I can’t say that I wasn’t happy that it was a battle of control for him, too.

Zoey’s blood was thick on the air inside. Drawn by the scent of injured prey, I followed the tall, dark vampire.

Muffled voices reached me. They were in the windowless study off the kitchen. They had to know we were here. The front door had been anything but quiet.

Our footsteps were silent as we made our way into the large kitchen. I paused in the threshold between both rooms. Raoul’s beloved wolf tapestry hung in tatters. Only claws would do that.

As I took in the damage of Zoey’s rage, the energy in the house shifted. At Raoul’s office, Arys stopped mid-motion as he reached for the doorknob. He risked a glance back at me and his pupils were huge.

I panicked when I saw him vamping out. I needed him to maintain the power that we’d called. I opened my mouth to tell him not to blow this when the office door suddenly burst open.

Raoul crashed through the opening, narrowly missing Arys as he tumbled and rolled. The vampire appeared at my side with his body positioned to defend an attack.

Raoul was gracefully on his feet in an instant. With one hand outstretched, he pointed an accusing finger at me.

“You,” he snarled. “It’s because of you that Zoey’s hurt. If she dies, I’ll f**king kill you, Alexa. You promised!” A harsh cough wracked him, and he spat blood on to the pristine white tile.

In an instant, I held a psi ball in my palm. “She stabbed Kylarai!” My voice was shrill enough to hurt my own ears. “I’m not playing by anyone’s rules here, Raoul.”

He was pale, the bruises lining his eye and nose appeared darker in contrast. He licked a drop of blood from the corner of his lip. He’d been letting her smack him around. Pathetic.

“I can’t be held responsible for Kylarai’s choice to get involved in something that doesn’t concern her.”

Though he was speaking, my eyes were on the study door. I could feel her approach, and I licked my lips eagerly. I felt that same crazy smile, Arys’s smile, that I’d worn when I’d slaughtered David. It adorned my features so naturally. The blood hunger seemed to hone in on the creature in the house that I wanted the most.

I had a good mind to tear out Zoey’s throat while Raoul watched, before letting Arys go at him. Wouldn’t that just be the most delicious fight?

Zoey appeared in the doorway to the small office. Her black hair hung to hide most of her round face. She didn’t look much like the smiling young girl in her picture. This version of Zoey Roberts was anything but striking. She looked like a Japanese cinema ghost.

Her skin was whiter than Arys on a bad day. Dark circles lined her eyes, and her dark blue wolf eyes were glazed. Her clawed fingers were bloody but the absence of fangs was a good sign. If she went completely wolf on us, she’d never come back.

Her clothing was all black. The rips and dirt on her jeans marked her scuffle with Kylarai. I didn’t see a weapon, but I assumed it was there. A jagged, blood-caked slice marred the white skin of her throat. The inside of her forearm showed bone where Kylarai had got her.