Once Bitten (Alexa O'Brien, Huntress #1)(9)

“So, is everyone still doing the lunar run?” He asked suddenly, and I frowned in response. Was this another lame attempt at casual conversation?

“If you showed up once in a while you’d know.”

“It’s flattering to know that I’m missed. Maybe I’ll see you Saturday then. If anymore of my girlfriends end up dead, I’m going to need the alibi.”

I laughed then. “Right. Just tell the cops you turned into a wolf with several others from the community and ran in the forest outside town. Then maybe they’ll just lock you in a psychiatric hospital instead of in with the guys who just wait for pretty, well-kept men to arrive.”

“That’s not what I meant, Alexa. Somebody would back me, even if it isn’t you.” He practically snarled at me, and I glared my hardest.

“You know what, Raoul?” I swung the weighty car onto his street. The tires squealed, and I delighted in his sudden dirty look when a face peered out the neighbor’s window. “You better watch it. Because if you go to jail, your secret is going to come out, eventually, and God forbid you wind up in a lab.”

His eyes narrowed, but he obviously didn’t consider the scenario a realistic outcome. “Spare me.”

I let the car jerk to a rough halt in front of his giant three-level split. “That’s fine. Disregard caution and common sense. But if you’re such a big boy, then I trust you won’t be wasting anymore of my time or my free evening phone minutes.”

Raoul’s door swung open silently. He fished a crumpled twenty from his pocket. “For gas.”

I fumed so hard that, if steam didn’t come out of my ears soon, the top of my head was going to blow. “You’re offering me money? Why didn’t you just call a cab then?”

His wide shoulders moved in a slight shrug, and he avoided meeting my eyes. He had only called me to see if I would come. My anger was nothing but a game to him.

I wanted to yell at him to get out of my car, but he did so before I could. When I wouldn’t touch his money, he dropped it on the passenger seat.

“So, I’ll see you Saturday, then.” He glanced at his feet and then at the neighboring houses before finally looking at me.

I thought of every woman of all ages, colors and creeds who had trusted their heart to a man like Raoul only to have it handed back to them used.

“Kiss my ass, Raoul.” My foot hit the gas and jerked the open door from his grasp.

I cut a U-turn in the middle of the street and closed the door with the momentum. A thrill shot through me when the tires squealed even louder upon my exit. In the rear view mirror, I could see Raoul hurrying up the walk, eager to get inside before the entire street was gawking out the window.

I switched to the local rock station and turned the volume way up. Finally, I pulled out of Raoul’s swanky neighborhood.

The moment that I pulled into my driveway, I punched Shaz’s number into my cell phone. I left a message for him to come by the house after work. Kylarai and I shared a two-level bungalow, a cute little white house with brown trim. It wasn’t the fanciest of dwellings, but it’s roomy enough without being too big or too small. The front walk was framed by one of those archway gates layered in flowers, courtesy of Kylarai. As always, I took a deep breath as I passed beneath it. That fresh flower scent was heavenly.

A glow beyond the living room curtains indicated that Kylarai was still up. Because of her career as a successful divorce attorney, she had little time for decorative ventures. However, when the urge struck her, the things that she came up with were simply amazing. Since she altered her schedule two months ago, she’d been doing her paperwork at home and just going to the office to meet with clients. I thought she did it so she’d have more time to dress up the house. I found something new almost every time I came home.

I frowned down at the new mat in front of the door that virtually screamed, “Welcome”. I’d told her that there was no need to be welcoming anybody here. I’d prefer an unwelcome mat, myself. The time that I had found one at a novelty store, it had lasted a matter of hours before disappearing, never to be seen again.

Shaz and I joked that Kylarai was the mother hen of our little group because of her gentle, protective nature. She went out of her way to take care of us. I still found it hard to believe she was a thirty-three year old widow who’d torn out her husband’s throat, but, she was, and she had. He’d beaten her into submission for the last time. After working for more than five years to hide her wolf from him, she unleashed it in a matter of seconds. I wonder if old Johnny boy had known his wife watched from within that furry face as his blood sprayed.

Endearing and soft spoken, but she’d eat your face off. That was Kylarai.

“How did it go?” She called to me when I came into the foyer. “Did you get rid of Patrick Morgan?”

“Yeah, he was no problem.” I kicked off my boots and breathed a sigh of relief after each one.

Joining her in the living room, I settled into the leather easy chair near the large picture window that looked on to the street. “But, I have totally unrelated, stupid news.”

“What now?” She asked with a worried glint in her grey eyes.

I told her about the bullshit call from Raoul. Her eyes widened as I spoke, but she didn’t say anything until I’d finished.

“I wouldn’t expect that from Raoul. He loves the ladies - there’s no doubt about that - but slaughtering them? No way. There has to be another explanation.”