Only Vampires Cry Blood (Alexa O'Brien, Huntress #3)(14)

I started to regret my words when his expression grew dark. I really needed to start playing my words in my head before saying them out loud. Kale was a regular patron at The Wicked Kiss. His past was filled with torment at the hands of the vampiress who made him. She'd turned him into a rabid beast. The fact that he was able to regain his sanity at all was a miracle. So now, he fed from the willing at the local vampire hot spot rather than walk the streets looking for a kill like Arys.

If Kale were to start killing again, there's no telling how bad it would be. I'd experienced just a taste of the true vampire inside Kale, and I did not want to see that ever again.

“No more than usual. It's a means to an end.” His tone dropped, becoming smoother and seductive. “You know how it goes.”

I certainly did, though my blood hunger wasn't rooted in death as his was. Not yet. I had more control. The change in his energy was as instant as that in his voice and demeanor. Get the vampire thinking about feeding and pay the price. That was my cue to leave.

Opening the door to my car, I stepped close to it, ready to get in. Kale took a step toward me. His instincts were already driving him. He'd admitted months ago that he wanted me, wanted to taste my blood and bathe in my power. If that ever happened, he'd likely kill me, too.

“I'm going to take off now. I have to meet Shaz at my place.” I watched him closely, warily. He didn't move away, but he didn't try to come any closer either. “So, I'll see you tomorrow night. And, thanks again Kale. I owe you one.”

I dropped into the driver's seat and started the engine. He laughed then and a lock of dark brown hair fell in his eyes.

“I'm pretty sure you owe me more than just one. But who's counting?”

Chapter Four

The upstairs master bedroom barely resembled Raoul's anymore. I turned in a slow circle, taking in the entirety of the room. It had taken me months to work up the nerve to come into his old room. Even after I’d washed away the visible signs of murder, the energy of terror and death lingered.

I'd had Lena come in to do a smudging, cleansing the negative energy. Lena was a witch and a close friend that occasionally offered her services to Veryl. Despite how effective it usually was and how great a witch Lena was, I could still feel Raoul’s lover Belle in the room, as if she were there with me screaming for her life. I couldn't shake it so I blocked it out, shielding hard as I moved about the room.

With the bed and carpet both removed, the flooring was now just a nice cream-colored tile, matching the tile in the ensuite bathroom. A dresser remained in the corner near the window. It was still filled with Raoul's clothing. I hadn't had the heart to either go through them or toss them completely. Yeah, I'm real sentimental that way, if you can call avoidance sentimental.

I still didn't know what to do with the room. Eventually, I would have to decide. I'd come in here to try and get an idea of what to do with it. Instead, I was standing in the middle of the room staring blankly.

Despite the horrific events that had taken place in this room, I found that I was drawn to it when I needed a moment alone with my thoughts. Though, every time I found my thoughts straying to Zoey Roberts. Raoul's daughter had been the one to murder Belle in this room. She would have killed me as well if she'd been able to. Ever since I ran into her before Halloween, I'd found my thoughts going to her, wondering if maybe there was a way to get her back into a human body after all.

Zoey was a hybrid, born of a werewolf father and human mother. It had resulted in mixed blood that gave her many of the werewolf's urges and instincts yet not the wolf body to go along with them. She'd managed to change forms the night of our confrontation, but as far as anyone knew of hybrids, it was impossible for them to change back. They were cursed to live in either one body or the other, until death.

With a sigh, I banished Zoey from my thoughts. I hadn't cared then. Why start now?

In fact, I'd spent weeks, months even, wanting nothing more than to kill her like I should have. I couldn't. I had enough death weighing on my conscience as it was.

The sound of the front door opening downstairs indicated Shaz' arrival. He often stopped by after a shift at Lucy's Lounge. I hadn't heard from Arys since he'd spoken his carefully worded threat. That was fine with me. I wasn't in the mood for a confrontation.

“Up here,” I called down to him, but he was already taking the stairs two at a time.

The man could scent me anywhere. “Hey, babe. How was your night?”

I turned toward the door in time to be swept into his embrace. My nostrils filled with his amazing smell, and I breathed it in hungrily. Wolf, human and all man, how I loved it.

His warmth was heavenly, and I snuggled close against him. Our bodies fit together perfectly, like pieces of a puzzle. It was one of my favorite feelings.

“It's been a long night. But now, it is finally perfect.” He nuzzled my ear, stimulating the nerves, which sent a tickle down my spine. “How was yours?”

“Better than last night, that's for sure. I'm glad you came by. I needed this.” Closing my eyes, I soaked up the moment.

Shaz was silent, his arms tightening around me. He rested his head on top of mine, and I pressed my face into his black cotton t-shirt. The only thing missing was my bedroom, which was downstairs.

“I'm guessing that Arys' pissy mood tonight has something to do with that?”