Only Vampires Cry Blood (Alexa O'Brien, Huntress #3)(44)

My instinct was to charge straight for the heavy black curtain near the bar that led to the back rooms. I moved slowly though, not wanting to rush through like a total maniac. I surveyed the room as I went, my gaze landing on Kale at a nearby table.

I shouldn't have found it surprising to find him there, yet it caught me off guard. He sat next to a young brunette, holding her hand as he pressed his lips to her wrist. His head snapped up suddenly, and his mismatched eyes fixed on me.

Something like alarm flashed across his face. With a brief word to the woman with him, he was on his feet and headed my way. I raised an eyebrow in question when he crossed the distance much faster than I felt was necessary. My suspicions were immediately raised.

“Alexa? What the hell are you doing here?” Kale came to a stop directly in front of me, blocking my view of most of the club along with the back room entrance.

“I'm not allowed in here? It's a public place.” I had to look up to meet his eyes because of his close proximity. “What's going on anyway? Why are you so jumpy? I didn't come to drag you out this time. Feel free to continue whatever it is you're doing.” I waved a hand dismissively, indicating the table where he'd been sitting.

He shook his head, and a sudden sense of dread hit me. Kale knew something.

“Please, trust me when I tell you that you need to leave. You just … really shouldn't be here right now.”

“What the f**k is going on? You know something. I know you do.” I started to shove past him, and his firm grip on my shoulders stopped me. That confirmed it. “Get out of my way, Kale. I want to see Harley.”

“I can't let you do that.” His tone held a deadly calm that almost frightened me. His hold on me tightened ever so slightly.

My wolf wasn't happy with his dominating action. However, a part of me found it to be delightfully intriguing. Kale was hungry for more than one thing. I could taste it in his energy. Though my instinct was to react aggressively, I held my temper in check.

“Why not? I don't give a damn if he's busy. Get out of my way before I move you out of my way.”

“Do it then,” he challenged. “I'm trying to stop you from making a big mistake here.

You don't want to do this.”

I shook my head and stared deep into him until he began to look uneasy. “What I don't want to do, Kale, is this.”

The power went out from me, straight into him. The fact that he was physically touching me made it that much stronger. I didn't want to hurt him, but to some degree, I had to. He was starting to become a real pain in the ass.

When Kale stumbled back a few feet, I completely expected it. What I didn't expect was the grin that spread across his features and the arousal that his energy oozed. Damn vampires. They were always so unpredictable.

Rather than give him a chance to come at me, I shoved by him and almost ran to the black curtain. I could feel him hot on my heels, and I poured on the speed. The bartender looked up in surprise when I flew by him, through the curtain. When he saw Kale in pursuit of me, he shrugged and turned back to the line of customers.

“Alexa, stop!” Kale's voice rang out behind me. I sprinted down the red-carpeted hall; the door to Harley's room, far but in my sights.

I ran straight into a wall of energy, thick and pulsating. It stopped me dead in my tracks. Arys. He was here. My gut had already known it, but my head didn't want to see. I couldn't deny it now. I could feel his power running high and hot like it was crawling all over me, through me.

If it had belonged to anyone else, it would have crippled me. As it was, this power was a part of me. It sought to draw me in, and that's when I felt Harley's energy running at a high frequency, mingled in with Arys'. It was weaker than the power Arys commanded. Our union had given him strength greater than that his own sire possessed.

Harley had been right when he said I held more power than he did. I hadn't been able to feel it then.

Kale came to a halt beside me but kept his distance. “Don't go in there, Alexa. Trust me on this. You don't want to be here right now.”

“Why not?” I whispered, my voice low and near inaudible.

He said nothing, merely shaking his head solemnly. Kale's pity was not something I wanted. The closed door before me was nothing but a minor barrier. It would be so easy to see what was on the other side. I knew already in my very soul that it was bad. Really bad. Yet, I couldn't walk away blind.

I could have stormed into the room like a raging bull. I could have even tossed a blast of power at it and blown it right off the hinges. What I did was take slow, steady steps until my hand wrapped around the doorknob. I didn't think; I just shoved the door open, revealing a scene that I'd only seen inside my mind when afflicted with memories belonging to Arys.

For a moment, my brain didn't fully process what I was seeing. I could feel Kale at my back, bracing for my reaction. I struggled to make sense of what played out before my eyes.

All of the action in the room was happening on the king size bed. The scent of blood was heavy and the power ran so high that it was almost suffocating. It had to be why they hadn't sensed my approach.

Arys and Harley each hovered over the relaxed form of a dark haired woman. Her wrists were bound, but she didn't struggle, not anymore anyway. She was completely nude, and they were both clad in little more than silk lounge pants. Arys' fangs were buried deep in her throat; his hands, lost in her thick tresses. Harley crouched between her legs, delving into her pink folds with both fingers and mouth. My stomach turned, and the bile rose in my throat.