Only Vampires Cry Blood (Alexa O'Brien, Huntress #3)(5)

I didn't realize I'd taken a step in the direction of the bar until Arys' hand closed on my wrist. He raised an eyebrow in question, and I shrugged.

“Let's go over there. I have to confront this relentless piece of work. Or tear her head off and stuff it up her-,”

“Alexa!” Arys admonished, cutting my words off with a quick press of his lips to mine. “Such unlady-like behavior. At least get her outside before we make short work of her. Who is she anyway?”

I shot him a dirty look. “She's nobody important. And, what do you mean by ‘we’?”

“Well, you can't have all the fun without me.” He grabbed me playfully, right in the ticklish spot between my ribs. It earned him another glare. He knew how much I hated that.

I led the way to the bar, and Arys ambled along behind me, in no rush to watch me act like a jackass. The urge to defend what I felt was mine was like the need to breathe.

There was no defeating it. I wasn't the jealous type in any over the top, psychotic regard.

However, I was wolf, and all I saw was a human female treading on my turf.

Bypassing the line at the bar completely, I sidled up beside Casey with a grin that couldn't have been anything but predatory. She was giggling at Shaz and touching his arm but turned quickly when I filled the space at her side.

Her face went from bubbly and flirty to stone cold in an instant. She was taller than my five-foot-one, and she made a point of looking down at me. If her sneer was supposed to frighten me off, she would have to do better than that.

“Hey, babe.” Shaz attempted a lighthearted greeting, and I ignored the warning look he gave me. “Can I get you anything? It's on the house.”

“No, thanks.” I never took my eyes from Casey to look at him, but I could feel his discomfort. “I just came to ask if you were coming by tonight after you're done here.”

I gave Casey a pointed look, but she refused to take the hint. Instead, she made a show of looking me over before scoffing. “You've got to be kidding me.” Her gaze was drawn behind me, and I knew she was looking at Arys. “Weren't you just locking lips with him?”

She gestured to Arys, and I shrugged. “What business is that of yours?”

With a sweep of her hand, she tossed her hair over her shoulder and fixed me with an icy stare. “It isn't really. But, forgive me if I thought that meant you were finished with Shaz.” She rolled her eyes as if I was out of my mind. Maybe I was, but she was still lucky I didn't pluck those pretty, little orbs from her head and drop them into her drink.

“Casey,” Shaz interjected, clearly feeling trapped behind the bar. “This isn't the best time. Really.”

Neither Casey nor I looked at him. We were intent on each other, and I wished so badly that I could bare my fangs at her and send her screaming into the night. Would it really be so bad if I just knocked her out? Surely, that couldn't be as big a deal as leaving her in bloody pieces.

“Finished with Shaz?” I laughed at that. “Maybe I just have the best of both worlds.”

Her eyes darted from me to Shaz, and when he didn't deny a thing, she slammed her drink down on the bar. “Well, isn't that so sweet for you all? I'm sorry I bothered.” Before Shaz could feel guilty and play the nice guy, she spun on her heel and made for the exit.

I couldn't help but feel a little bad, not about approaching Casey but about the dark look that my white wolf wore. He, too, had acted out when his territory was infringed upon, but this time, I felt like I wasn't being fair. And, as much as I knew that and felt ashamed of it, that only went so deep and then I just didn't care.

Was the vampire in me giving me an undeserved complex, a sense of entitlement, or was I just a super bitch? Either way, I wasn't about to change, and the fact that I really didn't want to scared me. Why was this always about struggling for and losing my remaining hold on my quickly fading humanity?

“Well, that was nice, Lex.” Shaz leaned on top of the bar, fixing me with a look I knew well. He wasn't going to guilt me. It wasn't in him to do so. “I do have to live in the same building as her, you know. If I go home and find a dead animal stuffed in my mailbox, I'm holding you responsible.”

“I'm sorry.” Shoving Casey's abandoned drink aside, I reached for his hand, and he surrendered it willingly. “Ok, that's a lie. I'm not sorry. But, that was one of those territorial things you're always going on about. You know damn well she just wants to bang you. And, I don't blame her for that. But, it's my duty to squash those intentions.”

“Fair enough.” Shaz brought my hand to his lips, breathing in my scent before placing a soft kiss on my knuckles. He glanced at Arys who waited a few feet behind me.

“What are you two up to? You feel pretty vampy…and your skin is so hot.”

“I'm headed home right away. I'm pretty wired. I feel like I've been hit by lightning.”

It was so easy to get lost in Shaz' enchanting green eyes. One thing I could not fault Casey for was her attraction to him. He was heartbreakingly beautiful in both human and wolf form.

He nodded and looked to the growing line of people waiting for drinks. The only other bartender that he worked with was hurriedly trying to pick up his slack. “I'll stop by later, after closing.”