Only Vampires Cry Blood (Alexa O'Brien, Huntress #3)(73)

“Arys … I didn’t do this to hurt you. This was about him, not you. I’m sorry.”

He spun to face me, so fast it surprised me, and I stumbled back a step. The bastard actually shoved me so that my back hit the wall behind me, knocking the breath from me.

Shaz was instantly there, swinging at the bold vampire. With the flick of his wrist, Arys took him down with a blast of power, not once looking at Shaz as he did so.

“Don’t!” I shrieked. “This is between us. You leave him out of this unless you want to end up just like your precious sire.”

I hated myself as soon as the words spilled from me, but I couldn’t take them back.

I’d uttered the worst threat possible, said something that cut too deep to heal with a word.

As Arys and I faced off, staring into one another not as lovers now but as enemies, I had to ask myself, what had I become?

Arys’ expression didn’t change but something inside him did. I felt it.

“You’re threatening to destroy me, too, Alexa? If I was going to kill your wolf, I would have done so months ago. Do you even know me at all?”

My lower lip trembled, and I bit it hard, tasting blood. “I thought I did. Before all of this nonsense started. Now, I don’t know what to think.”

Shaz picked himself up but remained at a distance, watching pensively. The room was thick with tension and unspoken words. I didn’t know what to say. I just wanted to make everything ok again.

Arys had me pressed against the wall, his body holding mine firmly. It was both threatening and sexual, causing my wolf to protest in confusion. Since I didn’t know what to say or do, I rambled like an idiot.

“Kale is taking over the club. I already pulled the legal strings necessary. I’m not letting any more bullshit go on here. It’s over. No more vampire spawn.”

“Is that all you wanted? Don’t you think there was another way? How could you do this to me?” In a sudden burst of anger, Arys grabbed the whiskey glass from my hand and threw it so it smashed against the far wall.

I expected him to throw me next. So when he shook me so my teeth rattled, I braced for my flight. It didn’t happen. As if the entire scenario wasn’t already completely f**ked up, it quickly rose to a whole new level when Arys backed away, his eyes filling with blood red tears.

Shaz subtly moved to the doorway, turning his back on us to create the illusion of privacy. Arys sat heavily on the end of the bed, staring at what little remained of Harley.

Twin drops of blood streaked their way down his alabaster cheeks, cutting me deeper than I’d dreamed possible.

I stood where I was against the wall, frozen and fearful that if I moved or spoke, I would just do more damage. I didn’t regret killing Harley, and I wouldn’t take it back if I could. Regardless, seeing my dark vampire broken in a way I could never have imagined, I regretted that.

Arys wiped away the tears before another could fall. His pain lived inside of me, as surely as it was in him. It wasn’t so different from what I’d felt after Raoul died. I’d lost a man that I both loathed and loved, and now, so had Arys.

Common sense told me to leave him alone, but love drove me to my knees before him. I took a chance, knowing he may push me away. I took his hand, bringing it to my face. It was cool and smooth. This hand had touched me in many ways, aggressively and intimately with care. I wasn’t sure I knew how to love someone like Arys; I just knew that I did.

My voice was barely a whisper. “I’m sorry.”

I wasn’t apologizing for my actions but for his pain. I felt helpless, knowing that I was the cause and unable to take it away.

After a long silent moment, Arys shook his head. “Don’t be. You’re right. I should have let you kill him the first time you had the chance.”

We both knew that though his words carried truth, he didn’t entirely believe them. I said nothing. What more could I say?

I’d watched once as a man ceased to love me the way I longed for him to love me.

My stomach turned, sick at the thought of Arys pulling away from me like that. What’s done was done. If this destroyed what he felt for me, I’d have no choice but to live with it. For eternity.

Chapter Nineteen

The wild young vampire fell at my feet, bursting into dust. I didn’t feel nearly as satisfied as I had hoped. Another one spawned by The Wicked Kiss, now unable to wreak havoc on the city I claimed as my own. These newborn vampires were running amok, thanks to Harley and those that called the Kiss home. Jez, Kale and I had been tracking them down and wiping them out one by one. Easy kills, lacking creativity and challenge.

Tonight the three of us had nabbed four of them. I had to shake my head at the waste of life. Though, we couldn’t turn away and allow the bloodlust to drive them to slaughtering innocents in the streets. I knew that hunger well, and a newborn vampire had little to no control over the urge. I could barely control my own.

“These kills are just too easy,” Kale commented from behind me. “Doesn’t it make you long for the rush of one that really gets you going?”

I shrugged and wiped at the blood spatters on my face and clothes. “It did at first.

Now, I just want to be done with them all.”

I hadn’t seen or heard from Arys in almost two weeks. Every night that came and went was like another nail in the coffin. I couldn’t accept what it meant. I just couldn’t.