September Moon (Alexa O'Brien, Huntress #8)(11)

“Start talking,” Shaz said, rolling onto his side to face me. “Tell me what brought that on. Not that I’m complaining.”

“You’re not going to believe the thing Jez and I hunted tonight.” I reached to slide a hand through his damp platinum hair before stroking it down the side of his face. “I’m going to hit the shower and tell you all about it.”

I bounded off the bed with a spring in my step. Though I was still feeling some of the fatigue from earlier, the crushing burnout was gone. The worst of my hunger had been sated. I’d been careful not to take too much. It was dangerous for both of us.

From the shower in the en suite bathroom, I told Shaz about the nasty flesh-eating demon. Raising my voice over the sound of the water, I described it in great detail. I focused on that part of my night, leaving out any mention of Kale. It just wasn’t necessary.

When I re-entered the bedroom, I found Shaz passed out, snoring into a pillow. So much for my storytelling skills.

The sun wouldn’t be up for two more hours, but I was ready to fall into bed. I yawned and abandoned the idea of going downstairs for a snack. My white wolf was much more appealing. I turned off the lights and climbed into bed. Shaz turned toward me in his sleep, curling his naked body around mine. I snuggled in close against him and hoped for a deep, dreamless slumber.

I wasn’t sure how much time passed before I sneezed myself awake. A noxious odor tickled my sinuses. Sulfur.

Alarm bells rang inside my head. I focused on remaining still though the change in my breathing surely revealed that I was awake. Fear sat like a heavy weight upon my chest. There was a demon in the room with us.

Chapter Four

I wasn’t at all surprised to discover Shya. That, however, did nothing to eliminate my terror at finding him in my bedroom. Since my fear manifested best as anger, I sat up seething.

“What the f*ck are you doing?” I snapped at the demon who stood close enough to touch. How unnerving.

“Ah, you’re awake,” he said pleasantly, as if he’d dropped by for coffee and was pleased to find me at home. “I apologize for the unannounced visit. I won’t be long.”

Shaz stirred beside me, and with a flick of his wrist, Shya stilled his movements. Shaz continued to snore, unaware of the demon’s presence.

“What did you do?” I shook Shaz and panicked when he couldn’t be roused.

Shya’s red eyes seemed to glow in the darkened room. I was disoriented, unsure if it was just before sunrise or just after sunset. Shya couldn’t take physical form during daylight hours. How long had I been asleep? My head felt foggy, so it couldn’t have been long enough.

“I would prefer to do this without incident or interruption. Shall I render you unconscious as well?” Amusement laced his tone. He was constantly amused, until he was pissed. Then he was downright terrifying.

“Prefer to do what without incident?” I questioned, holding the blanket tight against me to hide my nudity. Roused from sleep in one’s own bedroom was not a great way to be confronted.

I could see him well in the dark thanks to keen wolf vision. So I saw the dagger he withdrew from his jacket before the last of the moon’s rays glinted off the dragon etched into the blade. My heart raced, and I struggled to swallow around the lump in my throat.

Shya chuckled, an evil sound that crept through my bones, leaving me feeling violated and scared. “Stay calm, Alexa. I’m not here to kill you.”

When he reached for me, I was anything but calm. I lashed out to shove him away, knowing better than to grab for my power. Mine was child’s play compared to what he was packing.

“Don’t touch me,” I cried when he came at me again.

“Be still, and I won’t have to hurt you. Much. Of course, I can just do this.”

His power hit me hard and fast, pasting me flat on my back in the bed. Frozen in place with the searing heat of his magic burning me from the inside out, I could only watch as he advanced on me with the dagger in hand.

It wasn’t a large blade, six inches at best. But even the tiniest blade could do serious damage in the right hands. The worst part was that any blade made or carried by a demon was more powerful metaphysically than it ever could be as a mere physical weapon.

I struggled to break free of his hold, but it was useless. I couldn’t move. The demon reached for me again, and I cringed. He grabbed hold of my hair and realization settled in.

“Are you stealing my hair? Goddamn you, Shya. What are you doing?”

“Nothing more than a lock. You’ll hardly notice it.”

When he used the blade to separate a chunk on the top I shrieked. “Cut from underneath at least, so I can hide it. What the hell are you thinking?”

Perhaps my biggest concern then shouldn’t have been a missing chunk of hair. I wasn’t really operating at full capacity. This all felt like an extremely bad dream. I knew the horrible things that could be done with a lock of hair. Hell even a strand of hair was enough to twist some very horrid spells. Whatever he wanted my hair for, it was bad.

“You women and your vanity,” he tsked. “So ridiculous.” To his credit, Shya went for a piece from underneath, slicing it off in one clean swipe of the blade. He stuffed the long chunk of ash blonde hair into a pouch that disappeared back into his jacket.

“What are you going to do with that?” I demanded. “I have a right to know.”