September Moon (Alexa O'Brien, Huntress #8)(4)

Our eyes met across the distance. He paused, as if considering the best way to avoid me now. Screw that. I was mad, and he was going to hear about it. With a wicked glare plastered firmly on my face, I beckoned him over with a finger.

“I didn’t expect you ladies back so early,” he said, sliding in beside Jez across from me. His pupils were huge, and his energy hummed with a high frequency. He had definitely just been feeding.

“Where the f*ck were you?” Jez snapped. “You were supposed to watch our back while that flesh-eating demon tossed us around like dolls. Oh wait, no, you were supposed to keep that from happening. Way to drop the f*cking ball, Kale.”

With a shrug, Kale leaned back in the booth, feigning casual. Only the tension in his energy betrayed him. “You both look just fine to me. I assume you killed that thing.”

“What the hell was it?” I asked. “Tell me what you know. And God help you if you’re keeping secrets for Shya.”

“Are you kidding me?” he scoffed. He pinned me with brown and blue eyes, managing to appear both hurt and irritated. “I’m going to pretend you didn’t say that. Shit, Alexa, I thought you knew me better than that.” When I stared stonily at him, he continued. “Some kind of hybrid demon. A slave race or something.”

“What was it doing here?” Jez jumped back in. Together we fixed Kale with our best no-nonsense glares.

Kale held his hands up. “Whoa, settle down. You’re asking the wrong person. I don’t ask Shya more than I need to.”

I studied him, wondering how much he was keeping from me. Instinct told me it was more than what happened to the club when I was away. There was something else.

“Why did you bail on us, Kale? We used to hunt as a team all the time.” My phone vibrated in my shoulder bag, but I ignored it.

“Yes we did,” he agreed, glancing between Jez and me. “Things have changed. Neither one of you should trust me at your back now.”

“But we do,” Jez insisted, looking to me for support. When I dropped my gaze into my lap and remained silent, she snarled, “Ah, I see. This is more weird shit with you two. Well you know what? Get the f*ck over it. You guys are ruining the group, and I really need you both right now.”

Both Kale and I stared at Jez in surprise.

Her lower lip quivered ever so slightly. “I need a drink,” she muttered, all but climbing over Kale to get out of the booth.

I waited until she was out of earshot to say, “She tries to hide it, but Zoey’s death hit her hard. She’s having a tough time getting over it.”

Kale was visibly relieved to have a change of subject. “Makes sense. Zoey was the only woman Jez has been with who knew what she was and who understood it. Jez fell hard for her. Harder than she let on.”

“I’m worried about her. She was a little fast and loose in Vegas. I don’t think she’s slowed down much since we got home.”

It hadn’t been all that long since Jez’s girlfriend was killed by a demon queen targeting my wolves. I felt guilty about her death even though I knew Jez didn’t blame me. She was drowning her sorrows these days, and I was starting to suspect it went further than booze. It was worrisome.

“Jez will be ok. We’ll take care of her.”

“Will we, though? Or will I?” I asked pointedly, fidgeting with a stray lock of long, blonde hair.

We stared at one another, awkward and tense. I couldn’t resist the temptation to stroke him with a gentle push of power. He stiffened, sitting up straighter. Just like I wanted him to, he pushed back against me. The effect was a metaphysical connection that buzzed with an electrifying sensual heat.

“That is exactly why I’ve been avoiding you,” he said with a groan. “You make me f*cking crazy. And for the record, I would never abandon Jez in a time of need.”

I dropped my hold on the power dancing between us, feeling burned by his words. He didn’t pull back like I’d expected. Instead he brazenly shoved power into me, not with the intent to harm but to tempt my hunger for him. It worked, tickling me in unseen places.

Everything in me recognized him as mine. He resented me for that and understandably so. However, that was a two way street. We had both wronged the other in unforgiveable ways.

“Nothing is going to change what we’ve both done, Kale. It is what it is, and we have to move forward.”

“It’s not that simple.”

“Why isn’t it?”

His energy dropped away, and he shielded so tight against me that I could feel the effort he exuded. “You can’t just pretend everything is ok. It’s not.”

“I know that.” I stared at the bar where Jez sat with a cocktail in hand. “Maybe she’s right; maybe we need to get the f*ck over it.”

Kale pressed his lips tightly together and shook his head. “One day you’re going to realize why that will never happen. Until then, maybe we should keep our distance. I think it’s for the best.”

I gaped at him, dumbstruck and speechless. Was he for real? “What the f*ck, Kale?” I managed to squeak out. “I thought we were friends.”

He leaned across the table and captured my hand in his. It was warm, almost hot. His shields were useless at this proximity. I could feel the strength of his power and how it so easily aligned itself with mine, ready to bend to my will.