September Moon (Alexa O'Brien, Huntress #8)(51)
Willow helped me up with soft words meant to calm. I was anything but that. If Arys wanted a fight, he would get one.
But Willow stopped me before I could lash out at my dark lover. He grabbed the hand I raised crackling with power and extinguished the roiling psi ball in my palm. The sensation of his angelic vibe was heavy and deep but also comforting and warm.
“You’ve got to choose your battles,” Willow said, low and smooth. “This is not one of them.”
“Listen to your guardian,” Shya chimed in. “He knows what’s best for you.”
Relief passed over Arys’s handsome features, piquing my curiosity. Before I could speak or act, he bared Gabriel’s neck and bit deep into his throbbing jugular.
My breath caught, and I watched in silent fury as Arys bled the young witch. The scent of it mingled with Gabriel’s fear. It called to me, a demand that would go unanswered. I held tight to Willow, praying he wouldn’t let me go.
Jenner shifted from foot to foot beside us. As incubi and succubi respectively, he and I were both drawn more to sensual energy than fear alone. It didn’t take long for Gabriel to respond to Arys as if he were a lover. A groan escaped Gabriel’s lips, and he held tight to Arys until his strength began to fade. Caught up in Arys’s thrall, Gabriel oozed desire. I closed my eyes, unwilling to look any longer. Every breath I took filled my lungs with blood and lust. It was suffocating.
I wondered what, if anything, Gabriel was seeing as he and Arys touched. The two of them stood there in the center of the living room with so many sets of eyes upon them. Arys was oblivious, lost in the euphoria of such a deep feed.
Holding my breath did little to help. All it did was force me to take a deeper breath as my lungs cried out for air. The heady aroma of Arys’s desire mingled with that of his victim. The dark touch of the right vampire could bring any man or woman to their knees.
Gabriel slumped against Arys, his strength sapped save for what he used to cling to the vampire as if afraid to ever let go. His eyes rolled back in his head, and he mumbled something incoherent.
My fangs sprang forth, and I took an involuntary step forward. Willow’s grip tightened until it was almost painful. I didn’t care. I wanted what Arys was having. Why should I be made to watch and not take part?
Those were the thoughts of the bloodlust, the driving force that demanded my need be sated. It wasn’t me even though it was. Conflicted and confused, I whimpered in frustration.
“Oh, please,” Jenner grumbled beneath his breath. “You’re going to make a terrible vampire.”
Despite his cocky words, Jenner held himself rigid, gaze transfixed upon the scene before us. He wanted it just as bad as I did. Having centuries of experience was the only difference between us.
Unable to trust myself to speak, I gave him the finger, satisfied at the resulting glower. For just a moment I thought perhaps Arys would merely kill Gabriel and save us from having to deal with him as a newbie vamp. Part of me hoped for it, wanting it to happen.
‘Do it,’ I thought, hoping he would hear me. ‘Kill him and end his misery before it can really begin.’
As if in response to my plea, Arys’s head snapped up. Blood dripped from his mouth, and he gave Gabriel’s face a light slap. Then he bit into his own wrist and offered the bleeding fount to his victim.
Shit.
The only thing keeping Gabriel upright was Arys. The kid groped clumsily for Arys’s wrist, closing his mouth around the flowing crimson.
Arys’s blood was too much. It brought a roar of power crashing through me. White noise screamed through my ears, and I broke free of Willow’s hold. The true monster lying in wait inside me saw its chance and burst forth with a cry. I hurled myself at Arys, seeking to both stop this transformation and to end my own agonizing hunger. I hit him hard, nearly knocking us both to the ground. In his attempts to fend me off, Arys lost his grip on Gabriel who slumped to the floor, smacking the coffee table on his way down.
Blood stained Shya’s white couch and area rug. The demon raised a hand to slap me with his demonic power, but Willow was there, throwing himself between us. Everything happened fast. Arys threw me off with a shout for Jenner to grab me. Willow and Shya faced off as only old enemies could. Enemies who were once brothers.
“You finish this, Arys,” Shya hissed, though his red gaze saw only Willow.
Jenner dragged me off Arys before I could land the punch I’d been about to throw. Jenner was a good match for me. His physical strength was greater than mine, and our power came from the same place. But I had more of it. We grappled while Arys rushed back to Gabriel to feed him more of his dark blood.
I flung Jenner off with a push of power that tore a cry from him. He came back at me immediately. With a hand around my throat, he slammed me to the floor and straddled me. The breath was squeezed from my lungs. I gasped and choked, cursing my mortal limitations. For the first time perhaps ever, I longed to be free of them.
Staring up into Jenner’s hate filled eyes, I lay perfectly still. I didn’t try to speak or fight. I merely gazed into him with a single intention.
“Don’t you f*cking dare,” he murmured with a fang-revealing snarl. “I will gladly knock you senseless.”
The sensual succubus vibe seeped from me like smoke from a chimney. It poured out, reaching to envelope Jenner in its cloud of manipulative longing. He was mine. Surely he knew better.
Trina M. Lee's Books
- Trina M. Lee
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- Smashed (Alexa O'Brien, Huntress #8.5)
- Sunset to Sunrise (Alexa O'Brien, Huntress #7.5)
- Freak Show (Alexa O'Brien, Huntress #7)
- Whisper to a Scream (Alexa O'Brien, Huntress #6.5)
- Darker (Alexa O'Brien, Huntress #6)
- Death Wish (Alexa O'Brien, Huntress #5)
- Blonde & Blue (Alexa O'Brien, Huntress #4)
- Only Vampires Cry Blood (Alexa O'Brien, Huntress #3)