September Moon (Alexa O'Brien, Huntress #8)(57)

“What do you say, sweet wolf? Why don’t I just take you now? We can end it here, and Shya never gets the chance to sacrifice you.” Arys’s voice was husky with the snarl of a wolf that could never manifest.

It usually frightened me to see the remnant of my beast lurking within him. Not this time though.

“Do it,” I demanded. “Why put off the inevitable? You might as well destroy us now and save me the heartache of having an audience.”

Something in my strangled cry gave him pause. “Is that what you want?”

A swell of emotion bubbled up to mock me, and I stifled a sudden sob. “I want the waiting to be over.”

Arys gazed into my eyes, finding the anguish eating away at me. The storm in him settled, and he said in a ragged whisper, “So do I.”

Again we were one. Just like that. Torn apart and thrust back together in a heartbeat. The curse of twin flames: endless conflict amid undying love. We lived with the hunger to consume the other even as we longed to be consumed. It was a hell of a thing.

I understood fully why Lilah and Salem had both suffered a loss of sanity. It was happening to us too. Knowing that, however, didn’t make it easier to accept. The supernatural force commanding us seemed at times a conscious entity of its own. It hovered over us, swept through us, and lifted us up to a dangerous place full of false promises.

I didn’t care. I was ready for it to be over.

“Do it,” I begged.

Arys appeared torn, though the longing was evident in his eyes. He stared at my jugular, deciding how fast or slow to make my death. He would want to make it last, I knew that. I’d been inside his head. That’s how he worked. Why rush the good stuff?

“Do it!” I repeated, using a slap of power to enforce my command.

He blinked a few times, and then the monster was back, staring down at me with a vicious hunger. I braced for the bite I knew was coming. He bared those razor sharp fangs and went for my neck.

A boom like a clap of thunder rattled the window of my bedroom. Jenner appeared in the doorway, hands raised, and power crackling about his fingertips. His shot hit Arys dead on, sending him pitching backwards to crash against the wall. A framed photo of a forest backdrop fell and shattered beside him.

Jenner dragged me to my feet and shook me until my teeth rattled. “You wanted to know why I was here,” he snapped, slapping my face to break me out of the strange spell I’d fallen under. “This is why. To stop you two idiots from destroying yourselves.”

I sucked in a few breaths, finding it hard to process what had just happened. I opened my mouth but nothing came out.

Arys lunged to his feet, and Jenner threw up an energy wall to keep him on that side of the room. It wouldn’t hold Arys long, but it was strong enough to keep him busy for a few precious moments.

Jenner scanned my neck for a sign of injury, and I pulled away. I didn’t need him falling under the same spell that had claimed Arys and me.

“You should have let him do it,” I muttered.

“Do you think I came all this way to watch you guys f*ck this up?” Jenner looked at us each in turn. His cold blue gaze stopped on Arys. “I’m doing what you asked me to do. If you want to keep her safe from you then you need to leave. Go home. I’ll stay with her.”

A protest formed on my lips, but it died quickly when I saw the shame on Arys’s handsome face. What the hell had just happened here?

Several long moments passed before Arys finally said, “Thank you, Jenner. It’s good to know I can still count on you. After everything.”

“Save the sappy shit, ok? The past is the past. Now get the hell out of here before the sun rises.” Jenner dropped his energy wall and pushed me behind him, watching Arys like a hawk as he strode from the room.

My heart squeezed painfully as I watched him go without a glance back. Only after I heard the front door slam downstairs was I able to breathe again. I slid down the wall at my back as great, heaving sobs erupted from me. Blood tears streamed down my face, betraying me in front of Jenner. There was no stopping it. The crimson river of tears fell to stain my hands, my clothes, and even the carpet.

I couldn’t bring myself to look at Jenner. I was sure he’d be staring at me with judgment and disgust. So when he laid a hand awkwardly on my shoulder I was astonished.

“I’m not going to pretend to know what you’re going through,” he said. “But I hope you can find the strength to see this through to the end. I watched Arys suffer, tormented by dreams of a woman he thought he’d never know. I can’t let him fail himself now, after all this time. Now that you’re here and the two of you are together, please, don’t give up on whatever it is you have to do. Or else all of this pain and suffering will have been for nothing.”

He left me with that and returned to the guest room. I sat there on the floor of my bedroom with my knees pulled up to my chest while shuddery breaths shook me and silent tears streamed down my face.

Chapter Fifteen

No amount of makeup made me look any less tired and ragged. As I looked at my reflection in the full-length dressing room mirror, I sighed and tugged at the bags beneath my eyes.

“How does it look?” Kylarai called from outside the dressing room door. “Get out here and let me see.”

The pale pink dress I wore was horribly ugly. Since it was impossible to lie to a werewolf, I’d have to do my best to grin and say nothing. There were sequins lining the bodice and puffy sleeves that made the dress appear like a reject from the 1980s. Kylarai had wanted the bridesmaids to wear pale pink, which wasn’t a bad color in itself, but on this dress it was all wrong.