September Moon (Alexa O'Brien, Huntress #8)(7)

Juliet laughed, a short snap of sound that echoed in the quiet park. “You’re joking, right? You sleep with vampires who have lived hundreds of years. Not to mention the wolf that destroyed our family. You weren’t even legal when you screwed that *.”

“Whoa.” I held up both hands in surrender. “We are so not going there again. I get it. I’m not exactly well equipped to judge your situation. If he makes you happy, then I’m happy.” I punched her lightly on the shoulder and smiled. “But if he hurts you, I’ll castrate him myself.”

“I suppose that’s fair.” She tried to fight the smile that pulled at her lips and failed. Then it vanished as she prepared to interrogate me. “Speaking of those vampires you know so well, is there any chance any of them could have killed our victim?”

“Them? Or me? I’m assuming that you’re including me in your suspect list.” The defensive edge in my voice was sharp and impossible to hide. I didn’t like what she was getting at.

“Come on, Lexi. Of course I know you didn’t do it.” She rolled her eyes, trying to be playful and lighten the mood. It failed. “But you’re tapped into the vampire activity in this town. You can’t blame me for asking.”

“I don’t. I blame you for what you’re thinking but not saying. I know you, Juliet.”

Juliet stared at me as if trying to choose her next words carefully. It’s hard to be professional when accusing your sibling of shady activity. We knew. We’d been down this road before. “You’re one of them, Alexa,” she said, forgoing her nickname for me in her seriousness. “In fact, some might even say you’re the most powerful one among them. I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t ask.”

Arguing with my sister was high on my list of least favorite things. So I swallowed my impatience and irritation. No reason we couldn’t discuss this rationally. “You’re right. I am. And I’ll deal with it. Ok?”

“We’ll be investigating as well. If there’s a rogue vampire on the loose then we have to stop him.”

“Does that mean you’ll be sniffing around my club?” I allowed my displeasure to show. “There’s no way in hell I’ll let you raid the place again. Not without a damn good reason.”

A muscle twitched in her jaw. Her eyes sparkled with annoyance, but she did a good job biting back the urge to snap at me. “I may end up stopping by. I’ll try to keep the raiding to a minimum.”

A black SUV with darkened windows pulled up. The agents began loading the body into the back. I wondered if they would give the murdered human a proper burial. They had refused to allow it for my dead wolf several weeks ago. Instead he had likely ended up in the creepy lab back at FPA HQ.

Bitterness choked me. I hated that my sister believed in her cause. It was something I would never accept.

“I’d better go,” she said, giving my hand a pat. “Thanks for coming by. I appreciate it. Let’s do coffee soon.”

I watched her get into a black sedan with another agent and drive away. After waiting to ensure they didn’t return, I ambled back over to where the body had lain. A trace of blood still stained the air, a bittersweet odor that brought with it many memories acquired in the past year. Very few of them were pleasant.

As I stood there, analyzing the tone of the residual energy, I got the keen sensation of being watched. I whirled around just in time for the air to ripple behind me. I drew the Dragon Claw with inhuman speed and swung.

The sound of metal on metal was loud in the still park. My dagger crashed against the sword Falon held ready for the blow. I felt the reverberation all the way down my arm to my shoulder.

With teeth clenched, I backed away, putting a few feet between us. “Are you stalking me, *?”

“Not at all, shit for brains,” he quipped without missing a beat. “I’d rather have my liver eaten by vultures in hell for all eternity than willingly follow you around.”

“Since when do you ever do anything willingly?” I fired back. “You’re so far up Shya’s ass, I can’t tell where he ends and you begin.”

The fallen angel glared in silence, and I felt victorious. The majestic spread of his silver wings and those fierce silver eyes didn’t scare me anymore. Not even the glowing sword sparked fear within me, though it was intriguing. I saw Falon for what he was: a has-been riding the coattails of a good-for-nothing demon.

He recovered quickly. Sliding the sword back into the scabbard on his hip, he smirked. “If you’d like to know, I was here watching your sister.”

My sense of victory fled immediately as dread settled in to take its place. “Is that right? Might that have anything to do with the body she just carted off?”

“It might.” The smile adorning his unnaturally handsome face turned absolutely malevolent.

I met his gaze head on, refusing to be intimidated. “Care to elaborate?” I asked. “Or are you just wasting my time?”

“Just making sure the good people at the FPA are occupied with their vampire hunt. Can’t have them sniffing around where they aren’t wanted.”

“Yeah, that really gets annoying, huh?”

He ignored my jibe and moved to examine the grass where the body had been. He bent to touch the dry, crispy park floor. Then he smiled to himself before throwing a dark glare my way.