September Moon (Alexa O'Brien, Huntress #8)(74)

A dark shape flew past me, hitting the vampire solidly in the chest. He hit the ground hard. A black wolf sat atop him, fangs tearing viciously through skin and tissue.

Raoul? My exhausted and wounded brain was momentarily confused. It was Owen, tearing my attacker’s throat out.

Using the last of my strength, I grabbed the dagger and swung, decapitating the vampire beneath Owen. He whirled to take on the next, but there was no one left standing. It had all happened so fast, and yet it felt like it had taken hours.

Owen came to me, his muzzle going crazy as he sniffed me, seeking out my various injuries. I clutched a handful of his thick, black fur and whimpered as my wolf sought to communicate with him.

We were unknown to one another and yet he had come to my aid. After having the vampires renounce me as an unworthy hybrid, this meant a lot. If I survived to cry in relief about it later, I would.

Owen himself was fine for the most part. I slumped against him, thankful that Dayne could not hold the death of his enforcer against me. That would have blown my entire alliance plan to hell and back.

“Alexa?” Jenner knelt beside me. He took hold of my battered face and forced me to meet his gaze. A shiner outlined his left eye now. “Are you still with me? You’re not looking too hot, girl.”

I tried to speak, but the barest whisper came out. It hurt. I pressed my face into Owen’s fur and focused on his wolfish scent. He wasn’t my wolf, but it was a comfort just the same.

My eyes closed, and I waited for death to come. I was ready now.

‘Don’t you dare give up now.’ Arys’s demand broke through the fog in my head. ‘This isn’t how it ends. Remember?’

I smiled, and my face ached. ‘I remember.’

‘I’m coming for you, my wolf. You are not dying tonight.’

I believed him. Though I was ready for the crushing pain to be over, I knew he was right.

Jenner pulled me into his arms. “Take whatever you need. Blood, energy. Anything.”

Weakened as I was, just the mention of blood stirred my hunger. It wasn’t Jenner I wanted. It was mortal blood. Owen. The scent of heady shifter blood brought forth the bloodlust with a vengeance. I was too deteriorated to act as my hunger demanded.

It didn’t matter. The scent of sulfur brought with it Shya, standing over me in all of his unholy glory. I knew then that being dead was preferable to whatever he had planned for me.

“Enough,” Shya barked at Willow and Brook. With barely a gesture he separated them, violently flinging them apart.

His red gaze landed on Brook. Without a visible motion, he suddenly stood in front of the demon. Brook cowered before him.

“Shya, I can explain. It isn’t what it looks like.” With his hands raised in surrender, Brook fell to his knees. Genuine fear shook him as he begged for mercy.

He should be afraid. I’d seen him be tortured because he’d pissed Shya off. Evidently demons didn’t learn from that.

Shya uttered something that I guessed to be Latin. Brook’s pleading grew to an irritating level. Pathetic. Shya pressed a hand to the other demon’s forehead and repeated the Latin phrase. Smoke rose up between them and a shadow appeared. It moved as if it were a person though it took no shape. Creeping closer to Brook it pulsed with a heavy, dark essence.

Brook’s wide eyes shone with terror. All of his shrieking and flailing did nothing to help him. Shya stepped back and watched as the shadow devoured Brook right in front of us. Wherever it took him, I knew I never wanted to see that place.

Both Brook and the shadow disappeared, and Shya turned his attention to me. Great.

“This is exactly what I’d hoped would not happen,” he said, shaking his head as if scolding a child caught disobeying yet again. “Look at you, Alexa. At death’s door, and I still have yet to find my scroll. I simply can’t have you up and die on me.”

“Sorry to disappoint you,” I gasped out through the pain that shook me. “I guess you can’t always get what you want. Life’s not fair. All that crap.”

Shya gazed down at me with anger burning in his crimson orbs. “Oh, you’re not dying on me. I won’t allow it.”

Something in the way he said that struck a nerve. I looked to Willow for help, but he stood uncertainly aside. Being in between the way he was, neither angel nor demon, he didn’t have the power Shya had.

Shya followed my gaze and chuckled, but it lacked his usual amusement. “Don’t expect your guardian to step in now. He has no power here. Let’s not turn this into something it doesn’t have to be.”

He extended a hand to help me up. Suspiciously, I glared at him. “Don’t touch me.”

Owen and Jenner stood on either side of me. They too seemed to know they were no match for the demon. I turned to them and whispered, “Go.”

I couldn’t blame Owen when he listened. Turning tail, he fled into the night. Good. Having him leave here alive was important.

Jenner stood his ground, and in that act I knew he really did love Arys since he certainly didn’t love me. And yet, he stayed.

“Come now, Alexa. Don’t make this difficult. I’d hate to have to torture your vampire in order to gain your compliance.” A hateful smile tugged at Shya’s lips. It was so typical of him to threaten harm against others in order to control me. The conniving monster knew what worked.