September Moon (Alexa O'Brien, Huntress #8)(79)

Shya dragged me over to the patio and forced a glass of red wine into my hand. “Humor me,” he said when I tried to refuse. To a tall demon with long scraggly hair, he said, “Bring Gabriel out.”

“So what’s your plan? Are you just going to set him loose on the naked, sex-crazed humans?” I was leery of seeing Gabriel as a vampire. It wasn’t going to be good.

“Yes, there will be some of that.” Shya waved Falon over. To the fallen angel he said, “Keep Alexa close. Let her go only at the right time.”

Then Shya was gone, moving through the crowd to await his vampire prodigy, pausing to make small talk with those who pulled him aside. Something big was about to happen, and I wanted to know what it was.

“What is he talking about?” I demanded, tugging on Falon’s coat to make him look at me. “What’s going on here, Falon?”

For a moment it seemed like he wasn’t going to answer me. Then he grabbed my arm and dragged me away from the patio, off to the side where we could see the entire yard without being too close to anyone. I cursed when he caused me to spill half the wine in my glass.

“Brace yourself, wolf. Shya has plans for you.”

“Please tell me he doesn’t have the scroll.” I closed my eyes and whispered a prayer beneath my breath.

Falon shook his head. “He doesn’t. Yet.”

“Then what’s going on?”

“If I told you, it just wouldn’t be any fun for me.”

It was childish, and I regretted it the second I did it. I gave in to the need to lash out and kicked Falon in the shin. Since that wasn’t enough, I followed up with a fist aimed for his face. It never landed. He caught my hand and twisted until I yelped.

He gave me a shove that was stronger than it looked. I landed on my ass on the yellowed grass. Wine soaked my jeans, and I threw the glass aside in a fit of anger.

“Stay put,” he snapped. “It’s not time for you yet.”

I started to get up, but he shoved me back down, holding me there. A tirade was brewing on the tip of my tongue. It died when Gabriel emerged from the house. Shya must have kept him in the basement safely out of the sun’s reach. Gabriel seemed to glow with the pale beauty of the undead. His shock of long, black hair shone, and his eyes shimmered with bloodlust. Nothing human remained within them.

Even from where I sat, I could feel the buzz of vampire power emanating from him. It was a sensation I knew well. Our bloodline was very strong in him. Shya had known exactly what he was doing by choosing Arys to be Gabriel’s sire.

Shya stood at Gabriel’s side. The demon waved a hand toward the pool and the bodies fornicating there. “For you, my friend,” he said to Gabriel. “Consider it a gift.”

It dawned on me then that the orgy wasn’t merely for the benefit of the demons but to appeal to the incubus nature now commanding Gabriel. Shya had more or less provided him with an all you can eat and f*ck buffet.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I murmured, receiving a sharp nudge from Falon.

Gabriel didn’t waste any time. He surged forward with inhuman speed, driven by a brand new hunger. And the blood began to spray.

Chapter Twenty

I didn’t want to like it. Watching Gabriel tear through human after human while the demons looked on in glee sickened me. But not nearly as much as I wished it had. I couldn’t deny the bloodlust that made me its bitch. I sunk claws into the ground, plunging them into the earth in a desperate attempt to remind myself who I was.

It was no use. The vampire side of me reigned. As long as Falon held me back, it would be ok. I couldn’t hurt anybody that way.

As if he’d read my mind, Falon released me. I couldn’t make sense of it. Why?

Shya caught my eye and winked. Then he held out a hand, indicating that I should join Gabriel in his slaughter. The demon was beyond mad. He was a sadistic son of a bitch that deserved the hell that awaited him.

I shook my head, a silent refusal. Still I trembled with the effort it took to hold back. Gabriel was a reckless newbie. He tore viciously into his victims, spilling blood while they screamed. It would take him a while to learn how to control himself, to manipulate the moment so that he could feast on their lust as well as their life.

Falon pulled me to my feet and pushed me forward. “Go on. Show him how it’s done.”

“Why?” It hurt so much to fight the bloodlust that I thought I might throw up and pass out.

“Look at him. He’s a total mess.”

“I’ll kill him.” I uttered the oath beneath my breath, but Falon heard. Once the idea took root in my mind, I wanted very badly to do it. That would teach Shya to f*ck with Arys and me.

“Kill him, and Shya will never let you leave here. Do you want to spend centuries as his prisoner? Don’t be an idiot.”

Falon’s warning faded away on the night. I knew what I had to do. Maybe Shya wouldn’t let me kill Gabriel tonight, but there was something else I could do. I approached Gabriel, forcing myself to take small, calculated steps. Rushing into that mayhem would be the end of me. Falon shadowed me, a constant presence at my back.

Ignoring him, I stopped several yards from Gabriel and dragged a claw over the veins in my wrist. It was a shallow cut, just enough to produce a few drops. But it was enough.

Gabriel’s head snapped up, and he looked at me with wild eyes. No longer could I see the naïve teenager in them. That person was long gone, eaten alive by a power too dark to be contained by him. He rushed me as I’d hoped he would. Holding up a hand, I grabbed hold of his vampy energy and brought him to a halt. By the time Shya realized what I was doing, I’d already pressed my bleeding wrist to Gabriel’s lips.