Smashed (Alexa O'Brien, Huntress #8.5)(17)

He held a hand out toward each of us. “Have you idiots both completely lost it?”

Like a petulant child, Sinclair muttered, “He threw the first punch.”

In a sudden move neither of us anticipated, Shaz threw a heavy fist at Kale, knocking the vampire back a few feet.

“Sorry,” he said, shaking his hand and cursing. “I owed you that one.”

Rubbing his jaw, Kale stared stonily at the ballsy wolf but didn’t retaliate. Raw, unfettered hatred slid from him to taint the atmosphere.

“What are you doing here?” I demanded, turning my anger on the wolf pup.

“Stopping you from making an ass of yourself from the looks of it.” His green gaze darted back and forth between us as if he was afraid to look away from either one of us for too long.

“Go home, Shaz. You shouldn’t be here. This is no place for wolves.”

“Don’t f*cking go there,” he warned before turning his focus on Kale. To him he said with a scowl, “Where’s Lex?”

“Enjoying some time alone,” Kale replied with a vicious smirk. “Though I can’t imagine why she would want to get away from all of us. Can you?”

It was both awkward and painful to be standing there with the both of them. I hated what we each represented, the different pieces of who she was. Inside I knew that she and I were one, made as two parts of one whole. Yet staring at Shaz and Sinclair, I knew it just wasn’t that simple. The burden of our bond was the endless cycle of conflict that Alexa and I were destined to share. It made our love a thing of beauty colored with pain and torment.

“That’s not an answer.” Shaz appeared calm though I knew he could snap in a heartbeat. “Why doesn’t she want to see us?”

“Us?” I echoed. “Or you?”

Sinclair cast a scathing glance at us each in turn. “You two are really pathetic, you know that? Your concern seems incredibly trivial and selfish.”

“I guess you would know.” It wasn’t the most clever of responses, but I wasn’t feeling particularly witty. I was fuming, needing to release the mounting frustration.

“I can’t tell you why she’s not ready, just that she isn’t and that you both need to respect that. What I can tell you though,” Sinclair paused, meeting my gaze with a vicious smile, “is that she still tastes like wolf.”

I snapped. That kind of taunt just could not go unpunished. Hurling myself at him, I was a blur. Shaz’s shouts were lost amid the rest of the noise. People shrieked as we crashed into them, knocking them about in the commotion.

Justin and a few other staff members jumped into the chaos. It took seven vampires to split us up. Somehow I retained enough sense to keep from blasting them all to hell. My hands burned with blue and gold, taunting me with the part of her that lived within me.

“Fuck,” I hissed, wrenching free of Justin’s bear-like grip.

Unable to look at Sinclair’s face another second, I stormed from the building with enough fury that people got out of my way as they saw me coming. I couldn’t destroy him. I just could not let my rage drive me to that point because, as much as I’d enjoy it, Alexa would be devastated. I couldn’t do that to her.

Like salt poured on the wound came the unwelcome awareness that Kale and I were not so different. Rumor had it that he had stepped in to deal with the rebels on my behalf while I was away in Vegas. He had thwarted an assassination attempt on me, and he had only done it for Alexa. The same way I was now sparing him for her.

I asked myself, as I had so many times before, why did I bother? Why did I fight so hard for this woman? The answer was always the same. She was what made me more than a vampire, more than a creature of the night. She gave me purpose and meaning. Without her, I was nothing.

Before Shaz could grab my arm, I spun to fend him off. “Go home, pup. This is a bad time for you to be here.”

“Don’t start with me, Arys. I’m not the enemy. At least, not tonight.” He fell into step beside me.

“No, the enemy is me. I did this. I made her vampire, and I drove her into Sinclair’s bed.” I stopped suddenly and held my hands out. “Want to take a shot at me too? You might as well. You always want to.”

Shaz grinned but it lacked mirth. “Not always. Usually, but not always. You could’ve really taken things from bad to worse in there.”

“Yeah, well, I didn’t. I do have some self-control, pup, regardless of what you may think. Although I’m about to go and lose that control now.” I cast an angry glance back at The Wicked Kiss. That name itself had been the bane of my existence long before I knew Alexa.

Suspicion curved Shaz’s lips into a stern frown. “Should I ask?”

“I’d rather you not. Is there somewhere else you can be? Neither of us should be here tonight.”

My expression remained neutral as did my tone. It was no concern of mine what Shaz did. Not really. And yet, it was. No way in hell was I leaving him to become a victim of The Wicked Kiss again.

“Yeah, actually I’m heading to Doghead.” He took a few tentative steps toward his car, unwilling to take his gaze off me, as if he didn’t think it was a good idea. “So, I’ll catch you later then. Call me if anything comes up.”

Alexa. That’s what he meant.

“Will do. Take it easy.”