Smashed (Alexa O'Brien, Huntress #8.5)(18)

I waited for him to get in his car and drive away. I hated to doubt him, but he was not going to fall back into the blood whore scene. Not on my watch.

Truth be told, the pup had grown on me over the last year. Sure he made me want to hit things in a way very few others did, but he had proven himself to be worthy of both respect and Alexa.

I knew damn well that if I had only lived a human life, I would never have lived in her lifetime, but Shaz still would have. Our twin flame union survived outside the natural law. It was meant to exist, but it came at a price, which ultimately meant that Shaz was the one she was meant to be with. Not me.

That’s what made everything so f*cking complicated. She was mine, meant to be mine, and yet she was also his. I’d accepted it from the start. What choice did I have? Shaz was still coming around. And Alexa, well, she was understandably conflicted and more than likely ready to tell us all to f*ck off.

Shaz was the only one though. The only man I could share her with. The only one I trusted to take care of her if something ever happened to me.

Alexa had recently gotten it into her head that she needed to distance herself from him. I did not agree. She was feeling guilty about things that were not within her control. It would pass.

When I was sure Shaz was long gone, I too left. No sense sticking around now. My encounter with Kale had gone exactly as planned. Unfortunately, it hadn’t left me feeling as good as I’d anticipated.

As I’d told the pup, I sought out a scenario in which I could abandon self-control and unleash the horrible need to feel something die. Less than an hour later, I had a grown man on his knees begging for his life.

Needing to punish someone in Kale’s place, I had sought out that person at a biker bar. It was a location guaranteed to breed *s in need of a beating. Or worse.

It was ridiculously easy to instigate a fight. In the parking lot of a seedy bar, I released the killer within. Begging served only to add fuel to my fire. Reducing a monster of a man to a sniveling wretch brought me only a moment of pleasure. Still, it was enough.

After it was over, I stared down at the dead man. His blood decorated my face. I tasted it on my lips. Had he deserved to die this way? Hell if I knew. I was beyond caring.

I never considered getting rid of the body. It was massacred. Nothing about the mess I’d made indicated an obvious vampire kill. It was someone else’s problem now.

The awareness of being watched settled over me. Vampire. Not only that but a vampire I had created.

Forgetting the dead biker, I slipped down the street, continuing on until I felt the presence follow as I’d expected. Only when we were safely away from human eyes did I turn and confront my watcher.

He was tall and lanky with long hair the color of black drugstore dye. Having lived only nineteen human years, he was remarkably powerful for one so new. Thanks to my blood and his own dark powers, he emanated an almost palpable force.

“What do you want, Gabriel?”

Chapter Six

Gabriel held up both hands in a show of peace. “I just want to talk, Arys.”

I regarded him as if he were no more than an inconvenience, which he was. Turning him had been a choice made out of necessity rather than want. It had been a small price to pay to get rid of Shya’s mark.

“So talk.”

His presence caused me to be wary. He was Shya’s pet, but worse than that, he was also a deadly weapon. Anyone who aligned themselves with a demon could not be allowed an iota of trust. That was a level of darkness that few descended to. I might have been dark, but I wasn’t sell-my-soul dark. Or maybe that was wishful thinking. Either way, Gabriel was a threat, and I was prepared to treat him as such.

“I felt like I had to find you,” he said, standing awkwardly with one hand grasping the wrist of the opposite arm. “Obviously it’s because we’re linked. I just wanted to tell you that I’m sorry shit got so crazy. I don’t want you to see me as an enemy.”

Though his body language was less than confident, his tone was strong. One day he could make a great vampire. Provided he survived long enough to master his many abilities without losing his sanity in the process.

“Your closest ally is the demon who just tried to sacrifice the woman I love. That speaks for itself.” I half expected the demon in question to make an unwelcome appearance.

“I guess it does,” he agreed. Shuffling his feet, he stared at the scuffed toes of his running shoes. It was a strong reminder that he was so young. Almost human still. But now he was a vicious killer.

“Where is Shya anyway?” I asked. “Still off licking his wounds?”

Gabriel raised a brow and a thin smile changed his face into something almost malicious. “Oh, he’s around.”

“I’ll take that to mean that he’s lying low because Willow now has enough power to make Shya his bitch,” I chuckled.

“I didn’t come to talk about him. I came to talk about you.”

“What about me? If you’ve got a point, kid, get to it. I have places to be.” Crossing my arms, I issued a silent challenge: impress me or get lost.

“I’m sure that I’m just tempting fate by even being here, but I was sure you or Alexa would hunt me down. And since you haven’t, well, I need to know where I stand with you. Are you going to kill me? Or…?”

It was ballsy; that was for sure. Gabriel’s courage was impressive. However, I figured it had more to do with the fact that he spent a lot of time with demons. I suspected that he didn’t see me as much of a threat anymore, assuming that we were on an even playing field. He was wrong.