Smashed (Alexa O'Brien, Huntress #8.5)(24)

I held my hands up in surrender, having no desire to engage with the feisty werecat. “No need to rip my head off. Just trying to show some friendly concern.”

We stood in the parking lot of The Spirit Room, the popular rock club where Jez had told me to meet her. It was relatively early in the evening, yet the line to get in already stretched down the block.

“Sorry,” she grumbled, dropping the cigarette and crushing it beneath her heel. “I’m just a little testy these days. Withdrawal is a bitch.”

“So you’ve been ok then?” It was difficult to make conversation with her. I wasn’t usually one on one with Alexa’s friends. I knew Jez well enough to know she loved Alexa like a sister. And she could hold her own in a fight. In a tense situation like this one, I didn’t quite know what to say.

“I’ve had better days,” she said, pulling a cell phone from her pocket. “I slipped a few times. Just a little. Alexa doesn’t know that. Anyway,” she glanced up from the screen, “she’s expecting me soon. Are you ready?”

“Yeah, let’s go.”

Jez stopped me with a hand on my chest. Her deep green eyes reminded me of tropical ocean waters. They were hardened by the intensity of her beast. “One thing first. There’s a good chance she’s bringing Kale. You have to promise me to keep the peace with him.” When I didn’t answer right away, she got closer, staring up at me with a deadly look. “Promise me, Arys. Or we can forget this entire thing.”

“I promise. I just want to see Alexa.” Showing up unannounced was going to be enough of an upset to her. I could manage to restrain myself.

I followed Jez to her Jeep, eager to get moving but also anxious about my first meeting with my wolf in several days. I doubted that she’d be happy to see me.

“She’s going to know you’re there before she even sees you, isn’t she? Better be stealthy.” Jez started the Jeep and pulled out of the parking lot with a squeal of tires, nearly sideswiping two vehicles on the way out. And Alexa thought my driving was bad?

“You go meet her first. Get her talking. I’ll follow you.” I stared out the window. My shoulders were tight with tension. I gripped the door handle so hard I thought it might come off in my hand.

“I hope she doesn’t kill me for doing this.” Jez slammed on the brakes at a red light, causing us both to swear.

We arrived at a cemetery on the north side of the downtown core. It was quiet, empty of visitors. I stared at the rows upon rows of headstones, and I knew that Alexa had chosen this location because it was the only place where she could come with the assurance that she couldn’t hurt anyone.

“I’m meeting her on the other side,” Jez said, fishing a dagger out of the center console. She held it up so the blade shone in the streetlight cascading through her window. “Just in case.” She hopped out of the Jeep and cast a glance back. “If you hear me scream, come save my ass from your blood hungry lover before she can kill me. All right?”

“Will do.” I waited for her to shut the door and walk away before I groaned aloud and said, “Fuck,” half a dozen times. I wished there were a better way.

After ten minutes had passed I made my way through the graveyard. Alexa would feel me soon enough. It was simple enough to follow Jez’s scent and residual energy trail through the paths. There was no sound of commotion ahead, which I took as a good sign.

I rounded a bend and felt her like a punch in the gut. The wild essence of wolf paired with the sensual core of vampire to make a potent force that was all Alexa. Nobody else walking this earth felt like that; I was sure of it.

I moved faster, knowing she would feel me too, hoping it wouldn’t drive her away. When I stepped through a small thatch of trees and saw her there, I stopped dead in my tracks.

We stared at one another, me in wonder and her in shock. The first thing I noticed was her brown eyes. Relief swept me at the familiar sight. Those deep, all encompassing orbs flashed with emotion.

“Arys.” My name was a whisper on her lips. The smooth alabaster of her skin made her eyes appear that much darker. I almost came undone at the sight of the vampire fangs poking out from beneath her top lip.

She threw herself into my arms, and I clutched her tight. Power sparked and zapped around us. I buried my face in her soft hair and tried not to weep my relief.

Jez walked away, joining Sinclair where he hovered several yards away. She tugged on his hand until he followed her, allowing us to be alone.

“You make me f*cking crazy, you know that?” I said, kissing her like it had been years rather than days.

Her lips were soft, but her kiss was commanding. Her feelings were on overdrive due to her recent transition, and it showed. The heat of anger mingled with the depths of sorrow and the fires of passion to make her kiss violent with emotion.

In a move that came as no great surprise, she broke off the kiss and slapped me across the face. It snapped my head to the side. I was impressed with both her new, undead strength and the force driving it.

“That’s for killing me,” she said, following up with another. “And that’s for enjoying it so damn much.”

I was afraid to blink, afraid even to move. I didn’t want to give her a chance to bolt, not until she’d heard me out.

“I suppose that’s fair. But you know I had to do it. Hell, you demanded it.” I wasn’t protesting her wrath; I certainly deserved far worse than a few slaps.