The Wicked Kiss (Alexa O'Brien, Huntress #2)(38)

The cape was just a little longer than the dress, brushing the back of my knees. It was incredibly soft and a glance at the price tag made me think that for that kind of dough, it had better be.

“This has to be the one. You look amazing. What do you think?” Jez stood beside me; her reflection in the mirror nodded in serious approval. “Just make sure you wear some lipstick on Halloween. Red will really make your eyes pop.”

I rolled my eyes at her, watching my reflection as I did so. I loved the outfit and the irony of being Little Red Riding Hood kind of appealed to me.

“I like it,” I conceded, and she smiled knowingly. “Does this mean I get to pick something out for you now?”

“Not a chance.”

Twenty minutes and nearly a day’s pay later, we were on our way out of the mall.

Jez had settled on the black and yellow Kill Bill costume I’d suggested. I had my moment of gloating at that. She admitted that I was right. No one else could rock that outfit like she could.

It was dark already; the sun descended long before supper during the fall. Arys sure didn’t mind. It gave him significantly more freedom.

The parking lot hummed with the energy of dozens of dimly lit lights. Jez continued to chatter on about the latest hot lady she was dating as we made our way to the car.

“Can you believe that? She actually told me that she’s dating two other women as well as me. That’s some nerve alright. I have to break it off.”

“Hey, hypocrite,” I said, pulling out my car keys as we drew closer to the Charger.

“Aren’t you practically always dating more than one person?”

“No, not always. I’m just trying to keep my options open in case Miss Right comes along. And, don’t be tossing ugly words around, Alexa. You’d be super pissed if Shaz or Arys were seeing someone else.” She wagged a finger at me, and I ignored it.

What she said was true, for the most part. However, that just wasn’t an issue with Shaz. But Arys, I didn't always know what he was up to with his victims. It wasn’t something we talked about. Maybe because I didn’t really want to know.

“So,” Jez continued animatedly. “Are you sure you don’t want to come stake a few vampires tonight? I mean, I know you said you don’t think it’s a good idea to hang with Kale tonight, but we could ditch him.”

I looked up at her suddenly in shock, and she was grinning from ear to ear. I’d told Jez all about my recent outings with Kale, much to her delighted surprise. She was always one for juicy gossip.

“Very funny, Jez. If you had been there last night, you wouldn’t be making jokes.”

We got into the car, and I gave her a look. She continued to smile.

“I believe you. I still think it sounds sexy though.” She shrugged and tossed her thick, leopard gold mane. “You’re the one with all of the vampire mojo going on. I’m surprised you don’t want a taste of Kale. And, I mean that in the best way possible.”

She held up both hands in mock defense, and I decided to let that one slide. We cruised through the city, headed toward the office. We carried on casual conversation along the way, but I couldn’t help but mull over what she’d said.

I’d tasted Kale last night. His strong, coppery blood had dripped inside my mouth so that I could taste him in both body and power. I hadn’t known that I’d wanted to until it had been happening, but I had wanted it bad in that moment. The only reason that bothered me was that I’d once accused Arys of being power hungry, wanting whatever he could get from me. It nagged at me that perhaps I wasn’t so different. No, I definitely would not be going out on the hunt with Kale and Jez this evening.

Just the sight of the black Camaro parked outside the office set my heart racing. This was ridiculous. I think part of it was that I hadn’t told either of my lovers about the bloody power kiss we’d shared. Of course, it helped that I hadn’t seen either of them since.

Nobody knew except for Jez. There was no way I was stupid enough to tell Kylarai.

It just wasn’t worth mentioning. At least, not at this point.

“Don’t let him know that I told you Jez.” I stopped her with a hand on her elbow.

“He really is like a brother to me, and he’s dealing with enough right now.”

“Of course. No worries.” She beamed and blinked bright green cat eyes at me. “Kale will come around on his own.”

I followed her inside, took a deep breath and focused on slowing my heart rate to normal. If I didn’t have a potential client coming by, I wouldn’t have even come in.

At first glance, it appeared that Kale was the only one there. However, upon closer inspection I was able to determine Lilah’s spooky energy down the hall in her office.

Lilah was both vampire and demon, older than dirt, according to some. I didn’t know much about her, but she’d saved my ass, and that made her cool with me.

I couldn't help but miss Lena's presence. I wished that she were here, instead of out of town with Veryl. I always had so many questions for her. The witch was damn talented, more so than she let on.

The front door latched behind us, preventing any unwanted guests from entering at leisure. The sound of it was loud in the quiet inside. Kale lounged in a chair at the table in the small kitchen with a newspaper spread out in front of him. He glanced up as we entered, a shadow of something unidentifiable behind his eyes. He banished it with a smile and a shake of his dark head.