Alexa O'Brien 05 - Death Wish

by Trina M. Lee

  Blood spatters decorated his pale face. His eyes were pure wolf. He ran his hands over me, searching for wounds I didn’t have. The fire was reflected in his eyes, flickering amid the terror in those icy blue depths.

  “Are you alright? Did he hurt you?” Arys’s voice was rough, laced with the growl of the wolf.

  “Who?” I gasped, turning to check on Coby who stood stiffly, pain contorting his features. “Who did this?”

  “Vampire.” Arys confirmed. “I tangled with him out front, but the neighbors came out. I had to let him go.”

  Sirens shrieked in the distance. They would arrive in time to contain the fire to my property. They may even save the garage where Raoul’s Jaguar was housed. However, they could do nothing to save his home.

  With shaky hands, I pulled my keys from my purse. “Please, get my car out of here before it’s ruined. Go before the cops get here.”

  Arys’s gaze flicked from me to Coby. I couldn’t answer his unspoken question. Not yet. So, I shook my head and pressed the keys into his hand.

  “I can’t leave you.” He shook his head, his face masked with stubborn refusal.

  “It will be sunrise soon. You don’t have a choice.” I kissed him quickly and then shoved him away. “Go.”

  He slipped away as stealthily as he’d appeared.

  The heat from the fire was unbearable. I caught Coby’s hand in my own and led him away from the house. We staggered onto the front street in time to see the back end of my car disappear. Seconds later, two fire engines raced around the corner to battle the flames that ended one of my nightmares while birthing another.

  Coby pulled his hand from mine but stayed close. He looked at me with eyes that were all wolf. Shit.

  “You’ve got to hold it together,” I said, keenly aware of the neighborhood watching us. “Force the wolf back down. You have to.”

  His energy was explosive, alive with fear and pain. “I don’t know how.”

  I couldn’t do a damn thing to help calm him; I was a wreck myself. “Try. You can’t let them see you like this.”

  The fire engines stopped in front of the house. They were quickly joined by an ambulance and two police cars. A fireman shouted at us, asking if anyone else was inside. I shook my head no. No one was inside except the memory of the girl I used to be.

  Paramedics added to the commotion. They headed toward us with shouted questions that I couldn’t process.

  All I could think about was the parts of me that would go down in ashes with that house.

  The large framed photo of Shaz and me that Kylarai had given me for my birthday was gone. Along with it were my laptop and the cross necklace I’d received from Kale.

  The laptop was of little concern. I was no idiot. The files I’d swiped from Veryl had been on the hard drive, but they were also safely stored online just in case of a disaster like this.

  The loss of Kale’s cross cut the deepest. It was old – old enough to have belonged to his mother. I should never have had it.

  As the paramedics drew near, I glanced frantically at Coby. He stared back at me with human eyes. I was grateful for that small blessing.

  The sudden commotion made my head spin. People were on us with questions and first aid gear before I could utter a word. It took a few tries for me to explain clearly that we were fine, just a little banged up. I did all I could to stall when three paramedics ushered us toward a waiting ambulance.

  “We’re fine, really. We don’t need to go to the hospital.” I tried, but I knew they weren’t buying it.

  A female medic with a gentle smile but serious eyes gripped my arm. “We have to take you in. Just to be safe. If you’re fine, you’ll be released right away. Your friend is looking pretty rough.”

  I cursed Falon beneath my breath. It was his fault Coby looked so battered and bruised. At least these people thought all of that came from the fall out of the bedroom window.

  Two men waited to assist us along at her command. I had no choice but to go along with this hospital song and dance. The sooner we went, the sooner it would be over.

  “Fine,” I relented. “Let’s get this over with. I have shit to do.”

  I couldn’t pull my gaze away from the burning house as the ambulance took us from the scene. The flames had reached the top floor. They reached for the sky, hungrily devouring the dwelling.

  I did my best to ignore the paramedics as they tended to us. I waved away an oxygen mask as it was thrust at me. I was sore from the fall, sad from the loss of my house and more than a little pissed off.

  Three attempts on my life in just a few days. Three failed attempts. I had to find the source of this insanity and make them sorry they’d ever heard my name.

  Coby received more attention than I did. He allowed them to tend to his wounds and fit him with an oxygen mask. I wanted to be left alone. I managed to get close enough to Coby to whisper the warning, “Don’t let them take your blood.”

  We were fine. Our bodies were already healing whatever injuries we’d sustained. Even Coby’s shiner would be gone in a matter of hours.

  The sooner we could bail out of the hospital, the better.

  Yet after the ambulance ride, we sat in the ER for two hours waiting for more than a passing nurse to ask how we were. There were several other people waiting, most of them in worse shape than we were. I clutched my bag, finding comfort in the few meager possessions I had inside.

  Arys’s touch on my mind was gentle, tentative. I could feel the worry he tried not to convey. I needed to be with him. The safety I felt only in his arms was the only thing that would get me through this nightmare.

  “Let’s go,” I said after another thirty minutes had passed. “We’re not close enough to death to be a priority. I doubt they’ll even notice we’re gone.”

  Coby said nothing, just nodded, ready to follow my lead. I headed for the door and never looked back. I had a vampire to kill. If one of us had to die, them or me, it sure as hell wasn’t going to be me.

  Chapter Ten

  I stepped outside, squinting against the sunlight and reached for my phone to call a cab. A flash of platinum hair caught my eye from across the parking lot. Shaz was moving fast, slipping between vehicles at a near run. For the first time since the fire started, I wanted to cry.

  His jade eyes burned with worry. I fell into his arms, and he lifted me off my feet, hugging me close. He rubbed his cheek along mine, a gesture filled with affection. A few hot tears rolled down my face.

  “Are you ok, Lex?” He spoke softly. “No, of course you’re not. I can’t believe this happened. I can’t believe it’s gone.”

  “Did you see it?” I buried my face in his neck, breathing deeply of his scent. God how I’d missed this, just being with him without feeling the wall that had been built between us.

  “Yeah, I saw it. It’s just rubble. Only the basement is left. They were still hosing it down when I drove by.”

  His scent was soothing, calming the wolf inside. His presence meant the world to me. But, I never would have expected any less from him.

  Eventually I had to pull back enough to gesture to Coby and make the necessary introductions. After what had just occurred, the news that I had turned Coby in a fit of bloodlust really didn’t sound so shocking. Shaz took it in stride like he did everything else. Offering a friendly hand to our new wolf, he played the Alpha role to perfection, even going so far as to invite Coby to stay at his place.

  It went without saying that I would stay with Arys. It was the safest place for me to be. Having Coby with me was an unfair risk to him. He would be better off with Shaz.

  By the time we got to Arys’s house, I was in dire need of a shower and sleep. I left Shaz to handle introducing Coby to Arys and headed for the bathroom. Through the living room and down the hall, their voices followed me as I went. Arys didn’t sound nearly surprised enough to learn that I’d turned Coby.

  I closed the bathroom door on their conversation and peeled off my soot-staine
d clothing. The heavy scent of smoke clung to my hair and skin. My face was smudged with soot. A brief glimpse in the mirror revealed heavy circles beneath my eyes. I looked pretty rough, and I wasn’t feeling so hot either.

  Arys’s bathroom became a sanctuary. The oversized tub with jets was perfect for two. He had a bigger selection of shampoo and conditioner than any woman I’d ever known. I turned on the water and stepped into the hot shower spray with a sigh. The tears burst forth, rolling down my face to mix with the water that cascaded over me. I let them come. Alone, I had no need to put up a front. I was hurting. And, where the hurt ended, the craving for vengeance began.

  After scrubbing myself clean, I stood there with the water as hot as I could stand it. I must have been in there for a long time because the door opened and Shaz slipped inside.

  “Lex? Are you ok in here? You’ve been in here for almost an hour.”

  The hot water was beginning to cool anyway so I turned it off and stepped out to find Shaz holding a large fluffy towel. He wrapped it around me before pulling me tight against him. I would have sobbed if I hadn’t just cried myself out. Instead, I closed my eyes and drank in the comforting sensation of being in his arms.

  “I’m so glad you’re here,” I whispered, my throat raw and sore.

  He smoothed a hand over my wet, tangled hair. “I’m just sorry I wasn’t there with you when it happened.”

  For a long time, we just stood there holding one another. Shaz pulled back before I was ready to let go. He grabbed a hairbrush off the counter and began to pull it gently through my tangled mess of hair.

  “Do you have any idea who set the fire?”

  He broke the silence. Our eyes met briefly in the mirror. He looked so haunted.

  “A vampire. Nobody I know personally from the sounds of it. He must be working for someone else.” The simple act of Shaz running the brush through my hair was comforting. So much passed between us with that gesture. “I’m going to find out who it is.”

  “You should get some sleep. You look tired.” Shaz finished with my hair and pressed a warm kiss to my forehead.

  “Stay with me?” I was both hopeful and fearful.

  “Of course. I’ll take Coby to my apartment and get him settled in. Then I’ll come right back. Promise.”

  “Be careful,” I warned. “Just in case someone’s watching those close to me. There are some scary-ass daywalkers out there.”

  He kissed me again, his lips soft on mine. I hated that it took a horrible event to chase us back into each other’s arms. “But none of them compare to you. I’ll be back before you know it.”

  He left me in Arys’s room where I made a halfhearted attempt to find a change of clothing that belonged to me. I had to have a few items lying around. I gave up and settled on one of Arys’s t-shirts and some silk boxer shorts.

  I was sitting on the side of the bed, staring into space, when Arys entered the room. We looked at one another for a minute before he began to pace alongside the bed. I wanted him to hold me, to grab me tight the way Shaz had. I knew why he didn’t. He was keeping up that front, the one I had abandoned in the shower when the tears had flowed.

  “Thank God you’re alright.” His voice broke, the one sign that steady, cool Arys was shaken.

  “I guess I’m stuck here with you for a while.” I tried to lighten the mood. It was impossible. “Didn’t I have some clothes here?”

  “I think so. Probably in the laundry room.”

  “I guess I’ll have to go shopping. I’ll squeeze it into my schedule between finding the asshole that issued the hit and tearing their fucking head off.” I growled, unable to contain the rage that threatened to overwhelm me now that I’d cried myself out.

  “It’s got to be someone you know. Someone who has a reason to want this. It could be just about anybody.” Arys mused as he moved about the room, turning off the bright overhead light and replacing it with the warm glow of the bedside lamp.

  I climbed in amongst the mountain of pillows and blankets. As tired as I was, I couldn’t relax. “Should I be insulted by that? I’m going after them. Tonight. I’ll torture a name out of somebody.”

  “I’m coming with you.” Arys slid into bed beside me still half dressed in silk lounge pants. He sat stiffly against the headboard, edgy and ready. I doubted he would sleep at all today.

  When he finally touched me, he simply stroked a hand down the side of my face. A shuddery breath escaped me. In Arys’s touch, I found a deeper connection than I could fully comprehend. The direct contact was rejuvenating. Our energy danced, two entities that must always entangle into one.

  A warm tingle spread through me, bringing with it a burst of power that reinforced my growing need for retribution. I captured Arys’s hand and slid my fingers between his. The power burned through us, low and steady. Strong.

  “I’m not going to make the mistake of thinking this will be easy,” I said, giving his hand a squeeze. The power surged in response. “But, I’d say it’s about time we show this city what we can do.”

  Arys gazed deep into me with a deadly calm. A grim smile tugged at his lips. “I couldn’t agree more.”

  Soon, Shaz returned. He stood in the doorway, watching me with an expression I couldn’t read. Arys vacated the bed, going so far as to leave the room. He understood better than we did how much we needed this brief reprieve from the issues in our relationship. How much we needed just to be together.

  “Come on.” I patted the bed beside me and smiled. “Don’t leave me all alone in this giant bed.”

  He hesitated for only a moment, pausing to strip off his socks, hoodie and t-shirt, before joining me. The wolf within reached out to him before the woman did. I found peace in the presence of his wolf. The wolves didn’t give a damn about vampire nightclubs, human mistakes or hitmen. They knew only the call of nature, the lure of the moon and the beauty of the night. That’s all our wolves wanted.

  Shaz snuggled in close. Slipping his arms around my waist, he rested his head against mine. The silence was deafening. It was nice. If only my thoughts would quiet down.

  I breathed deeply of his scent, savoring it. I focused on every detail from the warmth of his body against mine to the softness of his hair on the side of my face. We lay curled together the way we had so many times before.

  But, things had changed. For one, we hadn’t made love in almost a month. The house where our friendship had formed had just been destroyed. I couldn’t help but wonder if that friendship was just one more part of us that we were bound to lose.

  Arys was right. Shaz was part of me, the one who kept me grounded and sane. But, Shaz was also on his own journey, fighting his own battles.

  “I miss you.”

  My words burst forth on a wave of emotion. I turned my head so I could press my lips to his temple. I lingered there, feeling his pulse beat. The bloodlust lay silent inside me. Whether subdued by Arys’s presence or merely by the recent traumatic experience, I didn’t know. I didn’t care. I was just happy to be free of it.

  “I love you, Lex,” he whispered the words into my damp hair. “Please don’t ever forget that.”

  “I know.” My voice was a low murmur like his. I was afraid to speak too loud and destroy the hush that had fallen over us. “Arys is right, Shaz. About you and I. We would have been together if he had died a human death. I fell for you before I ever met him.”

  Shaz’s breath came hot against my cheek, followed by his lips. “He was already a part of you. You just didn’t know it yet.”

  I turned my face so his lips met mine. Could he feel the slight tremble as I kissed him with everything I had? “So were you. And, you just don’t know it yet.”

  No further words were necessary. His grip on me tightened possessively. I pulled the blankets up around us like a marshmallow cocoon and settled in for a few hours of fitful sleep.

  The scent of coffee roused me just before sunset. I flung out a hand, seeking Shaz but finding only the empty expanse of be
d beside me. I sat up, immediately awake. If I had dreamed, I had no memory of it.

  The sound of voices reached me. Shaz and Arys spoke in low tones. I swung my legs over the side of the bed, pausing to listen.

  “The only reason I haven’t killed her is because it would piss off Alexa,” Arys said. “She should have already done it. She spared the bitch. For you.”

  “I know that,” Shaz replied, his tone calm and even. “You think I’m proud of myself for that? It means nothing, me and Bianca. She’s just… she’s nobody.”

  So, the bitch had a name. Bianca. It brought a bitter taste to my mouth, and I hadn’t even said it aloud.

  “What she is, is convenient. Just like Kale is for Alexa. You each seek to hide your weakness from one another when you should be seeking strength in what you share.” Arys was flippant, believing his words to be unarguable.

  “You know, Arys, this belief you have that the three of us can live happily ever after… It’s such bullshit.” Shaz’s tone was sour. I could easily imagine the matching expression he likely wore.

  Arys didn’t respond right away. I froze, perfectly still, waiting to hear him address Shaz’s valid claim. That thought had crossed my mind as well. There was no room for three in forever. But, choosing between them was something I’d selfishly refused to do. As long as we were all keeping silent on the harsh reality beneath the deceptive surface of our three-way tie, I wasn’t willing to be the one to speak first and break the illusion.

  Now, Shaz had done it for me.

  “She loves both of us,” Arys spoke softly, sounding lost in thought. “She needs us. You more so than you’re willing to believe.”

  “She can’t be with both of us. Not in the long run. It will come down to you or me. Or possibly neither. Can you handle that? Do you even let yourself think about it? Or are you so lost in the fantasy of finally finding her that you’re blinded to reality?”

  I bit my lip, unable to accept the words spilling from Shaz. I was expecting Arys to react with anger. He didn’t.

  “Of course I’m not blind to reality,” he said solemnly. “I’ve been aware for a long time that you may be the one she chooses. You offer her security. I offer her pain. But, it’s too late for one or the other. She is joined to us both. If you can’t accept it, you’ll have to be the one to walk away.”