Freak Show (Alexa O'Brien Huntress Book 7)

by Lee, Trina M.

  The lights went out, and the chatter of voices immediately hushed. The audience of two hundred or so fell silent. Their excitement created a buzz that made my skin crawl.

  “Here we go,” Jez whispered at the same time Shaz muttered, “This should be painfully interesting.”

  A spotlight lit up center stage. A vampire stood there, staring out at the audience. It was Jenner. I felt it, an echo of a memory that wasn’t mine.

  In dark pants and a black V-neck t-shirt that revealed his tattooed arms, Jenner’s pale blue eyes stood out with an eerie glow. They fell upon me, and I froze, afraid even to breathe while he watched me. His gaze lingered for only a second before passing over Arys and, finally, the rest of the audience.

  His dark hair was short and trendy, slightly longer in front and gelled as if he’d merely pushed it around on his head and left it. Average height and build, he had a bit of facial scruff that gave him a rugged attractiveness.

  “Good evening,” he addressed the crowd. “It’s a pleasure to have you all here tonight. What a fine looking group of people.”

  A few women at the other end of our row giggled when he flashed them a brilliant, fang-revealing smile. He was smooth, making eye contact with several audience members.

  “Tonight is ladies night.” He paused when a small cheer went up from the women gathered. “For those of you who have been here before, you know what that means. For the newcomers, let me welcome you to The Wicked Kiss. This is the place to make your darkest fantasies come true.”

  “I thought that’s what upstairs was for,” I whispered to Arys, knowing Jenner’s sensitive ears would hear me.

  “Let me make it clear. This is not an experience for the timid. What you see here may shock you. It may also excite you. It’s up to you to decide if it’s real or not.” Jenner’s smile grew impossibly wide. “Now, which of you ladies would like to make your vampire fantasy come true tonight?”

  Ah, it was starting to make sense. I could see where this was going, and I didn’t like it. This wasn’t like the blood and sex fest going on upstairs because this was a performance. I sat stiffly, nervous about what was to come.

  Jenner descended the steps at the front of the stage. Several women raised their hands and shouted their willingness to be his victim. He ambled up and down the aisles, pausing here and there to take a closer look at the volunteers. He passed before our seats and paused. Arys stared daggers at him, a challenge on his face.

  Jenner leaned in, breathing deeply of my scent. “How about you, darlin’? Interested?”

  I smirked, feeling unbearably uncomfortable. The sensual touch of his power sent a tickle down my spine, but I sat stiffly, refusing to show it. “Thanks anyway, but my vampire fantasy has already come true.”

  “Fair enough.” With a nod, he moved on, but his unreadable gaze stayed locked on mine until he disappeared high in the crowd.

  A high-pitched squeal rang out as Jenner made his selection. He led the excited brunette back to the stage. She pressed a hand to her mouth, glancing around nervously. The tense energy oozing from the audience thickened as they waited in restless anticipation.

  In various colors and strengths, several spotlights blinked on at the same time, bathing the stage in a warm glow. The light chased the dark back, revealing a chaise lounge. Black velvet with silver trim, it was a pricey piece of furniture. Also on the stage stood a table with a bottle of champagne.

  Jenner pressed a glass into her hand, encouraging her to drink. I could see her hand shaking from where I sat. Her energy was frantic and jumpy. It drew me the way wounded prey draws a predator. Everything about her screamed “easy target.”

  “Are you afraid, my dear?” Jenner asked, capturing her hand as it fluttered. He raised it to his lips, kissing her upturned wrist.

  She nodded, her eyes darting around the room. She was like a deer in the headlights up there. “A little bit. I’m not changing my mind though.”

  “It’s too late for that.” Jenner’s wicked chuckle rubbed me the wrong way. It grated on my nerves. I gritted my teeth and tried not to squirm in my seat. He sniffed her wrist, inhaling the aroma of her blood. “You’re mine now. That’s why you came here, isn’t it?”

  “Oh, yes.” She giggled when he kissed her wrist.

  “What’s your name, beautiful?” Jenner cast a smirk our way, ensuring we were watching every move he made.

  “Layna.” The one word was a sigh. It didn’t take much for a vampire of Harley’s bloodline to seduce a woman. I knew firsthand.

  Again, she peered out anxiously at the crowd. Jenner took her face in his hands and kissed her, a deep exploration of her mouth that was a hot display of passion and hunger. “They aren’t here,” he murmured against her lips. “They see you, but you no longer see them. All you see is me.”

  My stomach clenched, and I crossed one leg over the other, finding it hard to sit still. I was uneasy with my growing curiosity. I despised the fact that I wanted to see this.

  Layna forgot all about the watching audience. She fell heavily under Jenner’s thrall, seeing him as the undead master he painted himself as. Her eyes took on a strange glazed appearance. She moved robotically as he guided her to the chaise lounge. I don’t think she even blinked.

  Jenner’s movements were smooth and calculated. He brushed the hair back from her face, smiling when she quivered at his touch. “Tell me how I make you feel.”

  A blush colored her cheeks. She sipped the champagne and giggled again. “You make me feel nervous but excited. I have butterflies.”

  “More like bats,” I snickered. A woman in the next row shushed me. Jenner slowly swung his gaze my way; unspoken promises glittered in his strange eyes. I clamped my mouth shut and focused on shielding against the onslaught of feverish energy.

  “There’s no need to be nervous. You want this. Tell me you want this.” Jenner plucked the empty glass from Layna’s hand and set it aside.

  “I do,” she gushed, reaching for him. “I want it.”

  I rolled my eyes but kept my snide comments to myself. This was ridiculous. The people seated all around me were eating it up. When Jenner began to undress his victim, I realized why. A few gasps filled the silence, most likely from other newbies like me. Everyone else watched expectantly.

  Layna welcomed his touch. With each caress, he freed her of another piece of clothing until she stood bared to us all. Jenner eased her back against the large, rounded arm of the chaise lounge. He sat between her legs and pulled her arm across. We all watched in silent wonder as he dragged his tongue over her wrist.

  When he bit into her flesh, I flinched. The sudden intake of breath sounded all around me. Layna swooned, throwing her head back with a moan. She tried to pull him to her, spreading her legs wider in invitation.

  “Patience, my sweet.” Jenner laughed softly, licking the blood from his lips. He got up on his knees, leaning over to kiss her while sliding a hand up to cup her breast.

  I tore my gaze away to stare into my glass. Maybe I would need it after all. Just to take the edge off. The scent of Layna’s blood and arousal was tearing through my shields, stirring my bloodlust to life.

  She paid no mind to the blood running from her wrist. All she saw was Jenner. I could relate to both of them, the predator and the prey. I had been both. He was a dark god to her in that moment, and she would allow him to do anything he wanted.

  Jenner rose up to peel his shirt off, revealing a heavily tattooed but firm body. He was decorated in ink. A tiger snarled from its place on his back. Music notes adorned his side. There was more than one chunk of lettering that drew my curiosity.

  The cloud of desire thickened as the women in the crowd reacted to him. It was his intent. The way he pushed his hypnotic power out in a wave made it difficult to resist. What made it worse was that I didn’t want to. There was pleasure in that power, and I was as much a sucker for it as any hot-blooded woman.

  A peek at Jez revealed she too was feeling it. Her brow fu
rrowed in confusion, but there was awe in her eyes. I couldn’t help but wonder how it felt for her to have a man manipulate her like that without even a touch.

  Arys caught my eye and gave a slight shake of his head. He wasn’t impressed with Jenner’s blatant abuse of power though he himself was guilty of doing the same damn thing. Thankfully, without an audience, as far as I knew.

  “I want to feel you, Layna. I want your legs wrapped around me while I make you cum. How does that sound?” There was absolute quiet as he took her nipple into his mouth. Her back arched, and her lips parted in a silent cry.

  “Yes, yes please,” she gasped.

  My discomfort level rocketed off the charts. I searched the edges of the theatre, seeking an exit. I didn’t want to watch this vampire porn despite the growing heat between my legs, which said otherwise.

  The fire burning between the two on stage grew from a spark to a blaze. Jenner continued to draw her deeper under his spell. After decorating her body with small bites and kisses, he finally descended between her thighs.

  “Oh my,” Jez whispered, shaking her head in disbelief. Similar hushed words echoed from several others.

  I snuck a glance at Shaz, finding his shoulders stiff and his expression blank. Only his eyes betrayed him. They glowed with the jade fire I recognized. That same lusty flame had burned for me once. How I missed it.

  Jenner’s oral attention had his victim writhing and shrieking. Her cries echoed inside the theatre, sending a shiver down my spine. I was ready to head back to the wolf fight, ready for anything to escape the overwhelming sensations.

  Jenner was brewing a storm of energy. As he stirred the lust of the audience, he also fed upon it, creating a cycle of power that would carry us all higher. The mortals stared in hypnotic wonder. I could feel every nuance of the push and pull he created, despite my shields, which were weakening. With an inward groan, I dropped them completely, allowing the full effect of the rush to hit me.

  I fell hard into the tornado of power twisting through the place. There was no controlling my response. The essence of vampire in my core rose up like lava to overflow in a wash of scorching energy. My four fangs filled my mouth, and my fingertips glowed blue and gold. The lust for body and blood was undeniable.

  I watched Jenner make a show of removing the last of his clothing, and I panicked. He wasn’t going to stop until it was all over. If I had to sit through that, I would end up killing someone. The scent of so many humans was tantalizing.

  Without another thought, I lifted the glass in my hand to my lips and took a long swallow. The blood was cooling but a poor substitute for taking it straight from the vein. So much was missing, including the warm body it pumped from.

  With a devious glint in his ice-blue eyes, Jenner revealed his body, naked and ready. It was difficult not to look at his erection. He was clearly proud of it, allowing everyone a chance to drink in the sight of him. Sure, it was nice, but I’d seen better on each of my men.

  “Are you ready for me?” He knelt over Layna on the chaise lounge, caressing her face. She nodded, speechless, kissing his fingers.

  I held my breath when he thrust inside her. The sound of my own heart pounded in my ears. Perspiration broke out on my forehead, and I swiped a hand through it. I was certain my companions could hear my heartbeat and smell my lustful hunger.

  Arys clasped my free hand in his and squeezed. The quaking hunger raging inside me quelled but not nearly enough. Still, I was grateful for his presence. Thankfully, this time he was keeping my feet on the ground rather than sending me off the deep end.

  ‘You have to keep it together. Don’t let Jenner know he’s getting to you.’ Arys’s voice echoed in my head, his mental touch gentle and soothing.

  ‘How is this not getting to you? Don’t tell me part of you doesn’t want to go up there and join in.’ The desperation in my thoughts made me cringe.

  Arys stroked his thumb over the back of my hand. ‘Are you kidding? Every part of me wants to. I’ve had centuries to gain control over that urge. He wants to have an effect. Don’t let him.’

  Jenner claimed Layna’s body with total abandon. He pumped into her with furious, fast strokes that forced the cries from her. The lust rolling off the audience was enough to choke me. I half expected them to start humping each other in the aisles, even though they couldn’t feel it the way I could.

  ‘If we don’t get out of here, I may climb in your lap and ride you right here.’ I let him feel the immensity of the need driving me. ‘This is seriously disturbing. He’s a fool to do this shit in front of humans.’

  ‘Oh, he is many things. A fool is the least of them.’

  I couldn’t sit still. Watching a vampire I didn’t know have sex with a woman I would never know was uncomfortable. However, knowing what was coming made it almost painful.

  Shaz shifted in his seat, a small growl rumbled in his throat. This was bad. We should never have brought him here. He wasn’t ready for something this intense. I eyed him anxiously, waiting for him to lose it. He held himself together though. Lucky him, he also didn’t have to feel it the way I did.

  A war was going on inside me. I had been the victim and the vampire. In that moment, I couldn’t decide which I wanted to be.

  Jenner flipped Layna over, forcing her up on her knees. Gripping her hips, he pounded into her with an urgency I felt in my stomach. The sound of his hand slapping her ass echoed. She screamed and moaned, his name an unintelligible ramble on her lips.

  I tapped my feet on the floor, nearly fidgeting myself out of my seat. I tried drinking more of the blood in my glass, but it wasn’t what I wanted. Setting it down, I stared anywhere but at the stage. My gaze kept coming back to it. Dammit, I wanted to watch Jenner bleed her.

  He shoved a hand into her hair and jerked her head back. Baring her neck, he ensured the audience had a good view. I licked my lips, leaning forward. Arys’s grip on my hand tightened. Eroticism oozed from the stage. The pornographic display was more than an act. It was an expression of true passion. To Jenner, this was performance art; to me, it was a gross glamorization of what we were.

  Layna closed her eyes in bliss before Jenner leaned in for the bite. He sank fangs into her neck, and blood spilled down her chest. The hum of energy was loud in my ears, deafening. My breath came fast. I was losing the battle of temptation. Again. I didn’t make a conscious decision to leap out of my seat. Simply riding the high of Jenner’s power wasn’t enough. I needed the climactic release that came with the kill.

  Arys was ready. He caught me around the waist and dragged me onto his lap, fighting to keep me in his chair with him. Rational thought had stopped. Between the power, the sex and the blood, there was no room left for me. I was all monster.

  Jenner raised his head to survey the crowd. His mouth dripped scarlet. His gaze landed upon me, and he winked.

  “Alexa, it’s all an illusion,” Arys hissed in my ear. “You’re letting him manipulate you. You are my wolf, and you are stronger than that. Resist him.”

  Jez leaned away from us but watched with wide eyes. Shaz was tense, ready to help Arys pin me down like a mental patient. Arys’s touch was calming despite the power that sparked between us. I was stronger with him. I clung to that. I sat stiffly with Arys’s arms around me. The erection beneath me revealed that he hadn’t gone entirely unaffected either. We watched in strained silence as Jenner feasted in all ways upon his prey. I needed this to be over.

  Layna collapsed on the chaise lounge, a dopey smile on her face. Jenner licked and sucked at the wound, encouraging the flow to continue. Just when I thought my head might explode, a large velvet curtain descended to hide the stage from sight. The spotlight blinked out and darkness fell.

  A soft moan echoed from behind the curtain. The twenty-minute show had felt like hours. Finally, it was over. If she wasn’t dead yet, she soon would be.

  Chapter Five

  Several seconds passed before the lights came on. Ushers appeared to herd everyone
out a rear exit, opposite the way we’d come in. Except for us.

  Roscoe approached from a door behind the stage. Leather clad and bearded, he strode toward us with a swagger that made me certain he owned a motorbike. He headed us off before I could follow the rest of the crowd. Too bad.

  We were on our feet, looking at one another with wide eyes. Arys held tight to my arm, keeping me close. He pushed a calming energy into me, and I grabbed on as if it were a life raft during a flood. I vibrated so hard with the effort it took to hold myself together that my teeth nearly rattled.

  “Jenner wants to see you backstage,” Roscoe said, the dim light glinting off his golden fang. He waited expectantly for us to get moving.

  Arys fell into step beside the burly vampire, walking with an angry stride. “When the hell did he start this crazy train? Feeding in front of humans is ballsy. He should know better.”

  “He does.” Roscoe shrugged. “He just doesn’t care.”

  Backstage was a dressing room clearly designed for private parties of the bloodletting kind. Spacious and open, swanky sofas lined the walls. The carpet was dark and lush. But in my current state of mind, the vampiress feeding from a half-naked man captured my attention. This place was going to be the death of me.

  Sloane looked up abruptly as we entered. She released her hold on the man’s bleeding arm and gave him a shove. “Go now. I’ll send for you later.”

  He slipped by us and out the door without a backward glance. Sloane licked the small drops of blood from her lips with a dainty swipe of her tongue. She smiled and reached to smooth her hair.

  “Have a seat.” She gestured to the sofas and matching easy chair. “Jenner’s just cleaning up from his performance.”

  “Performance?” Arys refused to sit. He stood stiffly, arms crossed and jaw clenched. “Is that what he calls it?”

  Sloane eyed him, amusement shining in her cerulean eyes. “Death is an art, baby. You know that. You do it better than any of us.”

  “Don’t sweet talk me, Sloane. I’m not in the mood. You’re an idiot to participate in this exploitation.”