Freak Show (Alexa O'Brien Huntress Book 7)

by Lee, Trina M.

  I chose not to follow Arys’s lead. My legs were shaking, and my entire body hummed with the pent up power I’d called during Jenner’s little show. I needed to sit down. Shaz sat beside me, but Jez placed herself opposite Arys where she could watch both Sloane and the door.

  Roscoe leaned against the doorframe, staring at his cell phone. There was something about vampires and technology that made me giggle. Some of them were adept at change; others were so behind the times it was laughable.

  “If anyone is being exploited, it’s the mortal suckers that show up to see something they can only read about in trendy books that pollute the beauty of what we are.” Sloane crossed one leg over the other, turning that simple action into a sensual display. “Simmer down, Arys. You saw his tame show. That was nothing. People love it. They tell themselves it’s not real, that it’s an act, the illusions of Vegas. But they know the truth. Deep down inside. And they enjoy it.”

  “Why are you still here?” Arys asked, pinning her with a knowing stare. “You used to talk so much about leaving.”

  “As did you,” she agreed. “I suppose you had a reason to go. Everything I have is here.”

  They fell silent, both of them remembering a time before any of the shifters present had lived. Though she was otherwise cool and composed, a dark shadow passed through Sloane’s eyes.

  Just when the silence became ridiculously awkward, Jenner swept into the room. His hair was disheveled, but he was dressed, thankfully. Exuding a heavy, sticky sweet energy, he glided through the room as if his feet never touched the ground.

  Swiftly, he caught Sloane around the waist and lifted her out of the chair before sitting down himself with her on his lap. An irritated frown creased her brow, but she settled in against him, going so far as to sling an arm around his neck.

  “Did you enjoy the show?” Jenner directed his question at Arys. Then his shifty eyes slid over me on the couch. “I know you did.” When I didn’t respond, he added, “Hot damn, those eyes are fascinating.”

  With the power raging through me, my eyes had to be Arys’s vampire blue. I relaxed into the couch and brazenly reached out metaphysically to taste Jenner. It was rude, but I didn’t care. Manners didn’t strike me as the kind of thing Jenner cultivated.

  His power was vast, impressive. It felt like Harley’s, which was a bit different from how Arys felt. I could only assume that Arys’s link to me gave him a different flavor. The power was deep and alluring, beckoning to me. He was likely the most powerful vampire in the city, as long as Arys wasn’t around.

  He sat there watching me as I psychically prodded him, not attempting to shield against me. “Find anything you like?”

  “Nothing I haven’t seen before.” I was flippant, wanting him to know he couldn’t play with me. His sire had loved to play. Harley had caused all kinds of hell for me. I wouldn’t allow Jenner to do the same.

  Trailing a hand up and down Sloane’s thigh, Jenner grinned. “My turn.”

  I raised a hand in invitation, allowing him to feel me out. It wasn’t too invasive since I didn’t resist. Jenner’s metaphysical touch was sensual, bathing me in heat. He lingered longer than necessary, but I remained without reaction.

  “I bet you taste as good as you feel.” Jenner’s gaze strayed to my neck, seeking what lay beneath the choker I wore. “You’re dangerous though. I suppose a smart vampire wouldn’t want to tangle with you. They all seem to end up dead.”

  I waved a hand dismissively. “Only the ones that hurt me or try to use me as leverage because they’re too weak to earn their power. I’m actually quite a nice person when I’m not being treated like an object.” I swung my foot and ran a hand through my hair, beaming at him as if I knew something he didn’t know.

  “I’ll bet you are.”

  “Is there a reason for this, Jenner?” Arys cut in, impatient with the way we were sniffing one another out. “The phony chatter, it’s not necessary. I’d hate to think I sat through staring at your bare ass for nothing. Make with the threats so we can get down to business.”

  Jenner’s low laugh was like the smooth skin of a snake, wrapping around me in places that could not be touched. “I just wanted to welcome you to my city, and to tell you to hurry up and get the hell out of it.” His expression never changed, but the atmosphere grew heavy with malice.

  Sloane stiffened noticeably, her eyes darting from Jenner to Arys. I didn’t move a muscle though I was ready to react. As were Jez and Shaz, I was sure.

  “Ah ok,” Arys said with a nod and a smirk. “So this is the part where you parade around like a self-appointed god and try to run me out of town. Predictable, yet entertaining. What else have you got?”

  Roscoe snickered but said nothing. Jenner shot him a dark glare.

  It wasn’t hard to figure him out. He thought we were here to make a play for Harley’s territory. We weren’t. At least, I hadn’t thought so. The challenge Arys issued made me second-guess that.

  “Does it have to come to that?” Jenner captured Sloane’s hand and decorated it with small kisses. She pressed her lips together tightly.

  “This isn’t your city, Jenner. It was Harley’s. He was the master vampire. You have no more right to his authority than any of us.” With a slow, calculated gait, Arys came to stand beside my end of the couch.

  A dangerous light flashed through Jenner’s ice-cold eyes. “You’re the reason he’s dead. You turned your back on this city and forfeited any right you may have had to it. Get out before I forget that I once called you brother.”

  This was going from sketchy to downright deadly fast. Arys’s growing rage echoed within me. He drew on our connection, and my stomach clenched. It took a lot for him to get to the point of tapping our shared power. I knew Harley was still, and maybe always would be, a touchy subject for him. Perhaps it was worse than I thought.

  “Can I just state for the record that we came to Vegas as tourists?” I interjected, sliding a glance at Arys. “At least, I did.”

  “Like hell you did,” Jenner spat. “You came to finish what you started when you murdered my sire.”

  Oh boy, here we go. I somehow managed to resist the urge to roll my eyes. “Let me remind you that Harley came to my city to force me into a blood bond. I had every right to defend myself. I am not sorry, and I don’t give a rat’s ass about what he left behind here.”

  Jenner mulled that over, clearly unhappy with my refusal to be apologetic. He fell silent, almost sullen. He pressed Sloane’s hand to his face, thoughtfully staring at me with a devilish spark in his eyes.

  At last, he dragged his gaze back to Arys, his expression changing to one of violent accusation. “How could you let her do it? He loved you.”

  Arys perched on the arm of the couch beside me, shaking his head. Sorrow flickered briefly in his eyes. “We’ve been over this. I told you last time I came that he brought it on himself. I stopped her once. I told him I wouldn’t stop her again.”

  “He was so hard headed when it came to you, Arys,” Sloane said with a sigh. “Nothing we said or did would stop him from going after you once he learned that you’d actually found her.”

  I frowned, unhappy with being talked about as if I wasn’t present. Apparently, every vampire in Harley’s little blood-sucking family knew about Arys’s dreams and visions of me from before I was born. I didn’t get the feeling they understood it though.

  “Yes,” Jenner added bitterly. “Nothing could come between Harley and his favorite.” He pinned me with a chilling stare. “Nothing except you.”

  Sibling rivalry. Typical enough, yet Jenner’s words still sent a chill through me. I’d have thought they would be beyond this kind of thing. I guess hundreds of years only intensified those things rather than erased them.

  I leaned forward on the couch, never taking my eyes off Jenner. “What is it that really bothers you? That you weren’t Harley’s favorite? Or that I killed him? Claire and Maxwell failed to take me down. So will you. Think carefully about wha
t you want to do here.”

  It was a ballsy thing to say, and I was more than a little concerned it would blow up in my face; however, he had me backed into a corner here. If I didn’t come out swinging, Jenner would have the advantage, and he would know it.

  Jenner sat stiff in his chair. He dropped Sloane’s hand and clenched his into a fist. His power filled the room, a growing heat that quickly became scorching hot.

  “I like her,” Roscoe said with a nod in Arys’s direction. “This bloodline could use a woman like her. Sorry, Sloane.”

  She huffed and stuck her nose in the air, refusing to acknowledge his comment. As far as I knew, she was the only existing female in Harley’s bloodline until I turned.

  “This isn’t your city.” Jenner’s voice rose in a near shout. “Harley’s dead, and now it’s mine. Arys, take your wolf and leave. This is not your home anymore.”

  “No, it’s not. But I won’t be ordered around. I wouldn’t take that shit from Harley, and I sure as hell won’t take it from you.” Arys exuded an outward calm; though I knew inside, he was roiling. “You think playing on stage with humans is the way to run this place? You can’t just walk away from a blood ring. You’re not ready for this city, Jenner.”

  Jenner exploded from his chair. Shoving Sloane aside, he hurled a slap of power at Arys who caught it, neutralizing the attack. The close proximity to the shot caused my body to tingle.

  Arys rose, meeting Jenner in the center of the sitting area. They stared into each other, and something unspoken passed between them.

  “Three of our vampires, including our sire, are dead because of her,” shouted Jenner. “You are obligated to make it right. So either you came here to do that, or you came to challenge my authority.”

  Shaz was tense beside me. We exchanged a look, and I gave a slight shake of my head. It wasn’t time to jump in yet, though the room was overflowing with tense vampire energy. Sloane backed away slowly to linger near the door with Roscoe. Jez did the same, keeping her distance from all vampires present.

  Arys was tapping so much power it made me lightheaded. He considered Jenner’s demands with a grave expression. “I loved him too, you know. But it happened, and it’s over. How the hell do you expect me to make something like that right?”

  “A life for a life. Put one of your shifters in the ring to fight to the death.”

  Jenner’s words rang in my ears, but I had to replay it a few times in my head to be sure I’d heard his insane declaration correctly. The silence was deafening. A tirade lurked on the tip of my tongue as every dirty word I wanted to say came to mind.

  “You’ve lost your fucking mind.” The atmosphere pulsed with Arys’s vehement declaration.

  “You’ve clearly forgotten how we do things in Sin City. Either play to win or admit defeat and walk away.”

  “I always win. You should know that by now.” A growl laced Arys’s words, an echo of my wolf that lurked in him. It was a remnant of my wolf that was, at times, a little too real for Arys to control.

  Arys smacked Jenner with a jolt of energy that sparked with gold and blue. It was just enough to knock Jenner back a few feet. That was all it took to incite a violent reaction. The next shot landed along with a punch. Arys staggered back from the blow, his jaw bruised. His eyes were solid blue wolf when he lunged at Jenner.

  The two of them grappled with both power and fists. They knocked over the chair Jenner had been sitting on before crashing into a small side table. A flurry of curses and uttered threats filled the air.

  “My God, you guys, stop it!” Sloane shrieked, her voice shrill. “You’re acting like spoiled children.” With a wave of her hand, she lashed out at them in an attempt to pull them apart, but they carried on as if she’d never touched them.

  The musky scent of vampire blood tickled my nose. Each of them was bleeding at this point, never ceasing in their assault of one another. Clearly, their issues went deeper than Arys’s return to the city.

  “You’re a motherfucking traitor, Sindarys! You owe us.” Jenner’s use of Arys’s full name shouldn’t have been surprising. It reminded me that there were people who knew him from long ago. He had several lifetimes with these vampires, long before me.

  “If I owe you anything, it’s an ass-kicking that finally puts you in your place.” With a tug on the power flowing between us, Arys flung a potentially deadly psi ball.

  Either uncanny skill or dumb luck allowed Jenner to deflect the shot. He sent it crashing into the wall where it blew open a basketball-sized hole. Drywall and paint chips rained down in a pile of dust on the carpet.

  I was done waiting. They were going to kill each other. I focused hard on both vampires and, with a flick of my wrist, flung them apart. Arys tumbled over the sofa opposite me and hit the floor while Jenner grunted as he slid down the wall next to the gaping hole.

  “Now both of you just calm the fuck down. Don’t make me hit you again.” My words ended on a growl. Power thrummed through me. Looking back and forth between the two cocky vampires, I dared them to call my bluff.

  Jenner regained his footing but remained where he was, leaning against the damaged wall. A slow grin lit up his face. Damn vampires. It took a lot more than a slap of power to intimidate or control them. He was going to test my limits severely before this night was through; I could feel it.

  “Oh, please do,” he invited, going so far as to beckon with a finger. “If that’s a taste of how you’d kill me, I can safely say I will die with a smile and a hard on.”

  “You’re a pig.” My lip curled in disgust. Though I might not say so aloud, Jenner and Arys were a lot alike in their smarmy conceit. I expected a comment like that from Arys; from him it was laughable, but from Jenner it was just gross.

  “And you’re a little wolf playing vampire. It’s cute, really. But ultimately pointless. You’re not one of us.” A deadly glare replaced Jenner’s grin, and he advanced on me with slow, careful steps.

  Arys was at my side, fingers alight with a golden-blue fire. “You’re right, Jenner. Alexa is not one of us. She’s more than we are. Why else would she have been able to kill Harley? You’ll be next if you continue this nonsense.”

  “I’d like to make it clear that Harley is the one who taught me how to kill him,” I said. “You may want to chew on that for a bit.”

  “Are you implying that my sire wanted you to kill him?” Jenner’s voice rose to a thunderous volume. “You think he wanted a hybrid mutation like you to take over his business? Not a chance in hell. You won’t make it out of town without paying for what you did to him.”

  “I’m not implying a damn thing. Harley knew what he was risking by getting close to me. Do you?” I spoke through clenched teeth, finding it hard to hold the wolf back. I wanted to claw Jenner’s eyes out.

  Sloane placed herself in front of Jenner. She touched his face, bringing his gaze to hers. “Jenner, be reasonable. Arys has never shown an interest in running Vegas. But he’s here for whatever reason. Maybe he can help us. Maybe if he knew—”

  “Shut your damn fool mouth,” Jenner hissed. Grabbing her arm, he gave her a teeth-rattling shake. “I don’t need Arys to ride in here on his fucking high horse and save the day. My business is my business.”

  Arys and I exchanged a look. Sloane was resistant, struggling against Jenner as she looked to Arys for help.

  “It’s not only your business, Jenner.” Sloane jerked free of him and turned to us, a desperate plea in her eyes. “We’re in trouble, Arys. Since Harley’s death, things have gotten so bad. It’s the blood ring. We want out, and they won’t let us go—”

  The crack of Jenner’s hand against her face was startling. She hit the floor fast and hard. A curse fell from her lips. In a blur of speed she was up, seething with fangs bared. But she didn’t say another word. Instead, she fled the room.

  Everything happened fast then. Arys and Jenner were in each other’s face again, their shouts echoing through the room. The power level rose to the point
of giving me a smashing headache. Jenner met Arys’s demand for an explanation with his own demands for blood and retribution. Shaz moved back a safe distance but was ready to jump in. The vampire pissing contest spiraled out of control.

  Roscoe spoke up, his voice gruff but commanding, even amid the noise. “You’re brothers. There is no reason for this animosity.”

  “Our brotherhood ended long ago.” Jenner’s nostrils flared, and he huffed. “I have no love left for the one who went out of his way to take everything from me.”

  Yep, pissing contest. I somehow fought back the urge to roll my eyes. I couldn’t even begin to pretend to understand men, let alone men who were also monsters. Times like this, I thought maybe Jez had the better deal. No male bullshit.

  “Hey, it wasn’t me who slept with your fiancée the night you were engaged,” Arys replied with a bitter laugh. “That was Maxwell.”

  “No, you’re the one who married her instead, before you killed her, you son of a bitch.” Jenner dropped that bomb as if he’d been waiting a very long time to utter the words. It spoke volumes in regards to the hatred he carried like a flaming torch for Arys.

  My jaw dropped. A memory slammed into me like a bullet train, a swarm of images that left me shaken and breathless. I had seen the photographic proof of Jenner’s claim. A year ago, one of Arys’s spurned lovers had sought to have him killed. She showed me the photo of Arys and his young blonde bride. I’d never had the guts to question him further on that. Now I didn’t have to.

  I stumbled back a few steps, my hand going to my head as I struggled to see the room before me. Being forced to relive Arys’s memories as if I were there was a torment like no other. I always saw through his eyes, feeling what he felt. He had fallen for Jenner’s bride to be because she reminded him of the woman he had so recently begun to dream about, a woman destiny claimed he would never unite with.

  “Alexa? Are you ok?” Shaz shook me, lightly slapping my face.

  Laughter rang in my ears. With girlish giggles, she gazed up at Arys, batting her eyes. Within six months of their marriage, he had already decided it was over. Rather than ease his pain, she had made it worse.