Freak Show (Alexa O'Brien Huntress Book 7)

by Lee, Trina M.

  I tried to hear the thoughts of those surrounding me. Since Sloane’s mention of angel blood, they had all shut up their minds tightly.

  Speaking of angels, where the hell was Falon? The asshole had ditched me. Letting Linden sell me off as a blood slave would get me out of his hair. He was probably concocting a story for Shya right now.

  Shya was a strange one. He could go from threatening my life to claiming he needed me alive in the same sentence. I didn’t doubt that he would come for me at some point. However, I was not his damsel to save, and I would rather die than be further indebted to the demon.

  A shrill, piercing screech bounced around inside my head as Falon’s blood became too much for my mortal body. It needed release. I sipped the fine whiskey and squinted through the pain.

  I swung my accusing stare to Sloane who sat stiffly near the door. As much as I loathed that bitch right then, I knew she was my only shot at manipulating someone on the inside. Whether we liked it or not, we shared a bloodline. Appealing to that side of her might be my only chance at finding an ally among so many monsters.

  “What is wrong with you? You betrayed your own blood. For what? Money? Blood? Power? And why the hell would you take a beating to hide your disloyalty if you’re so ok with it?”

  With an exasperated and forced sigh, she met my eyes. “You wouldn’t understand. You haven’t lived with them for hundreds of years. You’re still new to them, a novelty. That wears off.” Her glossy lips pressed tight into a thin red line, and she stared out the window at the bright city lights. She hadn’t given me much, but it was enough. She was hurt and lashing out. Maybe I could work with that.

  “My girl does what it takes to keep a secret.” Linden beamed a fangy grin at Sloane who ignored it. “She knows loyalty comes at a price.”

  Linden loved to hear the sound of his own voice. He had no trouble carrying on a conversation consisting mostly of his stream of consciousness as we drove through the city. The first prickle of nervousness trickled through me when I noticed the area we had entered. It was littered with large commercial buildings and warehouses with very little human activity, where nobody would hear you scream.

  I tossed back the last of the superb whiskey, knowing it might be my last. I wanted to tap Arys’s thoughts but decided to wait. I didn’t want to interrupt if he was healing Jez.

  Jostled along by two big but quiet vampires, I followed Linden into one of the warehouses that looked much like the rest. A building number was its only identification, and I made a point to commit it to memory. There was nothing special about the warehouse. It was big without being massive, drab grey from the concrete walls to the floor and smelled like absolute fear.

  Consisting of half a dozen vampires, further security greeted us. Linden spoke in low tones with one of them, and I heard the mention of a white wolf. My guts twisted painfully. I was afraid, not for me, but for Shaz. It had been my call to kill Harley. He didn’t deserve to be punished for having my back.

  The warehouse was made up primarily of one giant room, which was furnished with many sofas and electronic devices, TVs and such. A long conference style table sat along one wall. Lining the back of the building, a brick room caught my attention. That’s where the thick aroma of fear emanated from.

  I drifted toward the heavily barred door, needing to see what lie on the other side. A vampire with a fat head on his oddly skinny neck stopped me with a rough hand on my shoulder.

  “No, it’s fine.” Linden glided over, taking my elbow as if we were old friends out for a stroll. “You want to see the wolf. I understand.” He barked instructions for the door to be opened.

  I held my breath, afraid to inhale too much of the intoxicating scent. Fear was a trigger for both the wolf and the vampire. It stirred my hunger for the hunt.

  The door opened, and I was pulled into a dank, dimly lit room. It was filled with people, all human. Old, young, of various ethnic backgrounds, there was much variation. My gaze landed on a woman in the corner, crying and holding her pregnant belly. The vampire side of me had no emotion, no sympathy, but the wolf raged and roared, seeking to break free of its human cage.

  “You’re the worst kind of evil,” I said.

  Linden continued as if I hadn’t said a word. “That’s the bathroom there, if you should need it. Otherwise, I’ll take you to the wolf. Naturally, I couldn’t leave him in here with the others. Better safe than sorry.” The bathroom he pointed out was little more than a filthy toilet and sink with a curtain for a door. I recoiled at the sight of it.

  In the back of the grubby room was a row of prison-like cells, each with a flimsy cot and a scrap of cloth that could hardly be called a blanket. They were all empty save one. In the last cell paced a dirty, bloody, but very much alive white wolf.

  Chapter Fourteen

  I threw myself on the floor beside Shaz the moment the door opened. The heavy bars banged shut as they relocked behind me.

  His name was repetition on my lips, and I grabbed a handful of his fur, pressing my face to his. He nuzzled me back, making a low sound between a whine and a growl. Pine, wolf musk and blood. He smelled injured yet alive, but most importantly he smelled like home.

  “I’ll give you two some time. You should make the most of it. I doubt you will go to the same buyer.” Linden turned to go, then paused and glanced back. “There are a great many people interested in you both. I can’t wait to hear the offers. Of course, they’ll have to wait their turn. I always get the first taste of the high demand ones.”

  The urge to spit a nasty retort after him was strong. Somehow I held my tongue and watched him go. The human cattle he had piled into this brick prison all turned away from him as he passed. One older man openly prayed out loud as if casting out the devil himself. Linden was unfazed.

  “Can you shift?” I asked Shaz when the vampires were gone.

  He did so with an agonized howl that became a shout as he resumed human form. Several gasps and shrieks rang out from our fellow captives. One young girl promptly burst into tears. It was easy to forget that the world of vampires and werewolves was brand new to these people.

  I grabbed the scrap of blanket from the cot and covered his nakedness with it. Having my hands bound in front of me was a small blessing. I looked him over for any sign of a serious injury. Other than a few vampire bites in miscellaneous places and much bruising, he was in one piece.

  Before I could speak again, Shaz kissed me. It was a soft, tender show of emotion. His lips trembled slightly on mine. His weakness was a disadvantage if we were going to fight our way out of here.

  “Is there something you need to tell me?” He asked, peering in wonder at my eyes. “I’ve never seen that before.”

  “I took blood from Falon,” I whispered so I would not be overheard. “It’s risky, but it gives me strength and abilities I don’t have on my own. Unfortunately, I can’t use any power as long as I have these handcuffs on. Tell me what’s happened to you.”

  Shaz leaned heavily against me. Pushing his hands through my hair, he nuzzled me with wolfish affection, sighing as he inhaled my scent. “After they trashed the nightclub, they took Arys and Jenner. Those two put up a good fight, but they were swarmed. Honestly, I think Arys held back because they threatened to kill me. I know he had the power to wipe them all out. He never tried.”

  I was too stunned to reply. Arys had also said he and Jenner were outnumbered, though he hadn’t added much more. I too had believed Arys would be much harder to take down. His power had centuries of growth on mine. Could it be possible that he was willing to face potential death to keep Shaz alive? Or was he merely seeking a way out of what the future held for us?

  “I was brought here and have been here since. What happened to Arys?” The concern on Shaz’s face was genuine. When did the two of them start to give a damn about each other?

  Speaking quickly but quietly, I told him the rushed version of the previous evening leading up to this moment. “If Falon was here, he could
get these things off me; he’s done it before. But I think that fucker sold me out.” What Falon didn’t realize was that this meant war. I’d pay him back for leaving me hanging. Somehow.

  “We can’t let them separate us,” Shaz said, desperation in his touch as he wrapped himself around me. “And we can’t leave them behind either.”

  He nodded to the captives huddled outside our cell. Some of them stared at us in raw horror while others were more focused on the door, knowing the true danger lay beyond. I counted half a dozen youth among the mix of adults, about twenty in total. How were we going to get them all out of here? My brain turned over the possibilities. There had to be a way.

  An onslaught of thoughts battered me. They came fast, a cacophony of fear and prayers. It was impossible to sort them out or follow one string of thought. It was overwhelming and took great effort to block it out. How could I have forgotten how bad the mind reading aspect was?

  Healing Shaz was a priority. I had yet to perfect the skill, but I’d made some progress. Still, as long as I had the damn cuffs on we were screwed.

  Another shrill head-splitting wave of pain cut through me as my body rebelled against Falon’s caged power. Shaz’s jade eyes were wolf and heavy with concern. I thought about how much I’d missed him while he was gone and how I’d known it was best for him, and I felt guilty that he was here now with me. If he had stayed gone, he would be free as a wolf should be. He should never have been a victim of such vampire blood games.

  Protector of mankind. The words rose up in my thoughts, an echo of a memory. Willow had said that’s what my name meant. I’d scoffed at the time, finding it hard to believe I could ever be anything other than a menace to mankind. Looking at all of those innocent victims, I knew I had to find a way to justify the name I’d been given. The vampire world had swallowed me whole, but I was not one of them. Not yet. I was a Hound of God, a wolf chosen to serve good by battling evil. Linden was evil. I would destroy him.

  “Shaz, there’s so much I haven’t told you since you’ve been back. I learned a lot while you were gone. You should know. I should tell you.” I was rambling uncontrollably. All the things I wanted to say for several weeks now came bubbling up. I was afraid I wouldn’t get another chance.

  “Hey, slow down.” With a finger on my lips, Shaz stopped me. “You can tell me everything after we get out of here.” He held me tight, and I tried to focus on his calming scent. The pungent smell of crippling fear was testing my control.

  For a long time, we simply held one another. It felt so good to be in his arms. It would have felt better if it had been anywhere else.

  A cool wind whispered through me followed by Arys’s voice in my head. ‘Tell me you’re ok.’

  ‘I am for now. I’m with Shaz in a warehouse in some commercial district. But Arys, things are bad. Linden is FPA. He’s got me cuffed, and Falon is a no show. How’s Jez?’

  Arys’s displeasure rang in my thoughts. ‘She’ll be fine. Still a bit out of it. She wants to go after you but can barely stay on her feet. I’m wrestling cocktails out of her hand so I think she’ll bounce back. Let me see where you are.’

  I opened myself up to him, allowing him to see through my eyes. Together we regarded the miserable humans awaiting their fate. Lingering on the pregnant lady and the youth present, I felt Arys recoil in disgust. He was a brutal, ruthless serial killer, no denying that. But he didn’t hunt kids. Ever.

  ‘It gets uglier. I’ve seen it. I want to come in after you.’

  ‘No, Arys, you can’t. You heard Linden. It will just put us at greater risk. And we have innocents here. You and Jenner should hunt down Roscoe. See if there’s anything he knows that can give you some kind of leverage over Linden.’ I waited for his response. He was quiet in my head though his agitation came across just fine.

  ‘All right. Try to lure Falon, or Shya if you have to. Use that mark. And keep in touch. If anything changes, if Linden does anything to you, I want to know.’ There was a pause. ‘I can feel the pressure building from Falon’s power. It’s hurting you.’

  It sure was. My head ached, and it was just a matter of time until the nosebleeds started. ‘Don’t worry about me. I don’t die this way. Remember?’ I wanted to ask him about sacrificing himself for Shaz, but this wasn’t the right time.

  ‘Don’t remind me. Be safe. Trust your instinct.’ I sensed he wanted to add something else. After a moment he said, ‘I love you.’ He was gone, slipping away as swift and smooth as he’d slipped in.

  Shaz and I moved from the cold stone floor to the bare mattress atop the cot. We huddled there together, watching and waiting for something, anything to happen. The waiting was killing me. I held tight to Shaz’s hand and tried to ignore the metal cuffs digging into my wrists.

  “When I was in Jasper, there were times when I thought I might not come back,” Shaz began. “I spent so much time as wolf that I started to forget human life. But I never forgot you, Lex.”

  “I counted the days while you were gone.” I laughed, a short clipped laugh lacking mirth. “Hell, I counted the hours. I was afraid I would never see you again. When Arys let it slip that the two of you had been in touch, I was pissed. But I understand now.”

  “I needed to know you were ok. I missed you.”

  “I missed you too.”

  “I’ll never leave you like that again,” he promised, kissing my face. “I know I can be what I need to be. For you. For myself. I think I know who I am now.”

  I thought about his readiness to fight at Jenner’s, his desire for that kill. It made me uneasy. Had Arys and I done that to him, or was he growing into his own as a predator?

  “Shaz, you’ve got to do what’s best for you, always. Ok?”

  “You are what’s best for me. It was always you, Lex. Before there were vampires and demons in our daily lives, there was you and me.” His fist clenched in my hair, his mouth warm on my neck.

  The genuine affection in his touch washed away the remnants of our past mistakes. For the first time since he’d come back, I saw promise in what we shared. I bit back the onslaught of emotion that threatened. I could cry later. Now, it was time for kicking some ass.

  Voices rose beyond the door. Panic seized me. The humans grew louder in their worried protests. Their distressed thoughts were loud inside my head. If only I could silence it.

  Linden strode in with two well-dressed vampires in tow. They were clad in black tie attire. Both of them looked our way but were ultimately unimpressed.

  Pointing to three different women, Linden said, “You, you and you. Up against the wall. You know the drill.” Two of the women were on their feet immediately. The third, a thirty-something with auburn hair, glared at Linden with open hostility. She refused to comply. I watched with trepidation as he grabbed her by the hair and hauled her up. He threw her against the wall, and she stifled a scream. “This one is a fighter,” Linden said with a laugh. “Guess we’ll have to break that wild spirit.”

  “You can kill me, but you will never break me,” she spat. She stared at the vampires with utter hatred. Her fierceness was admirable.

  One of the potential buyers nodded enthusiastically. “I like her already. It’s been a while since I’ve had one that put up a good fight.”

  I was frozen, helpless, able only to watch. Though I admired her warrior spirit, what she didn’t know was that these guys would take their sweet time killing her. They would break her a thousand times over before death freed her.

  Linden reached to take her arm, and she spat in his face, following up with a resounding smack that echoed. The sudden rage that burst from him was explosive. The backhand he threw knocked her to the ground with a shriek. I held my breath, fighting back the protests on my tongue.

  Everyone else in the room seemed to shrink as far away from the scene as possible. A couple of the kids began to cry. Their thoughts were a mass of confusion, questions that were words and feelings rather than full phrases. The sense of helplessness grew. What cou
ld I do to protect them when I couldn’t protect myself?

  Linden whistled, and a few of his security guys entered. “Teach this one that she’s no longer a person. She has no rights. She’s just meat.”

  It was hard to get a good feel of a vampire’s age and power without being able to metaphysically touch them. Yet, it appeared that Linden’s personnel was primarily muscle, not brand new vampires but not yet a hundred either. If he had any serious power players in his arsenal, they were elsewhere for a reason. These guys seemed like expendable help.

  Picking Linden’s crew apart wasn’t giving me any great insights into him, but it did tell me a little about his people. At his command, right away one of them began to undo his pants, which elicited a series of protests and cries from the captives. Much to my surprise, one vampire agreed with them.

  “Not in front of the kids,” he said, meeting Linden’s stony gaze with one to match.

  “Fine. Get them out of here. Find them something to eat. Nobody likes them malnourished.” The command was issued as if it had been his idea. Linden wasn’t fooling me anymore. He was the boss here, but he didn’t call all the shots.

  I stared after the vampire now leading the youth from the room that was their prison. Dark haired with a chiseled jaw and confident set to his shoulders, he guided them along with a gentle hand. How curious. I hadn’t for a moment expected to find a shred of humanity here among the inhuman. It was a small spark of light in a dark place, and it renewed my hope.

  At least it did until the door closed and the sick scenario resumed. It took three vampires to hold her down. She fought so hard. It was amazing. Unfortunately, it earned her a beating. More than one captive was brave enough to intervene. Needless to say, it didn’t go well for them. They were tossed aside like ragdolls.

  I was on my feet, throwing myself against the bars. “What kind of monster needs to rape a woman like some common thug to make a point? You make a mockery of what it means to be a vampire, Linden. You fucking coward.”