“I’ll go. Then I want to get on a plane and go home before this city decides not to let me leave at all.”
Chapter Sixteen
The four of us sat around the table, having been abandoned by Jenner and Roscoe who understandably wanted very little to do with us at the moment. For the most part Jez ignored us, tapping out messages on her phone at record speed.
We had taken some time to talk about our plans for The Wicked Kiss Las Vegas, Sloane, and Linden, should he prove to be alive. We all understood that wiping out the blood ring would take time. Shaz had assured me every person from the warehouse had made it to safety. It was a small start but a significant one.
“You have to feed.” Arys squinted and braced himself for the blow back.
Instead of snarling at him like usual, I merely sighed and nodded. A healing could only do so much. The hunger burning in my gut demanded sustenance. “I know. Thanks for the reminder, Mom.” The snarky comment earned me a middle finger, and I smirked.
“I should come with, keep things under control.” Arys started to rise, but Shaz stopped him with a hand.
“No. It should be me. Lex can feed on me.”
My protests couldn’t come fast enough. I tripped over my tongue in my hurried attempt to deny his offer. “There are too many reasons why that’s not going to work. Don’t feel like you have to be part of that, Shaz.”
“But I do though. You need mortal blood. I’m the only mortal here you can bite without turning them wolf. And honestly, I kind of like that I have something you need that you can’t get from him.” He jerked a thumb toward Arys who raised a dark brow and shook his head.
“Can’t argue with that logic,” Jez said without looking up from her phone. I was touched by Shaz’s offer. There had once been a time when I could take blood from him without any trouble. Taking energy, however, might be tricky, and the two tended to go hand in hand.
“Are you sure?” I wasn’t about to insult him with an outright refusal. Shaz was capable of making his own decisions.
“Of course.”
I slapped a hand down on the table, making Jez jump. “Ok, then. Let’s do this before I chicken out.”
“You guys are so gonna do it,” Jez said in a singsong tone. “It’s about time too.”
Ignoring her, I stood and held a hand out to Shaz. The warmth of his hand in mine drew me to his wolfish scent of pine and forest with a hint of wolf musk. I suddenly could not wait to sink my teeth into that. The bloodlust was bearable still, though it was definitely making itself known. Leaving instructions for Arys to order me a medium rare steak and a salad, I ascended the stairs with Shaz, back up to the room I’d woken up in.
“Are you sure?” I asked again when the door closed. My breath came faster as anticipation thrilled through me.
Shaz laughed and threw a pillow at my head. “Yes, dammit. I know you want to shelter me from this side of you, but you can’t.” He grew serious, giving me a look filled with wisdom well beyond his years. “I devoted myself to you long ago, Lex. At the time, I was living in a fantasy, thinking we would have this Hollywood happily ever after. I know now that it can’t be that way. It can’t change how I feel about you though. Nothing can. Not even Arys.”
“You should sit down,” I said, a lump in my throat. “There are a few things you need to know.” I proceeded to tell him everything I had learned in his absence. From the potential loss of my wolf to the foretold future of my death at Arys’s hand, I told Shaz everything. Some of it was hard to say and even harder to hear. When I finished, he sat there on the end of the bed in silence. We stared at one another until I was ready to shout at him to say something.
Finally, he did. “If you think any of that is going to scare me off, then you don’t know me very well. I’m not going anywhere. Not now, not even if you lose your wolf.”
“And if I’m only vampire? What then?” I challenged. “You can’t give up your future for me, Shaz. You deserve to be loved by someone who isn’t bound to another. You deserve better than me.”
His mouth opened in thoughtful wonder, and he nodded knowingly. “Ah, I get it. This is about you chasing me off, setting me free or whatever term you’re using to rationalize it. You think I can’t love you because of Arys. Actually, I love you in spite of him.” Shaz leaned back on the bed and tilted his head to expose his neck, offering it up to me. “I trust that we love each other because we’re meant to. I don’t need any more than that.”
My gaze fixated on the steady pulse pumping beneath his smooth skin. I didn’t know why I felt this deep-rooted need to drive him away, to set him free, as he’d said. Especially considering how terribly I’d missed him when he was gone. We had already hurt one another too much. I couldn’t be the bringer of anymore of his pain.
“You should need more than that.” My voice barely squeaked out. “I can’t give you a monogamous, picket fence life.”
A flicker of sadness crossed his jade eyes. Then it was gone, blinked away by the wolf looking out at me. “I know.”
I crossed the distance between us without hesitation. Climbing onto his lap, I captured his face between my hands and kissed him. The unspoken bond between us grew stronger. We didn’t live a life that allowed us to plan for the future. We had to be grateful for this moment right now. It was a tough lesson, but one I was learning.
It had been too long. Too long since I’d touched him. Too long since I’d felt him between my legs. I was taking what he was offering and throwing caution to the wind while doing so. Tasting him kicked my bloodlust into overdrive. I tugged his shirt up over his head and tossed it, wondering where he’d gotten fresh clothes. For that matter, I wasn’t even sure it was the same day as our escape. Dragging my hands over his warm skin, I reveled in the way his smell teased my senses. Our kiss was wild, passionate and hungry. It had been a few months since we’d been intimate. It felt like forever.
I nipped at his lips and tongue, drawing out the moment when I would shed his blood. For once, my wolf was perfectly content with the vampire hunger commanding me. In this moment, both sides of me found satisfaction.
Shaz ran his hands up my side, sliding my top up and off. He buried his face in my neck, and I took the opportunity to run my hands through his soft platinum hair. A sigh was the only sound.
With a hand in his hair, I jerked his head back and forced him to meet my eyes. I needed to see the desire burning in him for me. When Shaz had been away, I had let myself imagine this moment, our first time together after so much shit had gone down between us. In my fantasy, it was slow and tender. But this hurried, desperate need for one another, it was so much better.
The sound of his heartbeat quickening had me licking my lips in excitement. We moved in synch, shedding the last of our clothing. When I straddled him, naked, feeling his arousal pressed against me, I could have wept from the solace my wolf knew at last.
There was no hesitation, not so much as a moment of pause. He slipped inside me as I simultaneously went for his neck. Heady wolf blood spurted into my mouth. I moaned in bliss as I took him into me in so many ways.
Carnal and wild, we moved together. Hands on my hips, Shaz guided me. I licked and sucked at the bleeding bite wound. Drinking in the satisfying rush of erotic energy, I feasted on his body and blood.
With a low growl, Shaz flipped us over so I lay beneath him. This was where we paused. He gazed down at me with gorgeous wolf eyes. I smiled.
He thrust into me with the fierceness of the wolf claiming its mate. I raised my hips, matching his rhythm, taking him deep within me. Blood trickled down his neck, and I captured it with my tongue.
The sound of Shaz’s low moans in my ear brought me closer to the edge. Knowing he still wanted me after everything was a comfort that I didn’t know I needed quite so bad. The past few months had been more difficult than I wanted to admit. Part of me had been afraid we wouldn’t be able to do this again; however, no ugly past memories surfaced to ruin it. My senses were on fire for Sha
z. The way he smelled, the way he felt, he consumed me.
I fell headlong into the bliss moment far sooner than I’d have liked. Of course, if I had it my way, I would have stayed locked in that room loving Shaz all night. Long after the climactic explosion, we lay together, as if unable to disentangle from one another. It was peaceful and so vital for us both then. Our ragged breaths were loud in the stillness. The room smelled of sweat, blood and sex.
“I missed this.” Shaz lay curled around me, his face in my hair. “But damn that was worth waiting for.”
“The only thing missing is the forest. Desert life is not for me.”
“Better get over it. I have a feeling you’ll be back.”
I groaned and snuggled in closer. “Don’t remind me. Maybe I can just video chat with Jenner. Bitch him out via the internet.”
I was determined to suck every iota of gratification possible out of the afterglow. That would have been easier if Arys hadn’t banged on the door. Not only did he not wait for a response, he strode right in without an invitation.
“There’s a car here to take you to Hurst. Come on. Get dressed.” Arys picked my clothes off the floor and flung them at me. He made no attempt to hide his amusement.
“Afterglow much?” I sat up in time to catch my panties with my face. “Arys! That’s so rude.”
He snickered, and I hid a smile. I was in too good of a mood to pretend to be mad.
Arys couldn’t hide his urgency as he ushered me down the stairs. I’d gotten dressed at warp speed. The way he and Jenner spoke of Hurst, one might think him a god. I knew better. However, any vampire that intimidated Arys in any way was one worth being wary of.
“Where’s my steak?” I demanded as he dragged me to the exit. “Can you slow down? I hate that you’re rushing me like this.”
“You can eat later. An offer like this from Hurst is almost never extended. If he wants to see you, it has to be important.” He actually began to finger comb my hair as if worried about my appearance.
I slapped his hands away and scowled. “Stop that. What’s gotten into you? Should I be worried about this?”
“No, I don’t think so.” Arys didn’t look entirely convinced.
“Great. Let me guess. No weapons.”
“Right. The Dragon Claw stays here. Don’t tap any power. You won’t need to. He would never harm you.”
The Dragon Claw had survived the warehouse fire. A weapon forged in the fires of Hell, it would likely survive anything short of the apocalypse. It had become somewhat of a security blanket for me, and I felt naked without it.
“You know, I’m starting to get real sick of the vampires calling all the shots. Shaz and I were having a moment, Arys. We needed that.”
“I know. I’m sorry.” Confusion marred his features. He seemed to want to tell me something. At last he spit out, “Hurst knows things. Things nobody should know. If he has something to share, it could be vital to us.”
I sighed and gave him a gentle cheek caress. “I’m going, ok? Now you get my steak here, so I don’t have to stick a foot up your ass when I get back. Oh, and see if you can rebook our flight home. I am fucking done with this city.”
“Will do.”
Arys walked me to the waiting black town car. The driver gave us a nod, holding the door for me. I couldn’t help but note that he was human.
I sat back against the seat as we pulled away from The Wicked Kiss. This damn nightclub chain was starting to take over my existence. I knew there was power in running a place like this. Unfortunately, it always came at a price.
The trek was short. Or at least it felt that way. In no time, we stopped. I recalled no specific details about the location. What the building looked like, where it was located, I remembered none of that.
My memory of meeting Hurst began with a dimly lit library. Candles burned, illuminating the small table where I sat. Oil lamps burned in sconces on the wall. The place seemed void of electricity, something that had to be almost impossible in Vegas.
A polite human man asked if I would like a beverage. I asked for a vanilla latte, surprised when he nodded as if that were no problem.
I didn’t have to wait for long before an unseen door hidden in the shadows across the room opened and a robed figure emerged. He made his way slowly toward me, as if he enjoyed taking his time, simply because he could.
Power surrounded him like a fog. Resonating with the skill of several centuries, it hovered the way an aroma lingers in the air. As he drew closer to the light, I saw that his robes were indeed a long cloak that touched the floor as he walked.
The man returned with my latte, placed it before me and slipped away in silence. I barely noticed.
Hurst stepped into the warm candle light. He looked nothing like I’d pictured. Long black hair streaked with silver fell over his shoulders. Lines in his face indicated that he’d been a relatively old man at the time of his turning. A sharp, hawk-like nose gave him a beaked appearance that was somehow both cryptic and endearing. He sank into the chair across from me, gently settling himself like a sheet cascading down upon the bed on laundry day.
I bit my tongue, unsure if I should speak first. I chose to wait. Instantly, he mesmerized me. The air of prestige he commanded was intimidating. I was nothing but a dumb kid next to this guy.
“Alexa, hello.” With a twinkle in his hazel eyes, Hurst captured my hand in his and placed a respectful kiss across my knuckles. “I am happy to meet you.”
I stared at him in stunned silence. Where was the scorned sire I’d been expecting? The one who would tear a strip out of me for killing a vampire he had made.
“Please,” he continued. His voice was low and rough, as if he’d swallowed gravel. “Do not be afraid. I mean you no harm. I am quite delighted to meet Arys’s wolf. The underworld speaks of you often. You are known in many parts of the world.” That was news to me. Bad news potentially. Already I saw what Arys meant about Hurst’s tendency to know things others did not.
“I’m honored to be here, really. Just a little nervous. I’m sure you understand.” I sipped the latte, needing a way to keep my hands busy. It was hot, obviously. Burnt taste buds were nobody’s friend, but I sucked it up and drank it anyway.
“I’m afraid I don’t. You have no need to fear me, or anyone else, for that matter. You are a rare breed. The only one of your kind.”
“What does that mean?” I was afraid to ask questions, afraid of the answers.
Hurst studied me, and I tried desperately to keep from squirming under the massive weight of his stare. “No Hounds have walked in the world of the undead. None until you. I understand it must be incredibly difficult for you. Do you have any questions?”
I had many. Where to begin? I started with perhaps the most obvious, the one that nagged me. “Do you hate me for killing Harley?”
He laughed, a gruff sound I’d equate to that of a cement mixer. His gravelly voice was gentle, though, when he replied, “Not at all. It is very easy for the undead to forget that they are not truly immortal. They too can die. Harlan made his own choices. As did you. I feel only sadness that he learned so little in his time.”
Huh? Well that was interesting. What made it so puzzling was the way vampires like Jenner carried on about it as if I’d committed some great cardinal sin. Sure Harley was his maker but if Harley’s own sire saw it for what it was, why couldn’t the others?
“The vampires Harley sired don’t seem to feel that way.”
“They are immature, self-centered in their view of the world. Pay no mind to them.” Hurst’s eyes twinkled with age-old wisdom and knowledge of things I would never know. His aged appearance made it easy to forget he was vampire. “They all belong to you though they do not yet know that. In time you will all see.”
Whoa. What? His words brought to mind an incident from a year or so ago. A vampire had attacked me, swearing he’d rather die than bow down to me. A shudder racked me at the memory.
I felt calm in Hurst’s co
mpany. The vampire essence within me knew him. It gave me a strange but welcome reassurance.
“Arys thinks there is a particular reason you wanted to see me,” I hedged, hoping he’d take it from there.
Hurst gazed into the darkness lurking at the edge of the candlelight. Shelves of books lined every wall in the room, ceiling to floor. It was the most impressive library I’d ever seen.
“I have read every book in here. And a great many more as well. There is no greater power in this world than that of knowledge. Never forget that, Alexa.”
A cool breeze picked up, blowing my hair around my face. The shadows danced beyond the light, writhing and twisting into odd shapes. A book floated through the room, coming to settle between us in the center of the table. The front cover was nothing more than a mysterious symbol. It might have been a letter from an ancient language or a mark of some form of magic. Whatever it was, it began to glow.
“It knows you,” Hurst said, causing my stomach to drop. “It’s very old. A book of long buried secrets, it has been passed through only the hands of those who can read it.”
Gently, as if the pages might crumble at his touch, Hurst opened the book. It was written in an old language, one I did not recognize. I gripped my latte tight, afraid to let it go for fear it would spill.
“What does it say about me?” Oddly enough, the apprehension I’d been feeling was gone in the presence of the book. No longer did I fear the answer. How strange.
“It says many things about many beings. A Hound of God bound to the darkness is indeed one of them. It comes with a warning for you. Beware the angel with black wings.”
I pursed my lips, frowning at the book. It didn’t take a magic book to make me aware of the dangers of demons. I mean, hello, demons.
“I assume that means Shya.” I watched the book closely, wishing I could read it for myself.
“There is danger in assumption.” Hurst’s wrinkled hands caressed the pages affectionately. “What is it that you fear most?”
Freak Show (Alexa O'Brien Huntress Book 7) Page 21
