Alexa O'Brien, Huntress 09 - Forget About Midnight

by Trina M. Lee

He tried to rise, but I held tight to him, keeping him on the bed with me. “Stay. Please. Just lie with me for a while.”

  There was a moment when I thought he would refuse. But his expression softened, and he nodded. “Ok. Make room for me.”

  I slid into the middle of the bed so he could get in beside me. Pulling the blanket up over us, he cuddled in close, spooning me so that our bodies curled together. Kale was stiff beside me at first. It made me feel like I needed to put him at ease.

  “What did she look like?” I asked, cringing at my choice of words. “I’m sorry. I’m just curious.” With Kale curled up behind me, I couldn’t see his face. I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not.

  “She was a redhead. Tall. Beautiful. Absolute evil in a pretty shell. Like you would imagine evil to look if it were to take the form of a woman.” His soft sigh warmed the back of my neck. “She made me a monster.”

  “And I brought you back to it, didn’t I? After you worked so hard to leave that behind.”

  It had taken my own death for it to sink in that I had been such a horrible influence on Kale. The worst part, I had enjoyed it. It had started with that first kiss we shared one night during a hunt. It had spiraled out of control the night I had saved him from Shya by burdening him with me. I understood now his plea for me to free him. I finally understood. But I knew what that meant, and I still couldn’t do it.

  “I never left it behind. Somehow I just learned to bury it and go on. Until you.” The arm he had wrapped over me tightened, and he kissed my shoulder. “It’s not your fault though, Alexa. You’re not the one who made me a monster.”

  I lay there staring at the closed closet door. He was wrong. “Didn’t I? We’ve been killing together, and we’re too damn good at it.”

  “We are, aren’t we?” His low laugh tickled the sensitive spot on the back of my neck. It was a sexy sound that, combined with the scent and feel of him, shot off a blast of excitement in the pit of my stomach.

  “It’s not funny, Kale.” My attempt to sound serious failed. The touch of his lips on the back of my neck and shoulder made my tone weak.

  He hugged me close, pressing against me so that there was no place that our bodies didn’t touch. “Eva was my sire. A necessary evil in the life of every vampire. You are my wake up call. You make me crazy, but you also make me want to be a better man. I never cared as much about that as I did after I met you.”

  A sharp pain racked me, an emotional stab that felt physical. Kale was one of the most generous, caring people that I knew. I couldn’t help but wonder how great he could be without me holding him back.

  “You keep talking about her in the past tense. As if she’s dead or something.” I kept talking, saying anything but what I was really thinking.

  “She is dead. Shya killed her.”

  I squeezed my eyes shut, spewing silent curses at Shya. “That’s how he got to you. Figures. Definitely sounds like his style.”

  “At the time I was just happy to be rid of her. I didn’t know then that I’d just exchanged one evil for another. It was all worth it though. It’s all led to this moment. And as fucked up as it’s all been, this moment feels pretty damn perfect.”

  He was right. Lying there in his arms did feel pretty damn perfect. It was comforting. That connection let me know that I wasn’t alone. I focused on the subtle hum of Kale’s aura. It was soothing, lulling me back to the brink of slumber. I fell asleep in his arms, feeling safe and loved.

  And yet, something was missing.

  Chapter Four

  Looking in the mirror always felt as startling as it had the first time. I supposed I should have been grateful that the old stories were false, that vampires did have a reflection. But I couldn’t help but wonder if perhaps it would be better to never have seen myself like this.

  I wasn’t so different. Not really. Yet, I was. Seeing myself with wolf eyes at the age of sixteen had still not been as shocking as seeing myself with vampire fangs was now. They were nothing compared to wolf fangs, and still I could not stop running my tongue over them. It gave me a jolt each time to find them there. Constantly there. The deathly white pallor to my skin gave me a porcelain appearance like a creepy doll. I hated it.

  I muttered to myself as I applied black eyeliner. Focusing hard on the line I drew along my upper lid didn’t draw my attention away from the color of my eyes: blue, the same blue as Arys’s eyes. I hoped that would cease when I grew more accustomed to having this much power roiling about inside me without having the top of my head blow off. That part was nice. I sure didn’t miss the headaches and nosebleeds.

  The red lipstick in my makeup bag seemed to call my name. No matter how many times Jez had forced it on me, I rarely wore it. Maybe it was time for a change. Besides, my pale complexion could use the added color.

  With my eye makeup thicker and darker than usual and my cherry red lips, I almost didn’t look like me. I kinda loved that. Black leggings and a loose fitting tank top with “Las Vegas” on the front allowed me comfort and mobility. I was ready for a fight, and I expected one.

  I’d awoken with the blood hunger raging, twisting my thoughts into something maniacal and fun. My plans for the evening involved sating that hunger. But it wasn’t a random victim I wanted. I had someone specific in mind.

  “Are you sure you want to go out alone?” Kale’s voice came from the hall as he approached the open bathroom door. “Where exactly are you going anyway?”

  “Just going for a drive. I need some time by myself. There’s something I’ve been meaning to take care of. I won’t be long.” Finished with my makeup, I turned to face Kale, finding him leaning on the doorframe.

  He looked like himself again in dress pants and his long, leather jacket. The grey shirt he wore was open at the collar, teasing me with a glimpse of his chest. It took effort to keep from touching him. With the power and bloodlust riding me as it was, all I wanted to do was ravage him.

  Kale’s eyes widened as he took in the sight of me. “You look good, more dramatic than usual, but I like it. Sexy as hell.”

  The spike in his energy was palpable as he reacted to me. I could feel his desire. It almost ripped away the little self-control I possessed.

  “Thanks, sweetness. You’re looking pretty hot yourself. But you always do.” I blew him a kiss before slipping by him and escaping into the kitchen.

  My purse was on the counter, and I checked to ensure my phone, wallet, and car keys were inside. Jez had left a few texts for me that I quickly replied to, but another from Shaz I ignored. Just like last night’s text.

  Begging me to come home wasn’t what I needed to hear from him. When he had needed time away, I’d let him go. Why couldn’t he do the same for me?

  “I’m going to head over to The Wicked Kiss,” Kale said as he ambled into the room. “Are you sure you don’t want to come?”

  Getting into the willing victim scene was, unfortunately, something I needed to consider. For my sanity’s sake, I knew it was best, though it held no appeal to me whatsoever. Sanity is so overrated, I thought but knew better than to say as much to a vampire like Kale.

  “Totally sure. You go ahead. Have fun.” I frowned as I remembered the kind of fun Kale had at The Wicked Kiss. “Not too much fun though. Wait. Pretend I never said that. It’s none of my business what you do there.”

  I turned away, embarrassed and somewhat glad that vampires can’t really blush. What a stupid thing to say. It had slipped out, as if I had some claim over him. Kale’s constant sexcapades hadn’t bothered me much before. Why should it now?

  Kale grabbed my arm and turned me back to face him. “Please don’t ever think that I could go there and screw someone after spending the day with you in my arms.”

  If life were a movie, this would be the part where I’d swoon and fall head over heels for him. Because it wasn’t, instead I felt both absolutely smitten and equally horrified. Smitten because it was Kale, and how the hell could I not be when he said shit like
that? Horrified because we weren’t supposed to be together. Not only was it bad for us, it was bad for society.

  Since I was already rushing headlong down the wrong path, I let myself be smitten. “Kale, you are the most selfless man I know. You deserve endless happiness.” I rose up on my toes to kiss him, a gentle brush of lips. With a laugh, I added, “Don’t waste yourself on me.”

  “Impossible. There isn’t a second of my time that’s been wasted on you. It’s all been wonderfully spent.”

  I fake coughed the word “bullshit” and spun out of his grasp. “Keep your phone handy. I’ll call you in a bit.”

  “Alexa, be careful.”

  He seemed to want to say more so I nodded, cutting him off as I headed for the door. Spinning my key ring on one finger, I slid my boots on and waved. “Don’t worry about me. I won’t be long.”

  Afraid he would stop me, I made a hasty exit. The quiet outside was heavy. The neighborhood was asleep. My big red Dodge Charger Daytona sat on the street in front of the house. With a press of a button on the key fob, the headlights lit up the night as the doors unlocked.

  I slid behind the wheel with a sigh. Some time alone was not necessarily the best thing for me. Considering what I had planned, it was likely a huge mistake. Even though I sat there consciously making the decision to do something horrible, I didn’t feel all that bad about it. The dark part of me knew nothing of remorse.

  As I cruised through the city streets, I kept watching my mirrors, expecting to see an FPA tail. Nothing. Maybe Falon was blowing smoke up my ass about them. He wasn’t exactly the most trustworthy person. Having a tail would have seriously blown my evening since I was on my way to FPA headquarters.

  The moon shone bright, like a beacon in the sky above me. It wasn’t full, not yet, but I could feel it calling to my wolf. I hadn’t shifted since the turn. I was afraid. What if I couldn’t? What if Lena’s spell didn’t work after all and the wolf was trapped inside me?

  Anxiety thoughts, all of them. My worry was wasted on the what-ifs, but I just couldn’t silence the antagonistic voice within. Eventually I had to find out for sure. The wolf was restless, disappointed with the changes in me. I didn’t know how to deal with it.

  Loud music helped to drown out my anxious thoughts. The local rock band, Crimson Sin, played at my club a lot. Their catchy riffs and take-no-shit lyrics had led me to put them on regular rotation in my car as well.

  After another fifteen minutes on the road, I turned onto a side street near the Charles Camsell Hospital, aka, Federal Para-Intelligence Agency HQ. It was a dreadful place. Filled with restless spirits, the building housed a certain evil that preyed on those who dared to enter.

  My hands grew shaky on the wheel as I drew closer. I pulled over and turned off the engine, trying to regain my composure. Returning to the place of my death was hitting me harder than I’d expected. Still, it felt like progress. I had yet to return to the place where I awoke as vampire. I wasn’t ready to have everyone stare at me. The hybrid. A true hybrid now.

  There were hybrids of various kinds scattered throughout the city’s underworld. Jez herself was one of them. None were like me though. I was the one and only vampire and werewolf hybrid in the world, as far as I knew.

  Shifters could be turned vampire, but they lost their animal component upon their death. Thanks to an amazing friend, I had kept my wolf. I had to trust that she’d known what she was doing in creating the amulet that saved my beast.

  I got out of the car and walked the rest of the way. The hospital was just around the corner, and even though I expected to see it, the sight of it still stopped me. A sense of urgency gripped me. Maybe I couldn’t do this after all.

  The massive structure was dark, as it always appeared to be. Several stories high, it loomed, an eerie quality to its sinister silence.

  There was nobody outside. There rarely was. The spirits within were enough to keep most people away. Anyone who made it inside faced both vengeful ghosts and armed agents. So I wasn’t going inside. The evil in the basement would make me its bitch if I tried.

  I followed the sidewalk down the street and around to the back of the building, where the parking lot sat. It was early still. Agents would be arriving for the night shift.

  Moving among the shadows between the streetlights was easy. With the keen instincts of the wolf and the sly stealth of the vampire, I moved with a predatory grace that felt amazing.

  Becoming a wolf had been like getting superpowers. It had taken years to adjust to, and it never stopped being a surprise. Now, a vampire, it was like nothing words could describe. I felt like a force of nature, fucking unstoppable.

  I reached a gap in the fence. The Feds didn’t bother to maintain it since the real dangers couldn’t be kept out by any fence. I hesitated. Stepping onto the property would take me back to that night. I was afraid.

  Being afraid pissed me off. What was done was done. But it haunted me, and because of that, I wasn’t able to move on. I had to start somewhere though.

  It was all very uneventful. I stepped onto FPA land and expected to have a moment of emotional torment. Nothing. My purpose here was not to relive the night my lover killed me. No, I had something much more fun in mind.

  One thing that did strike me right away was the heavy sense of the many entities inside the building. They were watching me, hoping I would dare to come inside. I could feel their anticipation.

  The malevolence in the basement called to me, but its influence was weak out here. It needed me to enter the building to make me its slave. I reached out mentally, searching for any sensation of Lilah’s demonic power. There was a door to her evil empire here, locked up tight. I had only ever felt it when I held the key inside me. I did not feel it now.

  I had just started to cross the parking lot toward the back entrance the agents used when a vehicle turned in. Nice. I didn’t even have to wait.

  A man got out of the grey sedan. His black suit confirmed that he was an agent. He headed for the door, but thanks to the speed of two monsters, I was already there.

  With wide eyes he reached for his gun. I caught his arm and shoved him up against the building. I removed the weapon and flung it aside. The additional strength I had was delightful. I held him with one hand. With the other I reached to caress his face, drawing his gaze to mine.

  “What the fuck?” He gasped as he fell under my spell. Confusion passed over his sharp features, becoming understanding and then full surrender.

  “I need your help with something,” I said, low and seductive. Breathing in his yummy human scent almost ruined my whole plan. Sinking my fangs into his throat was all I could think about. My reason for being there was greater than my hunger. Somehow I managed to hold off.

  Wrapping him in my manipulative thrall, I pressed close, playing the part of the temptress. He stared at me with heavy-lidded desire before trying to pull me in for a kiss. I laughed, enjoying how damn easy this was. Pushing him back against the wall, I shook my head and wagged a finger in his face.

  “Slow down there, fella. One thing at a time. I need to know, is Sylvia working tonight?”

  “Sylvia,” he repeated the name, his brow furrowed. “I think so.”

  “I need you to get her out here. I don’t care how. But leave me out of it.” Excitement created a roar of white noise in my ears. I couldn’t believe I was doing this.

  He reached to touch me with a groping hand, and I shoved it down by his side. Shaking my head, I turned up the power level until he groaned. “Sylvia,” I repeated. “Get her now.”

  Though he barely blinked as he stared at me in a hypnotized state, he took his phone from his back pocket and made a call. He spoke with calm authority, as if everything were fine.

  “Can you send Sylvia downstairs please? There’s a strange hissing sound coming from her car. She may need to have it towed. Thanks.” He hung up, returning the phone to the pocket it had come from. All of this he did without ever taking his glazed eyes off me.
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  “Good boy.” I patted his cheek and rewarded him with a little power push intended to flood him with pleasure. When he stopped moaning and begging me for more, I gave him a shove toward the door. “Now get out of here. Go upstairs and tell nobody about this.”

  Confusion filled his dark eyes as he wrestled with what he wanted and what I’d commanded. At my insistent glare he obeyed, disappearing inside the building.

  I waited for Sylvia with fast-growing anticipation. Maybe I couldn’t take back what I’d done to Kale, but I could give him a gift that he greatly deserved. Not knowing which car was Sylvia’s, I waited in the shadows beyond the parking lot until I saw her.

  She was alone, muttering beneath her breath about the car. Long brown hair fell past her shoulders, and she wore a skirt far too short to be appropriate for a Fed. She was dressed for vampire torture, as she had been the one and only time I’d seen her. But she hadn’t seen me.

  When she stalked over to a silver BMW, I stepped from the shadows. Moving fast, I grabbed her from behind and clamped a hand over her mouth. As expected, she flailed and fought, which only drove my hunger to greater heights.

  I spun her to face me, pinning her to the car. “Don’t fight. It’s not worth it. Trust me.”

  This only made her fight harder, and I couldn’t help but love that. Her cries were muffled by my hand. Sure, I could’ve poured on the charm and had her eating out of my hand like the last guy, but I wanted her to be afraid. She needed to know this was punishment for being such a sadistic bitch.

  I jerked her away from the car so I could slam her hard against it. This crushed the breath from her and silenced her attempted screams. I checked her for weapons, tossing the knife and cell phone I found.

  “Listen, bitch,” I growled. “You may not know me, but you know my friend. In fact, you tortured the fuck out of him not so long ago. You might remember him. One brown eye, one blue. Ring a bell?”

  She nodded vigorously as understanding settled into her frightened gaze. To her credit, she stopped fighting, accepting that it was better to save her energy.