Alexa O'Brien, Huntress 09 - Forget About Midnight

by Trina M. Lee

  Briggs made a small sound of discomfort. Shya was searching him, seeking and discovering the piece of Briggs that was more than human. Nodding as he found what he sought, Shya stepped back.

  “I never anticipated we’d meet again under such circumstances, Agent Briggs. I do apologize for your discomfort. You’ll be taken to a room where you can shower and rest.” Shya spoke as if he were the host at a fancy hotel instead of a warden in a demon prison.

  “Yeah, it’s the epitome of luxury,” I said snidely.

  Briggs continued to remain silent. Shya was going to have a hell of a time with him. For just a moment I wondered if I’d gone too far with this, fallen too far into my dark side. But I flashed back over everything, the lab, the video, my sister, and any remorse I might have had faded.

  Shya turned to me with a nod. “A deal is a deal. Pity though. I’d hoped you would hold out.”

  He waved a hand over my arm, never touching. The dragon began to fade as if the lines were being erased one at a time. When it was gone, I stared at my now unblemished forearm in disbelief and glee. It felt like having a ball and chain cut off after hauling it around for so long. Freedom.

  “Well, I’ll just be going then. I’ll wait outside for my ride.” Staying in Shya’s presence a second longer than necessary was not ideal. I’d died to stop him from breaking open a powerful demonic kingdom. But looking at his smug, calculating face made it feel like that had been all in vain.

  “Don’t be too hasty,” Shya said before I could take a step toward the door. “Have you seen Gabriel recently?”

  “Trust me, if I had, I’d have probably killed him.” Crossing my arms, I braced, ready for whatever Shya was working up to.

  “He’s proving difficult to reason with since his change. He’s refused to do any spell work with me. I’m trying to remain civil with him, but I’m quickly running out of patience.” Shya spoke as if he was discussing a problematic teenager, which he was, but this teenager was now a monster with a fuck ton of power.

  I stared at Shya, wondering what kind of reaction he was expecting from me. “So what? Not my problem. Your vampire, your problem.”

  I turned to go, knowing it was risky to turn my back on the demon. His displeasure stained the atmosphere with a heavy negative vibe.

  “If I recall correctly, Gabriel is birthed from your bloodline. I know you and Arys can influence him.” The unspoken threat made Shya’s words darker than they should’ve been.

  Pausing in the foyer entry, I turned back to find his expression stony and ice cold. “We won’t be doing that.”

  We stared at each other. It was in that moment that I knew I would never be rid of Shya. He would always want something from me or those close to me. As ridiculous as it was to consider working with Falon, I didn’t feel that I had much choice.

  Shya’s eyes flashed with anger. He didn’t handle it well when he didn’t get his way. “Tread carefully, Hound. You may have stopped me from accessing Lilah’s power, but I am still here, as are you. It would be wise to avoid pissing me off.”

  “Or what? You can’t do shit to me, Shya. If you kill me, then I won’t be around for you to torment. You don’t have the advantage anymore.” As the words left my mouth, I realized the truth of them.

  Tempting final death at the demon’s hand wasn’t what I wanted, but I knew that he couldn’t do it if he wanted anything from me. I was a rarity, more so than he’d ever be. Killing me would be folly on his part. And as he’d already informed me, he wanted to make me do some suffering in my undead life.

  He seemed to ponder this. Then he laughed. “Ah, Alexa, it’s always so nice chatting with you.”

  I frowned and tried not to roll my eyes. “Can’t say I share that sentiment.”

  “Setbacks only deter the weak. I am not weak. You think you’ve won, but your death was wasted. In time, you will see that.” He waved a dismissive hand at me and turned to Briggs.

  Without hesitation I bolted from the house, leaving Briggs alone with the demon. I expected to feel another echo of potential remorse. I felt nothing.

  Shya was taking this all too well. It was a farce. He had experienced a setback, and he was plotting a way to rise above it. Heartbreak had made him absolutely mad. Lilah’s constant rejection of his affections had set him on a path that he wouldn’t be swayed from. He was right. My death had caused a delay for him, but it was temporary. To ensure that I had not given my mortal life in vain, I had to prevent him from overcoming the setback in his plans, no matter what it took. Even if that meant making Falon an ally.

  “Aren’t you tired? Have you even slept since…?” Shaz trailed off, not wanting to say it. Since I died. Since I became a vampire.

  “A little. Sleeping isn’t high on my to-do list right now. The dreams are bad. I wake up screaming a lot.” Not wanting to go down that path, I changed the subject. “Besides, I’m not tired much.”

  It was hard to run down my energy enough to need rest when I was so frequently feeding on someone. After the day I spent with Briggs, I was wired, like I’d sipped strong coffee all afternoon. But Briggs was much tastier than coffee. I sighed at the thought. I missed coffee.

  I also missed Kale. Now that I was in Shaz’s car as we headed back into the city, I had a moment of calm to just stare out the window and gather my thoughts. Knowing Kale was going to see that video bummed me out. But knowing that Shaz was going to get it worried me. He didn’t deserve to have to look at that.

  Shaz glanced over at me. I could feel his gaze in the dark of the car. “Lex, I think you need to spend some time with Arys. I know your head is a mess right now, but his is too. He needs to know you can forgive him.” When I didn’t reply right away, he asked, “Can you forgive him?”

  “I want to. I do. I will. Eventually.” This was not a conversation I wanted to have. If the two of them were constantly nagging me about the other, I’d have to start avoiding them both. “Where is he anyway? I’m surprised he didn’t come with you.”

  “He said that you and me need some time together.”

  Of course he did. That sounded like Arys. After tonight, maybe neither of them would still be interested in repairing our damaged relationships.

  No, I knew that wasn’t true. It would take more than what happened with Falon to drive Arys away. I knew that because I knew him. His memories lived inside me. He knew the allure of what it was to be a vampire, to hunger for blood, life, and power. I didn’t expect him to be thrilled, but I was sure I could count on him to support me still.

  Arys deserved nothing less than the same grace and unending love that he extended to me. So I had to forgive him. I wanted to close the gap between us, somehow.

  We headed for The Spirit Room, the rock bar that Jez hit up when she was looking to score drugs. We talked as we drove, mostly idle chatter meant to banish the awkward silence that tried to settle.

  “So it looks like it’s official,” Shaz said. “I’m joining the Doghead pack.”

  I turned to find him smiling. This was fantastic news. When I’d hooked him up with Dayne, Shaz had been pissed. It was a relief that he had considered it after all.

  “That’s so great, Shaz.” Reaching across the small car, I patted his leg. I was excited for him. “Is there some official initiation or something? When do you get that badass tattoo?”

  He laughed and put his hand on top of mine, holding it against his thigh. “I’m not sure yet. Soon though, I imagine.”

  “That’s a relief. I really want you to have a pack. You’re too sweet to do the lone wolf thing. You’ve got a lot to offer. Doghead doesn’t know how lucky it is to have you.” His hand was warm on mine, reminding me that my warmth was now stolen. Joining Doghead was going to divide us even further. For the first time, we would no longer call the same pack home. Even though it was what I wanted for him, it hurt.

  “I wish you could join too,” he said, suddenly solemn. “You’re still a wolf. Dayne would be doing himself a favor.”

 
Shaz’s greatest attribute was also one of his biggest flaws. He wanted so badly to see the good in everyone, well almost everyone, and it led him to overlook certain facts. Like the fact that I would cause more problems for Dayne than I’d solve. I was simply too much vampire to belong to a pack now.

  “You’re too sweet. You’re also delusional.” I laughed, trying to keep the conversation from taking a dark turn. That would come later, when Briggs’s video started finding its way to those I loved.

  The Spirit Room was busy, as usual. The local rock scene was lively. Music pumped from the building, drawing leather-clad rockers in droves. We moved among them, pushing our way through the drunken music lovers.

  I scanned the crowd for Jez’s golden hair. There was no sign of her. I did, however, catch sight of her dealer, Arrow.

  With Shaz at my side, I stalked across the room to where the dark nephilim sat around a table with his friends. He saw me coming, and a devious grin crossed his face. I grabbed his arm and jerked him out of his chair before pasting him up against a nearby pillar.

  “Was Jez in here tonight? Have you been selling to her?”

  Arrow regarded me with a lazy grin, as if my mere presence bored him. “I haven’t seen Jez in days. If she doesn’t buy from me, she’ll buy somewhere else. At least I sell the good shit.”

  I slammed him against the pillar a second time, forcing a grunt from him. He wasn’t afraid though, so abusing the cocky ass wasn’t going to get me anywhere. Shaz stood off to one side, watching me with brow furrowed. Arrow’s friends watched as well. None of them appeared surprised that he was being abused by a pissed off vampire.

  “You better hope like hell that she doesn’t OD on your good shit again. Or I’ll be coming for you.” I bared fangs and released him, stepping back before I took things too far. “She might just be a repeat sale to you, but she’s like a sister to me.”

  Arrow straightened his jacket, trying to rub the crease marks from my hands out. He peered at me through black liner-rimmed hazel eyes. The narcotics I could smell in his blood were also evident in his bloodshot, dilated gaze.

  “Jez is more than cash to me, ok? She and I are the same. I don’t take that lightly.”

  I studied him, finding it impossible to take the drug-dealing rocker seriously. Arrow believed Jez’s demon paternity made them kindred? Maybe in his drug-addled brain it did, but to me it smacked of bullshit.

  Arrow got lucky then because someone else caught my eye. Someone I wanted to have a few words with more than I wanted to waste any more time with him. Gabriel had just walked in. He sensed me at the same time I felt his strange energy. Our eyes met, and he froze. If he ran it would be the last thing he ever did.

  I walked away from Arrow, ignoring his muttered, “Crazy bitch,” as I went. Gabriel, accepting that this encounter had to happen sometime, headed straight for me.

  “Better cool it, Lex.” Shaz touched my elbow, and his serene energy calmed me, reminding me that acting first and speaking second wasn’t always best.

  All it took was the memory of Gabriel fighting on Shya’s behalf to burst that bubble of calm. “Are you kidding me? He hurt you, Shaz. He could’ve done worse.”

  “I know that. Don’t think that I wouldn’t love to pound on him a little. But he’s a kid, and he’s misguided. Don’t you remember what it was like when we were that age?” Shaz gave my arm an affectionate squeeze. “You have a chance to show him that he has choices. You both have choices.”

  I was torn between two mindsets: the rational wolf who wanted to heed his advice and the irrational vampire who wanted to scoff at it and hand out a beating to Gabriel. Since I couldn’t choose a side, I decided to play it by ear.

  “Alexa, I was hoping we’d get a chance to talk.” Gabriel spoke first, ruining my smack-down moment. “Can we go outside?”

  Exchanging a look with Shaz, I shrugged. Might as well hear the kid out before I did anything rash. We followed the long-haired, lanky vampire outside and down the street, away from the crowd around the door.

  Gabriel held both hands up in surrender. The power that wafted around him like a scent cloud was familiar, sharing elements of my own. Where it differed was the murky essence of black magic that stained him like a spill that would never come out. He’d been a black magic witch before becoming a vampire, a deadly combination.

  “I totally understand if you guys came here to kill me. But please, hear me out. I want to apologize for my role in everything that night. It was stupid, and I regret every second I spent with Shya.” He paused, allowing us to process this. “I spoke with Arys. He wore pretty much the same expression you have. But I mean it. Really.”

  Gabriel and I didn’t share a lot of history. We’d met through Brogan, a mutual friend, and our interactions since had mostly consisted of me warning him about Shya and him ignoring me.

  “I’m not here for you,” I said. “I came to find Jez. Have you seen her?” When he shook his head, I continued. “Shya says you’re being a rebellious teenager. So I guess that means you’re probably not lying.”

  “I’m not.” He gave his head a vigorous shake, his black hair falling in his face. “I thought I knew what I wanted, but dying changed that. It was the most terrifying thing that’s ever happened to me. I saw… bad things. Talk about perspective.”

  I scoffed and crossed my arms, fixing him with an intense, watchful wolf stare. “Yet you still fought for him while he tried to use me as a sacrifice. You hurt Shaz. He could’ve been killed.”

  Gabriel and Shaz shared a look. Gabriel dropped his gaze and nodded, shoving the hair back out of his eyes. “I know. I’m sorry, and I don’t expect that to be good enough for you. But I don’t know what else to do but try to make peace with you and Arys.”

  “Why?” Me? Mistrustful? Just a little.

  Gabriel fidgeted with a loose thread on his jacket. There was an awkwardness to him that was all teenager, revealing that beneath the powerful exterior, he was still so young and so inexperienced in this world. “Because I don’t have anyone else. Shya just sees me as another of his minions. I can’t even be around my mom without wanting to hurt her. And I have a link to you guys. I can feel it.” He didn’t meet my gaze as he mumbled. Nervous energy danced around him. It tickled my senses.

  The kid was asking for a family. I stared at him for so long without speaking that Shaz nudged me. I wasn’t sure what to say. When I’d offered Gabriel guidance, he had shunned me, but now he was confessing his error and asking for help.

  I sighed as my need for vengeance died. It should have been reassuring to know my empathy hadn’t suffered total destruction.

  “If I give you the benefit of the doubt, you had damn well better not let me down. If I catch you working for Shya, then it’s over for you.” Even as I uttered the warning, I could hear an echo of Hurst in my mind, his warning that Gabriel must not be made a vampire. It was too late now. All we could do was wait and see why that warning had been issued. I was sure that we would soon find out.

  “Understood.” Gabriel gazed down the street, watching those gathered outside the club to smoke and talk with cool disinterest. “Look, Alexa, I feel like I need to be honest about something. I want you to trust me.”

  He looked down at his feet, gathering himself. I tensed. That didn’t sound good. His energy grew so frazzled with nerves I actively had to shield against its irritating touch. Just when I was about to shake him and demand that he speak, he did.

  “When Arys turned me and we touched, I saw something. I saw Arys… and your sister.” There was a moment of silence as he paused, letting that information hang between us. “I saw him attack her. That’s all I saw. I don’t know if it gets worse.”

  For a moment my tongue wouldn’t move. My emotions overloaded, and I snapped. Grabbing Gabriel by the throat, I dragged him close and snarled into his face. “Are you fucking kidding me? This better not be a lie.”

  “It’s not, I swear.” Gabriel’s voice rose, but he was otherwise calm
. “Arys doesn’t even know what I saw. I tried to tell him, but he didn’t want to hear it.”

  “Lex.” Shaz’s one word was a warning. Keeping a respectful distance, he didn’t try to intervene. Yet that one word cut through my wrath.

  I let Gabriel go with a shove. “Don’t speak a word of this to anyone. I’ll handle Arys.”

  “I won’t. I promise.” He blinked a few times, and his gaze darted about in a frantic way that led me to believe he’d just seen something when I touched him. Gabriel’s greatest gift was also a curse, as most gifts tended to be for people like us. Well whatever it was, I didn’t want to know.

  “Where’ve you been staying during the day, Gabriel?”

  “Wherever I can. Usually a victim’s house. I move on pretty quickly.” Looking guilty, he clasped his hands together, then unclasped them before shoving them into his pockets. “It’s so hard to stay in control of myself.”

  I’d never been the nurturing type. That had always been Kylarai. Still, I wasn’t an entirely heartless bitch. “Stay at The Wicked Kiss. There’s a room there you can have. It’s safe during the day, and you should have a place of your own.” I paused, hoping that Gabriel wouldn’t give me a reason to regret this. “You should spend some time with Arys. He can help. It’s tough in the beginning.”

  I didn’t miss the pointed look Shaz shot me. Yeah, yeah, I know.

  “Thanks, Alexa.” Gabriel peered at me through a fringe of black hair. “I honestly didn’t expect you to be so cool. I appreciate it.”

  “Yeah, well, don’t give me a reason to regret it.”

  Without guidance Gabriel was lost. Having only Shya, who did not have his best interests at heart, he was isolated in his newness. I felt bad for him. Kale had kept me from being alone in those first dark days, and now Arys was waiting for me to trust him.

  I gave Gabriel strict instruction to be safely inside The Wicked Kiss before sunrise. Harley’s old room and now Kale’s were both empty. I told him to take Harley’s. It was just as well. Both rooms harbored bad memories for me, but Harley’s was worse. I’d woken up as a vampire there.