by Trina M. Lee
“Trust me, brother. If I thought it was safe to leave you, I would have been gone by now.”
My frown deepened into a glower. “I’m not a child. I don’t need you to watch over me.”
Jenner crossed his arms and studied me pensively. “A pointless argument. How many nights do you plan to while away sitting in this house starving yourself?”
“I haven’t decided yet.” Angrily I tore the page from my sketchpad and tore it in two. Then I tore it again, crumpled the pieces, and threw them on the floor.
Nobody had seen nor heard from Shya since the night Alexa died and took with her his only chance at overthrowing Lilah’s empire. The demon was down but not out. Only a fool would think otherwise. It was only a matter of time until he finished licking his wounds and resurfaced.
Falon believed that Willow’s descent to full demon might be keeping Shya at bay. As angels Willow far outranked Shya, and as demons it would be the same. Now that Willow was no longer in between, Shya had great reason to fear him.
Unfortunately, we might all have reason to fear Willow now. He too had yet to show his face. Though I know he loved Alexa dearly and cherished his guardianship of her, he was not that person anymore. The darkness reigned in him.
“I can’t take this anymore,” Shaz said. He grabbed his phone and stuffed it into a pocket as he stood up. “I need to see her.”
“She’ll try to kill you, pup. She doesn’t have the self-control it takes to be around blood as potent as yours.” Feeling exasperated, I set my things aside and rose. The headstrong wolf was going to force me to knock him out if he kept this up.
“Well, if you won’t go, then you leave me no choice. Kale is taking advantage of the situation. He is the last person she should be with right now.” There was such vigor in his declaration. He really believed it.
“As much as I wish I could agree with you, I’m afraid I don’t.” I braced, expecting his fury and accepting it. “Believe me, I’m not any happier about it than you are. But Sinclair loves her. She is safe with him.”
Shaz glared at me with enchanting wolf eyes. In recent months he’d shown himself to be as much monster as he was man. Ready to fight as needed with a growing stubborn streak, he was really coming into his own as a werewolf. It was admirable. It was also likely to write him some checks his ass couldn’t cash.
“Bullshit,” he spat. “They’ve been killing together. It’s going to get the FPA on their asses and then what?”
He threw his hands up as if he couldn’t be bothered to waste another word on me and marched for the door. I was faster, blocking his path to the front porch.
“Get the hell out of my way, Arys.” Fangs bared, Shaz clenched and unclenched his fist.
“Do you want to hit me, pup? Come on then. Let me have it.”
Jenner’s laughter followed us as he ambled into the kitchen where we stood staring one another down.
“You two really have to learn how to be a team,” he observed. “It’s the only way you’ll get your girl back.”
I could explain my reasoning to Shaz until he was old and grey, but he would refuse to accept it. In his mind Alexa was his mate, and he couldn’t understand why he could not simply ride to her rescue.
What I tried to make him see was that she was in no need of rescue. Alexa had been with Sinclair for a few days now. If she wanted to leave, she would have. Her power was far greater than Sinclair’s. She was no hostage.
Sinclair offered her something that I could not. Comfort. It was temporary though. Two vampires as mentally unstable as they both were right now would only feed that instability. They could never fix each other. Still, I knew I had to let her see that for herself.
“You think you have it all figured out, don’t you?” Shaz demanded, getting much too close. He was in my face, trying to provoke me. “You’re abandoning her when she needs you the most.”
“She needs space, Shaz,” I nearly shouted. With great difficulty I stopped myself from shoving him back a few steps. “She will come to us when she is ready. I can feel her, you know. In my dreams, I enter her thoughts, and I know that she is not ready to face either of us. Have some patience and back the fuck off.”
With a growl, the stubborn wolf hauled off and punched me. It was a nice hit, square on the side of my jaw. It snapped my head to the side, and I swore.
Rubbing my jaw, I smiled. “Feel better?”
He scowled, seemingly disappointed at my lack of retaliation. “If anything happens to her because you sat back and allowed it, I will fucking kill you.”
Brave words from a ballsy werewolf. He meant every one. I knew that.
I held my hands up in surrender. Engaging with him in a brawl would feel great. It would allow us to work out our pent up frustrations. But it ultimately wouldn’t do us a damn bit of good.
Refusing to acknowledge his threat, I stepped aside so he could leave. “Go with Jenner to The Wicked Kiss. While he does his business there, see if you can find out anything new on Willow. Give Jez a call while you’re at it. Find out if Alexa has been in touch with her.”
“I still think you should come with us,” Jenner insisted. “I know you need it. Just give in already and get it all out of your system.”
“Tomorrow perhaps.”
Shaz slammed out of the house spewing obscenities. I grinned and waved as he descended the front step.
Jenner turned to follow him, pausing at the door. “Arys, don’t torture yourself. It was meant to happen. You had to do it. You’ve known that for a long time.”
“Yes,” I said with a nod. “But I didn’t know that she would hate me for it.”
“She doesn’t hate you. She just needs time to adjust.”
“Right. Try to keep the pup out of trouble, will you? He’s got a short fuse these days.”
I watched them go, pulling away with a squeal of tires. Shaz had every right to feel the way he did. It had to be confusing and hard for him to process as well.
Alexa could run, but she could never escape what we are. Being apart would soon start to weigh on us both. It just wasn’t meant to be that way. Together we were one. Apart we were fragments of a whole, only a piece of what we should be.
Though I didn’t say so to Shaz, it killed me to think of her with Sinclair. Her weakness for that vampire made me burn with rage. If I didn’t love her so damn much, I would have killed him months ago.
Returning to the living room, I sat back down and grabbed the sketchpad. I flipped to a fresh page and began to draw. It was the only way I could stay calm.
Alexa would return to me. It simply wasn’t possible for us to stay apart. The power that connected us would always draw us back to each other. I knew this, and she knew it too. She just had to stop fighting it.
Sinclair could have her for now. Because I would have her forever.
Thank you so much to everyone who has supported and enjoyed the series. You all make my job a joy and I’m grateful to be able to do this.
Check out TrinaMLee.com for information and excerpts from Smashed, Alexa O’Brien Huntress Book 8.5, an Arys Knight novella.
About the Author
Trina M. Lee was born in Edmonton, Alberta Canada. Writing fiction since childhood, a fascination with the supernatural developed in her early teen years and an immersion in paranormal fiction began. Trina enjoys hearing from readers and has an active social media presence.
Website: TrinaMLee.com
Facebook: Facebook.com/AuthorTrinaMLee
Twitter: Twitter.com/TrinaMLee
September Moon
Copyright 2014 by Trina M. Lee
Smashwords Edition
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the author.
Manufactured in the United States of America
Editor
B. Leigh Hogan
Cover Artist
Michael Hart
Published by
Dark Mountain Books
This is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents and dialogues in this book are of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is completely coincidental.
Smashwords Edition, License Notes
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
