Junkyard Queen (Alexa O'Brien Huntress Book 12)

by Trina M. Lee

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  Vampire or not, a baseball bat to the head hurt like a motherfucker. Especially when wielded by someone with supernatural strength. Several hours later and I could still feel it. The throbbing had diminished, but a general ache continued deep in my brain. A human would never have survived that hit.

  In the comfort of my bed, snuggled between Arys and Shaz, I struggled to relax. Sleep eluded me.

  The three of us had returned here shortly before sunrise. We’d left Doghead feeling uneasy, every one of us. But what was done was done. Owen had insisted on taking care of the burial of his former Alphas. He hadn’t been angry or vengeful. Merely morose. He knew how this worked.

  To my surprise Juliet had been awash with relief that I was ok. She’d flung her arms around me and held tight. So she did give a shit. That meant something. It meant maybe our relationship wasn’t as far gone as I’d believed.

  Unfortunately, when all eyes had been on the fight, Rylan had fled my car, leaving the door hanging open, and hightailed it into the night. Juliet promised to look for him. Being alone out there, for someone in his position, was dangerous. Not only for him but for anyone who happened to be around when he started to wolf out.

  Now the three of us lounged in bed, seeking rest but finding little. On my back between them, I stared at the decorative pattern on the ceiling. One hand on Shaz’s bandaged side, the other entwined with Arys’s, I tried and failed to stop replaying the fight over and over in my head.

  Shaz’s wounds had been serious but not something that wouldn’t heal in a few days. Although Arys had offered to heal it faster, Shaz had refused. The wolf could only handle so much vampire in one night. I, on the other hand, had been more than happy to have Arys heal my broken ankle.

  “So when did you and Jenner make an arrangement that would have him feasting on you like a starved dog with a bone?” Arys asked, voice husky with the lull of a cozy bed and two lovers beside him. He’d sent Jenner to his empty house for the night.

  I laughed, rolling my eyes despite not facing him. “That’s not at all how I recall it. I asked him for a favor. He asked for one in return. I told him to take it up with you.”

  “Oh and he did. He swears you’re more than willing to let him have at you because he ensured Kale’s safety from the Vegas FPA.” Arys didn’t sound bitter, just grimly amused.

  “Have at me?” I repeated. “That’s a little crass. He has a craving. I can sate it. There was no discussion as to how that might take place.”

  Arys propped his head up with his free arm curved beneath it. “Ah yes, the craving. He’s not the only one with that craving, is he?”

  “Leave it alone, man,” Shaz spoke up, rolling onto his uninjured side so he could face both Arys and me. “Can we just have one day without any vampire bullshit?”

  Arys glanced over at Shaz. “Do you not have an opinion on Jenner wanting a night with Alexa?”

  His skin warm on my bare stomach, Shaz ran a finger over my ribs, one at a time. “I think Alexa can determine what that means. I trust her. And let’s be honest here, Jenner wouldn’t even have such an addiction to her if you hadn’t forced it in Vegas.”

  Arys couldn’t argue against that.

  A warmth spread through me in response to Shaz’s declaration of trust. Vampire bullshit indeed. I knew it could get sticky. And yet, he rolled with the punches, for the most part.

  Shaz likely had bigger things on his brain. Like the fragmented pack he now led. Worry had pinched his brow the whole drive home. Neither of us had wanted it to go down this way.

  “That’s fair,” Arys said carefully. “I can accept responsibility for Jenner.”

  Which was his way of saying that Kale’s craving existed solely because of me. Because I had chosen to make him mine in a moment of weakness and fear, despite Kale’s plea that I let him go.

  Anguish caused my chest to burn. Overshadowing the good memories, so many bad ones surfaced and threatened to make me their bitch.

  As if sensing the sudden shift in my mental state, Shaz said, “I’m far more concerned with Alexa facing off against Willow. That should be our real focus. She needs us.”

  Hell yes, I did. I laughed softly when his hand found the ticklish spot between my ribs. Squirming to evade the horror of being tickled, I turned on my side to face him.

  Arys let go of my hand and rolled over to spoon me, propping his chin in the curve of my neck so he could make eye contact with Shaz. They shared one of their infamous wordless looks. “We’ll have her back. No matter what occurs that night. The three of us will face it together.” Arys reached over me to touch Shaz’s arm, letting his fingertips trail down to his hand.

  Because the blankets were pushed down to our waists I could see the way Arys wrapped a finger around two of Shaz’s, and how Shaz tightened his fingers in response.

  “Just thinking about what he wants to do scares the hell out of me,” I added, pressing tighter against Arys. He fit like a glove against me, aligning to my curves.

  “A purge of evil doers. Where does that leave us?” Shaz tried for a laugh and failed. “Doesn’t he care that he could take us all down?”

  I shook my head sadly, wishing I could take away the pain that plagued Willow. The horrors that he lived with had driven him to such a state. “Sometimes I wish he’d never done what he did for me.”

  Arys kissed my shoulder, lips lingering against my skin. “Don’t say that, my wolf. He saved us. We’ll find a way to save him.”

  “Save him? I can’t even imagine how.” I could barely think beyond stopping Willow, let alone consider saving him.

  Shaz pressed his face to my hair splayed upon our pillows. Breathing in my scent, he let out a soft huff of contentment. “There’s got to be something you can do. What about Salem? Maybe he can give you some guidance.”

  Salem scared the ever-loving shit out of me. However, he was an angel, meaning he knew more about Willow than I could ever know. And he was a twin flame, meaning he knew more about me than I might even realize.

  “Salem probably has his hands full with his own demon,” I commented, pondering. “But he did give me a way of reaching him. Once.”

  He’d gifted me with a stone and the instruction to break it should I need him. As the night of the planetary alignment drew closer, the likelihood of seeking an angelic advisor grew.

  Arys’s mouth continued to move along my shoulder toward my neck. He brushed my hair aside and grazed my flesh with fangs. “I say do it.”

  I slid a leg over Shaz, hooking my foot around his calf. Touching them both at the same time thrilled and soothed me, all at once. The sensual affection we shared continued to surprise me. Every night I became more enamored with both of them. In the calm of the safe place I shared with the two men I loved, I found a brief reprieve from the world beyond. Knowing I had to return to the city that called me, I soaked up all I could get from these precious moments.

  Reaching to slide a hand through Shaz’s ivory-pale hair, I admired how brilliant it was against the dark pillowcase. My fingers tangled in platinum, I studied the contours of his face. My God, he was lovely. He’d grown so much wiser in the last year. It showed in the depths of his eyes.

  Behind me my dark half stirred. Evidence of his growing arousal nestled against the curve of my ass, Arys gripped Shaz’s hand tighter. Slowly he dragged their joined hands down to the warm place between my legs.

  I sucked in a breath and held it. Together they touched me. The sound of Shaz’s heart thundered in my ears, as it increased in tempo.

  In moments like this I felt the bond between the three of us in its purest form. Raw and deep, it vibrated with a power all its own. My dark flame and I had been gifted a keystone in Shaz. Willow had bonded him to us, to keep us balanced, to tie us together when all other forces sought to tear us apart.

  We’d felt it all along without realizing the gift we shared.

  Salem had spoken of the keystone, citing it as a temporary sol
ution to a permanent problem. And then he’d shown me some of his memories. I’d asked. I needed to know how bad it would get.

  One such memory swam up from the depths to slap me in the face with the answer. The answer to how I could stop Willow.

  The sudden and startling realization caused me to jerk upright in the bed. Arys and Shaz shared a confused glance.

  “I know what to do,” I gasped. “About Willow. I think I can save him.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  Sunset brought escape from the confines of my house. A day in bed with my loves had been greatly needed, but knowing that Salem might have my solution for Willow, I was itching to speak to him. Just days away from the alignment, I needed to prepare. So I held the amethyst stone the angel had given me, turning it over in my hand. It warmed my palm, humming with ethereal energy.

  Upon leaving my house I’d come to The Wicked Kiss where I’d enjoyed a nip of Ebyn to take the edge off my hunger. What I really wanted though was a good hunt. A kill. I told myself Kale’s presence in the city had nothing to do with it.

  I was such a liar.

  At my request Arys and Jenner had accompanied Shaz to Doghead where he would address the remaining wolves. As his mate, I should have been there. But I had a demon to plot against.

  Of course I had an ulterior motive in getting rid of Arys for a while. Though I suggested it would be good for him to support Shaz as he took his place among the pack, I also felt it best to have him gone while I spoke to Salem. The angel was a light flame, like me. Something about Arys’s presence tended to bring out the darkness of his twin.

  I stood alone in my office, holding the stone. As instructed, I smashed it against the desk, using a little push of power to ensure it shattered. And then I waited. A few minutes passed. I grew jittery; he might not come. Maybe he was busy. He was an angel after all.

  When the air rippled I chewed my bottom lip, nerves ablaze. Salem appeared clad in white warrior robes, a purple sash around his waist. A sword hung from one hip. His gold-streaked dark hair was tied in various braids that fell past his shoulders. The ginger lock of Lilah’s hair was tied into a side braid as always.

  Golden eyes almost feral in their intensity fell upon me. “Alexa, what is it that I can do for you? Are you in need?”

  Enchanted by the melodic tone of his voice, I gawked at him like a moron before I could find my voice. “Yes. It’s about Willow. I need help.”

  “I’m not sure I can be what you seek, but tell me more.”

  Salem’s mere presence cast the room in a soothing glow I could feel but not see. A sense of calm overcame me. Taking a deep breath, I recounted all I knew of Willow’s plan. “You showed me something, and I think it could help.” Hesitant, I pushed forward. “You and Lilah were arguing about Shya, about putting him in a human body. You said only the two of you were capable of doing it. I need to know how it could be done. Putting a demon into a human body.”

  I could barely imagine Willow as human. But if it could be done, then I had to do it. Because seeing him as a demon was absolute hell. He suffered. If I could end his suffering, I had to try.

  Salem gave a grave nod. “I remember. She sabotaged our call to humanize Shya, one of the few feats only twin flames can perform. But I’m not sure it can be done without immortal power.”

  The intensity in his stare unsettled me. Still, I couldn’t accept defeat so fast. “If there’s any way it can be done, any chance at all, I need to try. Please, help me.” Pleading with an angel was high on the list of things I never thought I’d do. Desperation outweighed any shame I might have felt in doing so.

  Salem crossed his arms and studied me, like he was assessing my worth. “You must be aware, should you try this and fail, Willow may seek vengeance. He may hate you beyond reason. Of course, should you try and succeed, the same applies.”

  Willow’s love for me had already been tainted. The night he’d called me Falon’s whore while we were all trapped in Shya’s horror house had stuck with me. The Willow I knew never would’ve seen me that way. But this Willow did.

  “He already hates me in his own way,” I admitted. “I have little to lose in that regard. He refused to let darkness swallow me whole. Who would I be if I didn’t do the same for him?”

  A gentle smile lit up Salem’s face. So out of place it appeared, like his face just wasn’t used to the expression. Still it enchanted me. Everything about him screamed divinity. Just standing so close to him had me vibrating.

  “Your love for him is pure, so I will help you as best as I can. But ultimately, you’re on your own.”

  My chest deflated, releasing the breath I’d held. “Thank you. I wish I could tell you how much it means to me.”

  “As I said before, we are kindred. I long only to see you succeed where I have failed.” His smile faltered, and I knew Lilah scorched his thoughts. It was written all over his face. “We walk a hard road. Nothing comes easy for our kind though that’s what makes our calling mean so much.” Pain clouded his aura. It jumped from him to me like an electrical arc. It felt familiar. So much like my own.

  “Would it be wrong of me to ask how you are?” I dared to say. “You and Lilah, I mean.”

  I didn’t expect an answer. Nothing about the two of them was any business of mine. Although I couldn’t help but wonder. They were the only other set of twin flames I knew. The last pair, human, had gone down in a mess of murder and suicide.

  “She is still safely in her pinfold, where she has been for some time now. I see her occasionally. Not that I always want to, but you know how it is in her absence.” Somber, the angel held my gaze, allowing me to witness the agony within his golden eyes. “We love and we hate. And it’s only that neither of us can die that keeps us bound. Surely, if she could kill me, she would have long ago.”

  My heart hurt for him. For both of them really, even though Lilah was a supreme bitch who deserved a world of pain and suffering. Already I could relate. Arys and I, we had fallen victim to the dark side of our union many times. Every night he leered at me, longing to kill me all over again. And despite loving him with every fiber of my being, I hated him for it.

  “I’m sorry.” Empty words filled with truth, I had nothing else to offer him.

  Finished with the brief distraction, Salem returned to the matter at hand. “To put Willow in a human form, you will need human blood, angel blood, and Willow’s blood.”

  “And by angel blood you mean?” Though I doubted Falon hardly counted as angelic these days, I had to be sure.

  “Pure. Falon won’t do.” Salem knew, and I hated that Falon and I had gained such a reputation. “A word of caution, Alexa. It’s become known that you’ve claimed Falon. Be careful.”

  Be careful? Alarmed, I opened my mouth to delve deeper, but Salem cut me off.

  “As for Willow’s blood, you’ll have to find a way to gather that yourself.” He paused but pushed on again before I could jump in. “Essentially you will strip Willow’s essence completely, leaving him nothing but a shell. You mustn’t allow him to return to the other side to recover. While his power is stripped, you will replenish him with the essence of the human blood. Use the power from the angelic blood to fuel his restoration; you won’t be strong enough without it.”

  I held up a hand and shook my head. “Wait, slow down. You’re making this sound so simple. It can’t possibly be.”

  “Oh, it isn’t. The actual event will be draining and difficult, assuming he fights the process. You’ll need to pull on all the power you can access. Every vampire tied to you.”

  They’d all love that. Getting Willow to go along with it wouldn’t be easy either. Not if he was as hell bent on performing his ritual as he seemed to be. If I were an all-powerful demon with the ability to bring down hell upon the city, I wouldn’t want to be crammed into a human body either. Obtaining his blood would be tricky, so I’d have to take him by surprise.

  “Go back to that part about Falon,” I said, needing further expla
nation.

  The mere mention of Falon’s name brought a glower to Salem’s face. The fallen angel seemed to have that effect on many people. “You’ve claimed him. Made him yours, as you have your vampires. It shouldn’t have been possible. That makes you dangerous and thus endangered. More so. Some in the underworld see that as a threat of enslavement.” He shrugged, like it wasn’t really a big deal for the underworld to see me as a menace.

  I sat down heavily in my office chair, needing a moment to process. “If it’s not possible, then how could it have happened?”

  Seeing the dread on my face, Salem softened noticeably. He perched on the arm of the couch and tried for what I think was supposed to be a reassuring expression. “It’s hard to say. There is no one quite like you, Alexa. You are unique.”

  Nope. Not reassuring at all.

  Feeling awkward, I played with my hair, twisting a lock around a finger. “If it makes any difference, I don’t know how I laid claim to Falon. And I have no interest in claiming anyone.”

  “If anything it has placed a greater target on Falon than on you. I wouldn’t let it concern you just yet.” Salem was just full of non-reassurances tonight. “Let me remind you, claiming him doesn’t mean you can trust him. Falon can be dangerous in his own right.”

  My mind flashed back to the night in the hotel room. Falon on his knees before me, desperate to escape the memory that would haunt him forever.

  A strange fire ignited in both my belly and my groin. “I’d rather not discuss Falon. Can we get back to Willow? He’s definitely my priority.”

  Salem stared too intently. I struggled to meet his gaze. He would see. And then he would know. My own personal secret, that which I would never speak aloud.

  “You feel something for him.” Accusation rang in his words. “For Falon. Not love but something else. Pity? No. Far worse. Sympathy. Let me assure you, he doesn’t deserve it.”