by Trina M. Lee
“Tell me you don’t have feelings for him,” Willow demanded. “I understand that for some incomprehensible reason he feeds your succubus hunger. But the second it goes beyond that, I’m stepping in. You may not be my charge anymore, but I will not stand by and watch him destroy you.”
I smiled, hoping it would calm him, hoping it would hide my growing fear. “You’re kidding me, right? The only feelings I have for Falon are revulsion and contempt. Please, Willow, forget about him. I want to talk to you.”
“Throw in nausea and the feeling is mutual,” Falon muttered, arms crossed, sneer perfectly in place.
“You can leave now,” I hissed.
Yeah, definitely no warm and fuzzy feelings for Falon. Never gonna happen. He made it easy to harbor such intense enmity.
Willow glowered down upon Falon from where he stood. “Yes, Falon, you should leave. All the time you spend slinking around Alexa will never bring Winter back.”
A hot slap of pure rage hit like a hurricane. It flooded the atmosphere with blistering heat. Falon was gone from his seat in a blink, launching himself at Willow with fists engulfed in flames.
Willow merely raised a hand. He flung Falon back as if he’d hit a brick wall. Silver wings flared out to steady him as he hit the floor. It did nothing to deter him. Falon was right back up and at Willow again.
This time Willow took the flaming punches Falon threw one after another, each coming stronger and faster.
I gripped the table edge with clawed fingertips, frozen in place as I watched Falon’s fit of emotion. What should I do? I didn’t want to watch Willow beat the hell out of him. I’d seen that already, and it scared the crap out of me.
Each wound that opened up on Willow’s face quickly healed. There wasn’t much Falon could do to bring him true harm. He didn’t seem to care about that. Willow had known the magic words to unleash the fallen angel’s pent up emotion. I didn’t like that he’d instigated this fight.
When Willow decided he’d had enough, his wings snapped open and a boom like thunder reverberated through the building. A mighty wind ripped through the place. A curtain of blonde blinded me, and I shoved it back in time to see Falon tumble backward.
People sitting at nearby tables vacated. A few gawkers were dragged away by friends who knew better than to linger near a fight in this place. The half of the club housing the dance floor remained mostly oblivious. I intended to keep it that way.
Willow lunged forward. Grabbing Falon, he hauled him close. “You should’ve kept your distance, traitor. One good deed doesn’t excuse what you are. You deserve to suffer the way you do, pining after your precious Winter. Although, you probably betrayed her too, didn’t you?”
Without waiting for an answer, Willow slammed Falon against the floor. He held him there, feeding him magic-driven shot after shot until Falon was a bloody mess.
Still he didn’t accept defeat. Spitting blood, Falon sneered, “We do what we have to. Isn’t that right, Willow? Even if that means driving away those we love. Like you’re doing right now.”
“You know nothing of love.” Shadows seeped from Willow to form a dark fog around him. Hatred made Willow’s beautiful face into something twisted and ugly.
The scent of Falon’s blood on the air broke me from my shocked stupor and drove me to my feet. Falon was mine. Who the fuck was Willow to mess with what belonged to me?
My dark side was thrilled with the absolute wickedness tainting the environment. Deep within I felt that flicker of light like a candle’s flame in the wind, fighting to stay lit in the face of the storm.
My hand closed on Willow’s wrist, and I gasped as the vast abyss that claimed him sought to claim me too. In my mind I tumbled, falling into a bottomless pit. The power Willow commanded seemed to go on forever. It sought to pull me in, to make me its slave as it had done to him.
But it couldn’t. Because of the sacrifice he’d made for me. Because of that flicker of light in my core.
“Willow, stop this shit,” I growled, roughly jerking his arm to make him look at me. “Whatever problem you have with Falon, it ends now.”
“Like hell it does. He’s working something here, Alexa. He’s gotten too close. You can’t trust him.” Willow tried to shake me off. His gaze dropped to where I touched him, and his lip curled up in a snarl. “Let go of me. I don’t want to hurt you.”
Falon took the opportunity to get up, but he didn’t disappear as he probably should have. He rubbed a hand over his blood-smeared face and swore. From his stubborn refusal to leave to the crimson stains of wounds already healed, he tempted me in so many ways.
“I don’t trust Falon,” I said, aware of his gaze. “But you need to back off on this one. You have no right to decide who I associate with.”
“Or fuck,” Falon tossed in, because he just couldn’t keep his trap shut.
I shot him a scathing glare. “You’re not helping.”
“Not trying to.” The grin he flashed my way was stupidly sexy. It made me feel like an idiot for finding it so panty-dropping hot. The hunger had a way of doing that.
Willow grabbed my hand, as if he might peel my fingers from his arm. “Stay out of it, Alexa. Please.”
Peering into Willow’s sinister scarlet eyes, I searched for him. The real him. I couldn’t accept that he’d fallen so deep into the darkness. Was he in there fighting to break through the evil that ruled him, or, “Have you quit fighting the dark?” I dared to ask. “Have you forgotten who you are?”
Remorse flickered across his face so fast I thought I’d imagined it simply because I so desperately wanted to see it. Then malevolence took its place. Willow shook me off with enough force to send me stumbling back.
I caught myself against an empty table.
“This is who I am now,” he shouted, the shadows swirling thick around him again. “Don’t delude yourself into believing otherwise. I became this for you. To protect you, one of the last Hounds. That means protecting you from him.”
My protests were ignored, as Willow unleashed the shadows on Falon. The fallen angel threw both hands up, projecting a shield that held the shadows back. But as I watched, they chipped away at the barrier, breaking it down.
“What the fuck, Willow?” Falon demanded, both angry and desperate. “I’m no threat to Alexa, and you know it. Binding me in shadows isn’t the answer to your guardian guilt. It won’t bring you relief.”
“You attacked her the night we were all in Shya’s house. I have to make sure you never get that opportunity again.” Fingers flexing, Willow poured more force into the dark mass writhing around Falon’s shield.
I didn’t have to know what it meant for one demon to bind another to know that I had to stop it from happening. Panic drove me as I went for Willow again, determined to stop him. “Willow, please. Don’t do this.”
He never touched me. All he had to do was look at me.
Frozen in place, unable to command my own muscles, I could only watch the shadows batter Falon’s shield, knowing any moment they would break through. As a vampire, I was no match for a demon. But as a Hound of God, maybe I was. As soon as the thought formed, I searched deep inside myself for the spark. That glimmer of light shone in me always, despite the dark that also lived in me. I’d made the two entities work together before. Channeling darkness through light, I’d successfully weakened Shya, and I had still been mortal.
Willow was stronger than Shya, but I’d grown stronger too. I didn’t have to overpower him. That would be impossible. I just had to break his focus, distract him somehow.
I reached for Arys, finding him there on the other side of the mental door between us. Drawing on our bond flooded me with a surge of twin-flame power, a union of both the light and the dark. It enabled me to break free of Willow’s hold, though it wasn’t enough to stop him.
I had no choice but to go farther, to reach beyond just my flame. Although I rarely attempted such a feat, it came easily when I reached for our vampires, those bound to one or both of us. I saw t
hem as I pulled on their power. Jenner performed on stage in his Las Vegas club beneath the bright glare of stage lights. Kale lurked elsewhere in the same building, feasting on the cries of a token brunette. Hurst, Roscoe, and Sloane, each in varying places, all of them taken by surprise. However, Gabriel gave me the much-needed final boost with his tie to black magic.
Taking the mass of borrowed power, I channeled it into light, guiding it with careful thought and intention. And then I hit Willow with it.
When I’d done this to Shya, I’d been mortal and weak. It had brought me to the brink of death. Now I felt strong. I could do this. I just wished I didn’t have to.
Willow faltered. His shadows wavered and thinned before dissipating in a black mist until nothing remained. Knowing my time with such power was limited, I used what I had left to force my way between Falon and Willow, turning myself into the barrier between them.
“This stops now,” I declared. “It’s over, Willow. You did the job you were given. You saved me, and I will love you forever for it, no matter what you’ve become. But you don’t have the right to do this.”
As I maintained the force flowing through me, my hands shook from exertion. I couldn’t deny that I was but a scrappy little dog compared to the beast that Willow had become. Yet being created to command and battle the dark meant I wouldn’t go down without one hell of a fight.
Although he could have obliterated me with a look, Willow acknowledged my victory with a sad nod, stepping even further away, hands raised in surrender. “As you wish. You’ve come so far in such a short time. I’m more proud of you than you’ll ever know.” A rustle of wings accompanied his departure.
My shoulders slumped, and a whoosh of air exited my lungs, as I dropped my hold on the borrowed power. Whereas last time it had damn near killed me, this time I merely felt exhausted, the way one does after a strenuous workout.
“That’s a pretty handy skill you have there. No wonder so many vampires hate you.” Falon’s flippant remark brought my gaze to his. Despite his snark, he graced me with a smile that seemed almost genuine.
“Is that a thank you?” I went to him, slipped a hand into his hair to hold him still, and dragged my tongue over a blood smear at the corner of his mouth. A mere tease, it tempted me with the promise of intoxication and ignorant bliss.
Falon leaned into my touch, pressing against me. “I’ve got your thank you right here.”
Unable to resist, I caught his bottom lip between my teeth and tugged. The swell of desire that followed was what I wanted. Just a taste of that angelic essence. I breathed it in, basking in its warmth.
Then I shoved him away. “I get that you’re a stubborn, cocky asshole, Falon, but don’t antagonize Willow again. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got some itching to do. And so do you.” In order to torment him a little, I had to suffer too. So be it.
His brows knit together in a tight frown. “You goddamn tease. I warned you not to play with me, Alexa. I’m not your toy. If it’s itching you want, then it’s itching you’ll get.”
Before I could fend him off, he grabbed me by both arms and kissed me, sudden, furious, and deep. The moment he felt me respond, because I couldn’t help but kiss him back, he released me. Raising a hand in a salute that used only his middle finger, he promptly vanished. Jackass.
I turned to find Jez watching from a safe distance. Her golden ponytail swung, as she shook her head, lips pursed.
Just another night in the insanity that is me.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Arys’s voice echoed smooth as satin in my head. ‘I don’t even want to know, do I? Tell me anyway. What did you do, my wolf?’
I sighed and tried to finger comb the tangles from my hair. ‘Things got a little crazy with Willow. I need to get out of here and clear my head. This place is looking like an all I can eat buffet. Where are you?’
‘With Gabriel at Shya’s. Using Briggs in some power and control exercises. It’s been a blast.’ There was nothing in his internal expression to indicate whether he was joking or not.
‘I can’t leave you alone for a minute, can I?’ Practicing control with Briggs seemed incredibly risky. I needed him alive. ‘Speaking of Briggs, I had a run in with the FPA tonight. I need to convince him to help us. Even if it means using a little force.’
Arys was all over that. ‘Now that I’d like to see. Why don’t you join us?’
‘Maybe I’ll do that.’
Vibration from my phone alerted me to a text from Jenner that said only: What in the ever-loving fuck?
Despite my frustration over what had just happened, I was able to laugh. Because I knew it would piss him off further, I replied with only a smiley face. Kale hadn’t messaged and likely wouldn’t. So to him I sent a simple: sorry.
I turned to Jez who leaned on the bar beside me, absently watching a lady vamp rub herself all over Hayden. He sure did get around.
“I’m heading to Shya’s to talk to Briggs again,” I said, counting at least three bite marks on Hayden from where I stood. “Want to come with?”
Holding up her phone, Jez pouted. “Wendi just asked me to come over. Part of me wants to go, but this other part of me can’t stop thinking of her playing victim for Kale. What should I do?”
“You should do what you want to do. You know it wasn’t personal with Kale. He probably doesn’t even remember her.”
Her frown slapped me.
I didn’t mean to sound insensitive. It was a poor attempt at making her feel better. “Sorry, Jezzy, you know I’m not trying to be an ass. I just mean that it’s over and it meant nothing.”
“I know, but it doesn’t erase the fact that she screwed my best friend.” A shoulder slump accompanied Jez’s deep sigh. “Now that I know, I’ll be thinking about it every time we’re together. Maybe it’s time I try online dating.”
I snickered. “Yeah, I’m sure there’s a market for lesbian shapeshifters.”
“Well, there should be.” Chewing a pinky fingernail, she studied Wendi’s message on her phone. “Dammit. She’s just so hot. And good in bed.”
Pulling my keys out, I twirled them on a finger. “What about a good personality? Does that factor in?”
“What do you know about choosing a lover based on personality?” She nudged me and grinned.
“That’s fair,” I said with a half shrug. Couldn’t argue there. Only Shaz possessed an enticing personality.
We made our way out of the building. The party would be going for hours yet, but I had other places to be. Such as manipulating my sister’s lover into doing what I wanted.
“Honestly, Lex,” Jez said when we emerged into the much quieter parking lot. “A good personality would just make things more difficult. I can’t fall for anyone. Not right now. This just isn’t a good time for me.”
On impulse I dragged her into a hug.
Her grumble muffled against my shoulder, she made a half-assed attempt to get away before succumbing.
I held her tight, savoring her warmth and the steady beat of her heart in my ears. “Do what’s best for you, ok, Jez? You deserve to be happy.” I held her for an extra second or two before letting go. Knowing what was coming, what she had planned with Willow, it scared me. Even more so after Willow’s display tonight.
She pulled back with a naughty smile. “Well, sexy times with Wendi makes me happy. That’s all I’m really looking for right now. Maybe I’ll swing by her place before I head home.”
“Home as in my place, where you left a ton of dirty dishes?” I inquired with a pointed look.
“I was thinking of crashing at Kale’s. There’s something comforting about being there.”
Jez had been staying in the city more often lately, only coming to my place on her weak days, needing me to keep her from doing something stupid, like snorting coke up her nose. She’d made vast progress. I was proud of her.
“Call me if you need me.” I left her with that, refraining from the dirty dish lecture I had brewing.
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nbsp; A glance at the moon as I slid into my car filled me with apprehension. The full moon had been a source of comfort for so long. Seeing it so lit up, just days away from full light, it scared me. I hated Shya for that. On the flipside, part of me just wanted to get it over with. Then at least I’d know exactly what the demon had done. The not knowing was picking away at me, especially when alone with my thoughts.
Driving back to Shya’s house for the second night in a row didn’t ease my apprehension. Knowing he wouldn’t be there helped a little. What I planned to do to Briggs would only prove me to be the monster he thought me, but he hadn’t left me any choice. Going in with him would be safer than going without, especially now that Winston had taken over.
Arys’s ’67 Firebird greeted me as I turned into the driveway. I found him in the kitchen with Gabriel who wore a blindfold. The two of them were standing on either side of the kitchen island. Sparks of blue and gold danced over Arys’s fingertips. A pale purple tinted Gabriel’s energy. I’d never seen it before, although he usually manipulated energy via spell casting.
“Now let the shot glass have it,” Arys instructed, holding a shot glass on his raised palm. “Focus your attack.”
I suppose teaching Gabriel to fine tune his new power was important. As a practitioner of magic, he was used to needing a spell to call upon and direct power. In our bloodline, the power flowed freely, and there wasn’t always time to utter spells in order to direct it. Still, from where I stood, it appeared they were just jackassing around.
Sparks flew from Gabriel’s fingers, arcing to the ceiling before jolting toward Arys’s hand and missing completely. A vase on the counter exploded, littering the floor with glass. The lights overhead flickered and dimmed down to almost nothing.
“Shit,” Gabriel muttered, lifting the blindfold. “That wasn’t supposed to happen.”
“Really, Arys? In the house?” I tsked, teasing him with a judgmental headshake.
He cast a wayward glance at the broken vase. “It’s not my house.”
“You didn’t really use Briggs for any of your unsavory games, did you?” A scrutinizing onceover of the Fed revealed an absence of bites or wounds.