When Darkness Reigns

by Trina M. Lee

  When I sucked his cock into my mouth, Arys grabbed a fistful of my hair. He held on while I pleasured him, his grip growing tighter. It took just a minute for me to form a whole new respect for Alexa, and anyone else, who performed this act on a man. It definitely required a technique, one that gave my jaw a hell of a workout. But once I figured out what Arys liked, it came much more naturally.

  The taste of him remained different and new. I found power in Arys’s climax, in the way he moaned my name as he came. Power I wanted. Too many times he’d had me at his mercy, an easy feat for an incubus vampire. Having his pleasure literally in my grasp excited me the way it did when I dominated Alexa.

  Arys kept his hold on my hair as I rose. He crushed his lips to mine. In two strides he backed me across the small room to the couch. After bringing me to my own head-spinning orgasm, he leaned back next to me, an arm propped on the back of the couch, dragging a few fingers through my hair and down the side of my neck. Gaze distant and distracted, he slipped deeper into his thoughts.

  If Arys thought he could fool a werewolf, then he was kidding himself. An unobservant wolf was a dead wolf. Those of us who survived learned early on how to read people, especially other predators. I knew that anxious glint in Arys’s eyes.

  “You’re working up to something.” I turned to better face him. “Whatever it is, just spill it.”

  Tapping a finger on his lips, brow furrowed, he decided how honest he wanted to be. “I think we should be prepared for Falon to go dark. I’m not sure Alexa has let herself think about the reality of him as a demon. But somebody has to.”

  “Of course she’s been thinking about it. Be careful with this, Arys. Alexa is protective of Falon. I don’t know what you’re thinking, but she won’t stand aside and let you harm him, demon or no.” Not that I would ever expect her to. Alexa’s unshakable loyalty was one of her finest, most admirable traits.

  Arys’s lips pressed together. He scratched a hand over the stubble on his jaw. “I’m not suggesting we do anything that will piss her off or hurt her. I just can’t help but feel we should be prepared to do what Alexa might not be able to do.”

  A swell of apprehension tightened my chest. No matter what went down with Falon, I’d have my mate’s back through it all. “If you’re thinking about binding or trapping him somehow, you know you can’t do it without her. She’d never forgive you.”

  “What if it’s the only way?” Arys challenged. “What if he comes back so dark and dangerous that there is no other option but to find a way, any way, to get rid of him?”

  I saw right through this vampire. All he wanted was to protect Lex. I got that. Still the conflict of their bond urged him to go about that in ways that often flew in direct opposition to her preferences.

  “When the time comes, Alexa has to make that choice,” I said, firm so he’d know without a doubt where I stood. “You can’t do it for her, Arys. You know that.”

  He rubbed the bridge of his nose and stared at the floor. “I know and I won’t. I just want to keep her safe.”

  “Then be what she needs you to be. Her other half. The place where her power lies. The one who completes her.” All I could offer Arys was the reminder that he was tied closer to Alexa than anyone else ever could be. Even her mate.

  With a nod he played with the silver ring in his lip, gnawing it with a fang. He stared absently at the desk before saying, “Alexa is in love with Falon. They’re both too stubborn to admit it, but I see it, feel it.”

  I caught his hand and held it tight in mine. He wasn’t exactly telling me anything I didn’t already know. “She’s ours. She will always be ours. You know that.”

  “Yes, but now she’s his too.” He dragged his gaze back to mine. “Maybe it’s time for the four of us to talk about what’s ahead. Really talk. Their fling isn’t just a fling anymore.” Arys Knight offering a mature suggestion? Will wonders never cease?

  I agreed wholeheartedly. Alexa’s attachment to Falon had become dangerous. It was time to talk to the two of them, together, about where this was headed and how it affected all of us.

  EPILOGUE

  “Hot damn, V, you’re a goddess. I missed this.” Ebyn’s mouth moved on my neck as he kissed his way down to my shoulder.

  We sat together on the couch at The Wicked Kiss. The rich playboy werewolf had taken some time to bounce back after Lilah’s torment. A few weeks later and he was back to playing my happy victim. Unfortunately, he was missing the tip of one ear and an eye, which was covered with a black eye patch that, if possible, only amped up his sex appeal. A dozen women had flirted with him since he walked in the door.

  Ebyn’s remaining dark brown eye gleamed with playful intent. Still I couldn’t help but suspect he harbored some lingering trauma. Something he wouldn’t share with me. Our relationship was one dimensional: I wanted the rush of his werewolf blood and he wanted the rush of giving it. Sure we’d developed a loyalty to each other, but we never grew close on an emotional level.

  But I had to ask.

  I held his hand in both of mine, turning it over to bare his wrist. “How are you doing, Ebyn? Seriously.” I followed up the question by dragging my tongue over his vein, pressing it against his thundering pulse.

  Happily under my thrall, Ebyn let his head fall back against the couch. A bite junkie who hadn’t had a fix in a while, he watched me with the wolf’s intensity. “Honestly? I’ve been better. But I know how it should have ended for me, and it didn’t. So I’m just trying to understand how a shitbag like me could get so lucky. You know?” My succubus thrall had him talking, sharing. I doubted he’d have been so candid otherwise.

  “You didn’t deserve to be caught in the crossfire,” I said, nipping him teasingly. “I’m sorry that happened.”

  Ebyn watched as I sank fangs slowly into his vein, moving quickly to capture the blood that welled up with my tongue, sucking it into my mouth. His aura overflowed with lust, giving me everything I sought from this exchange.

  With his other hand he moved my hair so nothing obscured his view. “Always willing to take one for the team, Alexa. I mean it. My loyalty lies with you.”

  I glanced up to find that Ebyn’s eye had gone solid wolf and fangs had filled his mouth. He might have been riding the rush of my power, but I believed that he meant every word he said. His inner wolf wanted me to see it.

  “Thank you, Ebyn. That means a lot to me. I will always protect you any way I can.”

  Before I could apologize again for what happened with Lilah, Jenner sauntered over with a grin that meant he was up to something. He’d grown restless lately. Without his city and his nightclub, Jenner felt like he had nothing. So I’d encouraged him to branch out and make something for himself.

  He held up his phone and, without waiting for us to move over, shoved onto the couch next to me. “Check this place out, Alexa. It needs some work but picture it with a makeover.”

  Pressing his phone into my hand, Jenner waited for me to scroll through each photo in the real estate listing on the screen. It was an old hotel that didn’t appear to have been in operation for a while. It had charm and character, but I didn’t think I saw whatever he did in it.

  Confused, I asked, “You want to get into the hotel industry?”

  Jenner plucked his phone back and shook his head. “A new location. A place that’s bigger. Room for more than just vampires and their victims. A place for all supernaturals to gather on neutral ground. This place is perfect and the price is right.”

  “Seriously?” Licking the last remnants of blood from my lips, I eyed Jenner. Was he for real?

  “Yeah, why not?” Jenner motioned to the recently repaired dance floor. “No offense but this place isn’t exactly in the best shape. How many times can you replace the floor before you decide it’s time to move on to something bigger and better?”

  On my other side Ebyn stretched, clasping his hands behind his head. “It actually sounds like a pretty good idea, Queen V. Even a tiny hotel would b
e less cramped than this place. A lot you could do with a building like that.”

  A suspicion struck me, and I turned back to Jenner with an indulgent grin. “It doesn’t happen to have a theatre or stage of some sort, does it?”

  “It might,” he confirmed with a laugh. “It also has a ballroom and an area for a casino or at least a private poker room. Arys doesn’t give a shit about this kind of thing, so we should do it. Together.”

  So much excitement and hope shone in those ice-blue eyes that I couldn’t bring myself to stomp Jenner’s idea into dust. “Take me to see it, ok? Then we’ll discuss it further.”

  It wasn’t a terrible idea and I would genuinely consider it. This nightclub met the needs of the city’s vampires, but it had taken its share of abuse. A bigger place with several gathering areas, plus upper floors with enough private rooms for any vampire who wanted to rent one long term, the hotel would definitely be an upgrade.

  Jenner’s idea to open it up to other supernaturals came with some hefty pros and cons. A point to revisit later.

  I wondered how The Circle of the Veil would feel about it. They hadn’t had much to say to me lately, aside from a message sent through Nova. They placed Shya on some kind of probation with them. To keep him under close scrutiny, Falon and I were tasked with keeping an eye on him. Neither of us had been too thrilled about that. We suspected the post was a punishment for all three of us, for varying reasons.

  Nova had shown no sign of knowing about Jez’s slip up. I hoped to keep it that way. Gabriel created a new amulet for her, but Falon had been right. She couldn’t rely on that. As a vampire I was immune to her power, so I’d promised to be there as much as she needed while she gained control.

  Jez’s fears of addiction left me aching for her. I had made her promise to tell me if she felt like it was going in that direction. Because I didn’t think there was anything more dangerously addictive than power.

  Excusing myself from the couch, I slipped down the hall to check on Briggs. I tried to make it a habit to poke my head in there every night, but sometimes I got busy. Also, his need for my blood was growing, and I wasn’t keen on being a nightly snack for him.

  Passing Willow’s room, I could feel him and Gabriel inside. Their team ups for sharing a victim seemed to work for them. A woman’s moan came muffled from within the room. Guess it was working for everyone involved.

  Willow and I were still easing into a physical relationship. We weren’t together as often as I was with some of the others, and there was nothing wrong with that. Finding a balance that suited him was vital.

  My harem was as big as it would ever get. My circle of men were dark and deadly but also wise and talented. Each in his own special way. I valued strong, authentic bonds with each of them, but the bonds they formed with one another were just as important. They wouldn’t all be friends, but they could be allies and partners.

  I banged on Briggs’s closed door and waited five seconds before shoving it open.

  Should have waited ten.

  I opened the door on what appeared to be the final act of a threesome. Briggs gave one woman a smack on her naked behind and left the bed. I averted my gaze while he slipped on a pair of sweatpants. He might not have been allowed to leave his room, but I couldn’t very well starve the guy. So women came back here, voluntarily, to give him blood and whatever else they chose to offer.

  “What do you want, O’Brien? I’m busy.” Briggs sauntered to the door and leaned on the frame, as far as he could go before Falon’s ward stopped him.

  I remained just out of reach on the other side of the threshold. I didn’t trust the way he looked at me, not that I ever had. “Just checking in. Still sane? Somewhere in between?”

  “I don’t know.” Briggs’s dark incubus stare took me in from head to toe. Until he zeroed in on my carotid. “Why don’t you come in here and put me to the test?” He seemed pretty proud of himself.

  I didn’t go in alone to give him blood anymore. It wasn’t worth the risk of him snapping on me again. One of the other guys was always present. Not that I couldn’t take him but because I didn’t want to kill him.

  Not until my sister was ready.

  “Have you heard from Juliet?” I asked, ignoring his cocky challenge.

  She hadn’t been back since the night Briggs injured her. She’d sent a few texts but evaded my attempts to see her in person.

  Because Juliet knew what we all knew.

  “No,” he answered gruffly, like her name alone had become a trigger. “She’s not ready to kill me yet. When she is, we’ll both know.”

  Juliet had to make this call. Like putting a rabid animal out of its misery, putting Briggs down would be a mercy killing. She knew that. Why was she avoiding it so hard?

  Down the hall a noise drew my attention to Willow’s door. It cracked open, and a small brunette timidly peeked out. She darted back toward the main club, giggling to herself. I couldn’t help but laugh.

  Dismissing Briggs with a hand, I headed down the hall to Willow’s room, hoping to catch the two vampires alone for a minute. I’d been putting off a conversation.

  The door opened before I’d finished knocking. Willow greeted me with a dopey grin. The room vibed with lust and blood. Gabriel stood behind him tugging on a hoodie like he’d also been on his way out.

  “Can I talk to you two?” I didn’t have to say another word.

  Willow stepped back to let me in and closed the door behind me.

  I steeled myself. I’d been thinking about this for several nights now. Since Bane. Even though he hadn’t come around in the last few weeks, it was only a matter of time until he reappeared.

  Falon would complete his fall. He would go dark and become a demon. Deep down I knew it. I also knew that I had to try to anchor him to me. To my light.

  I sucked in a deep breath. Once I put this in motion and made it happen, there would be no taking it back. Gabriel watched me expectantly, leisurely licking a drop of blood from his lip. I’d asked him to tell no one. Now the enormity of what I wanted to do convinced me that I had to tell Willow too. As a former angel, he’d know better than anyone what was possible.

  “So here’s the thing. I want to find a way to anchor Falon to me, and I hope you both will help me do it.”

  Willow listened as I explained what Gabriel and I had previously discussed. Not once did he try to talk me out of it. Maybe he should have. Maybe I’d regret this. But Bane wouldn’t back down and Falon wouldn’t either.

  Falon and I had arrived at a strange place. No doubt about that. Except every time I flashed back to being in his arms while he made mad love to me, I envisioned him with black wings instead. And it terrified me.

  If there was any way to save Falon from being consumed by darkness, then I had to do it. Even if he hated me forever.

  ~ ~ ~ ~

  Alexa’s story continues in Alexa O’Brien Huntress Book 17, Envy & Everything After .

  ~ ~ ~ ~

  ALSO BY TRINA M. LEE

  These series also take place in the Alexa O’Brien Huntress world:

  Rebel Heart Series

  Angel blood runs through her veins.

  Half human and half angel, Spike is a rare female nephilim. Like all nephilim, she’s caught in the middle of the war between angels and demons. She’s doing her best to avoid choosing a side.

  Until she meets the foxy Rowen and sly devil Arrow. Two mysterious nephilim brothers as different as night and day. They’re about to turn her world upside down.

  Assassins of Mayhem Academy

  Secret supernatural society, The Circle of the Veil, is recruiting supernaturals with a track record of murder and mayhem for just one purpose: to make life hell for the human authorities that tread too far into their world. The Federal Para-Intelligence Agency, otherwise known as the FPA.

  Blaze is one of The Circle’s latest recruits, and it isn’t by choice.

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  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Trina writes urban fantasy that is dark and gritty with a twist of romance and horror but which is ultimately about people in dark places discovering who they are and what they’re made of.

  A lover of rock music, vampires and muscle cars, Trina is a dreamer who always secretly wanted to be a rockstar. She lives in Alberta, Canada with her bass player husband, ukulele playing daughter and small herd of cats.

  Trina loves to hear from readers so don’t hesitate to drop her a line.

  Table of Contents

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  EPILOGUE