Death Wish (40 page)

‘I didn’t do it alone. I would have burst into flames if you hadn’t been there.’

‘That’s not what I want to hear right now. Come back, Alexa. It’s not over yet.’

No, it certainly wasn’t. I still had Shya to deal with. The evil bastard had been willing to use me for his own gain. I shouldn’t have been surprised. He was a demon. It’s what they do. Kale, the dreamwalker, and me: we were all expendable to Shya and others like him.

I hated him with a deep-rooted passion. Clever and charismatic, he was a force to be reckoned with. Though I couldn’t see his mark in wolf form, I could feel it there, a metaphysical brand etched in my flesh.

I turned back toward Shya’s house, my fury growing with each step. The quick change to wolf after such strenuous exertion had done wonders for me. I felt energized instead of drained, like I could take on Shya as well and win, but I wasn’t about to let my ego talk me into getting my ass kicked. Shya could be dealt with, though it would take outsmarting him rather than mere aggression.

There was no sign of Lilah when I slunk through the yard up to the house. Shya and Arys were in one another’s face, talking in hushed, angry tones. Falon watched with a grin, finding the conflict entertaining. They all looked my way as I approached. For a fleeting moment, I wondered how easy it would be for a demon to recover from a torn out throat.

 “Congratulations,” Shya beamed, a serpentine smile contorting his face into something I would later see in my nightmares. “You proved yourself to be the better vampire.”

I stopped where the grass met the concrete patio. Fixing the demon with a blank stare, I pledged a silent vow to myself that I would not let him manipulate me anymore. I wasn’t meant to be part of his world, and I wouldn’t let him ruin me.

I stared at him until he edged away from Arys. “Forgive me. Would you like a robe or something?” Shya snapped a finger, and Falon disappeared into the house with a scowl.

My clothes had been ruined in the shift. That hardly ever happened anymore, but since I’d just bought them, it was a greater annoyance. Falon returned with a beautiful black silk kimono with an orange dragon emblazoned on the back. He shoved it into Arys’s hand before returning to his lounge chair.

‘What does he want for it?’ I directed to Arys. ‘My soul?’

“She doesn’t trust you,” Arys spoke for me. “With good reason. What do you expect in return from her?”

Shya maintained a neutral expression though amusement shone in his eyes. “For that? Nothing. Consider it a gift.”

Arys held the kimono out like a curtain to shield me from the demon and fallen angel. I shifted back to human form, feeling naked and exposed regardless. I slipped into the robe, almost sighing as the exquisite material slid over my bare skin. When it was secured around my waist, I let Shya have it.

“What the fuck was that? You were going to sell me out to Lilah like I’m a goddamn commodity. I knew you were skeevy, but you are a real piece of work. I’m not making the mistake of working with you again. On anything. Count me out. From now on, I don’t work for you, with you or for your so-called agenda. I’ve got my own agenda.”

The seriousness of my proclamation was destroyed by Falon’s low chuckle. I shot him a look that oozed venom. Shya ignored our exchange.

He crossed his arms and observed me coolly. “I hope your agenda includes the dreamwalker you owe me. A deal is a deal, Alexa.”

That’s it? That’s all he had to say? Of course it was. I wasn’t going to get an apology or explanation.

“What do you need a dreamwalker for anyway? Another power play?”

Shya shrugged. “See now that’s something I can only share with those who are willing to work with me.”

“Fair enough.”

“I was just discussing that very thing with your vampire here.” Shya gestured to Arys who glowered. “We all stand to gain a lot more if we can work together. I’d advise you to play nice, Alexa. The two of you have an awful lot of power. That kind of power earns you friends and enemies. However, it’s never wise to allow it to turn friends into enemies.”

He never so much as threatened me nor did he exude any menace, yet the promise was there, Shya’s unspoken guarantee that I would be sorry for cutting the puppet strings.

“We were never friends.” I was ready to leave. Engaging in further conflict with demons tonight didn’t appeal to me.

Arys stuck to my side protectively. I stepped through the patio door to exit through the front of the house. I thought Shya might just let us go. Not without a last parting shot.

“You know you can’t save her.” Shya’s voice followed us, his words for Arys alone. “You’re running out of time.”

Arys stopped but gave me a gentle push, urging me on. He turned to Shya with a deadly calm. “So are you. Isn’t that why you’re so desperate to hang on to her? She doesn’t belong in the darkness with people like you and me. You know that. And, you know one day she may come for you.”

 I stopped dead in my tracks. My skin prickled at what I was hearing.

 “She’ll never remain mortal long enough to be a problem for me.” Shya nodded curtly. “You’ve seen to that. Haven’t you, vampire? Your selfish blood bond has tipped the balance. Eventually her flame will burn out, and with it, the purpose you both share.”

I tugged on Arys’s hand, needing to flee Shya’s unwelcome words. “Let’s go. We don’t need to listen to this.”

Arys hesitated, his jaw clenched. The negative charge of his anger made the temperature rise. “Don’t even think about it, you smug son of a bitch.”

Shya laughed then, a cold, foul sound that I felt in my bones. With hands spread wide in a gesture of mock innocence, he said oh so calmly, “It would be a shame if Alexa joined the world of the undead sooner rather than later.”

Arys snapped. Breaking away from me, he lunged at the smirking demon. I grabbed for him and missed. He landed a well-placed punch that brought a gush of blood forth from Shya’s nose. Falon intervened before he could throw another.

Falon shoved Arys in my direction. I caught hold of his arm before he could go after Shya again. “We are leaving right now,” I insisted, dragging him to the front door.

Shya wiped at his nose, his eyes never leaving me as I put distance between us. “Don’t worry, Alexa. Once you become a vampire, your blood will no longer break Lilah’s curse. We all win.”

Delusional. I was staring into the eyes of a madman. I couldn’t possibly vacate Shya’s house fast enough. Nobody would win as long as Shya was manipulating us for his own gain. Maybe I couldn’t stop him, but I didn’t have to play the part he’d written for me.

I was near hysterics by the time we were in the car speeding away from the house of hell. The calm strength I’d exuded fled, leaving me vulnerable to the fear that waited. I shook in the passenger seat while Arys drove with the aggression of a man on the warpath.

“I’ll kill him,” he swore, slamming a hand against the steering wheel. “Somehow I will find a way to send that sorry bastard back to hell where he belongs. I won’t let him hurt you.”

“Arys, this isn’t your fault. I know you’re blaming yourself. I made the choice to be bonded to you by blood. I knew what that meant.”

“No, you didn’t.” The light from the dashboard cast a green glow on Arys’s grim expression. “You didn’t know everything about us then. What we are. How the blood bond would affect that. I never told you. It was selfish and arrogant of me. Now you’re paying the price.”

I stared at him, ignoring how fast the night flew by out the window. “If you hadn’t bonded me, Harley would have. He almost did.”

“I wish I’d let him.” Arys’s confession was like a small bomb being dropped in my lap.

“How can you say that?” My voice trembled. “I am part of you. It’s better this way. We didn’t know the risks, but we will find a way to manage them.”

He was silent. Staring stonily straight ahead, Arys’s lack of reaction spoke for him. My jaw dropped as it began to sink in.

“You knew,” I whispered. “You knew it would tip the balance between us.”

I waited for him to deny it, praying he would. When his response didn’t come fast enough I had to fight back the urge to shake him.

“Yes. I knew,” he said at last.

I was at a loss for words. Arys had knowingly put me at risk just so no other vampire could claim me. “Why?”

  “It was selfish. I’d waited so long to find you. You were already mine in every other way. I never planned to do it. I didn’t want this for you. Shaz suggested it, and I saw an opportunity to bind you to me beyond this mortal life you live. And, I took it.” His voice became gruff, thick with remorse. “I’m sorry, Alexa.”

I squeezed my eyes shut. With my head in my hands, I fought back the bitter sting of tears. How many more secrets were being withheld from me? I was starting to feel that everyone I knew had a secret that would shatter my world.

Sucking in a deep breath, I let it out as an exasperated sigh. “If Harley or someone else had blood bonded me, it would still have tainted me with darkness that doesn’t belong. I will not hold this against you. I can’t. I have too many broken relationships with people I love.”

“If Harley had done it, I would be free of blame. And, I could have killed him to set you free.”

I felt betrayed. It was so hard not to. Though I loved Arys in ways I could not describe, I was painfully aware that he too had endangered me simply because he had wanted something. I said I wouldn’t hold it against him, and I meant that, so why did part of me feel that was a lie?

 As the rush of the evening faded, my head started to ache. I’d channeled an amazing amount of power without my brain exploding, a small miracle. A migraine was a small price to pay compared to the alternative of lying in a smoldering heap of fur at Lilah’s feet.

Arys glanced over, his gaze heavy with the weight of his concern. “I hate watching you do that to yourself. The headaches and the nosebleeds… it’s harming you. The power is too much.”

I turned away. Staring out the window was the best way to avoid those midnight eyes. “Let’s not have this conversation again.”

The Charger’s interior grew tense. I fidgeted with the hem of the silk robe. I’d had more than enough thrown at me for one night. Arys and I might be faced with eternal conflict, but a reprieve was necessary at times.

The atmosphere grew increasingly strained as we left the rural roads behind and entered the city. He wasn’t going to let it go – I could feel it – so I wasn’t surprised by his outburst.

“It’s killing you, Alexa. Slowly but surely, it is devouring you. The power, the bloodlust, all of it.” His voice rose to an ear battering level. It took a lot for Arys to really lose it. The trace of fear in his heavy, irate energy made it impossible to respond with anger.

“I know, Arys. It’s not the vampire blood bond. It’s us. Willow said twin flames always destroy each other. The strength of our bond is too much for either of us. Whatever we exist for, it’s not meant to be easy.”

His fingers tightened on the wheel, and his foot got heavier on the gas pedal. “Looks like I’m not the only one keeping things to myself. You didn’t think that little tidbit of conversation was worth sharing?”

“Despite how much you seem to enjoy a good fight, I didn’t think it was worth arguing about.” I slid a sidelong glance his way, drinking in the sight of him.

With that perfectly messed black hair, those entrapping eyes and the hard set to his jaw, I couldn’t help but swoon a little each time I looked at him. The sensitive side I’d discovered beneath the rough, passionate exterior drew me like a moth to a flame. It was the yin yang effect. The light buried within the darkness.

Our duality filled me with relief and encouragement. Neither of us was wholly light or dark but our own mix of both. Arys believed he was a creature of death and darkness, but light dwelled inside him waiting to burst forth. I wondered which of us would be most surprised when it did.

We jerked to a stop at a red light. Arys met my gaze, and his angry retort died on his lips. Whatever he saw in my eyes, it changed his tune.

“We fight. We fuck. We forgive. It’s what we do,” he teased, sliding a hand over my silk covered thigh. “Seriously though, it’s killing me to see what this is doing to you.”

I covered his hand with mine. That simple touch conveyed the depth of our connection. “The last year has changed you so much. I’m not sure you see it. It’s quite beautiful.”

He held my gaze, and we fell into one another. We shared something special, something that blood and death could never take from us. 

The startling honk from the car behind us broke the brief spell. Arys hit the gas, and we sped through the intersection. My phone rang, blasting out the
Austin Powers
theme song. Arys chuckled, and I shot him a dirty look.

I fished the phone out of my bag. “You’ve really got to stop changing my ring tone. That could get embarrassing in public.”

“That’s the plan.” He expertly deflected my attempted slap without ever taking his eyes off the road.

The call display revealed a number I didn’t know. I answered with suspicion in my voice. I recognized the voice on the other end immediately, and my mood soured.

“Ms. O’Brien, this is Agent Briggs. I’m calling about Kale Sinclair.”