Forget About Midnight (Alexa O'Brien, Huntress #9)(13)

With wide eyes he reached for his gun. I caught his arm and shoved him up against the building. I removed the weapon and flung it aside. The additional strength I had was delightful. I held him with one hand. With the other I reached to caress his face, drawing his gaze to mine.

“What the f*ck?” He gasped as he fell under my spell. Confusion passed over his sharp features, becoming understanding and then full surrender.

“I need your help with something,” I said, low and seductive. Breathing in his yummy human scent almost ruined my whole plan. Sinking my fangs into his throat was all I could think about. My reason for being there was greater than my hunger. Somehow I managed to hold off.

Wrapping him in my manipulative thrall, I pressed close, playing the part of the temptress. He stared at me with heavy-lidded desire before trying to pull me in for a kiss. I laughed, enjoying how damn easy this was. Pushing him back against the wall, I shook my head and wagged a finger in his face.

“Slow down there, fella. One thing at a time. I need to know, is Sylvia working tonight?”

“Sylvia,” he repeated the name, his brow furrowed. “I think so.”

“I need you to get her out here. I don’t care how. But leave me out of it.” Excitement created a roar of white noise in my ears. I couldn’t believe I was doing this.

He reached to touch me with a groping hand, and I shoved it down by his side. Shaking my head, I turned up the power level until he groaned. “Sylvia,” I repeated. “Get her now.”

Though he barely blinked as he stared at me in a hypnotized state, he took his phone from his back pocket and made a call. He spoke with calm authority, as if everything were fine.

“Can you send Sylvia downstairs please? There’s a strange hissing sound coming from her car. She may need to have it towed. Thanks.” He hung up, returning the phone to the pocket it had come from. All of this he did without ever taking his glazed eyes off me.

“Good boy.” I patted his cheek and rewarded him with a little power push intended to flood him with pleasure. When he stopped moaning and begging me for more, I gave him a shove toward the door. “Now get out of here. Go upstairs and tell nobody about this.”

Confusion filled his dark eyes as he wrestled with what he wanted and what I’d commanded. At my insistent glare he obeyed, disappearing inside the building.

I waited for Sylvia with fast-growing anticipation. Maybe I couldn’t take back what I’d done to Kale, but I could give him a gift that he greatly deserved. Not knowing which car was Sylvia’s, I waited in the shadows beyond the parking lot until I saw her.

She was alone, muttering beneath her breath about the car. Long brown hair fell past her shoulders, and she wore a skirt far too short to be appropriate for a Fed. She was dressed for vampire torture, as she had been the one and only time I’d seen her. But she hadn’t seen me.

When she stalked over to a silver BMW, I stepped from the shadows. Moving fast, I grabbed her from behind and clamped a hand over her mouth. As expected, she flailed and fought, which only drove my hunger to greater heights.

I spun her to face me, pinning her to the car. “Don’t fight. It’s not worth it. Trust me.”

This only made her fight harder, and I couldn’t help but love that. Her cries were muffled by my hand. Sure, I could’ve poured on the charm and had her eating out of my hand like the last guy, but I wanted her to be afraid. She needed to know this was punishment for being such a sadistic bitch.

I jerked her away from the car so I could slam her hard against it. This crushed the breath from her and silenced her attempted screams. I checked her for weapons, tossing the knife and cell phone I found.

“Listen, bitch,” I growled. “You may not know me, but you know my friend. In fact, you tortured the f*ck out of him not so long ago. You might remember him. One brown eye, one blue. Ring a bell?”

She nodded vigorously as understanding settled into her frightened gaze. To her credit, she stopped fighting, accepting that it was better to save her energy.

I opened my mouth to tell her it was best to cooperate and never got the words out. My senses blazed as I picked up on the approaching vampire. Before he spoke I knew who it was.

“Need a hand with that?” Jenner asked, appearing from behind me. An amused smirk played about his handsome face.

I frowned, certain that his arrival couldn’t mean anything good. “What are you still doing here? Don’t you have a city of sin to get back to?”

He snickered and leaned on the car beside Sylvia as if he’d come by for a casual chat. “God, you are so much like Arys. I lost count of how many times he’s said that to me.”

My stomach clenched at his mention of Arys. Somewhere inside me, that name inflicted pain. “So maybe you should take a hint.”

“Don’t pretend you’re not happy to see me.” Jenner crossed his tattooed arms and stared at me pointedly. “Damn, Alexa. You look fantastic, and you feel even better. Just oozing power. You’ve got the crazy eyes though.”

Sylvia’s breath came hard as she looked from me to him. Jenner had picked a fine time to come and check me out for Arys. What else would he be doing here?

“Can I help you with something?” I asked without hiding my irritation. “In case you didn’t notice, I’m a little busy right now.”

“So I see.”