Sunset to Sunrise (Alexa O'Brien, Huntress #7.5)(16)

My mind raced as I strolled through row after row of headstones, pausing to read the odd one here or there. It was unlikely Phillip would succeed in his plan. Of course, he didn’t have to be aware of it for me to play my own part.

Various scenarios played out in my head as I entertained the many ways I could lure Arys to his end. He was a powerhouse for sure, but he wasn’t invincible. Like so many others were starting to figure out, I knew his greatest weakness, for it was also my own.

Alexa. It always came back to her.

With a frustrated cry, I unleashed my fury on a defenseless tree. I pounded away at the thick trunk until my knuckles bled. I guess it wasn’t so defenseless after all.

What I needed was to beat the hell out of someone who could put up a good fight. Phillip. He would do. Not tonight though. I wanted him one on one. If I had to take out every vampire in his merry little band of rebels first, so be it.

I kicked over a pot holding dead flowers. It smashed against a headstone, littering the grass with shards of glass. I didn’t care. My mind was a mess. I couldn’t decide whether I wanted to cheer Phillip on in his assassination attempt or take him out myself.

What I wanted and what I needed were different things.

I returned to The Wicked Kiss where I intended to pass the time with a warm body. A distraction would keep me occupied. It was the safest way to keep me off the streets in the mood I was in.

And what a mood it was. If someone didn’t bleed for me soon I was going to lose it.

Justin stopped me on my way in. Pulling me aside, he spoke in a rush, his eyes wide with excitement. “Kale, we had to start turning people away. Shit is getting crazy in there. We can’t keep up.”

“Close the doors for the night. We’ll start kicking people out at sunrise.”

“Have you seen the shit going down on the dance floor? Would it be so wrong to lock up and join in?” He was stone cold serious. It took me a second to realize that.

I stepped into the club to find it in worse shape than when I’d left it. A short bark of laughter burst from me. Now this was a party.

The one couple having sex on the dance floor had multiplied considerably. The dance floor had erupted into an orgy of sex and blood. Bodies slithered upon bodies in an erotic rhythm to the music. Blood perfumed the air. Much to their credit, the band kept playing. The chaos spilled over onto the couches behind the bar where two vampires were sharing the group of women I’d been eyeing up earlier. Tabletops had become makeshift beds for others.

The only place left in the club that held a semblance of normalcy was the bar where Willow sat drinking tequila. He stared straight ahead, either unfazed by the activity or unaware. It was hard to say. I was torn between speaking with him and gravitating toward the dance floor orgy.

Being surrounded by several naked and bleeding humans while I got off on the rush of so many victims sounded like my idea of paradise. I could happily bask in that until I forgot my own name. However, with a longing glance toward the bloody fun, I went in the opposite direction, toward the bar.

“Ah, you’re back.” Willow greeted me with a raised shot glass and a nod. “From the looks of things, you probably shouldn’t have left.”

“Oh, I don’t know about that,” I mused. “I think it’s an improvement.”

Willow didn’t appear all that impressed with the activity going on around him. I got it. It wasn’t his thing.

“Better not let anymore FPA agents in here,” he warned, “or they’re going to shut you down.”

“They can try,” I said with a smirk, almost wishing Juliet would walk back through that door. I’d love to see the look on her face when she saw this. “Everyone will be back on their best behavior when Alexa gets back. It’s temporary.”

“I tried to find her,” he said, surprising me. “I couldn’t. Her room at Caesars was empty, but it seemed like someone had just been there. I think she’s ok.”

The girl with the blue hair was back. She easily captured my attention in black, thigh-high boots and a dress that was little more than a scrap of fabric. I watched her with growing excitement as she approached. Leaning on the bar next to me, she ordered a drink.

“Falon went to find her,” I said to Willow, distracted by the woman on my other side. Goddamn her legs were long. I couldn’t wait to get between them. “I looked further into that whole Arys situation. It’s looking pretty serious, actually. I hadn’t really expected that.”

Willow glanced past me to the woman dominating my focus and shook his head. “I imagine that kind of thing won’t end here. Alexa and Arys will always be in danger. So, what are you going to do about it?”

That snapped my gaze back to him. I studied him, searching his pensive green eyes. “What the hell do you mean by that?”

“You know exactly what I mean. Are you going to let it happen? Or are you going to do the right thing?” His gaze was unflinching. Despite the amount of liquor he consumed, he was as sharp as ever.

I broke eye contact; Willow was too damn intuitive. I couldn’t shake the feeling that he could see into parts of me I no longer even saw myself.

The knockout next to me smiled. It reminded me what my current priority was. I told the bartender that her drinks were on the house and received a dazzling white smile. With a flirtatious wink, she sauntered away, leaving me staring after her.