“Lex, this isn’t your fault.” Shaz spoke softly.
I shook my head, unable to speak. I never would have guessed that killing Harley would lead to this. It wasn’t fair. Lena had nothing to do with any of it. She was innocent, endangered by association with me. That knowledge weighed heavily, like the weight of the world on my shoulders.
“They pulled one over on you. They killed her long before tonight.” Kale looked up at me with pain etched in the depths of his eyes. “One of us should have been here. I should have known.”
He looked at Lena’s still form, and I saw my own self-blame reflected in his gaze. Kale thought this was his fault. He was wrong.
“We didn’t know.” I was afraid to speak too loud. The faded essence of witch power lingered in the atmosphere, as if she should still be here.
We could do nothing more. I stared into the living room for a long time, wishing I could do something. I couldn’t even close her eyes or cover her up; it was best to touch nothing.
Only my loved ones presence kept me standing. I wanted to sink to my knees beside Lena and sob like a little girl. I felt like a worm on a hook. Sooner or later, we would have another confrontation with Maxwell and Claire. How many more people were going to die because of my actions?
Jez pulled Kale to his feet. Misery clung to him, bitter in its intensity. I didn’t want to leave. It felt like I was abandoning Lena, leaving her there alone. I had no choice.
When everyone had left the apartment, I used a dish towel to pick up the phone and punch in 911. The operator’s voice came on the line, asking what the emergency was. It wouldn’t take them long to dispatch when no response came. I left without looking back. Burying the pain deep inside, I concentrated on what I was going to do to Maxwell and his crew when I got the chance.
“The cops are on their way,” I announced when I joined them in the lobby. “We should head back to The Kiss for now.”
“I’ll go with Kale,” Jez swiped a hand through her tears.
Arys was unusually quiet during the ride back to The Wicked Kiss. The vampire that never apologized for his actions was sitting in silence, lost in regret. I stared out the passenger window, watching in the side mirror as Kale’s black car navigated the city streets behind us, until a changing light left the others behind.
It ate at me, the knowledge that Lena had been dead before I’d ever laid eyes on Maxwell and Claire. It made me sick. “We can’t let them get away with this, Arys. They have to suffer for what they did to Lena.”
His voice was low and menacing. “They’ll be kissing sunrise when we’re done with them.”
* * * *
Sunrise was quickly approaching. I stood behind the bar, a bottle of whiskey raised to my lips. It did nothing to fill the hole I felt inside.
The club was empty. Last call had been an hour ago. It had taken me that long to convince Jez, Shaz and Arys to go home after Kale disappeared into the night. I wasn’t ready to leave yet.
I was in a dangerous frame of mind. I didn’t want to think or feel. I just wanted to be numb. The blood hunger carving out my insides promised relief if I would just give in. My weakened state made me an easy target, and I felt myself slipping.
Just let go. The thought whispered through me. I had no strength to resist, not after what Maxwell had done to me. On every level, I was defeated. The emotional distress of Lena’s death lurked behind the wall I’d built around it. It too would crash down and swallow me.
I don’t remember abandoning the liquor or leaving the bar. I moved automatically, following the deep-rooted vampire instinct that guided me to the back hall. Like every time the bloodlust took hold, I became a rabid mess, moving and acting but not thinking.
I spun in a slow circle, feeling the energy in each of the occupied rooms. A noise drew me down the hall, the sound of a vampire and his blood whore lost in the throes of sexual gratification. Their heady tantric energy was sweet like candy as it rolled over me. A smile tugged at my lips.
The door exploded off its hinges as I entered. Everything moved in choppy scenes, like it all happened too fast for me to follow. Blood was a thick, seductive aroma in the room. Ravenous and wild, I was on them before they could react.
Dragging the vampire off his partner, I flung him aside. Without glancing his way, I held out a hand and drew the energy from him. With the other hand, I grabbed his human lover around the throat and pulled her close. She stank like prey, having been bitten previously. I tore into her viciously so that flesh tore and blood sprayed. She never even got a scream out first.