It wasn’t just her. It was everything she represented. This world…my world. And now, because of me, it was Shaz’s world, too. He’d promised me that he wasn’t sleeping with her, but that had been weeks ago. Things change, and I didn’t have the guts to ask.
Besides, a sexual element always tinged such encounters; the absence of intercourse didn’t mean it wasn’t sexual. Of course it was. My own personal proof of that sat beside me, a dark dream in leather. The carnal tension had been running high between Kale and I long before our night in the rain. It was only a matter of time until Shaz made all of my mistakes.
Worse than sexual tension was the chance of emotional entanglement. That was the fear that gripped me as I watched them from across the room. I held my glass in a white-knuckled grip, willing myself to react. I was frozen.
Feeling the weight of my stunned stare, Shaz met my gaze across the distance. We shared a moment of horror, and then he looked away. So, he hadn’t expected to see me. Should that make me feel better?
The chatter at my table fell quiet as my companions followed my gaze. I watched Shaz whisper something to the vampiress who immediately turned my way. He was trying to get away from her without making a scene. I could tell by the tension in his shoulders as he pulled away. She stopped him with a hand, ensuring I was watching before she slid a hand into his platinum hair and laid one hell of a kiss on him.
The glass in my hand shattered into several little shards. Whiskey splashed the table and covered my hand. Blood welled up from the cuts I’d sustained, but I barely noticed. I was already fighting my way out of the booth.
I snapped. Rather than throw Kale out of my way, I leaped across the table, hitting the floor at a run. Jez’s voice was quickly lost in the crowd as she called my name. The wolf inside me exploded in a territorial rage. I was suddenly all fangs and claws, ready to kill.
The crowd was thick, and I shoved people out of my way with more force than necessary. Both Shaz and the vampiress looked up at my sudden approach. Fear flickered in Shaz’s jade green eyes. He reached as if to stop me, but I threw him back with little more than a thought.
The power exploded inside me, overflowing to wash throughout the building. It was magnificent. The vampiress had no chance to brace against it. Using my bloody hand to guide the force surging through me, I drove her to her knees. I was lost in the hypnotic rush of life and death, as the vampire and werewolf power I possessed became one writhing, demanding entity.
I saw nothing but her. The rest of the club ceased to exist as I stared down into her frightened brown eyes. I wanted her to hurt. In response to that thought, she screamed. I envisioned her insides on fire, and her shrieks became deafening.
A wicked smile pulled at my lips; it didn’t feel like mine. “Don’t you realize who you’re messing with? I will break you.” My voice was exceptionally calm, almost detached.
She cowered before me, grasping her head in agony. I could feel it, her true death. I could have it. The power went out from me with surprising ease. It was almost disappointing that I could kill her so easily.
“Alexa, please.” Shaz lingered nearby, his voice an annoying reminder that if I loved him, I couldn’t destroy her. He’d put up with too much from me in the name of love.
I growled, shooting him a dark look. I didn’t release my hold on her though. No, I wanted her to know she’d gone too far. Her heart was there, in my mind. I could feel it, ready to burst at my command. I had killed more than one vampire this way, and every time it got easier.
“I don’t know what you were thinking, putting on a display like that, but I am not the one you want to f**k with.” I put pressure on her heart, squeezing until she coughed blood. In my mind, I was inside her as surely as if I’d held her cold, dead heart in my hand. With a hand beneath her chin, I forced her to meet my eyes. “You won’t get another warning. Next time, we finish this.”
I dropped the livewire running from me into her, releasing her from my deadly hold. She collapsed completely, spitting blood and whimpering. Only then did I notice the entire place had fallen silent. Even the band had stopped.
Several vampires were on their knees, blinded by pain as a wave of heavy energy swept over the crowd. Shya’s words echoed in my head. “You have immense power over vampires and werewolves. You are both and yet somehow neither, all at the same time.”
I hadn’t believed that then. I was starting to now. As I looked down at the suffering vampiress, it was startlingly undeniable. Shaking from the pressure of conducting so much energy, I needed some air, so I turned and headed for the front door. However, I carefully avoided eye contact with those I passed.
Shaz said my name, but I didn’t stop, and he didn’t pursue me. Jez ultimately caught hold of my arm and stopped me in the lobby. She held firm, refusing to be shaken off.