“Just you?” Juliet repeated, a glimmer of hope in her eyes. Taking in one of us would be better than neither. “You freely admit this?”
“I’ll freely do anything you want me to. As long as Alexa is left alone.” The seductive lilt he spoke with was like a hand sliding down my spine.
It seemed to have a similar effect on Juliet because she nodded and gestured to her men to grab him. I watched in shock and awe as Kale stood quietly, willingly allowing them to cuff him. The restraints they used hummed with magic, and that’s when my internal alarm went off.
“No,” I shouted. “You can’t take him. He hasn’t done anything. Irving was a f**king traitor.” I shoved an agent aside so I could get close to Kale. Placing both hands on his face, I stood on my tiptoes and whispered, “What are you doing?”
“You saved my ass. Now I’m saving yours.” Taking advantage of our close proximity, Kale pressed his lips to mine. The kiss was brief but intoxicating. He tasted like blood and honey, waking my hunger. Draped in his saccharine pull, I ached for him.
I wasn’t content to keep my mouth shut and let him take the fall for me. We had both taken Abigail’s blood. She had been our victim.
“Juliet, be reasonable. You’re a pawn to a political agenda. That’s not the Zelda Fitzgerald I heard you talk nonstop about.” It was desperate; appealing to the girl she’d once been was my last resort. We were both sporting some ugly cuts and bruises. Now that we’d scrapped it out the way siblings do, there was nothing else for us to do.
Her eyelashes fluttered, and she looked away, suddenly unable to meet my eyes. “I’m not Zelda Fitzgerald.”
“No, you’re Juliet O’Brien,” I mimicked our father’s tone. “So start acting like it.”
She did look at me then. With the stubborn fury that was neither werewolf nor woman but simply O’Brien, she waved a hand dismissively. “Get him out of here, boys.”
Agent Asshole jammed his gun into Kale’s back and gave him a shove. “You heard the woman, bloodsucker. Try anything, and I’ll bury a wooden bullet in your heart before you can blink.”
“You’re not taking him without taking me,” I protested, my voice rising in panic.
Kale let the agents push him along toward the door. He spared a parting glance at Shaz with the command, “Grab her.”
Shaz didn’t need to be told twice. He intercepted me before I could follow. I struggled against him, but he over-powered me. I could have fought him off with a slap of a psi ball, but I could never do that to him.
I watched helplessly as the FPA agents ushered Kale out of the building. Juliet lingered though she slowly edged toward the exit.
“I have never felt as betrayed by anyone as I do by you, right now.” I spat the words at her. “We’re family, Juliet. We were.”
With a shake of her head, Juliet had the nerve to look hurt. “Lexi, you can’t be trusted. You work with demons and share power with vampires. I just want to do what’s right.”
“You mean what the FPA tells you is right. They have you brainwashed.”
“I’m not sure that I’m the one who isn’t seeing things as they really are.”
That burned. I wanted to run after her, to tackle her like I had when I’d caught her reading my diary. Shaz’s arms tight around my waist prevented that.
“I’ll be coming for him, Juliet. I can find you and the FPA. I will. You tell them I’m coming.” My shouts grew absolutely venomous as I thrashed in Shaz’s grip. “That vampire is mine. I claim him, and I will answer for him. If the FPA touches one hair on his head, sending you in here tonight will be the greatest mistake they ever made.”
She gave a curt nod before disappearing through the exit without a look back. Only after she was long gone did Shaz let me go.
I spun around to face him, ready to cuss him out for restraining me. The crestfallen expression he wore stole my words. The patrons and staff that remained dispersed, leaving us alone in front of the bar.
“You lied to me, Lex,” Shaz accused. “You said it was over with him, but it’s not. I saw the way he kissed you. The way he looks at you. Hell, I just watched him take the fall for you.”
“It is over. I haven’t been screwing him. Not since the one and only time.” I could not believe he was doing this. It was ballsy and rude, not to mention uncharacteristic.
Shaz’s jade gaze dropped to my wrist. “You made a deal with a demon to save Kale. He just handed himself over to a bunch of lunatic humans to save you. It’s so not over with you two. You and I both know that love can exist just fine without sex. In fact, in some ways, it’s stronger.”
I swallowed hard. He was right. Shaz and I had loved each other for years before we were ready to take it to the next level. Still, Kale was different.
“I would do the same thing for you or Jez or Ky.” I ran my tongue over my lips, tasting blood and Kale. I needed to hunt. The bloodlust lurked beneath the cloak of my fury, waiting for the right moment to strike.