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

My purse was on the counter, and I checked to ensure my phone, wallet, and car keys were inside. Jez had left a few texts for me that I quickly replied to, but another from Shaz I ignored. Just like last night’s text.

Begging me to come home wasn’t what I needed to hear from him. When he had needed time away, I’d let him go. Why couldn’t he do the same for me?

“I’m going to head over to The Wicked Kiss,” Kale said as he ambled into the room. “Are you sure you don’t want to come?”

Getting into the willing victim scene was, unfortunately, something I needed to consider. For my sanity’s sake, I knew it was best, though it held no appeal to me whatsoever. Sanity is so overrated, I thought but knew better than to say as much to a vampire like Kale.

“Totally sure. You go ahead. Have fun.” I frowned as I remembered the kind of fun Kale had at The Wicked Kiss. “Not too much fun though. Wait. Pretend I never said that. It’s none of my business what you do there.”

I turned away, embarrassed and somewhat glad that vampires can’t really blush. What a stupid thing to say. It had slipped out, as if I had some claim over him. Kale’s constant sexcapades hadn’t bothered me much before. Why should it now?

Kale grabbed my arm and turned me back to face him. “Please don’t ever think that I could go there and screw someone after spending the day with you in my arms.”

If life were a movie, this would be the part where I’d swoon and fall head over heels for him. Because it wasn’t, instead I felt both absolutely smitten and equally horrified. Smitten because it was Kale, and how the hell could I not be when he said shit like that? Horrified because we weren’t supposed to be together. Not only was it bad for us, it was bad for society.

Since I was already rushing headlong down the wrong path, I let myself be smitten. “Kale, you are the most selfless man I know. You deserve endless happiness.” I rose up on my toes to kiss him, a gentle brush of lips. With a laugh, I added, “Don’t waste yourself on me.”

“Impossible. There isn’t a second of my time that’s been wasted on you. It’s all been wonderfully spent.”

I fake coughed the word “bullshit” and spun out of his grasp. “Keep your phone handy. I’ll call you in a bit.”

“Alexa, be careful.”

He seemed to want to say more so I nodded, cutting him off as I headed for the door. Spinning my key ring on one finger, I slid my boots on and waved. “Don’t worry about me. I won’t be long.”

Afraid he would stop me, I made a hasty exit. The quiet outside was heavy. The neighborhood was asleep. My big red Dodge Charger Daytona sat on the street in front of the house. With a press of a button on the key fob, the headlights lit up the night as the doors unlocked.

I slid behind the wheel with a sigh. Some time alone was not necessarily the best thing for me. Considering what I had planned, it was likely a huge mistake. Even though I sat there consciously making the decision to do something horrible, I didn’t feel all that bad about it. The dark part of me knew nothing of remorse.

As I cruised through the city streets, I kept watching my mirrors, expecting to see an FPA tail. Nothing. Maybe Falon was blowing smoke up my ass about them. He wasn’t exactly the most trustworthy person. Having a tail would have seriously blown my evening since I was on my way to FPA headquarters.

The moon shone bright, like a beacon in the sky above me. It wasn’t full, not yet, but I could feel it calling to my wolf. I hadn’t shifted since the turn. I was afraid. What if I couldn’t? What if Lena’s spell didn’t work after all and the wolf was trapped inside me?

Anxiety thoughts, all of them. My worry was wasted on the what-ifs, but I just couldn’t silence the antagonistic voice within. Eventually I had to find out for sure. The wolf was restless, disappointed with the changes in me. I didn’t know how to deal with it.

Loud music helped to drown out my anxious thoughts. The local rock band, Crimson Sin, played at my club a lot. Their catchy riffs and take-no-shit lyrics had led me to put them on regular rotation in my car as well.

After another fifteen minutes on the road, I turned onto a side street near the Charles Camsell Hospital, aka, Federal Para-Intelligence Agency HQ. It was a dreadful place. Filled with restless spirits, the building housed a certain evil that preyed on those who dared to enter.

My hands grew shaky on the wheel as I drew closer. I pulled over and turned off the engine, trying to regain my composure. Returning to the place of my death was hitting me harder than I’d expected. Still, it felt like progress. I had yet to return to the place where I awoke as vampire. I wasn’t ready to have everyone stare at me. The hybrid. A true hybrid now.