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

“Can you send Sylvia downstairs please? There’s a strange hissing sound coming from her car. She may need to have it towed. Thanks.” He hung up, returning the phone to the pocket it had come from. All of this he did without ever taking his glazed eyes off me.

“Good boy.” I patted his cheek and rewarded him with a little power push intended to flood him with pleasure. When he stopped moaning and begging me for more, I gave him a shove toward the door. “Now get out of here. Go upstairs and tell nobody about this.”

Confusion filled his dark eyes as he wrestled with what he wanted and what I’d commanded. At my insistent glare he obeyed, disappearing inside the building.

I waited for Sylvia with fast-growing anticipation. Maybe I couldn’t take back what I’d done to Kale, but I could give him a gift that he greatly deserved. Not knowing which car was Sylvia’s, I waited in the shadows beyond the parking lot until I saw her.

She was alone, muttering beneath her breath about the car. Long brown hair fell past her shoulders, and she wore a skirt far too short to be appropriate for a Fed. She was dressed for vampire torture, as she had been the one and only time I’d seen her. But she hadn’t seen me.

When she stalked over to a silver BMW, I stepped from the shadows. Moving fast, I grabbed her from behind and clamped a hand over her mouth. As expected, she flailed and fought, which only drove my hunger to greater heights.

I spun her to face me, pinning her to the car. “Don’t fight. It’s not worth it. Trust me.”

This only made her fight harder, and I couldn’t help but love that. Her cries were muffled by my hand. Sure, I could’ve poured on the charm and had her eating out of my hand like the last guy, but I wanted her to be afraid. She needed to know this was punishment for being such a sadistic bitch.

I jerked her away from the car so I could slam her hard against it. This crushed the breath from her and silenced her attempted screams. I checked her for weapons, tossing the knife and cell phone I found.

“Listen, bitch,” I growled. “You may not know me, but you know my friend. In fact, you tortured the fuck out of him not so long ago. You might remember him. One brown eye, one blue. Ring a bell?”

She nodded vigorously as understanding settled into her frightened gaze. To her credit, she stopped fighting, accepting that it was better to save her energy.

I opened my mouth to tell her it was best to cooperate and never got the words out. My senses blazed as I picked up on the approaching vampire. Before he spoke I knew who it was.

“Need a hand with that?” Jenner asked, appearing from behind me. An amused smirk played about his handsome face.

I frowned, certain that his arrival couldn’t mean anything good. “What are you still doing here? Don’t you have a city of sin to get back to?”

He snickered and leaned on the car beside Sylvia as if he’d come by for a casual chat. “God, you are so much like Arys. I lost count of how many times he’s said that to me.”

My stomach clenched at his mention of Arys. Somewhere inside me, that name inflicted pain. “So maybe you should take a hint.”

“Don’t pretend you’re not happy to see me.” Jenner crossed his tattooed arms and stared at me pointedly. “Damn, Alexa. You look fantastic, and you feel even better. Just oozing power. You’ve got the crazy eyes though.”

Sylvia’s breath came hard as she looked from me to him. Jenner had picked a fine time to come and check me out for Arys. What else would he be doing here?

“Can I help you with something?” I asked without hiding my irritation. “In case you didn’t notice, I’m a little busy right now.”

“So I see.”

In sudden desperation Sylvia kicked me hard in the shin. I cursed and retaliated with a solid punch that dropped her, out cold at my feet. Lingering in the parking lot was stupid so I grabbed her limp form and started moving.

Jenner stepped forward and scooped her into his arms with a nod. “Lead the way, your highness.”

Eyeing him with suspicion, I led the way back through the shadows to the side street where my car was parked. As we went, I continued to shoot questioning glances his way. Each one was met with a shit-eating grin.

“Be honest, Jenner. Why are you following me? Did Arys send you?”

“No. I’m here because I can’t stand to be away from you a moment longer. You haunt my dreams, my queen.” He laughed, clearly entertained by himself. “Of course he did. He’s worried about you. I’ve never seen him like this. Frankly, it fucking sucks. He’s not himself. From the looks of it, neither are you.”

We reached the car, and I opened the passenger door so Jenner could dump Sylvia inside. When I was sure she was still pretty out of it, I pulled the seatbelt across her, shut the door, and turned to Jenner.