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

“Your guardian thought he was saving you,” Shya continued, very much aware of my fragile mental state and clearly enjoying it. “When in fact he was condemning you to a fate worse than if the dark had overtaken you. I hope it’s haunting him now.”


A frustrated growl rumbled in my throat. I watched as Shya nudged a body with his toe. Unable to hold back, I took a shot. It hit him harder than I expected, throwing him across the room. Instead of angry retaliation, he merely laughed.

Shya got to his feet, smoothing out his suit as if I’d rumpled it. “Now the beast is really out of her cage, hmm? This should be interesting. I can’t wait to see how you destroy yourself.”

He flared his wings out wide behind him, but otherwise never reacted to my temper. I hated him more than words could ever convey.

“How did he know?” I blurted before I could rein in the question. “How did Willow know he could save me from total darkness?”

Shya regarded me with something that almost bordered on sympathy. Or pity. Neither of which I wanted from him.

“Of course he knew, Alexa. We’ve been around since the beginning of time. Willow walked in both worlds. He knew well what you faced, and he knew what it would take to save you. And condemn you.”

“Screw you, Shya.”

“The truth is a harsh thing, isn’t it? That’s why we seek to escape it in such acts of pain and desperation.” He inclined his head toward the scene we stood in, forcing me to face what I’d done with his eyes upon me.

I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of making me feel guilty. Turning the tables would be the only way to make him to get to the point of his visit here.

Pinning Shya with a cool stare, I smiled a little when I said, “Willow is more powerful now than you will ever be. You know it. I know it. I can’t wait until he makes you suffer for what you did to Christina.”

Shya choked on a bark of laughter. “The whore? Nonsense. Willow is where he belongs now, as are you.”

“No.” I shook my head sadly as I recalled the look on Willow’s face when he told me that Shya had killed the woman he loved. “He’s got nothing left to lose. You should be worried.”

Shya’s expression remained stony and cold. “Don’t be too quick to cast out vengeance upon others, Alexa. There is some coming your way as well.”

Crossing my arms in an attempt to appear in control, I scoffed. “Is this the part where you swear that you’ll get revenge on me for the whole Lilah’s empire thing? Ok, let’s hear it.”

A sudden and sharp pain in my middle doubled me over. My heart squeezed painfully, and I clutched my chest. Shya’s thick, murky demon power slithered over me, coiling like a snake around my heart. I was on my knees before I realized what hit me.

Shya stood there unmoving, eyes flashing with malice. “You will be sorry you crossed me. I am very patient. I can wait for the right time. It’s not my intent to destroy you. I want to make you suffer. All I have is time. And now, so do you.”

He released me from his hold, and I collapsed on the floor next to one of the dead frat guys. For a moment I thought I might vomit. Shya’s power was easier to bear than when I’d been mortal, but it was no less nauseating or intimidating.

I looked into the vacant, dead stare of the corpse at my side, and I saw who I was now. With that moment of raw awareness came an epiphany. Shya didn’t know me, nor had he ever. I was just beginning to really know myself. I was dark to the core, but I was light too. Willow had given himself to ensure the dark could not wholly consume me. I couldn’t let his sacrifice be in vain. Again it became very clear that to give in to my dark side would be the ultimate failure.

“Revenge, Shya? That’s really a priority for you right now?” I shoved to my feet and wiped my hands on my clothing. “Well then I might as well make it worthwhile. Things have changed. I’m not going to get you the dreamwalker I owe you.”

Taunting the demon was not in my best interest. I didn’t care. Shya would never be satisfied. He would always want something from someone. Somehow I would find a way to stop being one of them.

There was a noise at the top of the stairs. Kale stood there with a body at his feet. Other than a few disheveled hairs out of place and a smear of blood down the side of his face, he appeared just as well put together as he had when we’d arrived.

“Good of you to join us, Kale,” Shya greeted him with a nod. He watched with curiosity as Kale descended the steps. “We were just discussing the dreamwalker Alexa owes me. You know, the debt she accepted on your behalf.”

The debt that would never go away. I’d only worn Shya’s mark for a few months, but it felt like much longer. Still, he would’ve killed Kale, and if he resorted to that tactic now, I knew I would do anything he wanted.