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

“Screw it,” I muttered, turning away from my reflection. It wasn’t getting any easier to see myself with Arys’s eyes and fangs. Many times I had to stop myself from slamming my fist into the mirror.

Kale was already gone. He’d gone to see Jez, most likely to tell her about his intent to join Jenner in Las Vegas. She wasn’t going to take it well. She relied on him more than he realized. With Jez’s recent drug abuse issues, she was going to need me as much as I needed her. Which was a lot.

I was glad they would have some time alone together. Our group dynamic had been screwed up in recent months, and it had been hard on Jez. Plus, it gave me the opportunity to go see Jenner alone. I had a few things to say to him that I didn’t want any witnesses for.

With a spritz of vanilla perfume, I was ready to leave. Black leggings and a long, loose tank top with the Stark family wolf let me move with comfort and precision. I brought my long leather coat to hide my dagger, not because I needed it. I barely felt the cold these days.

Kale’s house was quiet, dreadfully so. I hated the way it felt without him. It gave me a grim sense of foreshadowing. My pace quickened as I vacated the lonely house.

However my step neared a skip as I approached my big red beast of a car sitting at the curb. I was eager to get my hands on the Dragon Claw. I retrieved it from the trunk, a happy sigh escaping me as I ran my hand along the flat part of the blade. It hummed beneath my touch. Damn, I’d missed it. Fear had kept me from touching it, but as I did, Shya’s words rang with the truth. The dagger was no more of a threat than it had ever been. Unless it was turned on me by an opponent with great aim, I had little to fear.

Murmuring sweet nothings to the shiny blade, I slipped it into its sheath and tossed it on the floor on the passenger side as I got into the Charger. Turning the local rock station on loud, I pulled out of Kale’s neighborhood, wondering when it would be for the last time.

As I drove with the raucous sound of Alexisonfire filling the confines of the car, I tapped a finger on the wheel in time with the beat and began to ponder. I pondered what exactly I would say to Jenner. I pondered the FPA backlash that I knew was coming. And I pondered if perhaps it was time to go home. Or at the very least, to leave Kale’s house.

Home. Such a funny word. It could mean so many things. People lost it, found it, built it. And in an instant, the entire meaning of it could change. My home had changed many times, the physical structure anyway. It had even been burnt to the ground. Currently, it sat in downtown Edmonton with a stylish new sign that beamed the words: The Wicked Kiss.

Funny how a place I’d once loathed had become something of a comfort. I hated that.

I felt fine as I strode across the parking lot to the front entry. Maybe even a little cocky and invincible. The sign above the door flickered as I passed beneath it, then I crossed the threshold and was immediately hit with the scent and energy of many human bodies packed into one place.

Being new meant facing the bloodlust nightly until I mastered it. Arys and Kale no longer had to feed every night. They could abstain several days if needed. I was in newbie hell. Lucky for me, I was in the right place to find victims. I just needed to somehow avoid killing them and breaking my own rule.

I passed Justin with a smile and nod, not wanting to give him the chance to see how fragile my control was. Right away my gaze went to Willow’s spot at the bar. Disappointment crushed me when I saw it occupied by someone else.

Where are you, Willow?

Jenner wasn’t there yet. Momentarily I worried that he would bring Arys. That moment quickly passed as a cute twenty-something with a heartbeat caught my eye. He was watching me with a dark brow raised, trying to decide if I was predator or prey. I flashed him a flirty smile, broadly revealing fangs. It was all the encouragement he needed.

He broke away from his group and came toward me. Tall, with chiseled good looks, he was handsome, though that didn’t matter much. What I wanted from him was beneath the surface of that nicely wrapped package.

Before he reached me, I felt something move inside me, an awareness of sorts. My senses picked up another energy source so much like myself, and I knew Jenner had arrived.

I turned to see him sweep into the nightclub with an arrogant stride and a cocky sneer to match. A black t-shirt showed off the tattoos on his arms: a large spade with L.V. inside it and script written in a language I didn’t recognize, among other things, on one arm and a mash of images that made up a full sleeve on the other. It appeared to contain roses and blood.

Jenner didn’t just walk. He sauntered, exuding power that cloaked him like a fragrance and drawing stares from those nearby. He was hot, and he knew it. God, how I despised him.

“This better be good.” He greeted me with a grin and some blatant ogling. “I’m missing out on some quality male bonding at a hockey game right now.”