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

With a finger bent in invitation, I turned to go back inside. “Follow me.”


I didn’t wait to see if they followed. My heightened emotions were swinging madly. It was no secret that the vampires felt I was a threat, but I’d thought the worst of their rebellion was over. They would not ruin this alliance with the wolves for me. I was done with the rebels. Time to show them.

I stalked back inside, each boot heel clicking on the pavement. There was no hesitation, no second thoughts. I was hungry for violence. Hungry for control. Humans made weak targets. Vampires always made things a little more interesting.

Reaching out to feel those undead gathered in the building, I reveled in the ability to detect them. They couldn’t hide from me even if they wanted to. That included Jenner, whose energy I felt among them.

Passing in front of the stage, I caught the eye of the band’s frontman and slashed my hand through the air, telling him to cut the music. He held up a hand, and the band stumbled to a finish.

Right away the crowd knew something was up. The humans stared around in confusion. Some of them edged away, the regulars who knew trouble when they saw it.

The vampires braced themselves. It didn’t help them though. With a flick of my wrist, the power went out from me, targeting them each in turn. One by one they dropped to their knees, hands on their heads as pained screams rang out.

Not so long ago I’d done something similar and accidentally dropped Kale as well. I was happy to see him untouched this time. My focus was improving nicely, as was the ease with which I commanded my power. I wasn’t missing the headaches and nose bleeds.

“Now,” I spoke in a loud, commanding tone. “Who wants to tell me which one of you idiots killed a Doghead wolf?”

Scanning each vampire in turn, I sought any sign of guilt or acknowledgement. I eased up on them, allowing them to stand, but I was ready to take them down again. Most of them stared stony faced at me, expressions unreadable. A few exchanged a look with one another.

Dayne and Owen had stopped near the doorway, and I motioned them forward. The vampires appraised the wolves, and the air bristled with tension.

“Here’s the thing,” I tried again. “I know most of you come here for a reason, to keep the kill count down as all good little vampires should. However, someone killed a Doghead wolf, and now a life must be traded for a life. This is your chance to make sure you’re not the one who pays the price for someone else’s mistake. So, think fast about what you want to do here.”

Dayne came to a stop beside me. Arms crossed over his wide chest, he glowered at each vampire present. His seething hatred was red hot on my skin though we didn’t touch. Owen stood close enough to protect his Alpha. I was very aware of Kale and Jez abandoning their booth across the room to drift closer.

“I want no trouble with the vampires,” Dayne thundered. “But if a war is what you want, then a war is what you’ll get.”

I shot him a look, which he ignored. All the damn war talk wasn’t going to help. His wolf was close, showing in his eyes. It caused my skin to prickle and made my wolf push for release.

“My alliance with Doghead will be respected by each and every one of you. I’ll destroy anyone who threatens it.” I wasn’t being unfair. In fact, as horrible as they all wanted me to be, I’d never really given them a reason to believe that.

People believed what they want to believe. So it came as no surprise when one mouthy vampire stepped forward.

“You can’t just start throwing your power around, punishing all of us because of one. We don’t operate as a group, and we sure as fuck don’t take the fall for each other.” Dark eyes, filled with vehemence, met mine. A smattering of dark hair on his jaw gave him a tough look that his short, blond hair contradicted.

No vampire could be judged on looks alone, so I gave him a metaphysical appraisal and found him to be stronger than he appeared. But he wasn’t stronger than me. Unfortunately for him, he’d just sealed his fate. I was done with vampire bullshit, and he was going to help me make that clear.

Dayne’s watchful wolf stare bore into me as he waited to see how I’d react. Everyone else was watching as closely, but I cared about his opinion.

“Is that right? So I guess that means you’d like to tell me who did it.” I already knew how this would go down. This guy wasn’t going to tell me shit.

“I don’t know who did it,” the vamp said, a haughty glare on his face. “And I don’t really care. Even if I did, I probably wouldn’t tell the hybrid queen nobody wants. This isn’t a dictatorship.”