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

Falon peered into the stone eyes of what appeared to be a broken angel as he spoke. “I don’t think he’s ready to deal with me yet. Shya’s a plotter. He likes to take his time. But if there’s anything keeping him away from you, that’s Willow.”


The sorrow I felt at that name penetrated deep. A night hadn’t passed when I hadn’t had a moment of panic, wondering where he was and if he was ok. He had saved me. I was forever in Willow’s debt. Taking my darkness had made him a demon. It had allowed me to keep the balance of light and dark rather than being consumed by the dark entirely. Though my mental state was now divided in a severe Jekyll and Hyde manner, without Willow’s sacrifice I would just be the Hyde.

“Willow,” I repeated, softly to myself. “Just how powerful is he now?”

Falon hesitated before saying, “Like you wouldn’t believe.”

“Have you seen him?” Kale asked, his curiosity evident. Or was that fear?

“No.” There was an awkward silence. Falon sneered at the broken angel statue before turning back to me. “Anyway, we’ve gotten a bit off topic. None of this is why I came so, if you’ll stop with the chit chat, I can get to the point.”

I frowned, wanting to grill him further about Willow. Knowing it was useless to try to nag info out of Falon, I motioned for him to say whatever he’d come to say.

Falon gestured to the body before pinning us with a hard stare. “This shit has got to stop. You,” he pointed at Kale, “should know better by now. And you,” his angry finger swung my way, “are smarter than this. Do you think this kind of behavior comes without consequence?”

His tone bordered on annoyed, and it was just so ridiculous that I burst out laughing. My emotions had been running on overdrive since the turn. Now was no exception.

“Am I missing something here?” I asked. “Since when do you care what I do? Not that it’s any business of yours.”

Kale didn’t share my humor. He stood there with arms crossed, his face disturbingly expressionless. Falon merely waited for me to stop cackling. It dawned on me that he had just complimented my intelligence, and for some reason that made me start to take him seriously. I sobered slightly though the blood high made it difficult.

“Are you quite finished?” Falon’s eyes glinted with disdain. A few paces brought us face to face so he could give me his holier-than-thou stare. “You do not have the luxury of acting out like a fledgling vampire. Not with the reputation that you have. Do you have any idea how many eyes are on you right now?”

I heard him and understood his words meant something, but my gaze dropped to the vein in his neck. I fumbled for a response. “Other than yours? Why don’t you enlighten me, Falon?”

The subtle but constant hum of his angelic power made my skin tingle. It was mesmerizing. I’d never been able to feel it before, when I was alive, unless he actively used it. The scent of his blood was sharp and familiar. The taste of it lived in my memory, and oh, how that lovely aroma taunted me. I didn’t need to actively breathe to function though the action was automatic. My senses were heightened to an extent even the wolf had not possessed. Falon’s angelic blood smelled sinful and divine. I wanted to breathe it in, to tease myself into a taste.

“The FPA has been following you. Little sis is cleaning up your mess. Even as stupid as you can be, you must know that won’t end well.” Falon glared when he realized I was ogling his jugular.

“Wait. So am I smart or stupid? You’re giving me mixed messages.” I forced my gaze back to his and smiled, certain that it looked as creepy as it felt on my face.

Falon wasn’t impressed. “You’re going to end up in lockup. Is that what you want?”

His reasoning was valid. I agreed wholeheartedly. The FPA lockup was a nasty place. However, I still questioned his motives.

“Why though? Why do you care if I end up there? I’d think you’d be happy with that.”

“Look, you childish little idiot, if you get yourself locked up, then everything we both did to stop Shya will have been for nothing. Now is not the time to act like a horror-movie monster. Get your shit together.” Falon paused as if concocting another round of insults.

I noticed that he still hadn’t answered my question. “Are you trying to give me some guidance, Falon? That’s so sweet. I didn’t think you still had it in you. You know, with you being fallen from grace and all.”

Falon scoffed and shook his head of fair hair. “Consider it a warning. You’re a Hound. One of the last. Don’t fuck that up any more than you already have.”

There was no understanding him. Falon was an enigma. I wanted to figure him out, but every time I thought I had, he threw me another curve.

“I really don’t understand you,” I said, my gaze on his but my mind on what lay beneath the surface of his skin. “But I’m going to figure you out, Falon. Because I know that you don’t want me to.”

His bark of laughter was loud, shattering the relative calm. “That’s never going to happen. It’s strange that finding out what makes me tick means so much to you. I’m going to have fun with that.”