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

“Come on.” I gave her arm an encouraging squeeze before turning to the door Falon stood at. He looked in on a teen boy holding a ball of fire. When he saw us at the window, he flipped us a middle finger and leaned back on his chair so it balanced on two legs.

“You’re not going to be able to get most of these people out,” Falon said. “They may be human, but the wards were made for their abilities. You’re going to have to cut your losses and leave them.”

“All of them?” I asked, my mind racing. The thought of leaving these people behind was unacceptable.

“You don’t have a choice. If you waste anymore time here, you won’t get out either.” Falon reached for my arm, and I jerked back before he could touch me.

I turned away before he could grab for me again. “Help me find Juliet. If she’s not here, we can leave.” To the werewolf hovering at my side, I asked, “What’s your name, sweetie?”

“Izzy,” she said pushing the untamed mane out of her eyes.

“Alexa,” I said, then pointed at the fallen angel moving swiftly from door to door. “That’s Falon.”

Izzy nodded. “I’ve heard your name before. They asked me if I knew you when I first came.”

That didn’t surprise me. Briggs seemed to think every vampire and werewolf in the city knew me. They didn’t. Not yet. I hoped to change that, if only to rally them all together for the greater good, whatever that happened to be.

I continued to peer in windows, seeking either my sister or someone I could free. I found myself looking in at the same little girl I’d seen during my last basement visit. Unlike last time, she was awake and carrying on a conversation with someone I couldn’t see. The animated way she chattered along, her hands gesturing wildly, gave me the creeps.

“Not that one.” Falon appeared behind me, looking in over my shoulder. “Never that one.”

Before I could turn away, the little girl glanced up and flashed me a huge smile. At first it seemed so innocent, so child-like. Until she blinked solid black eyes at me and waved.

I backed away, straight into Falon. Jumping as if I’d been burned, I put distance between us so fast I almost lost my balance.

“I’m not sure if I should be amused or insulted,” he said. “I’m part of you now, in some way. Accept it. Or get over it. Either way, settle the fuck down. Oh, and Juliet isn’t here.”

His words chilled me. I’m part of you now. He wasn’t wrong. That’s how it worked. But I’d already broken my heart into four pieces and given them all away. There was nothing left for Falon. Yet, the lack of love didn’t mean that I was untouched by him. I’d learned early on that giving myself to a man in the throes of passion didn’t leave me unchanged. It stole a part of me. Every fucking time. My heart had already been claimed, but this encounter had reached into my soul, stealing a piece of my very being, changing it forever. I hadn’t known myself for some time now. I felt more detached, like I’d given away something I would never get back.

“What do you mean she isn’t here? Did you check every room?” Panic seized me, snapping me out of my thoughts. Where the hell was my sister?

“There’s a vampire in the room at the end. He’s clearly out of his fucking mind because of this place. We leave him. Everyone else down here is human. We leave them too.” Falon awaited my reaction, showing more patience than I knew him to have.

There was so much of the building left to check: the lab, the interrogation room, the torture chamber upstairs. But we couldn’t. I was starting to suspect that Briggs had deceived me.

Falon frowned and glanced down the hall. He seemed to be sensing something. “Have you considered that this entire thing was a trap? Maybe she was never arrested at all.”

I felt like a fool. Briggs had outsmarted me. Regardless of where my sister was, she sure wasn’t here. But I was. If I’d had any resistance to handing Briggs over to Shya, it was gone now.

“Let’s just go.” I motioned toward the end of the hall that curved away from the main entry. I’d escaped the building that way before.

We’d only taken a few steps before I felt what Falon had felt. The air rippled, announcing the arrival of a demon. This wasn’t going to be good.

I tensed, expecting Shya or maybe Brook or any number of black winged beings. So when Willow appeared between us, I was both shocked and delighted. Until he grabbed Falon and flung him against the concrete hallway wall. Over and over Willow banged Falon’s head off the solid surface. His red eyes shone with an inner light that was so evil, so suffocating.

“How dare you put your hands on her,” he seethed. “How dare you defile her like that!”

Black wings spread wide, Willow oozed a dark, murky force that stank of sulfur. It was strong, stronger than anything I’d ever felt from Shya. For the first time since we met, I was afraid of Willow.

Izzy gave a small cry and clapped a hand over her mouth. I dragged her back, away from the fight. My delight shriveled, killed like a flower in a drought.