September Moon (Alexa O'Brien, Huntress #8)

His gorgeous green eyes were all wolf. The wolf didn’t give a damn about the fight, but I could see Shaz struggling to show remorse. It would have worked if he’d been feeling it. He wasn’t sorry.

“I know. There’s nothing I can say. I get that. But I am sorry.”

Too furious to speak, I got in the car with a loud slam of the door. My fingers shook with rage as I tried to slip the key into the ignition. Blood made my fingers slippery, and I had to fish some fast food napkins out of the glove box to wipe my hands.

Shaz got into the car looking both mad and guilty, a difficult feat I was sure. “Are you ok? I’m sorry I pushed you.”

“Fine,” I said, short and clipped. “It’s already healing.”

We sat there in silence while I struggled to take deep, calming breaths. It was too late for regrets, though I wished I’d come alone.

“I’ll fix this. We can come back, talk to Dayne after this blows over. It will work out.” Shaz didn’t sound convinced.

I wanted to slap him. Somehow I kept my hands to myself. “What you did in there, that’s something Arys would do. You used to be the calm, cool one. Remember? What happened to that?”

Shaz shrugged and slumped in his seat. “I don’t know, Lex. People change. I changed.”

“I feel like I don’t know you anymore.” The words just slipped out, a breathy whisper that might as well have been a scream. He turned sharply to look at me, but I kept staring straight ahead at the Doghead sign. Once my hands steadied, I put the car in gear.

“Welcome to my world,” he muttered, turning away to stare out the window.

When I hit the brakes at the edge of the lot, I slid a glance his way. A sinking sensation settled in my gut. I’d done such a good job of convincing myself that Shaz and I were back on track. The truth was, I wasn’t sure we ever could be.

As much as I wanted to believe we were all good, I knew that things had changed too much. They were still changing. Our private encounters were comprised of my need to feed and the desperate act of two people going through the motions, seeking but never finding the intimacy we’d once had. Maybe I was so desperate to hold onto the past that I was unwilling to accept that we had no future.

Shaz looked at me with a raised brow. Feeling like my thoughts must be written all over my face, I averted my gaze and eased the car into traffic.

* * * *

When we pulled into The Wicked Kiss parking lot, I tried to beat back the nervousness that gripped me. It had been some time since Shaz had been there. The first thing I noted was that Kale’s old Camaro was absent. That was a relief. It was early though, barely midnight. Despite the early hour, Willow sat at his usual place at the bar. More relief.

“Damn am I glad to see you,” I said, clapping him on the back before sliding onto the stool next to him.

Willow nodded and raised a tequila shot in greeting to Shaz who sat on his other side. Then he peered at me with a serious stare, reading me in a way that I still wasn’t used to. Perception was one of Willow’s talents. He could see right through the projected walls I tried to hide behind.

“Bad night already?” he inquired. “Do tell.”

“Our visit to Doghead didn’t go so well. Unfortunately. Anyway, I need to talk to you.” I wished I could be alone with him so I could vent about Shaz. “Shya was in my bedroom. He took my hair and my blood. I can’t put this off anymore. I need to know more about this scroll he’s looking for.”

“I’ll tell you anything I know. As long as you’re sure that you’re ready to hear it.” Willow’s smile was warm and friendly. He had a way of making me feel like I could tell him anything. And I had. Many times.

I gazed into his gold-flecked green eyes and saw the answers I sought within them. Everything had gone down so fast since I learned that Shya needed me as a sacrifice. Soon after, I’d taken off to Vegas. I hadn’t been able to bring myself to question Willow because deep inside I knew there was more to his sudden appearance in my life than he let on.

“You know, don’t you?” I asked. “What Shya wants, why he needs me. You know all of it.”

Willow smiled and his shoulders sagged as if a weight was lifted from him. “You’d better have a drink, Alexa. There are some things I need to tell you.”

Raising his hand to get the bartender’s attention, Willow had extra shooter glasses and a fresh bottle of tequila perched in front of us in no time. I wrinkled my nose at the shot he put in front of me.

After sliding one to Shaz, Willow raised his shot and said, “To the creatures of light who walk in dark places.”

At his insistent look, I raised my glass. There was no bracing for what was coming. Liquor was my only human vice, for now. But tequila, that was an ass kicker of a drink that would put me on my face if I wasn’t careful. I clinked my glass against each of theirs before downing the contents in one swift gulp. I slammed the shot glass down and reached for a slice of lime. “Oh God, that burns.”