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

“What’s going on here?” The guy sauntered over to me with a cocky sneer. He smelled human, but something about his energy convinced me there was more to him. It was vague though, hard to place. Definitely something I’d never encountered before. Whatever it was, it felt dark.

“Save it,” I snapped. “I don’t know who you are; I don’t really care. Jez is my friend, and she’s leaving here with me. Don’t get involved.”

“Or what?” He challenged. “I’m Arrow, by the way. Jez is a friend of mine too. If she doesn’t want to go with you, she doesn’t have to.”

“A friend?” I scoffed. “Really? What’s her last name?”

Arrow smiled and shook his head. There was something serpentine in his dark-hazel eyes. Chains hung from his tight black leather pants. He wore a t-shirt with an upside down pentagram and a knit hat with a Dead Kennedys patch. He had about as much eyeliner smeared around his eyes as Jez did, but I think his was on purpose. With long ebony hair that fell almost to his shoulders, Arrow was sexy in a slimy rocker guy kind of way.

He got up in my face, boldly pressing in close. He spoke low, so he wouldn’t be overheard. “You’re not welcome here, vampire bitch. So why don’t you take off and stop crashing our party?”

A few of the others present watched us with mild interest while the rest continued to snort coke and God only knows what else. I glanced at Kale who stood in the doorway with Jez tightly in his grasp. Kale looked at Arrow, then me and nodded.

I grinned into Arrow’s smug face. “I don’t know what you are, but I know you’ve got a heartbeat, and I’m guessing you bleed too. We are leaving. With Jez. Come at me again, and I’ll tear your fucking throat open.”

Exposing myself to everyone as something other than human wasn’t my intent. So instead of a grand display of power, I opted for something more subtle. A push of force strong enough to crush the air from Arrow’s lungs and double him over without laying him out flat. Then I shoved him aside and followed my friends out.

Arrow gasped and coughed, clutching his chest. But he didn’t make the mistake of trying anything else. When I looked back he was watching us go, smiling through the pain. He was definitely more than human.

Jez was unsteady on her feet. Slurring her words, she mumbled a series of nonsensical phrases. Kale kept her up and moving until we reached the bottom of the stairs where she collapsed.

“Oh my God,” I cried as panic seized me. “Is she going to be ok?”

We couldn’t take her to a hospital. Human doctors simply could not have access to a shifter. My thoughts strayed briefly to Fox, a wolf with medical knowledge who made himself accessible to the Stony pack. I didn’t want to call him unless it was life or death. It was safer for him if he wasn’t involved with us at all.

Kale gathered Jez’s limp form into his arms. “Stay calm, Alexa. Her heartbeat is fast but steady. I think she’ll be ok. Her blood reeks of drugs and alcohol. We need to get her awake and talking. Let’s get her out of here.”

Kale carried Jez through the club and back to the front door. I followed, trying to force myself to breathe. Terror wrapped its cold hands around me and squeezed.

Chapter Eight

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” I asked, skeptical when we pulled into Kale’s driveway with a screech of tires.

“Of course. She’ll be safe here.”

Together Kale and I managed to wrangle Jez out of the backseat where she’d been lying in a haphazard heap. Kale tossed me his keys before scooping Jez up and nudging the car shut with a foot. I ran ahead to unlock the front door. I wasn’t convinced that either Jez or I were safe alone there with Kale. Stepping inside his house felt weird, like walking into a lion’s den of my own free will.

After Kale got Jez inside, I swung the door shut and ran around trying to be useful. A quick search in the cupboards produced coffee and sugar. While the coffee brewed, I grabbed a glass of water and a towel.

Kale was around the corner from the kitchen, in the living room. Jez was sprawled on the couch, and he lightly slapped her face, trying to elicit a response.

“I’m surprised you have coffee,” I commented, gazing about the room. It looked like something out of a magazine with matching couches and a coffee table set with mass-produced artwork on the walls. His house didn’t look or feel lived in.

I knelt beside the couch, dampened the towel, and pressed it to Jez’s face. Her breathing was haggard, and her skin was pale.

“I keep it around for the cleaning ladies that come in once a month along with a few other things. It’s a piss poor attempt at maintaining a human appearance, but it works.”

Kale leaned in close as we both peered at Jez in worried silence. His proximity forced me to breathe his scent of leather and cologne. A flood of memories accompanied that aroma. No good.

“I’m worried about her,” I whispered, gazing down at Jez’s makeup-smeared face. “I knew she was upset about losing Zoey, but I didn’t think it was this bad.”