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

“Don’t say that,” Willow warned. “Lilah is a demon. Nothing she speaks is the truth. She’s a vile creature that sees and spreads only evil.”


“No really, Willow. She talked about how the twins hate each other as much as they love each other. How there is no escape from one another. We are chosen, and we’re meant to suffer.” Suddenly I wasn’t so hungry anymore. I shoved my plate away and poured a glass of water. “It’s starting to feel like the truth. Like it is a curse. I mean, Arys and me, we can’t even walk away from this. Too much time apart will drive us insane, just like it did Lilah.”

“And Salem,” Willow added. “You only know half of that story. It drove him mad too. The last time he caged Lilah, he rarely left her side. He couldn’t bear to.”

“But he still imprisoned her against her will. That’s not love. Why would an angel and a demon even be twinned?” I scowled, disgusted with the harsh reality of the dark side of a twin flame bond. It wasn’t all power trips and deeply personal lovemaking.

“For the same reason you and Arys are. A rare partnership with a shared purpose that can be achieved by no other. In anything so trying and difficult, there is always room for growth and revelation. Don’t focus so intently on the hard parts that you miss the beauty of what you share.”

I tried to take Willow’s wise words to heart. Letting Lilah get inside my head was exactly what she’d want. I couldn’t give her that victory. That was easier said than done, especially when I felt Arys’s arrival. I groaned and shoved a hand through my hair. “He’s here.”

“I’ll take off so you two can talk. Remember, you have everything you need to fulfill your purpose, but there will always be forces trying to stop you. That’s where the conflict comes in. Pick your battles carefully.” Willow slid off the stool and pulled me into a warm hug. Then with a ripple of the atmosphere around us, he was gone.

I turned toward the front door, waiting for the knob to turn. Willow had great advice. However, he could only see the situation from the outside. Being on the inside, having my twin turn on me, there was no letting that go. Emotion spilled through me. I was mad, hurt, and humiliated. The door opened, and it all came pouring out.

“You have a lot of fucking nerve to show up here after that crap you pulled at Shya’s.” I faced Arys with my hands on my hips and my body thrumming with electricity.

He stopped just inside the door with Jenner a few steps behind. The door swung shut with an ominous creak. Arys held both hands up, ready for my temper. The fact that he’d walked in expecting a tirade didn’t make me feel any better.

“Alexa, let me explain.” He approached as if expecting me to start hurling dishes down the hallway. “Can we just talk, please?”

“You want to try to explain what I saw you do tonight? Sure. Go ahead and tell me why you threw me across Shya’s kitchen.” I stared into Arys, letting him see the raw emotion in my eyes.

He kept coming down the long front hall toward me where I stood in the entry to the kitchen. Jenner crept over to the stairs and stealthily escaped to the top floor, leaving us the illusion of privacy.

“I’m sorry about that,” Arys said, his gaze heavy upon me. “I had to turn Gabriel. Shya and I had a deal. If I didn’t make good on that, he would never have removed that mark.”

“You know, so far, you’re off to a pretty shitty start. Try again.”

He stopped about ten feet away. Close enough to face me like a man but too far away to slap. “I made that deal intending to keep it. I know that’s not what you want to hear, but you know me. That can’t possibly surprise you. As long as we bear Shya’s mark, he owns us. I will not be owned by a demon.”

“So you took the life of a young man barely into adulthood. You ignored Hurst’s warning and we are going to pay for that.” Accusation dripped from my tone. The image of Gabriel’s body was burned into my memory. It shouldn’t have happened. Not on my watch. I felt like I had failed him somehow.

“I upheld my end of the deal. Look how much control Shya has over you because of that mark. I had to get rid of mine. He can’t have us both.” Shoulders stiff, a frown creased his brow as Arys stared at me, pleading with those midnight eyes.

Guilt rose up to join the onslaught of feelings. Keeping Shya’s mark was not by choice. The only way to get rid of it was to give him a dreamwalker. The FPA had one in lockup; I saw her. But I could never do that to her. She was safer where she was now.

“You know I’d get rid of this mark if I could.” I sniffed as my temper flared. “The only way to do that is to hand an innocent person over to Shya. And I will not do that. Maybe it was easy for you, but I’m not quite that far gone yet.”