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

I turned my back on Arys and went to clean up the dishes. He wasn’t convincing me that killing Gabriel was necessary. He was just showing me how different we were.

I shoved things into the dishwasher with more force than required. The plates crashed against each other, somehow not breaking. I slammed the door shut and whirled around to find Arys right behind me.

“I understand why you haven’t paid your debt to Shya,” he said. “Can you try to understand why I had to pay mine?” He reached to take my hand. The heat of his skin reminded me of where that stolen warmth had come from, and I pulled away.

“Arys, you killed someone. In front of me while I begged you not to. Then you threw me across the room. No, I’m sorry, but I do not understand that, and I don’t even want to.” I was backed into a corner, up against the dishwasher. I needed some distance. “You should go home. I need some time alone.”

“I’m not leaving you alone. We’ve already been over this.”

“Give me a break.”

“I’m not going.”

We glared at one another until the power flowed between us with a scorching hot intensity. There were so many ways I wanted to react. Still, I thought of what Willow said, and I opted to take the high road by simply walking away.

“Fine. Stay then. You can bunk with Jenner or take the couch. I’m going to bed. Alone.” I shoved by him, expecting resistance. He didn’t stop me, but he didn’t let me go either.

“We are not done talking about this, Alexa.” Arys was hot on my heels as I climbed the stairs.

I rushed into the bedroom and swung the door shut. “You might not be, but I am.”

The door bounced off Arys’s foot as he kicked it open. My jaw dropped. He came closer, and I threw my hands up to ward him off. A burst of power went out from me, throwing him out of the room where he crashed against the stair railing. The wood creaked but didn’t give.

Arys got up uttering obscenities. I was ready when he appeared in the doorway again. My fingers crackled with power.

“Go ahead. Do it,” he taunted, holding his hands up in invitation. “I know you’re pissed off, so get it all out of your system. Let me have it.”

“Is that what you think?” I sputtered. “That I’m pissed off? I am so much more than that. You sold me out in front of Shya. You allowed us to be divided, and you humiliated me. I’m not just pissed; I’m hurt.”

The truth hung between us. The atmosphere was thick with pent up energy seeking an outlet. I vibrated with the strength it took to keep from releasing the force I held.

Arys’s face fell. “I had to. Don’t think for a moment that it was easy to do that to you. I didn’t want you to see any of that. When you showed up, I knew I had to make Shya believe we could be divided. The best way to do that was to make you think so.”

I couldn’t believe this. The way he had looked at me at Shya’s, so stone cold, it hadn’t felt like an act. “Well, call the fucking academy. That was an award winning performance. But you did divide us. I needed you to back me, and you didn’t. So it wasn’t just an act, Arys. It was a betrayal.”

“No, it wasn’t. I did it for us. Shya needs to underestimate us. If he thinks we’re falling apart, he’ll let his guard down.” Arys approached quickly, backing me up against the dresser. With a hand beneath my chin, he tipped my gaze up to his. “It had to be real. So it was. You’ve got to understand.”

I shook my head and pressed my lips together. It was the only way to keep myself from telling him to go to hell. I pushed him away, but he held tight to my arms, refusing to be budged.

“We went to Vegas with a united front,” I ground out between gritted teeth. “We agreed to present that same united front to our city, to the vampires and the wolves. Then as soon as we need to show that to Shya, you abandon me. That’s what I understand.”

“It wasn’t like that. You’re not even trying to see this from my side.” Arys’s fingers tightened, digging into my skin, and his eyes flashed wolf for just a moment.

“Let go of me.”

“Not until you calm down and discuss this reasonably.”

“Don’t tell me to calm down.” My shout echoed in the room, hurting my ears. “Nothing you say is going to take back what happened tonight. You think that you played him, but you walked right into his trap. You turned on me while he watched. That was real.” My wolf rose up to stare out at him, issuing a silent challenge. I wished he would leave so I could fall apart by myself.

Rage tinted the power flowing between us with a dark vibe. It hovered there, so close, almost palpable, our inevitable self-destruction. For the briefest of moments, I wanted it, if only for this agony to end.