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

“You claimed not so long ago to lead the vampires and werewolves against me rather than for me,” Shya said. “Remember? I know you’ve taken steps to do that, aligning yourself with the Doghead wolves. So I’ve taken it upon myself to start my own army of wolves and vampires. Arys gave me Gabriel, and you will give me a wolf. Then I can create as many of each as I’d like. All of them descended from the two most powerful. Genius, isn’t it?”


“Oh yeah, that’s real fucking Einstein of you. I bet you’re proud of yourself.” My teeth banged together as Falon gave me a shake.

The horrible part was that it was smart. It could also never happen. Shya had to be stopped. If he continued on with this plan, it would spell disaster for the city whether he found the scroll or not. Torturing me with the bloodlust would work too. I would snap and go straight for that woman. And she would turn if I didn’t kill her.

The blood hunger always began in the pit of my stomach. This twisted, dark need, it ached and gnawed, wearing me down.

In a shocking move, Gabriel slid a hand between the woman’s legs. She melted at his touch, slumping against him and begging for more. As much as I told myself I didn’t want to watch, I couldn’t look away.

Falon’s grip tightened, drawing my attention back to him. If I could just get him to let me go, perhaps I could prevent the attack I knew was coming. I couldn’t hold off much longer.

Gathering the sensual energy flooding me, I focused on directing it at Falon. Immediately I felt him stiffen. Hating myself for doing it, I brazenly pressed my rear end against him. I was a woman, and I knew it didn’t take much to incite a response from a man. Falon was no different. His body betrayed him, and he grew hard against me.

“You’re making a very grave mistake, Hound,” he murmured in my ear, low so that Shya wouldn’t hear.

“Am I?” I asked coyly. “Let me go, and it stops.”

“Do you think you’re so powerful that even I will succumb to your wiles? Get over yourself.”

“You already have. A few times now.” My control was slipping. I watched Gabriel bite into his victim’s wrist and groaned with the effort it took to keep my focus on the fallen angel holding me.

Getting Falon to release me was my goal, but dammit if I didn’t enjoy his reaction. Knowing I could get to the fallen angel gave me an arrogant satisfaction. Too bad I didn’t have the courage to try such a thing on Shya. He frightened me too much.

“You want me,” I whispered, grinding against the bulge in Falon’s pants. I was going to really hate myself for that later. “Let me go, and nobody has to know how bad you want to take me right here.”

My movement was subtle, the barest of motions, but it was enough. Holding both of my wrists tightly in one hand, Falon grabbed a handful of my hair with the other and jerked my head back.

His breath was hot on my skin when he said, “I want what’s between your legs because you’re a manipulative bitch. That doesn’t mean I want you. In fact, it only makes me hate you more. If that’s even possible.”

The weight of Arys’s gaze was heavy upon me. He’d watched me manipulate others, like Jenner, and he had enjoyed it. He wasn’t enjoying it now. I was willing to bet it had something to do with Falon’s reaction to me when I’d taken his blood in Vegas. Arys had watched Falon kiss me in a moment of power-influenced passion. It wasn’t real, but that hardly mattered. The action spoke for itself.

Falon did a good job containing himself. It wasn’t good enough. Shya eyed us with anger burning in his red eyes. He intervened with a shot of power that threw Falon and I apart. I landed on my knees just a few feet from where Gabriel licked the blood from his victim’s wrist.

“You may have power over vampires, but you do not have power over my demons,” Shya hissed, giving me a shake as I tried to get my feet under me.

“Falon isn’t a demon,” I challenged, unable to just shut up. Shya brought out the worst in me. “If he can’t resist me on his own, then he deserves to be manipulated.”

Shya was furious. So much so that he grabbed the arm of Gabriel’s victim and thrust her bleeding wrist in my face.

“Let’s test your resistance, shall we?”

The woman practically oozed lust. Blood dripped from the wound, taunting me. I never stood a chance. With her bleeding arm inches away, the last of the fight went out of me. I simply wasn’t strong enough to resist after what I’d recently been through. I needed it.

Ravenous and crazed, I snatched her arm from Shya and ran my tongue over the bleeding punctures before biting deep into her flesh. Regret would come later. In that moment I was lost to the bloodlust. It consumed me completely.

Blood coated my tongue, tangy and warm. I drew hard on her sex-charged energy. Right away I felt the rejuvenation begin. It flowed through me, strengthening where I was weak while sating the hunger. It wasn’t enough. The vampire within me needed to take everything she had to give. I took her down beneath me, unmindful of those who watched. There was nothing but me and her.