Smashed (Alexa O'Brien, Huntress #8.5)

Sucking at the wound resulted in Shaz slumping against the back of the couch. He slung an arm around my neck, holding tight as I swirled my tongue over the bite.

Jenner’s sudden return shattered the moment. He strode into the room clad in only sweat pants, running a comb through his short hair. He stopped short at finding us locked in a forbidden embrace. The surprise on his face was fake. I knew he’d felt it the second I called the power to enthrall Shaz.

We broke apart. Shaz leaned as far away as he could get, given the tiny amount of space he had on the couch. Licking the blood from my lips, I moved away, to the recliner chair that was my favorite.

“Sorry for the interruption,” Jenner said though he was far more amused than apologetic.

“Sure you are.” I shot him a venomous glare.

Ignoring me, Jenner fetched the laptop from the kitchen table and took it into the spare bedroom. What a bastard.

I studied Shaz, feeling like I should say something but not knowing where to begin. For a long time he sat there in silence, staring unblinking at the coffee table.

“Why doesn’t she want to be here with us?” Finally he spoke though he didn’t look my way. “What could possibly keep her from being where she belongs?”

I considered the best reply, settling on the truth. “Shaz, you can’t take it personally. It’s fear that keeps her away. Fear of me, of what I did to her. And fear of what she’ll do to you. Only time will heal that wound.”

“How can that possibly happen? Too much time apart will break you both down. It’s happening already. We are the ones who keep her balanced. I can’t stop asking myself why she’d rather be with him instead.”

Shaz sat stiffly, his shoulders slumped. This whole ordeal was giving him a complex. If Alexa didn’t come to her senses soon, she might very well cause irreparable damage.

“She’s running, Shaz. I spent several decades doing the same thing. It was hard to accept what she and I were to one another. I ran from the truth too.” I paused, seeking the best way to make him understand. “The longer she’s with him, the more obvious it will become to her that she doesn’t belong there. And all we can do in the meantime is wait.”

Chapter Four

Long after Shaz left, I sat in the recliner with my sketchpad on my lap and pencil in hand. I’d forced two cups of coffee into him, ensuring he was all right to drive before turning him loose.

All things considered, Shaz was handling this all pretty well. His acceptance of my role in Alexa’s death was surprising. He’d fought every revelation so far. Something had changed in him during his time away. It was both impressive and disconcerting.

My mind wandered as the sound of the pencil scratching against the page filled the silence. The last year had brought with it much change. A little more than a year ago Alexa and I had come together, igniting the spark that bound us, setting so much in motion.

Waiting for that moment to happen naturally had been hell. For three years I’d made it my business to be in her life, to let her know that I was here and watchful. I could only hope she would feel what I felt. For a while I hadn’t been sure. Putting myself in her path had earned me some distrust on her part. Eventually that wall had come down. Making the decision to find her had been one of the most trying I’d ever made. It had cost me a lot.

I could still see the look on Harley’s face when I had told him I was leaving. We had been in the lavish estate he owned outside of Vegas. A harem of men and woman lounged about, ready and willing to please their vampire master.

Harley had sprang out of a bed full of people, naked and angry. “What the hell do you mean you’re going to Canada? Is this about that fucking werewolf? The bitch doesn’t even exist, Arys. It’s all in your head.”

“And if she does?” I challenged, ignoring his attempt to intimidate me with his overbearing presence and hard, black eyes.

“You’re crazy, you know that?” He snarled, grabbing a robe viciously from a waiting servant. Tying it loosely about his waist, he rounded on me with an ugly mask of accusation. “All you ever think about is yourself. Has it ever occurred to you that I need you here?”

The irony of his accusation wasn’t lost on me. Having the most selfish vampire I’d ever met call me selfish was growing tiresome. “How can you possibly need me?” I gestured to the fantastic display of human toys lying about the house, waiting for their master to play with them again. “It looks like you have your hands full. I’m sure you won’t miss me at all.”

A nude woman with long hair and perky breasts sidled up to offer herself to the both of us. Harley inclined his head, silently asking if I would partake with him. I shook my head. My bags were packed.