Sunset to Sunrise (Alexa O'Brien, Huntress #7.5)

I had a choice; I could put a stop to the illicit activity or join in. It wasn’t much of a choice at all.

Gliding through the crowd, I moved like a shadow among them, barely there at all. A dark haired beauty caught my eye. She danced alone, despite the many would be suitors who attempted to get an invite into her personal space.

I watched her from a respectful distance, waiting for her to sense my gaze upon her. She looked up, like I knew she would, and waved me over.

Some nights, that’s all it took. A look. Much to the dismay of another vampire ogling her, she slipped eagerly into my arms. Closing my eyes, I savored her scent. Perfume mixed with wine and the subtle but unmistakable womanly aroma that was all her own. It had me itching to sink my fangs.

She wasn’t new to The Wicked Kiss. That much was apparent by the way she rubbed herself against me. No words were needed as we went through the motions.

I pulled her off the dance floor, against the wall, where I pinned her. Her pulse sped up when I kissed her. I could hear it, feel it, beating just for me. Taking her to my room would be ideal though keeping her here would keep her alive. Would Alexa mind my breaking the rules if she knew that?

I dragged my fangs over the throbbing pulse in my victim’s neck. Her breath caught, and she froze in anticipation. Keeping her here, excited and eager, would keep her from screaming in the back hall where nobody would respond to her cries.

Telling myself it was best for her kept me from believing the truth. I was as bad as any vampire I’d hunted in the past. It was easy to put a lot of that onto Alexa. It had been tasting her blood that awakened the part of me that I thought I’d laid to rest. However, it was not her fault. It was all me. I was the monster.

The woman threw her arms around me willingly, and something about that caused my hunger for her to die. The thrill faded when they wanted it.

I bit lightly, opening up her vein just enough to coat my tongue with her tangy blood. She groaned and pressed closer. My body responded to her, but it was purely physical. I ultimately didn’t want her.

Before I could delve deeper into my personal conflict, I became keenly aware of a new werewolf presence in the building. I searched the thick crowd for the wolf. It wasn’t Alexa, but it felt like her. Since the wolf didn’t wear power like a perfume the way Alexa did, it had to be her sister.

Juliet O’Brien was standing near the bar talking to Willow when I spotted her. He was shaking his head. She must be looking for her sister.

I left the quivering woman and disappeared into the throng. My first stop was the door where I gave orders for more security on the floor. Public sex and feeding was certainly going to be frowned upon by the uptight federal agent. Juliet had already thrown her weight around in here. I didn’t need an altercation with her. Not now.

“Can I help you, Agent O’Brien?” I asked, suspicious of her presence here. Didn’t she know Alexa was out of town?

Juliet’s dark brown eyes sparked with a lively inner fire, much like Alexa’s, which made it difficult to look at her. The fact that she’d been the one to drag me into FPA lockup didn’t help.

“I just stopped by to see if Alexa was here. She’s not answering her phone.” Her gaze flicked around the busy building. “I didn’t know she’d already left for Las Vegas.”

“Yes, well, she’s not here. I’d be happy to tell her you came by.” I glanced over her head to Willow, hoping he accepted that it wasn’t just my manic obsession for Alexa that made me so sure she was in danger. If she wasn’t answering calls from her sister, something bad was definitely going on.

Getting Juliet out of my club became my priority. She might have been Alexa’s sister, but she was a Fed, one who worked in a top-secret government sector that not only tried to govern the supernatural but also to harness its powers. I hated everything about who they were and what they stood for.

Sensing that I was trying to get rid of her, Juliet stood her ground. “Well, maybe I’ll hang out and have a beer.”

“Suit yourself.”

I wanted nothing to do with this O’Brien sister. Putting distance between us was best, all things considered. I headed back the way I’d come, looking for the woman I’d left hanging. When I couldn’t find her, I slipped into the men’s room for some quiet and called Alexa. Like Juliet had said, there was no answer.

Unwilling to believe the worst, I called back a few times before giving up. When I emerged from the restroom, Willow was gone and Juliet sat in his vacated place at the bar, sipping a beer.

What was she up to? There was no way in hell I’d believe she chose this dive to hang out alone in and drink beer. The FPA must have sent her. But for what?