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

“You work for that demon, don’t you, Sinclair? Seems to me like you’re the last person we should trust when it comes to what’s best for vampire kind.” Spreading his hands wide, he turned to indicate the group at his back. “Seems to me like you’re outnumbered here. So we can let you walk away or…”

“Right.” I nodded. “I get it. I was a young, ignorant asshole once too. Like most assholes, you’ll learn the hard way. But that doesn’t mean you’ll survive it. Good luck. You’re going to need it.”

I turned my back on them, almost hoping that Phillip would try something. I could use a good fight. When he didn’t, I slipped back into the shadows and put distance between myself and the team so clearly headed for suicide.

I had come to verify what I’d been told. Instead I had found more than that. There certainly was a genuine rebellion growing here. It was bigger than I’d been led to believe. And though for the most part it was made up of fools, their numbers were growing. There was danger in that.

My mind raced as I strolled through row after row of headstones, pausing to read the odd one here or there. It was unlikely Phillip would succeed in his plan. Of course, he didn’t have to be aware of it for me to play my own part.

Various scenarios played out in my head as I entertained the many ways I could lure Arys to his end. He was a powerhouse for sure, but he wasn’t invincible. Like so many others were starting to figure out, I knew his greatest weakness, for it was also my own.

Alexa. It always came back to her.

With a frustrated cry, I unleashed my fury on a defenseless tree. I pounded away at the thick trunk until my knuckles bled. I guess it wasn’t so defenseless after all.

What I needed was to beat the hell out of someone who could put up a good fight. Phillip. He would do. Not tonight though. I wanted him one on one. If I had to take out every vampire in his merry little band of rebels first, so be it.

I kicked over a pot holding dead flowers. It smashed against a headstone, littering the grass with shards of glass. I didn’t care. My mind was a mess. I couldn’t decide whether I wanted to cheer Phillip on in his assassination attempt or take him out myself.

What I wanted and what I needed were different things.

I returned to The Wicked Kiss where I intended to pass the time with a warm body. A distraction would keep me occupied. It was the safest way to keep me off the streets in the mood I was in.

And what a mood it was. If someone didn’t bleed for me soon I was going to lose it.

Justin stopped me on my way in. Pulling me aside, he spoke in a rush, his eyes wide with excitement. “Kale, we had to start turning people away. Shit is getting crazy in there. We can’t keep up.”

“Close the doors for the night. We’ll start kicking people out at sunrise.”

“Have you seen the shit going down on the dance floor? Would it be so wrong to lock up and join in?” He was stone cold serious. It took me a second to realize that.

I stepped into the club to find it in worse shape than when I’d left it. A short bark of laughter burst from me. Now this was a party.

The one couple having sex on the dance floor had multiplied considerably. The dance floor had erupted into an orgy of sex and blood. Bodies slithered upon bodies in an erotic rhythm to the music. Blood perfumed the air. Much to their credit, the band kept playing. The chaos spilled over onto the couches behind the bar where two vampires were sharing the group of women I’d been eyeing up earlier. Tabletops had become makeshift beds for others.

The only place left in the club that held a semblance of normalcy was the bar where Willow sat drinking tequila. He stared straight ahead, either unfazed by the activity or unaware. It was hard to say. I was torn between speaking with him and gravitating toward the dance floor orgy.

Being surrounded by several naked and bleeding humans while I got off on the rush of so many victims sounded like my idea of paradise. I could happily bask in that until I forgot my own name. However, with a longing glance toward the bloody fun, I went in the opposite direction, toward the bar.

“Ah, you’re back.” Willow greeted me with a raised shot glass and a nod. “From the looks of things, you probably shouldn’t have left.”

“Oh, I don’t know about that,” I mused. “I think it’s an improvement.”

Willow didn’t appear all that impressed with the activity going on around him. I got it. It wasn’t his thing.

“Better not let anymore FPA agents in here,” he warned, “or they’re going to shut you down.”

“They can try,” I said with a smirk, almost wishing Juliet would walk back through that door. I’d love to see the look on her face when she saw this. “Everyone will be back on their best behavior when Alexa gets back. It’s temporary.”

“I tried to find her,” he said, surprising me. “I couldn’t. Her room at Caesars was empty, but it seemed like someone had just been there. I think she’s ok.”