Sunset to Sunrise (12 page)

I looked up with a grin, grateful for his presence. “I have no idea. If luck is on my side she won’t even come by tonight.”

The more we worked, the more damage I discovered. How was I going to explain this?

I didn’t have much time to figure that out. Just a few hours past sundown, Alexa walked through the door. Long blonde hair fell almost to her waist. Blue jeans hugged her curves like they were part of her. My gaze passed over her cleavage before meeting her dark eyes.

She stared in shock at the chaos. I shared a look with Willow who continued to toss chair legs and tabletops toward the pile we’d started.

“Do I even want to know?” Alexa asked, walking through the mess toward us. Her observant gaze took in everything, even the scorch mark on the ceiling.

“No.” Willow and I answered simultaneously, which led to laughter. Damn, she did not look happy.

“You’re home sooner than I expected,” I said, trying to hide the guilty smile that dominated my face. “Glad to see you’re relatively unscathed. How was Vegas?”

“It was a fucking gong show. Apparently, I missed something while I was gone. Want to fill me in?”

I didn’t want to tell her about Phillip. She had enough shit to shovel without me piling that on top. For now, it was taken care of. If anyone else wanted to try to continue what Phillip started, they would end up as he did.

“Not particularly,” I said, avoiding eye contact. “Had a little trouble is all. I took care of it. Nothing for you to concern yourself with.”

I hoped she didn’t force the issue, but I fully expected it. This was Alexa. The most stubborn person I knew.

“Is that so?” She challenged, her tone icy cold. “Looks to me like I was right about leaving you in charge here. Another day or two, and there probably wouldn’t even be a building left to trash.”

I stiffened. It was difficult to keep it together when the sudden urge to hurt her was so dreadfully overpowering. Going through the motions, tossing pieces of broken furniture, I could feel the weight of her gaze upon me. I fought so hard not to look at her. Alexa’s energy sang with irritation and something else, intrigue. She was watching me work and enjoying it from what I could tell.

“Gee, thanks; glad to see you too,” I said with a sarcastic drawl. “Actually, I’m the reason this place is still standing, among other things. Though I don’t expect you to believe that.”

Before she could slap me with a snide retort, Willow approached with Alexa’s dagger in hand. While the two of them spoke, I kept busy. If I didn’t keep my hands moving, I just might give in to the unholy hunger burning within me. I ached for her. It was a deep-rooted, twisted yearning that I possessed no control over. Being so close to Alexa was torture. Her scent threatened to strip me of the precarious hold I had on sanity. The taste of her blood swam up from my memory and with it the remembrance of drowning in her heady wolf energy.

“Why are you back early?” Willow asked, voicing a question I too wanted an answer to.

The two of them walked the length of the building as she scrutinized everything. I listened as she recounted her Vegas visit, leaving out plenty I was sure. When she revealed Arys’s intent to take back control of Las Vegas and her willingness to be part of that, I questioned for just a moment if I’d done the right thing by killing Phillip.

It took a lot of willpower to keep my mouth shut. She didn’t ask my opinion so I wasn’t about to offer it. When she disappeared into the back hall, I couldn’t resist the urge to follow.

Willow began to sweep up some shattered glass. He watched me go after her but didn’t offer comment.

I slipped down the back hall, drawn to her against my will. She was standing in the big suite at the end of the hall. It had belonged to the former owner.

“I’m sorry about the mess,” I said, announcing my approach. “Everything goes to shit when the queen is away.”

She turned quickly, taking a defensive stance. “Seriously? What’s with everyone and the fucking royalty references lately?”

I hated that her instinctive response was to ready for an attack. Not only did it hurt me to see how things had changed between us, it taunted the wicked side of me that wanted her naked and screaming. She didn’t trust me, nor should she. Even as we stood there staring at each other, I was thinking about what she tasted like.

“I guess you’re the only one still in denial about it.” I crossed my arms, feigning casual and hoping she didn’t see the dark desire in my eyes.

“Apparently so.” The critical expression she wore bothered me more than it should have.

Her phone rang, interrupting the tense moment. It was a relief, breaking up the awkwardness, giving me a moment to regain mental clarity… until I heard Alexa’s best friend gush about getting engaged.

Kylarai and I had dated, albeit briefly. She was a kind woman with a gentle heart and a will of steel. Though I’d known early on there was no future for us, I had held out hope that she was what I needed to stay grounded. She wasn’t. I cared for her, but I couldn’t love her. I had already fallen for her best friend.

I watched Alexa’s face go through a series of emotions. Genuine joy shone in her eyes though it was shadowed by envy. Her energy took on a somber tone that resonated through me as if it were my own pain. Alexa believed she would never know the kind of future Kylarai was planning. She was probably right.

As they spoke Alexa’s voice shook. She blinked back happy tears and my resolve shattered. I was hers. No truer words had likely ever passed a demon’s lips. Shya had declared it and standing there watching her try not to cry, there was no denying it.

“Kylarai’s getting married,” I observed after she’d hung up. “How wonderful for her. She’s the kindest soul I’ve ever met. I hope they find much happiness together.”

“Yeah, me too.”

“I guess some people get their happy ending after all.” I didn’t mean to hit her with heavy shit the moment she got home. It slipped out, uncensored. I needed her to know I shared her longing.

Refusing to take the bait, she changed the subject. “I want to renovate. This place needed work before you trashed it. So we might as well take advantage of the mess and turn it into something better.”

“You saw the Vegas club and felt inferior, huh? That’s ok. I get it. I’ve seen it. So, what did you have in mind?” I chuckled. She was so transparent.

Alexa glared, her face flushed with embarrassment. “I don’t feel inferior to the Vegas vampires. I just think the place needs a makeover. Will you help?”

I studied her, wondering why she would want me working any closer with her on anything than necessary. Like I said, I can’t say no to her. “Sure. Why not?”

She was shielding hard, trying to shut out my energy, which meant she was tempted by whatever she sensed. I was no stranger to her hunger. She could pretend it wasn’t there, but we both knew it was a lie. Curiosity blazed in her pretty brown eyes. She wanted to ask me something. Instead, she moved about the room to avoid me.

“Good,” she said. “We can start with the club and work our way back here. That should keep you busy.”

I watched her attempt to escape me by retreating into a room with no other way out. Like flipping a switch, the dark side of me resurfaced, recognizing her fragile mortality for what it was. A delicious tease.

“Right. Because keeping me busy will change things.”

“I’ve had the worst week ever. The last thing I need is to come home to your crazy ass spewing ugly promises. Can’t you let it go?”

“Let it go?” I repeated. “You’ve made a slave of me, and you want me to just get over it? That’s not how this works, Alexa.”

Being antagonistic wasn’t my intent. There was so much I needed to say to her. Though this wasn’t the best time for that, it had to happen before I did something I could never take back.

“Evidently.” She sighed, a broken sound that cut deep. “Kale, please, you have to understand that I would never have intentionally done anything to hurt you. Things are happening, big things that I can’t control. I need you with me, not against me.”

I was sick of being so easily manipulated by her. With just that one ragged breath, a simple sigh, she had me wrapped around her little finger.

“Well, if the queen needs something, then who am I to deny her?” It came out harsher than intended. I was in conflict with myself. Kiss her or kill her. I wanted to do both.

My name slipped from her lips, a tortured, breathy sound. “What can I do to change this vengeful need you have? We were friends once. Partners.”

I had fully expected her to tell me off. It was in her nature, and I deserved it for throwing this at her as soon as she walked in the door. Her emotional reaction was unexpected.

“We were lovers too. Once. For a brief moment. I’m sorry it is the way it is. You claimed me. You drew me in, and you made me yours. It was purely intentional, and we both know it. There is no changing something like that. It is what it is.” I stared at the floor, unable to bring myself to meet her eyes, afraid of what I might see.

I didn’t mean to sound so accusing. Being near her made the bars of my cage that much more visible. Again the desperation surfaced, convincing me that I needed either freedom or death.

“You’re right. I’m a selfish bitch as far as you’re concerned, Kale. And I don’t know why.” Alexa’s unexpected admission struck a nerve.

“You know why. You will probably never admit it to either of us, but you know why.” I laughed bitterly. “Arys must just fucking love that you want me as bad as I want you.”

She rolled her eyes and pursed her lips in that sexy pout that drove me crazy. “So that’s it then? You carry on this game of crazy vampire until I get sick of it and stake you?”

“Something like that.”

“I don’t understand why.”

“Don’t you? Think about it,” I demanded, needing to paint her a picture of the hell I was going through. “Think about belonging to someone with every part of your being. Think about needing someone so bad and never being able to have them. There is no moving on for our kind. Humans are gifted with short-term memories and fickle hearts. But us, when we love, it is always forever.”

It was all I had to give, all I could do to make her understand. There were no further words needed. I’d said what had been building in me.

Alexa’s silence said more than she might have realized. It was her own way of quietly refusing to acknowledge what had to be done. There was only one way to free me from the chains her power held me in. I had escaped final death at Shya’s hand only to become her slave. It had to be Alexa’s decision to set me free. Until then, I would have her back because, though I was completely under her spell, it didn’t force me to love her. That I did of my own free will.

I stepped aside to let her pass when she left the room. Guilt and sorrow followed her. It was all I could do to remain where I stood. Watching her go, I knew things were far from settled between us. I never thought I was blameless. It was because of our forbidden desire for one another that she had refused to let me die the night I begged her to. I was just as guilty of crossing the line as she was.

Hard times lay ahead. As long as Shya sought the scroll, Alexa was in danger. I would do whatever she needed of me. In the meantime, I would wait. In the chains forged from her need to possess me. In my own prison born of a love that was never meant to be. Our time would come. Then this tale of forbidden love would come to an end, one way or another.

“Hey, Alexa,” I called after her. “Welcome home.”

Check out TrinaMLee.com for news and information on the 8
^th
book in the Alexa O’Brien Huntress series, September Moon.

About the Author

Trina M. Lee was born in Edmonton, Alberta Canada. Writing fiction since childhood, a fascination with the supernatural developed in her early teen years and an immersion in paranormal fiction began. Trina enjoys hearing from readers and has an active social media presence.

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