brow, he leaned across the table.
“Don’t be coy. You love the game. You play it better than anyone I know.” He reached out to drag a finger over the back of my hand. I froze, stopping the glass mid-spin. Before I could tell him off, he pulled back. “Relax, Alexa. I won’t lose my shit and do anything too crazy while you’re out of town.”
I crossed my arms and sat back, far out of reach. “That’s reassuring. Thanks.” Sarcasm dripped from my words. “Call me if you really need to. If anything goes on here that I should know about.”
“Will do, boss lady.” He saluted and stood up. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, there’s a shy brunette waiting for me that likes it when I pull her hair while we’re fucking.”
Ouch. That, I did not need to hear. It shouldn’t have bothered me, and I refused to let it show.
“Hey, Kale,” I called as he exited the booth. “Why never a blonde?”
It was a mistake to ask; I knew the answer. Asking was just me being an asshole in response to his attitude.
He moved fast, sliding into my side of the booth, pinning me to the wall. He leaned in so close I could smell the leather of his duster.
“Do you really want an answer to that?” Kale brazenly twisted a lock of my hair around his finger. “The last blonde I’ve been inside was you. I could never take another to bed without it being you I saw. Is that what you want to hear?”
I felt the color drain from my face. Me and my big mouth. I couldn’t possibly get any farther away from him. My back was to the wall.
“No,” I said softly.
Kale studied me, even as I searched him, seeking a glimmer of the Kale I adored inside his brown and blue eyes. I didn’t find him.
“Have a nice trip, beautiful. I’ll be here when you get back.” He placed a kiss on the back of my hand, lingering longer than appropriate. Then, he was gone, moving through the crowd to find his playmate for the night.
I let my held breath out in a whoosh. Damn that had been intense. I was starting to give up hope that things would ever be ok again with Kale. He meant the world to me, but if he insisted on forcing this to a dangerous level, nothing would save him. Still, I wasn’t ready to accept that just yet.
I stayed in the booth, watching the club activity. Getting away would be fabulous. I had no doubt that Sin City would be as dangerous as it was fascinating. Still, it couldn’t be any worse than the mind-game playing demons and manipulative vampires here at home. Although, perhaps I shouldn’t speak so soon.
Things would be changing around here soon enough. Shya had been right on one account; Arys and I had the ability to gather the vampires and werewolves of the city, to organize them. Their support would give us a stronghold, empower us for future events. It wasn’t going to be the way Shya expected though, too bad for him. After the trip to Vegas, we would begin making moves to form alliances with the vamps and Weres of Edmonton. It was high time to take initiative. I was sick of being the only one with power who didn’t utilize it fully. The time had come to make some changes.
Shya had been wise enough to leave me alone since Lilah’s, though as far as I knew, Gabriel was still under his thumb. I wasn’t telling Shya about my trip. Eventually he’d come creeping around again. Arys and I both owed him, and he’d make sure he got his payback. Before then, I had to find a way to outwit the bastard, or at the very least, outplay him.
I was counting on Veryl’s files to give me some insight into Shya’s end goal. Identifying the mystery artifact he sought would be nice too. I read and reread the files, convinced I was missing something hidden inside the documents. I couldn’t bring myself to destroy them. Not yet.
Willow was back to his routine of drinking himself stupid. Anything to dull the pain, I guess. Poor bastard. I hurt for him. He was a good friend and a great guy. He deserved happiness.
I signalled the waitress for an ice water. I sipped it, watching Kale work his magic on the opposite side of the room. His brown-haired victim laughed as he whispered in