Chapter 3 #2
Maya’s eyes returned to Kieran. Seeing his puffed-up chest and bared teeth. Based on how tense he was, he was ready to shift from man to monster if it meant protecting the woman he believed to be his.
Tension formed along her incisors. She had already seen his version of protection.
“And this woman returns his… affection?” Natalya asked, eyeing Kieran. Jackie leaned forward, teeth gritted.
“Doesn’t matter. With time, she’ll learn her place.
A mate is everything to the shifter they belong to.
It’s something most of us accept we will never have, and no wolf alive would stand in the way of it.
You wouldn’t understand the significance of a bond like that, fiend, but know this. It goes far deeper than reason.”
Natalya’s eyes went scarlet, the snow around her transforming into steam.
“Trust me. I know exactly what such a bond feels like.”
“Then I’m sure you won’t mind that Kieran fetches his property before you handle whatever business you have in St. Louis.”
“I do mind. Someone going missing brings attention that we need to avoid.” Natalya nodded at Jackie’s sheriff’s badge. “You may be able to manipulate the paperwork in your own county, but I doubt you have the same access in St. Louis.”
“You fucking—” Kieran stepped forward, but one glance from Natalya made him freeze in place. When she looked at Jackie again, her gaze was pure ice.
“You’re direct, so I’ll speak in terms you may better understand. We have no wish to start a conflict with you, Ms. Mayfield. Do you wish to start a conflict with us?”
Jackie’s eyes glinted fiery yellow. But she kept them right on Natalya’s, maintaining a gaze that would make most other creatures crumble to the ground.
Then she stepped back. “Kieran. Get back in the car.”
The man gaped. “Are you serious? This fucking bitch is just trying to—”
“Get back in the car.”
Jackie glared at him, her stare as unwavering as Natalya’s had just been. Kieran looked dumbfounded for another long moment before letting out a huff and returning to the car, closing the door so hard the glass should have shattered.
“It is as you said. St. Louis is a neutral zone. Anyone can have business there,” Jackie said. “For now, I’ll tell my people to steer clear of that club you’re so interested in. But I need something in return.”
“I didn’t come here to make deals.”
“Too fucking bad. You get the privacy you want, and we keep our distance until you leave. In return, you don’t send any more Chains into the city. And you pull out any wolves you have working on this.”
Diana stiffened. Natalya didn’t even glance her way.
“It’ll only be one wolf.”
“And that’s one too many. This is going to raise hackles on my side, and I don’t want to deal with a cross-Court pissing match on top of all the other bullshit this is causing.
” Jackie’s eyes blazed again. “Don’t test me.
You fucked over a lot of people when you expanded your territory.
Wolf, Winter, even the fucking covens hate your guts.
It wouldn’t take much effort to make your life a living hell. ”
Natalya’s eyes were the same bright scarlet as before, but other than standing eerily still, she showed no reaction to Jackie’s harsh tone.
“Alright. No wolves. And you leave the Lucky Penny and the people within alone until we’re done with it. Agreed?”
Jackie’s smile was a little too pleasant, though it tensed when she shot Maya a glance.
“Yeah. Agreed.”
Jackie returned to her car, settling into the driver’s seat and giving Kieran a pat on the chest before putting the car in reverse. When the rumble of the engine was gone, Natalya turned towards Maya, the red in her irises changing to violet.
“How did your interview go?”
Maya eyed Diana, who was still standing frozen in place, eyes on the ground.
“It… It went well. I start working in a couple of days.”
‘Well’ was a generous description. Patricia—or Trish to everyone but an elected few—was as exhausted as she was desperate. And strict, too, based on the interrogation-like questions she’d asked.
Natalya looked at Diana. “And you?”
“Don’t know yet. I’m not meeting with the manager until tonight.”
Natalya sighed, closing her eyes. When she opened them again, a few red strands had returned to her irises.
“Diana, head back to Chicago. This situation just became a lot more sensitive, and right now, I can’t have you anywhere near St. Louis.”
Diana’s eyes stayed locked on the forest floor. “Yes, Natalya.”
“Good. And you…” Natalya looked to Maya, eyes sharp like daggers. “Come with me. We need to talk.”
Maya stared as Natalya walked away. The Chains followed a strict hierarchy system based on seniority and earned trust, neither of which you gained a lot of by tending a bar for a few months. And it certainly didn’t earn you a private conversation with a Regent.
“What is she—”
“Not now, Maya.” Diana turned away, starting towards the tree line. “I know this isn’t your fault, but… I can’t talk to you right now.”
She didn’t even glance in Maya’s direction as she walked off, vanishing between the trees.
This was more than just a job to her, Maya knew. Diana’s brother was in charge of the patrol teams, and he was also overprotective. This was the first time in years she’d been in charge of anything more than bartending shifts. Her chance to prove she could handle it.
And now she’d been ordered to step away. To return to a high-rise that was supposed to feel like home but which Maya knew from experience could feel like a prison.
She’d kind of gotten used to people being scared of her, awful as that was. People hating her, though… That was new.
“Is there a problem?” Maya said once she’d caught up to Natalya. Her standing in place, wallowing, was technically breaking a direct order.
Natalya kept her eyes pointed forward. “Did anything happen between you and Harper Montgomery last night?”
The question made Maya stop in place, but only for a second before she hurried to catch up with Natalya again.
“No! Of course not.”
“Are you certain? Because you nearly ripping out a man’s throat just for saying her name implies otherwise.”
Natalya obviously wasn’t pleased. But Maya wasn’t lying. Nothing had happened.
Nothing except for the strange… intensity she felt whenever she remembered how many shades of blue made up Harper’s eyes. How her smile turned crooked when she said something intentionally provoking. How her fear had dulled with every word Maya spoke in her presence.
“Nothing happened. I swear.” Maya forced her voice to stay even when Natalya’s piercing eyes snapped to hers. “After Kieran left, I waited with her for a few minutes. We talked. That’s all. She was upset, both because of what Kieran did and… and because it was Evie’s birthday.”
Though the sternness didn’t vanish from Natalya’s face, it faded from her eyes.
“Evie was upset, too,” she said quietly. “This was supposed to be simple. No attention. No risk. And now it’s turned into this fucking mess.”
Natalya’s pace slowed to a near stop. “If I had my way, we’d have them in Chicago by the end of the day, damn the rules.
But I can’t allow that. The Chains have no end of enemies, and they’d like nothing more than to have us look like we’re risking collective safety.
Breaking the laws of initiation would do just that. ”
The world of the supernatural Courts was veiled in secrecy. Most people didn’t know the monsters from legends and folklore weren’t just figments of fantasy and revealing that fact had to happen under controlled circumstances.
It required weeks, or months, of investigation. If the Chains waived it, or were suspected of doing so, other Courts could consider them a threat to their secretive existence. The Chains might be powerful, but against a unified force with the law on their side… they wouldn’t stand a chance.
A fucking mess was the only way to describe this situation.
“It’s not really an initiation anymore, though. It’s a rescue,” Maya said. Natalya narrowed her eyes.
“Elaborate.”
“Jackie is obviously taking Kieran’s side. She doesn’t have as many enemies as the Chains, so she can bend the rules more, with fewer consequences. And she seemed perfectly okay with Kieran taking Harper by force.”
Natalya stopped walking. “She said she would hold off on that until the Chains were gone.”
“Well, she lied. Why else would she make sure that there would be no Chains wolves in St. Louis? Without Diana there, she can have her pack stalk the Lucky Penny at all hours, and no one would know about it.”
When Natalya kept her eyes narrowed, Maya had to stop herself from fidgeting. How the hell did people keep prolonged eye contact with Natalya?
“You disagree?” Maya said.
“No. I’m merely being reminded that I need to keep my assumptions in check. You noticed more than most would have done.”
Maya’s hand went to her ribs, grabbing the fabric of her t-shirt. “I’m just good with people. It’s one of the only things I’m good at.”
It had been her downfall, too. Making conversation was her one consistent talent. She loved people with stories to tell, seeking out whoever looked like they had the most interesting ones.
That had led her right into imprisonment.
A year and a half ago, she had struck up a conversation with a stranger at a bar she worked at.
A man who had been scouting the place for potential prey.
The following evening, she’d woken up in a concrete cell with blood running down her neck and four lines of text tattooed on her ribs.
MAYA N. – B-POS – LANGUAGES: ENGLISH, SPANISH – SPECIAL SKILLS: SOCIALIZING
A brand of ownership, doubling as a glorified menu card. One she shouldn’t even have, since they ought to have killed her outright. She wasn’t anything special. Didn’t have particularly tasty blood or skills a brood of vampires might appreciate.
But she’d been easy to talk to. And the Night Duke, who had filled her tip jar all evening, wanted to have that forever.
When Maya’s hand stayed on her ribs, Natalya’s shoulders went taut. She pointed her eyes forward and started walking again.
“For your sake, I hope you’re talking down your abilities. This situation requires finesse, and I don’t know if you possess enough of it to handle something of this magnitude.”
Natalya’s eyes shimmered back towards scarlet.
“We can’t tell the three of them what’s going on without going through lengthy protocol.
But I’m not letting them spend months in a city filled with shifters who can bend the laws with far less consequence than I.
So, Maya, I need you to use those charms of yours, get in their good graces, and convince them to go to Chicago. ”
Maya stared at her, half expecting a reveal that she was joking. When it became clear that wouldn’t happen, Maya let out a startled, “What?”
“Interpreting this as a rescue is wise. If an uninitiated human is in danger from supernatural forces—such as a carnivorous wolf pack—they can be warned about it. But a Court can only do so for humans inside its territory. If Harper and the others go to Chicago of their own free will, them being targeted means we can tell them whatever we want.”
“I don’t mean to offend, but that sounds like a stretch.”
“It sounds like politics. Everything’s a stretch. We’re just competing to see who can go furthest before something breaks.” She looked Maya up and down. “But it won’t. Not with your gory reputation.”
Maya frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Your reputation might be based mostly on falsehoods, but its effects aren’t.
Right now, those wolves don’t know anything about you except the rumors they’ve heard.
They just saw you moving around in broad daylight, something that’s supposed to be impossible, and that makes it much harder to dismiss all the other things people are whispering about you. ”
Maya stopped in place, making Natalya do the same.
The rumors that surrounded her had become curses. Her life was forever changed because of them. Filled with nothing but fear and awful solitude, born from stories painting her as a terrifying, impossible monster.
That was why Natalya had brought her along. Why this meeting had been set in the day hours. Why Natalya hadn’t told her to stand down when she was seconds away from ripping Kieran’s face off.
“You wanted them to be scared of me,” Maya said. Natalya’s mouth tensed, and Maya only realized it had been a smile once it was gone.
“I succeeded, too. You must have sensed it as well as I did.” Natalya’s gaze hardened.
“I know you didn’t choose this life, but if it weren’t for that vampiric nature you clearly detest, this meeting would have been a far more serious affair.
Harper is Evie’s family. I am trusting you to get her home safely. Can you do that?”
Natalya’s voice was as stern as was demanded of a Regent of monsters. She didn’t have any other options than the unideal one Maya presented. This situation was forcing her hand, and Natalya didn’t seem the type who liked being forced.
Maya didn’t like being forced either. But then the wind turned, pulling notes of citrus from her jacket and making her remember the bruise she’d spotted on Harper’s cheek. Her struggling against Kieran’s grip. The horrifying fate awaiting someone considered owed to a creature like him.
With those thoughts in mind, she could give only one answer.
“I can keep her safe. Her and the others.”
Natalya let out a small sigh. Tiny flames sprang into her pupils, heat radiating off her dangerously beautiful figure.
“This needs to be done fast and without mistakes. You’re not the only predator who’s showing them interest. Do not fuck this up.”
Then, in a blink, Natalya was gone. Leaving Maya alone in the cold, quiet forest.