Chapter 12 #2
She raised her bloody arm. A few people in the crowd looked away.
Kieran lowered his hand. Though the bite wound on his neck still trickled, the flow wasn’t as lethal as hoped.
“You attacked me!” he snarled. “I was just defending myself.”
“Only because you made the mistake of showing up here. You were to leave this place alone until the Chains were done with it. An ambush against one of its employees isn’t upholding your part of the deal.”
The backup he’d brought was likely the only reason that ambush hadn’t happened. She could imagine Kieran’s reaction when he saw her and Harper. He would have pounced on her right then if his goons hadn’t held him back.
“I didn’t agree to that deal,” Kieran spat. “Jackie’s weak. She might think talking is the way to get us ahead, but she doesn’t know what the fuck she’s doing. The Courts love their games, but the packs will never be valid players. She screwed herself when she made that fucking deal.”
A man stepped forward. Red hair, burly build, shifty eyes. Maya had seen him before. The very first night she’d been in the Lucky Penny, and then again when he was sent to stalk the places Harper frequented.
Booker put a hand on Kieran’s arm. “Boss, you should probably—”
“Fuck off!” Kieran spun on him, eyes wild. Booker all but leaped back, pinching his lips together as though another word would be the same as a death sentence.
Maybe it would be.
Frowning, Maya ran her eyes over the onlookers. Her focus had been on Kieran and all the ways she could make him scream, so she hadn’t paid attention to their audience. Or how they kept glancing at Kieran, as though waiting for a command.
“What is this?”
“Something inevitable.” Kieran turned towards her again. “Something Harper would be safe from if you had minded your own fucking business. I wanted to get her out early, so she wouldn’t be at risk, because unlike you, I don’t want her to get hurt.”
Maya bared her fangs. “I would never hurt her.”
“Yeah, you would. I saw you just now. If you hadn’t been interrupted, you would have fancied yourself a taste, wouldn’t you?
” He scoffed when Maya stayed silent. “You know, I should thank you, actually. The packs around the Great Lakes haven’t been unified about anything in a long time.
Then the Chains came along, claiming territory that wasn’t theirs and kicking out anyone who wouldn’t fall in line. Pissed off a lot of people.”
He flashed his teeth in a sneer. “We wolves have been delegated to the wilderness for too long. It’s time we claimed a city for ourselves.”
“St. Louis isn’t yours.”
“No. But by dawn, it will be. Alongside all the humans who live here.”
Her fury switched to shock. If blood hadn’t caused the knife to stick to her palm, she might have dropped it.
The Chains extending their reach to all of Illinois and Wisconsin was recent. Most Courts could share territory, since their focus had little overlap, but the Chains demanded complete subjugation from anyone within their borders.
A harsh rule. But a necessary one, as the laws of other Courts would see people enslaved, supernatural or not.
Would see them cry, bleed, and beg as long as it honored twisted traditions or simply because it was entertaining.
The Chains’ prime focus was to protect their members, be it from those within the Court or the people outside of it.
And it had consequences. As the Chains expanded beyond Chicago, several lycanthrope packs were pushed out of their homes. Groups that followed the old ways, seeing humans as simple prey, while other supernatural creatures were treated with violent disdain.
Jackie was smart enough to suppress that second characteristic. But a segment of her followers disagreed. One big enough that a bullheaded leader could spin an attractive tale.
“Are you mad?” Maya stepped forward, causing most of the onlookers to flinch. “This city is a neutral zone. Several factions make use of it, not to mention all the Courtless people who live here. If you try to steal it, you’re signing your own death sentence.”
“And who will act it out, huh? Night is fighting a civil war, Summer and Winter are at each other’s throats, and not a single coven is interested in going within a hundred miles of Illinois. No one gives a shit about St. Louis other than the Chains and the shifters they displaced.”
“Kieran,” Booker hissed. Kieran glared at him, lips tensing. But then his body went stiff, as though he’d just realized how much he’d shared.
He looked back at Maya; the movement repeated by the group standing behind him. Yellow eyes glowed in the dark, and bellowing breaths mixed with the wind.
Maya tightened her grip on the switchblade. She could take one of them with her before she got ripped apart, maybe, and that was being generous. She didn’t even know how to wield the knife Kieran had inadvertently given her.
She had resented Natalya for adding fuel to a fire she would do anything to extinguish, but not right then. She’d have to thank the fiend next time they saw each other.
“Go ahead. Come closer.” The pain firing through her body turned the words snarling. “It’s been a while since I was allowed to give in to my urges. Let me have some fun.”
The crowd tensed. Even Kieran looked tempted to back up, stubbornness being the only thing keeping him in place.
“We’ll deal with you later. When we have the numbers.” Kieran gave her a cold smile. “Do me a favor, vamp. Stick around. Come morning, the streets will run red, and I would like nothing more than to make your blood join the mix.”
He spat on the ground and turned, taking off in a fast jog. The other wolves followed, though a few looked in her direction before vanishing into the night.
When their footsteps could no longer be heard, Maya sank to the ground. She dropped the knife and cradled her bloody hand against her chest. Her flesh felt like it was getting pierced by thousands of needles.
It would take time to heal. Time and sustenance. The Chains safe house she stayed in had enough bagged blood that she could make the wound close, but then what? If Kieran running his mouth could be believed, this city was only hours away from turning into a warzone.
Even the most secretive warfare had unintended casualties. People who weren’t involved but got caught in the crossfire. He might be an abusive asshole, but Kieran didn’t want Harper anywhere near that category.
He wanted her safe. He just had his own twisted definition of that word.
She knew what she should do. Call the Chains, explain what had happened, and await orders. But this problem was far bigger than protecting three uninitiated women.
Natalya was a Regent. Her personal desires might place Evie’s family over everything else, but the orders she gave were based on more than that. Her decisions affected the entire Court. The greater good would be more important than the safety of a few people.
Would the Chains even take the risk of moving on a neutral city? It could be viewed as an attack, especially if Kieran retreated as soon as they showed up.
The Chains had plenty of enemies. One misstep would be all they needed to go for the throat. If Maya alerted them about this, best case scenario, a standoff would launch with the Chains on one side of the city border and Kieran’s pack on the other. Wearing police uniforms.
The city would be locked down. Harper wouldn’t be able to escape.
Cursing, Maya picked up the switchblade and got to her feet. Dawn was only a few hours away. If she wanted time to act, be it selfish or not, she had to move fast.