Chapter 21
There was one good thing about being stuck at the Chains bar with nothing to do: Maya’s section always looked pristine.
These shifts followed the same steps. Tidy, clean, repeat. Boring work, with Angela being the only one who occasionally broke it up.
Angela and one other person now. Her regulars had doubled in number since she got back to Chicago, and despite neither of them being present, Maya wasn’t bored. In fact, she was tempted to whistle as she arranged the alcohol bottles, lining up the labels so they pointed straight out.
Since that night when Harper had appeared at the bar—all angry and beautiful—Maya had yet to fall asleep without having her in her arms. Had yet to wake up without her beautiful blue eyes waiting for her.
That evening would be the first time in a week she would be without it. When that was the case, indulging daydreams of Harper’s smile, her touch, her bright laugh, was more than justified.
If she didn’t do it, a muted ache would start in her chest.
An odd feeling. One she hadn’t realized was present until Harper’s proximity rendered it absent. A tugging, tightening sensation, as though a rubber band was pulling at her heart, the strength behind it growing with every hour Harper was away from her.
There was a strange sense of direction to the pull. As though if Maya started aimlessly walking, it wouldn’t be aimless at all.
It might just be how vampires missed other people. Like so many other things spawned by her new nature, it just happened to be painful.
Someone cleared their throat right behind her.
Maya almost rolled her eyes. Since the witch had been busy, the only communication Maya had with Angela over the past few days was text-based, but that just meant she’d had plenty of time to practice the most condescending way to say, “I told you so.” The witch of Chains might not be arrogant, but she was smug.
“I know, I know. You’re a font of endless knowledge, and I should take your advice more often.” Maya scooped up some ice and dropped it into a glass. “I’m giving you exactly two minutes to gloat, so make the best of it and—”
Maya froze. She’d turned around, and instead of finding the cocky Chains witch, as expected, she was facing a woman with short dark hair, a streak of white at the front.
“Hey, uh…” Diana scratched the back of her neck. “Good to see you.”
Maya’s shock turned into a frown. She dumped out the ice and set down the glass. A little harder than necessary.
“Is it? From my perspective, the opposite seems to be the case.”
Diana clenched her jaw, staying quiet for long enough that tension crept into the air. Or awkwardness, based on her stiff posture and averted gaze.
A petty part of Maya didn’t exactly mind the reaction. Having someone you thought of as a friend break contact always sucked, but it hurt more when you had literally no one to fill the void they left.
“I heard it went well in St. Louis,” Diana said. “Even if the exit was a little dramatic. It’s a hell of a story. You’ve been the talk of the high-rise since you got back.”
“Really? I hadn’t noticed.”
Diana eyed the space around her. She was the only person within a ten-foot radius of the bar.
“Right. Sore topic.”
“Could be worse. It probably will be, actually. My dramatic exit had consequences. The Regents just haven’t bothered informing me what they are yet. I may have a whipping waiting for me.”
Maya glanced at the steel platform above the dance floor. The view had little variation at the Chains bar, and the royal lounge was impossible not to notice. Especially since a certain Lust fiend was often up there.
That evening, she wasn’t alone. The black-eyed King of Chains was with her, their heads together and… were they looking her way?
“I doubt it’ll be that bad.” Diana offered a weak smile. “The Regents rarely take this long to come up with punishments. If they haven’t done anything yet, I think you’re in the clear.”
“In the clear…” Maya let out a humorless chuckle. “Is that the reason you came over? After weeks of giving me the cold shoulder, you suddenly felt compelled to soothe my nerves?”
Diana’s smile dropped. Her eyes did, too, as she shifted her weight from foot to foot.
“I shouldn’t have done that,” she mumbled. “I had a bad reaction. It was the first time I’d been given a job outside the high-rise in over a year. It was an important one, too. If I handled it well, not even Cassius could argue against me being in the field.”
She closed her hand into a fist. “I was upset. I wanted someone to blame, and you were right there, but just because it was easy to throw it all on you doesn’t make it fair. I know that. I’m… I’m sorry.”
By how tight her voice was, those words didn’t make a frequent appearance in her vocabulary. Or she just wasn’t used to opening up. Or maybe both.
Maya had assumed Diana hated her and would be fine wallowing in that feeling. That her way of nursing injured pride involved transforming disappointment into bitterness. But that didn’t seem to be the case. It wasn’t resentment that kept her away, but embarrassment.
“No. It wasn’t fair.” Maya picked up a clean glass. “Do you still take your whiskey neat?”
Diana looked up, surprised. Then she sighed.
“I don’t know how you do that. Keep track of everyone’s drinks.”
“Lots of practice.” Maya poured two fingers of Diana’s favorite whiskey. “It’s a talent you could learn, too. If you didn’t spend most of your shifts getting your knuckles bloodied.”
“I never start anything.” Diana downed her drink in one swig. “I finish it. Preferably in a way that makes it less likely to occur again.”
That Diana was working the bar at all was bizarre. She fit better in the field than she did pouring drinks. But since her brother oversaw the patrol teams, she was locked out of them.
Cassius blamed the fact that his kid sister had too hot of a temper to be allowed out of the high-rise, something even the Regents disagreed with. Natalya had picked her for the St. Louis job personally. And then circumstances beyond her control had returned her to a position that didn’t fit her.
Maya at least had that going for her. As long as she had patrons to serve, she actually liked bartending.
“For what it’s worth, I’m sorry, too,” Maya said. “That you got kicked off that job, I mean. I could have used you. Would have made everything a lot easier.”
“Yeah…” Diana tilted her glass, watching the remaining amber drops flow from side to side. “It’s fine. It was necessary, not personal. It wasn’t like Natalya was pleased about it either. And since I have a habit of getting shot at every time I leave this place, maybe it was for the best.”
“Do I want to know?”
“Maybe some other time. After more whiskey.”
Maya refilled her drink, and Diana grinned.
“You’re a bad influence.”
“I’m just inviting conversation. Pretty big part of the job, if you weren’t aware.” Maya gave her a smile. “You’ll get another opportunity soon. I’m sure of it.”
“With how protective Cassius is being, I think I’ll have to make my own opportunity.” She looked towards the exit, sneering. “I actually got one recently. That Mayfield lady contacted me. Said she had a spot free, if I wanted it. That her pack was open to anyone displeased with the Chains.”
Maya’s eyes widened. “You aren’t considering it, are you?”
“Of course not! Her pack kills people for sport. I’m not shacking up with someone like that just because I’m feeling antsy.
” She swallowed and lowered her eyes. “But there are other packs. Decent ones. Places where I might actually get to do something more than just stand around and look pretty. Don’t tell me you haven’t considered it, too. ”
Maya had considered it, but only as a frightening hypothetical. Life with the Chains hadn’t been easy, but it was better than anywhere else.
As a vampire, her options were limited. She could join the Court of Night or become a nomad, and neither idea was inviting. Joining the Court that had branded her like a slave wasn’t attractive, and she wouldn’t last a month if she were on her own.
The Chains let in everybody. As long as you kept the laws and their core tenets of safety, consent, and control, they let you join, regardless of what your past looked like. Or what you were created to do.
She was a weapon. Made to be the catalyst of an undead, day-walking army. Staying with the Regents who had shown no interest in enforcing that purpose seemed like a wise move.
The crowd split, letting a mountain of a man move over to her section. He was bald, pale, and covered in scars, his face about as expressive as a concrete wall, and he stared at her with pure black eyes.
“The Regents want you in the royal lounge.”
Maya looked towards the platform. Natalya was saying something to Aleksander, who was staring straight at Maya.
“What do they want?” Maya gestured at the mostly empty bar. “I’m busy at the moment.”
“They want you in the royal lounge,” the vampire repeated. “Now.”
“Not beating the goon allegations, Viktor.” Diana vaulted over the bar. “I’ll take over here. If they’re both asking, it’s probably important.” She gave Maya a grin. “Who knows? Maybe they finally came up with a punishment for you.”
What a calming thought.
Ignoring the stares following them, Maya trailed Viktor across the floor and up the steel stairs towards the platform.
She had never even touched these stairs. The royal lounge was as exclusive as its name suggested. Only the Regents and the people close to them were allowed up there. Whatever they wanted, it had to be important. If that was good or not… That was less clear.
“Don’t try anything,” Viktor snarled, eyes piercing into Maya’s as she ascended the last few steps. She was about to back away from him, given that he did appear very goon-like right then, when Aleksander’s voice cut in.
“Stand down.” The King of Chains was still facing the crowd below him. “She’s not a danger to us.”
Viktor glanced at Maya. “But… King, she—”