Chapter 30
An unexpected consequence of being at the Chains outpost was that Maya had gotten well-acquainted with how the ground tasted.
She only had herself to blame. Aleksander had dialed down on the combat lessons in favor of more lectures, so Maya sought them out on her own. Kieran and his pack were still too close for comfort, and if they ever clashed again, she didn’t want to rely on luck, like last time.
But Aleksander had fought fairly. Diana did not.
“Fucking hell!” Maya rolled over on the frozen ground, rubbing her jaw. “What did you do? It feels like my mouth is on fire.”
“Vamps have sensitive canines. If their fangs are out and you land a hit right at the root, it splits the tooth.” She helped Maya back on her feet. “Don’t whine. That was barely a tap.”
It was a punch to the jaw, actually, but Maya didn’t argue.
The sparring ring she and Aleksander had used was supposed to be temporary, but the Chains—or Diana, specifically—had gotten restless.
Rather than a simple line in the snow, the ring was now marked by embedded spikes connected with ropes.
Diana spent most of her time within its confines, knocking people on their ass without breaking a sweat.
It might just be wishful thinking, but Maya could have sworn Diana was panting slightly.
“Are you distracted?” Diana asked with a grin. Maya gave her a look.
“If I was, getting decked solved it.”
“I only got to do that because you keep gazing longingly into the distance.” The tease faded from Diana’s expression. “You’re acting differently now that Harper’s here. It’s a good change. She fits in well.”
Maya couldn’t help but smile at that. Rather than return to Chicago, Harper had stayed in the safe house for the past few days.
While Aleksander insisted that Maya still took her rest with the other members of the Chains, he was also more lenient about how soon after nightfall he called on her.
Every spare minute she spent within hearing distance of Harper’s voice.
Most of that time wasn’t even at the cabin. Harper used it mainly for sleeping, spending most of her afternoons at the outpost instead. Around Angela, especially.
Angela usually hated when people interrupted her while she was working, but Harper was an exception.
Angela had described her as ‘helpful,’ which was the highest praise the Chains witch could offer.
Even Eden—Angela’s nervous apprentice—had taken to smiling whenever Harper was around.
Though she didn’t have any concrete evidence, Maya suspected Eden was a little smitten.
That day, Harper had stayed at the cabin.
She’d be leaving it soon, too. Harper was going back to Chicago in just a couple of days, and though Maya wanted to steal as many hours with her as possible, Aleksander wanted her on call, so to speak.
Even though he hadn’t given a reason, nor was he present.
A lot of people weren’t present. The outpost was quiet that evening.
“Come on.” Diana cracked her neck and rolled her shoulders. Muscles corded under her tan skin. “I talked myself into an evening patrol, and I scout better after a workout.”
Maya raised her hands. “Is that what you call kicking my ass? A workout?”
The quip didn’t soften her attitude in the slightest. Diana darted forward, forcing Maya to rescind ground immediately. But she did dodge the strike.
“How did you even get on a patrol?” Maya sidestepped Diana’s fist, barely staying inside the ring. “Cassius only let you come out here as backup. You’re not supposed to go anywhere risky.”
“What Cassie doesn’t know can’t hurt him. Unless someone snitches, it’ll be fine.”
She sounded almost excited. An unpleasant thought on its own. Diana was thrilled about a job most other people would groan about being stuck with.
“Are you still thinking about leaving?” Maya asked.
Diana stiffened. Then scoffed. “I shouldn’t have told you that. It was a dumb thought. This place is my home. I can’t leave it.”
“Of course you can’t. Your brother won’t let you.”
Diana smirked. And then advanced so fast that Maya started backwards and tripped beyond the boundary of the ring.
Technically, vampires were supposed to have the advantage against therians—at least in a one-on-one fight—but no one had mentioned that to Diana. She fought like she came out the womb swinging.
“If you want, I can ask Aleksander about it. See if he’ll talk to Cassius.”
Diana laughed. “Look at you, making use of being the King’s favorite.”
Maya rolled her eyes and gave Diana a shove. “Shut up.”
“No, I like it. What’s that saying… Power doesn’t corrupt, it reveals.” She grinned, shoving Maya back. “You’re revealing yourself to be a big softie.”
Maya stepped back into the ring, intending to show Diana just how soft she was, when the wind picked up. Powdered snow cascaded off a nearby roof, and the trees surrounding the small group of cabins bent and groaned.
Her phone vibrated with an incoming message. She read it over, frowning.
“Something wrong?” Diana asked.
“Aleksander wants me. Right now.”
Maya looked around. The sparring ring usually had a bigger audience, but the biting wind and lack of people meant the space was empty.
An odd development. The Chains were here to posture, and that was most effective when you had something to posture with. Aleksander had drawn over half the force away from the area.
“Then you’d better get going.” Diana tried a smile, but it came off stiff. “Be careful, yeah?”
Maya smirked. “Aw. And you call me a softie.”
Diana groaned, but her smile turned more sincere as Maya pocketed her phone and took off north, running through the trees. Diana had a rather gruff approach to worrying about other people. She got fidgety when problems couldn’t be solved through hands-on methods.
Getting her out here might just have made matters worse. It got her closer to the action she craved, but it didn’t let her engage with it.
Maya knew what that was like. Every time she’d worked at the Court of Chains bar, at least on open nights, she’d been adjacent enough to normalcy that she could almost forget how different everything was. But only almost. The dark gap, however slight, was painful to stand in.
Strangely enough, her thoughts didn’t really linger in that darkness anymore. They just visited occasionally.
She followed the path of the river, continuing until she broke through the trees, coming upon a bridge.
It crossed into a small township, the distant sidewalks mostly empty as the cold had driven people inside.
On the Chains side of the river, a thin layer of snow covered the winding road cutting into the woods.
Woods dense with silence. A cursory glance and all you’d see would be snow and darkness. But this darkness saw you, too.
Dozens of people stood among the trees. Some were human, wearing black clothes fit for the weather.
Others were lightly dressed, unbothered by the cold and with steam curling off their bare skin.
And several were mostly obscured by the shadows, the only visible part of them being the silver sheen of their black eyes.
They all faced the bridge and the town beyond it. All quiet. All waiting.
Aleksander stood near the tree line, barely obscured by the shadows. Snowflakes caught in his black hair.
“You wanted to see me?” Maya said, walking up next to him.
Aleksander stared at the bridge ahead, black eyes steely. He handed Maya a piece of paper, the edges shimmering as though covered in frost.
With only slight hesitation, she accepted and unfolded it.
Regents of Chains,
Dogs are loose near our shared border. Since attempts at collaring them have failed, the issue calls for a more direct approach. I hope we can come to a mutually beneficial solution regarding this matter, and I find discussions of this caliber are best conducted in person.
The wolves most prominent in the region have already agreed to be in attendance. Hopefully, Night will find time to do the same.
I look forward to making your acquaintance. I am eager to see this issue resolved.
R. Frost.
Beneath the text were a date, time, and address. The date was today’s, the time only minutes away, and Aleksander’s stare made it clear where the address was located.
“R. Frost?” Maya asked.
“A delegate from the Court of Winter. High-ranking, too. Only the children of the Winter Queen are permitted that last name, though I don’t know which one this refers to. They rarely survive for long, and the ones who do keep themselves well hidden.”
The message being from Winter was obvious, even if it didn’t bear an official Court seal. Aleksander was wearing his; a signet ring marked with crossed chains.
“Odd that they’re here,” Maya said. “Winter likes instability. Uncertainty is potential for them. They should be eager to prolong this conflict, not resolve it.”
Aleksander’s brows furrowed. “I didn’t teach you that.”
“There’s a lot of old money in the Court of Night. Plenty of vampires have made bad deals with Winter. They like ranting about it.” She folded up the paper. “Are you going to go?”
Aleksander regarded her for a long moment. Then looked back at the bridge.
“I can’t. It’s outside my territory.”
The laws of Chains were hard as steel, and no one was bound by them more than the King of Chains. A few years ago, he’d endangered a human and given himself the same punishment as he would any other member of his Court. Years of territory confinement.
Winter had set this meeting only a stone’s throw from the border.
“They’re provoking you,” Maya said. Aleksander sneered.