Chapter 36
“Harper!” Kieran’s voice roared through the night. “I know you’re in there. Come out, right now!”
He paced the clearing in front of the cabin. Harper grabbed Maya’s hand.
“What the hell is he doing here?”
A bad question. The what was obvious, but Maya got what she was really asking.
“The redhead.” Her voice was pure acid. “Caught him spying on the outpost a few days ago. Slippery bastard got away from me.”
Harper spotted Booker standing in the crowd. Blood streamed down from a cut at the temple.
“What’s going on?” Nell muttered. Both she and Evie had stirred awake, with Nell rubbing her eye and Evie frowning at the light beyond the windows.
“We have company.” Maya let the curtain drop. “Do you have a phone signal?”
Nell turned on the screen. “Still no bars.”
Maya’s jaw clenched. Her nostrils flared as though sniffing the air, and she looked towards Evie. She’d moved up to look out the window, her face ghostly pale.
Maya’s eyes narrowed. Someone kicked at the cabin door, making everyone but Maya flinch.
“They won’t be able to get in,” Evie said, to herself it seemed. “Fangers can’t enter a human residence without an invitation.”
“But humans can,” Maya said. “They brought prospects along. Kieran is a fan of those.”
Her black eyes stayed on Evie. Then she let go of Harper’s hand and moved towards the front door.
“Don’t leave the house.”
“What?” Harper grabbed her arm, making her stop. “Are you mad? You can’t take all of them.”
“I can hold them off.”
Another kick struck the door. The hinges rattled.
“Don’t worry about me.” Maya brushed hair away from Harper’s face, pressing their lips together. A kiss she’d obviously intended to keep brief but which she ended up deepening. It took the door shaking again before she stepped back.
“Stay here,” she said firmly, before pulling the door open.
A woman stood outside, body tensed in preparation for another break-in attempt. The moment she saw Maya, her eyes widened, and she staggered back, almost slipping in the snow.
Maya barely looked at the woman. Her attention was locked on Kieran, who stopped pacing as she closed the door behind her.
Harper returned to the window, yanking away the curtain as Maya walked into the clearing.
“Got lost again?” Maya stopped halfway between Kieran and the cabin. “What an unfortunate habit. Need me to show you the way home?”
Kieran bared his teeth in a snarl. “What are you doing here? Did the Chains forget to bring their freak along?”
“I was ordered to stay behind. I tend to lose control when the fighting gets started.”
Her voice held none of its usual warmth. Instead, it was dark and cold.
Kieran didn’t move, but a few of the onlookers stepped back, weapons raised. Maya gestured at them.
“Is this your entire force? Or just the ones who managed to limp out of St. Louis?”
“You’re still outnumbered, vamp,” he growled. “One word and I can have you torn apart.”
Maya grinned, flashing fangs. The onlookers backed up further.
“Watch what you say next, Kieran. If it’s an order, it might not be obeyed. What kind of King will that make you?”
He bristled, breathing rapidly. Steam rose from where snow collided with his skin. But he didn’t order his people forward. Instead, he closed his hands into fists.
“I’m here to collect what’s mine. Step aside.”
Maya’s grin tensed. “Nothing here belongs to you.”
“Don’t play with me. I can see her in the window.”
A hand found Harper’s at the same time as someone grabbed her arm. Evie and Nell had moved up next to her.
Maya eyed the window. Her golden-black eyes found Harper’s and, for a second, she looked like she usually did. When she gave Harper a soft smile.
It dropped as she turned back towards Kieran.
“She isn’t yours. Not anymore.”
“That isn’t your decision!” His voice shook with fury. “You took her when you had no right. I Claimed her first. She’s mine.”
Maya’s gaze was lethal. Her eyes were black pits, and her lips had tensed in a disdainful sneer. Then she laughed. A quiet, mocking sound.
“Is this how you maintain your loyal following? Didn’t realize your traditional ways involved throwing a tantrum when you don’t get your way.”
She pulled a switchblade from her pocket and flicked it open. Its edge reflected the light of the nearby pickups.
“Go on, then. Sic your dogs on me. Or grow a spine and get rid of me yourself, because I swear. As long as I’m standing, you won’t get anywhere near her.”
“Is she serious?” Nell whispered. “She’s like half his size.”
Harper didn’t answer. The last time Kieran and Maya fought, she almost got killed, and this situation looked like it would have an even worse outcome.
But everything about Maya said the opposite. Her stance was relaxed, her posture straight. Her face had slipped into a calm mask, and her eyes were hard as onyx. The only sign of tension she showed was in adjusting her grip on her knife.
Kieran cursed and tore off his jacket. A few people in the crowd, including the human woman who’d tried breaking in before, immediately backed away. Save for Maya and Kieran, the space in front of the cabin was void of people.
“No one interfere!” Kieran slapped himself on the chest, growling under his breath. “I will not take another loss this night. Your death is mine, daywalker. When this is done, I’ll tear those fangs from your fucking skull.”
He hit himself again. Again and again. With every hit, his growling grew in volume.
His frame enlarged, his muscles rippling like writhing ropes, and as he stepped forward, his clothes split into shreds.
Brown-gray fur sprang from his skin, his fingers curled into claws, and long fangs sprouted from his jaw.
He fell onto all fours as his limbs elongated. They twisted and snapped, his form turning into a terrifying meld of man and animal.
Even his eyes looked bestial. Bright yellow and bloodshot, set in a wolfish face filled with gleaming teeth. Sitting on his haunches, he threw his head back and let out a primal, murderous howl.
A spine-chilling sound. One that made every past instance of fear Harper had experienced turn insignificant by comparison. No previous risk or threat even compared to seeing Maya stand face to face with a massive, salivating werewolf.
The monster sprinted forward, tearing across the clearing with rage in its yellow eyes. Maya stayed where she was, turning her body sideways and bending her knees. She stayed like that until the wolf leaped at her—fangs bared and claws extended—and then spun to the side.
It happened in less than a second. Moving so fast it barely registered, she’d darted out of the way and let the wolf crash past her.
Blood dripped from her knife. The wolf snarled, a bright red line cutting over its ribs, but it didn’t seem to notice. It didn’t notice anything other than the quarry in front of it, lunging ahead in another mad dash.
Again, Maya dodged at the last possible second. Again, her knife dripped scarlet, and another cut split the wolf’s hide. And again, the monster felt nothing other than an urge to kill.
The werewolf roared, storming at Maya with its fangs bared. She stepped to the side, a blur in the air, and only narrowly avoided the beast’s teeth as they clamped down near her waist. She sliced the blade across the beast’s hand, producing a pained howl before she jumped back.
“Payback,” she snarled. Blood ran from the knife onto her fingers. She flicked her wrist, cascading it over the snowy ground.
She looked like a specter. A shadow made physical. Her black eyes were so filled with chilling hatred that it was a wonder she didn’t go straight for the monster’s throat.
Instead, she stuck to surface-level injuries. A rhythm formed, with the wolf snapping at her and Maya barely darting out of the way, keeping herself close enough that she could leave blood behind.
“What is she doing?” Nell asked. Evie swallowed.
“It looks like she’s playing with him.”
Her voice trembled. All of her trembled, including her hand as she clutched the silver pendant hanging around her neck.
Realization rushed through Harper’s mind. Maya couldn’t possibly fight off an entire group of these people, so she’d goaded Kieran into attacking her on his own. A fight she was drawing out with the use of taunts and shallow cuts.
She wasn’t playing with him. She was stalling.
Evie was scared. Terrified, if her state of mind matched Harper’s even slightly.
And Natalya knew that.
She knew Evie was in the cabin. Knew exactly where she was. No matter how important her responsibilities were, they couldn’t keep her away when her fear was this constant.
If this group attacked, Maya wouldn’t be able to fight them off. But a greater fiend and the nearby army at her disposal definitely could.
The wolf was moving sluggishly now. The snow was sprayed with red, and the wind carried labored snarls with it. Maya looked like she could go for hours more, but the monster still snapping at her throat was limping and wheezing.
She could kill it. Easily. With every cut she made, she held back from stabbing it in the heart and ending this. Instead, she danced around it with the ease of water slipping past a river rock.
The wolf made another desperate lunge, the movement slow and clumsy. Maya moved out of the way, almost lazily, swiping her blade across the creature’s back.
It fell to the ground, arms barely keeping it upright. It trembled, and then the wolfish form slipped away entirely. The fur sloughed off its body, limbs contorting into a more human shape.
Kieran barely resembled a person. His clothes were ripped to pieces, sweat and blood dripping off his chest and face.
“You’re looking a little tired.” Maya’s voice was perfectly even.
She was bleeding too, but only from a few scrapes.
For every one she had, Kieran wore ten. “Give up. Run home. Assuming you still have one. The Chains have probably cleaned out most of St. Louis by now. All you have left is whatever hovel you’re governing from. ”