Chapter twelve
It had been three days since she’d made her truce with King Levi and he’d kept up his end of the bargain. He allowed her more freedoms… She grimaced at that thought.
Allowed.
Gods, how far she’d fallen. A male allowing her to do anything. She shook her head. Going out sad, girl.
“So…fine ass shifter is your shadow?”
Her cousin Tracy’s words broke into her thoughts.
They were having lunch at the Archive café and she’d been catching her cousin up on the bizarreness that her life had become.
A month in Levi’s mansion and honestly, Amaya couldn’t complain.
His house was better than the one she and her mom rented, and despite the way the relationship started, she felt safe. Which…
Amaya hadn’t realized how bad their life had gotten.
The very fact that being kidnapped and kept prisoner felt safer than her old life was a damning testament.
The whole time, if asked, she would’ve sworn that she and Anita were fine, but their time with Levi showed her different.
Yes, she was stressed about how to get out from under Levi’s control, but the first words out of Tracy’s mouth when she saw her had been how Amaya was glowing.
Eating regularly and not stressing about her mother’s health had done that.
“Tracy, why didn’t you tell me I was fucking up?”
Tracy paused with her sandwich halfway to her mouth. She sighed and put it back on the plate. “Amaya.”
A lump formed in her throat. “I was, wasn’t I? Living on the edge of poverty, starving myself and neglecting my mother’s care just to prove I could do it alone.”
“You did what you thought was right.” Tracy gripped her hand. “No one can fault the way you care for Aunt Anita. Your focus was on taking care of your mom and this job. When was the last time you took time for yourself? How many times did you decline my help? The family’s help?”
Tears crested her eyes. “She would’ve wilted away on the compound.”
Tracy nodded. “Fair. That didn’t mean you couldn’t have taken any help. Girl, I had to sneak groceries into your house while you were working. That’s ridiculous.”
Her heart stuttered. “I thought Uncle Paul…”
Tracy scoffed. “Bitch, please. Your uncle is a bum.”
“Our uncle,” Amaya corrected with a watery laugh. She put her head down on the table. “I thought I was doing a good job of keeping it together.”
She was realizing that even before the shit Paul had pulled, she’d been days away from burnout. Had that contributed to her giving her life over to Levi? It probably had something to do with it. She’d been exhausted and at her wit’s end.
“Listen, Maya. I’ve kept your little situation with King Dingaling of the Bayi quiet, but say the word and I’ll alert the elders.”
The laugh that escaped was cathartic. If Tracy did nothing else, she was going to make Amaya laugh.
“King Dingaling. I’m gonna call him that,” she joked.
“Chile. Your mouth too damn reckless for me.” Tracy stole another glance at Bronx. “So, besides living in a mansion, being followed by a sexy shifter, and eating room service for the past few weeks, how has it been?”
“Why you said it like that?”
“Because that’s how it sounds,” Tracy pointed out.
“I was kidnapped,” she whispered.
“Technically, you’re a hostage at best. Recalling all the facts, you willingly gave yourself over to King Levi to save Uncle Paul, so no kidnapping involved.”
“Ain’t nobody ask you for technicalities,” she snapped.
“All the same, cousin.” Tracy waved off her irritation. “How long does this play out?”
Amaya shrugged, a petulant frown tilting down her lips. Tracy hummed but said nothing else. They ate in silence until she couldn’t take it anymore.
“Let’s say I managed to get away from King Levi. Do I just wait around for the next thing Uncle Paul does to get us in trouble? Do I give up entirely and show up to the compound, bags and pride in hand?”
Tracy gave her an empathetic look. “Okay, but let’s say you leave the king and return home. What’s left there for you? Work? The constant care for Aunt Anita? What time does that leave you for yourself? When do you get to live your life?”
“I could just make the best of the situation,” she slid in, avoiding Tracy’s eyes.
Her cousin snorted. “You like that man. I don’t know why you trying to pretend you don’t. Shit, the next vampire that bites me finna get the ride of their life.”
Bronx coughed and choked, proof that he’d been listening to their conversation. Amaya groaned, praying that he didn’t report it all back to King Levi. She changed the subject.
“Have you seen Uncle Paul around?”
“He’s been hanging at the compound more, looking like a whipped puppy. My mom and Uncle Dean are taking bets on how long it lasts. The food here is banging, by the way. We should do this more often.”
Clearly her cousin was done talking about her situation and Amaya was happy for it.
She needed to really evaluate her life and the decisions she’d been making lately, and she wanted to do that at home…
sulking. Taking a deep breath, she looked around the airy café tucked into the back of the Archive.
The place was busy, the quiet murmur of voices soothing.
Normally, she brought her own lunch and ate it outside.
But with Bronx swiping Levi’s card, she’d been hitting them up since she’d started back at work.
By day three of Bronx watching her and realizing she had been skipping lunch, he was on her ass.
After that first awkward day, they had relaxed around each other, and the shifter had no problem fussing at her for not taking care of herself.
According to him, Levi refused to allow her to go all day without eating, which was rich. But she wouldn’t argue.
After bidding her cousin goodbye and promising more lunch dates, Amaya went back to work.
She pushed the thoughts of her current situation to the back of her mind.
It took all of her concentration when she was in the sacred garden.
The moment she shucked herself out of her clean suit, though, all of them rushed back to the forefront.
Fighting to leave her current situation had been her mission and every morning she woke up trapped in that mansion had made her feel like a failure.
But confronting the way her life had been outside of the Bayi compound brought everything into a new light.
Defeat lowered her shoulders and Amaya was reevaluating her whole life.
Levi claimed that he had no plans of letting her go.
A week ago, that would’ve felt threatening, but now…
How did she feel?
That would take more than a cursory examination, that was for sure.
On the ride back to the compound, Amaya asked Bronx to drive through her old neighborhood.
Seeing the unkempt yards and ramshackle houses that dotted the streets had a shudder going through her body.
Everywhere she looked was proof that they had not been doing as well as she’d thought.
The rest of the drive back to the compound was quiet, with Amaya stuck in her head.
What Levi proposed was so dangerous, even more so than being held hostage by a vampire.
A Bayi and Chawi mating would bring the whole of the Collective down on them.
That was more trouble than her uncle could’ve ever gotten them into.
There would be no saving her mother from that.
Amaya trudged upstairs, no closer to a conclusion. Her steps slowed when she got to her room and saw Sebastian posted up at her door.
“Whatever it is that Levi is asking for, the answer is no.” She opened the door to her room and pushed inside.
Bas followed behind her without saying anything. Curious, she turned to face him. He was studying her, his dark eyes focused on figuring her out.
“You really don’t know what all this is about, huh?” Sebastian said finally.
Dropping her bag on the desk in the corner of her room, Amaya sighed. “What do you mean?”
“Let me ask you a question. What purpose would you serve Levi in your current capacity?”
“I don’t understand what you mean.”
“As a prisoner to the King of the Bayi. Why do you think he’s keeping you here and not in the basement, for instance?”
Her brows furrowed, her heart racing. There really was a basement? “I asked. He won’t let me go.”
He scoffed.
“I…” She paused because she didn’t know what he wanted her to say. “He kidnapped me.”
“You gave yourself to Levi,” he reminded her.
She got frustrated. “I won’t sleep with him just because he’s not making me stay in a dank basement.”
Bas shook his head. “Shawty, if he was just trying to fuck, his glamour is capable of bypassing your inhibitions.”
She sucked in a surprised breath. “Does he do that regularly?”
“Hell no. That’s not the point I’m making. He could’ve come in here leading with charm, but that’s not him. He’s coming to you with his authentic self so that you accept him. Why do you think he would do that?”
She clenched her jaw because she understood what he was trying to say. “He’s holding me hostage.”
Falling back on that flimsy excuse was her only defense to the emotions threatening to swamp her.
Sebastian had caught her at a vulnerable time.
Looking critically at her current situation, left her feeling exposed and raw.
Him holding her shit up to the light had her shuffling her feet, uncomfortable in her own skin.
He nodded. “Some missteps have been made.”
She sucked her teeth at that bit of understatement. “You and your boss got a weird relationship with the truth.”
“And another thing, shawty. Your mouth reckless than a motherfucker.”
“Let me go and it won’t be a problem.” She was absolutely bluffing at this point because where the fuck would she go?
“I feel like you be goading that man, and it’s aggravating as fuck.”
Amaya shrugged because she couldn’t deny it.
Sebastian sighed. “Look. For the sake of all of us who have to live on the compound with the two of you, can you please tone that shit down?”
She opened her mouth to argue, but Sebastian lifted his hand to shut her up.
“Shawty, you see how Levi is fighting with the madness. I’m just asking you to be considerate of that.”
Their eyes locked in a battle of wills before she nodded. “Fine.”
“Thank you. Now, go shower and shit. We got somewhere to be.”
Before she could argue, there was a knock on the door. She frowned when Bas stepped away and opened it. A maid was standing at the door, a garment bag in her hand.
“What’s going on?”
“You’re going out,” was all he said.
What did that mean? “Going out where?”
“Amaya, I’m asking you to go into this shit with an open mind.” He paused to consider his next words. “The Levi you get in this house is different than how he has to be outside. How he reacts to disrespect once he leaves here is some shit you don’t want to see.” He left with that parting warning.
Amaya closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She understood the threat beneath his words. When she opened them, the maid was there, waiting patiently.
She grabbed the garment bag and sighed, her shoulders dropping in surrender. She was going out with the king of the vampires. She prayed that she could control her mouth because she imagined Levi’s reputation was well-earned, and the last thing she wanted was to get back on his bad side.