Chapter 22 Maeve
Maeve
Oh my God, oh my God. I swallowed against rising panic. What the hell had I just agreed to? I was a fucking human but all of the other females—actual vampires—were standing there looking like she-woman or something, and I couldn’t exactly be the only one not to agree to put myself on the line.
Fucking peer pressure.
Forget proving the existence of vampires. I was now so entrenched in the paranormal, I was about to put my life on the line for a second time. I was goddamn making a habit of sacrificing myself for their cause.
I took a deep breath in and blew it slowly back out, and Francois gripped me so tight that I shifted against him, trying to find a comfortable position or encourage him to loosen his grip.
“It’s okay,” he murmured against my hair, and I nodded, not wanting to speak in case I gave away my fear and uncertainty.
But how the hell could I even help? Sure, everyone here thought I was Francois’s mate, but Kayla was a witch, Ciara was half-shifter and Sam… I paused and studied Sam. She was a fucking badass if nothing else…
I had literally nothing to add to this mission at all. No powers, no strength, no shifting ability. I was actually a liability. I didn’t even have knowledge.
Not beyond what I’d gleaned from Granny and my own observations, anyway. But even I wasn’t dumb enough to think that believing things was the same thing as actually knowing them or being able to do them. I wasn’t a badass or a witch or any sort of vampire hybrid.
I was literally useless and never more so in my life before.
Francois had said I could remain human. He was happy to allow me that, and although I wasn’t sure I wanted to be a vampire and risk my life by being turned, it seemed there was no safe option anymore. Every path I looked down to continue my life forward, I could die.
And maybe this life required me to give in and succumb to the paranormal, the supernatural. Perhaps I had to be other.
But that wasn’t what I’d ever wanted. I hadn’t wanted to outlive my peers by being immortal. I hadn’t wanted to remain young while everyone I loved grew old and died. I’d watched that happen to Granny, and I hadn’t intended to watch the phenomenon on into forever. It was hard to lose people.
And there was no one I could endanger by telling them about this world. I would have to just walk away from everyone I knew. I’d be alone.
Alone with vampires.
I ignored the shiver running through me.
I’d be the vampire.
Francois cleared his throat. “I don’t think this is a good idea.”
Kayla turned, her mouth open like she was about to start shouting at him, but he held up a hand.
“écoutes,” he said to her. “Just listen. Maeve is human. She can’t be expected to be bait for the Ancients. She’s not as robust as you are and she doesn’t have the experience.” He was measured and calm, but he’d put each of my fears into words.
“She’s coming, Francois. She’s already agreed.
She knows the importance, even if you don’t.
She’s a…” Kayla paused and watched the pair of us assessingly.
“As good as a Dupont mate,” she finished.
“We’re all in.” Then she moved away from the bar and beckoned.
“Come on, girls. Let’s leave the guys to it. We have things to discuss.”
Francois held me against him briefly, and I breathed in his already familiar scent. Everything about him spoke of safety. My trust in him was absolute.
I couldn’t say the same about the others, yet.
He pressed a kiss to the top of my head. “Mon ange,” he whispered.
Then he released me and I fell into step behind Kayla, dread roiling in my stomach. I followed her to her spell room, and she sat in one of the chairs alongside the bookcase before gesturing to a sofa and a couple of other easy chairs I hadn’t really noticed on my last visit.
“Right.” She started with any sort of explanation and before anyone had really made themselves comfortable. “Obviously I’ve got a plan.” She grimaced. “As much as I can have, anyway.”
Sam nodded. “Like all the best plans.” A wicked grin captured her lips.
“So, what are we doing?” Ciara played with the ends of her hair, brushing the tips over her cheek as she spoke, the act so casual, she could have been discussing take-out choices rather than potentially life-ending endeavors.
“A girls’ night on Bourbon Street.”
Sam whooped. “About time, man. I’m so sick of being caged up down here. Kyle and I are used to a little more freedom, for sure.”
Kayla nodded. “Definitely free tonight. I’m going to amp up our scents, and we are going Ancient fishing. We won’t need to do a thing to find them. They’ll find us.” She nodded when she finished speaking, like that was her whole idea.
“I don’t think I get it.” Was I the only one still in the dark?
Despite how dumb it made me feel, I probably needed clarification.
Not knowing exactly what was going on truly made me dangerous to them, even if they were connected by some sort of hive mind and seemed to already know the plan.
Did vampire powers stretch that far? Maybe I hadn’t ever really known anything at all.
All those years of research were adding up to a fat lot of nothing.
I nearly laughed at the realization.
“How will this actually work?” I sat forward in my chair, trying to ignore my rising embarrassment. It was like being a new student who’d been studying a different text.
Kayla smiled, but it didn’t make me feel any easier. “Because of you.”
My stomach rolled over, and nausea clawed at my throat. “Me?” The word emerged cracked from my suddenly dry throat.
She nodded. “Yep. In fact, I’d go so far as to say it might only work because of you.
Your human scent is fucking delicious.” She took a deep inhale as though to prove her point and her grin became embarrassed.
“Sorry.” She shook her head then continued.
“We can smell an unmated human virgin from miles away.”
I automatically pressed my thighs together. “Sorry.” My cheeks heated.
Sam laughed. “Don’t be. I’m surprised one of the Ancients didn’t make a snack or a pet out of you sooner, to be honest. But don’t worry.
Even though you might feel like a target, we won’t let anything happen to you.
” Her cheekbones became more prominent as she said the words, turning her feral but proving she meant business.
Kayla leaned forward and lowered her voice. “If we’re all agreed, I think we need to do it tonight. The guys will only try to change our minds.” She waved a hand. “And I’m not really prepared to listen to Sebastian flapping about this.” The she chuckled. “They always think they know best.”
After the other women voiced their agreement, I nodded mutely because it turned out no one else was really the bait—that was just me.
Fear clutched at me with cold fingers as they stood.
What if I couldn’t do this? I might let everyone down.
Or I might die. Neither outcome was a good one for my future.
“Battle stations,” Kayla said. “Let’s dress for a night out.”
Actual excitement laced the air, and it wasn’t just the anticipation of battle or bring the war to a close. They were excited to be going out.
“It’s been so long.” Ciara sighed dramatically. “I think Jason would keep me on an actual leash, if he could.”
“That’s enough bedroom talk.” Kaya grinned. “There are definitely some things we don’t need to know about.”
But there were far more pressing concerns than giggling over innuendo. “I don’t have anything to wear.” It was probably the first time in my life I’d said that and genuinely meant it.
I literally had nothing to wear for a night out on Bourbon Street. Even if it was a night out I wanted to attend.
“No worries. Wear something of mine.” Kayla made the breezy offer as she opened the door to Sebastian’s and her room, and an unfamiliar masculine scent caught in my throat.
There was something that was oddly enemy territory about it, but it didn’t seem to bother anyone else.
Kayla threw open a door and gestured inside, and what should maybe have been a bathroom was instead a closet the size of the bedroom again. “Choose whatever you want,” she said.
It was like walking into a department store. I glanced at Kayla. Surely none of her clothes would fit me.
She waved a hand in a shooing motion. “Pick something.”
When I didn’t immediately walk forward, she entered the closet herself, turning to eye me critically before she perused the shelves and hangers.
“Now,” she murmured. “I think we’re looking for sexy… Sexy but functional. In case we need to fight or run.”
Holy crap. Both of those things were scary.
Firstly, Kayla expected me to pull off sexy when I was more used to geek chic, and secondly, that I might really need to fight or run.
Regardless of Sam’s promises of protection, it might really come down to those two things.
Me fighting and me running. In all honesty, the evening could end in me dying.
I swallowed, unsure of what to say, but I didn’t have to say anything. Kayla turned to me, her arms full of clothing and she jerked her chin toward the bedroom. “Come and try these on.”
As I slid into the skinny jeans, ones it looked like I’d spray-painted on by the time I turned to the mirror, some of Kayla’s attitude had seeped into me.
I borrowed her power and strength, standing taller somehow in the low-heeled boots, even though the silky cream-colored sleeveless blouse was more revealing than I’d usually wear, a deep vee showcasing my cleavage.
I turned, studying myself in the mirror, and Kayla nodded, her approval clear.
“You just need to put your hair up now,” she said. “Make sure there’s nothing blocking the scent of your skin. Let me just see if I’ve got some hair ties…” She started to rummage in a drawer.