“Maya,” Edric grabs my shoulders and tries to shake me awake.
“No,” I mumble, “please… I’m tired. No more. Can’t you just do it yourself?”
I don’t know what came over him, but the moment we set foot inside the little motel, he pushed me up against the wall, ripping my clothes off, and pounded me half senseless. He woke me up three more times. It was like he couldn’t get enough. I’m sure there’s some kind of deep-seated reason behind it that I am not getting, but I really can’t do it again.
“No,” he whispers, his mouth close to my ear. “There’s a vampire outside. Get ready to shift and run.”
I bolt upright. “What?”
He puts his finger against his lips. “Their senses are off the charts,” he says in my head. “They can hear us talking a mile away.”
“We’re not fighting?”
“With what? We don’t have any weapons.”
“Can’t we just, I don’t know, rip his throat out?”
“If you can catch him. Do you know how fast vampires are?”
Gabriel's Story: “You sent for me?” I walked into the carnival tent. Abbadon sat behind a roughly hewn table that was covered in a red velvet cloth, a crystal ball, and a deck of tarot cards in front of him. He had been living with the carnival for the last two years, pretending to be a medium. For some reason, it amused him no end to pretend he could communicate with the humans’ dearly departed. In actual fact, he was just reading their minds, but they flocked to him like starving children to candy. Abbadon shuffled his cards and looked up at me with his silver-blue eyes. He was the only vampire with eyes like that…they made women and men go weak in the knees in equal measure, but Abbadon gave up sex years ago. He no longer found joy in the simple things in life. “Gabriel,” he said. “I’ve found the perfect candidate.” “Not this again. You have tried three times. It is time to let it go. The babies keep dying, and how many pie
Gabriel's Story – Part Two: “Good evening, Claire,” I said. She looked up, anger flashing in her eyes. “I should have known. Every year on her birthday. Why can’t you leave us alone?” I revealed myself to Claire when Maya was two. With my help, she could not remember the night she went to Abbadon, and I would have been happy to let her live with this ignorance for the rest of her life, but Maya scared her. The little girl’s magical abilities were not that of a normal witch, and Claire did not understand why. In her mind, Maya was possessed. Her mother was getting ready to smother the girl in her sleep when I stopped her. “I told you…Abbadon tasked me with looking after Maya, if I do not send him a report every year, he will throw me in the howling pits. I have no desire to end up in hell. Maya’s abilities are getting stronger. Did you notice?” Claire’s eyes darkened with sorrow and fear. “Yes.” “You know
Edric's POV: I’m not surprised. I should be, but I think deep down I knew it all along. The way she arrested Kenneth’s shift and pulled his wolf from his body. Only the most powerful witches can do it, and only after many years of training. She did it without even trying. My mate jumps up, and runs for the door. “Maya, no!” I grab her just as she starts to open the door and slam it shut. I keep my hand on the door, trapping her. “It’s not safe for you out there.” “Let her go,” Gabriel says quietly. I turn on the vampire. “Who says you get to have an opinion on the matter?” We growl at each other. Maya looks from me to Gabriel, anger burning in her eyes. “Neither of you get to have an opinion. This is my life and my problem.” “It’s not just your life,” I say. “I’m your mate. This affects me too.” “And what are you going to do? The way I see it, I’m the strongest one in this room, yet you presume you can tell me
Edric's POV:“Maya?” I ask. “What’s wrong?” She smells like blood, but I can’t see any on her. “What happened? Where did you go last night?”She doesn’t answer me, just keeps staring at me with those wild eyes.“Hey,” I grip her shoulder and she visibly recoils from me.“Don’t touch me.”“What?” I ask. Her reaction surprises me at first, but panic is slowly pushing its way through. What happened to her last night? I drop my hand and put some distance between us. “Can you talk to me at least?”“You and your non-stop talking. All you ever want to do is talk-talk-talk…like that fixes anything.”I try to ignore her nasty attitude and hide my growing anger. “That is what people usually do--”“Edric,” Cameron calls from outside.“Maya,” I mind-link m
I stare out of the window of the king’s retrofitted SUV, ignoring the conversation. Two warriors are sitting in front, taking turns to drive. There are two sets of seats in the back that face each other, and the windows are tinted and bulletproof. Two unassuming cars accompany us: one in front of us and one in the back. I don’t bother asking if a werewolf king is really so important that someone would risk assassinating him.Edric already told me everything that happened after I ran out of the room last night, which makes me even more nervous about seeing my parents now. What if my mom says something she shouldn’t? What if she tells the king I’m a witch-goddess-werewolf hybrid made by a vampire with godlike powers?~ You made me, ~ my wolf says, ~ not Abbadon. ~* Did you know? That I made you? *~ No. I just existed one day. I know what you know. ~ No wonder she was so confused and timid in the beginning. ~ You want to kill me, ~
“You’ll be okay,” Edric says, taking my sweaty hand in his. “I’m right here.” I stare up at a house I don’t know. Behind the simple front door and dirty grey walls are my parents, my siblings. My heart hammers in my chest, and the need to vomit sits very close to the surface. I take a deep breath, trying to still my pounding heart. “Okay, let’s go.” Cameron nods and taking the lead, walk up the cracked path. My father used to take such pride in his garden and home. What happened? The place looks almost deserted. I pick an eviction notice up from the front step. Are they even still here? The doorbell doesn’t work, so the king resorts to pounding on the door so hard that it rattles in the frame. It takes a long time before anyone answers. I’m about to show the eviction notice to Cameron, and suggest we leave, when a haggard old man with unkempt grey hair opens the door, staring out at us with watery eyes. I almost don’t recognise my own father. He aged twenty y
Edric's POV:It’s almost like someone flipped a switch in Maya’s head, and for the first time since I met her, my mate looks content. She sits with her head against the car window, looking out at the lush greenery that speeds by us, a small smile on her lips. I am less enamoured by what I see.It’s mostly swampland, with rare glimpses of waterless patches. Creepers and gnarled plants I don’t recognise try to make their way out of the swamp. It’s a wonder they can even keep the roads clear. How can a wolf live out here? Surrounded by alligators and snakes? How do they shift without fear?Feeling my eyes on her, Maya stops looking out the window. “What?” she asks.All I can do is shake my head. I have no words to tell her how I feel. How proud I am to call her mine. How happy I am that she’s here with me, and I don’t have to face my grandfather alone.Cameron tried very hard to co
Edric's POV I listen to Alexander waffling on about the great Blake Lycans, and how they’re coming to their end. It does not escape his keen mind that they created their own downfall. “My first mate, Maxwell’s mother, was my first cousin. I should have known that weak bitch wouldn’t deliver good pups, but my father demanded it.” I say nothing, just stare at poor Maxwell – he’s no older than seventy, young for a Lycan, but he looks double that age. “He didn’t have any pups?” “A few…none of them came to term.” “My second mate was a second cousin. She delivered only female pups. All of them dead now.” He spits in disgust. “I have a new mate, unrelated, but she’s not taking.” It’s astounding that an otherwise intelligent wolf can be so fucking dense. They must have known the effect their inbreeding would have on their offspring. “This one--” he waves a hand in Maxwell’s direction --“was born retarded. We’ve been hiding it