Vampire Trouble

by Sara Humphreys

  Leash? Like a fucking dog? Oh, hell no.

  Shane was watching Horace walk away and clearly didn’t notice the fury in Maya’s face when she grabbed the bag with her clothing from under the bar. She should probably change before leaving, but she was so furious that all she wanted was get the hell out of there.

  “I’d love to, Horace.” Maya flew across the room in a blur. She linked her arm in his as the front door of the club opened. “Bye, Shane. Tell Olivia I’ll be back before sunrise.”

  “Don’t do this, Maya.” Shane’s voice, cold and curt, filled the club.

  “She made her choice, big guy.” Horace’s eyes flickered to orange briefly and a growl rumbled through him that sent Maya’s sonar-like senses into overdrive, almost making her nauseous. She stilled, thinking she’d made a huge mistake, but his eyes quickly went back to normal and he winked. “I’m all bark and no bite…unless you ask me real nice.”

  The door swung shut behind them, and the last image she saw was a look of pure, unadulterated fury on Shane’s face. Stepping out into the chilly air, Maya was filled with guilt, anger, and frustration. Sensing the change in her demeanor, Horace wrapped one arm around her in an almost protective gesture. Maya smiled at him and noticed that his body temperature was far warmer than any human she’d encountered—even more than someone with a fever—and he smelled different too.

  All of the men in his pack had a distinctive scent, a combination of fresh earth and wood smoke. Their scents made her almost dizzy, and for some inexplicable reason, she simply had to go with them. She didn’t particularly want to be with Horace, but something deep inside her gut pulled her toward him.

  “After you,” Horace said with a sweeping gesture.

  Maya looked up and saw a massive, white stretch limo waiting at the curb. All of the other couples had piled in, and the human limo driver stood patiently waiting by the open door. Maya looked from the closed door of the club to the limo and back to Horace. She nibbled her lower lip, knowing full well she should get her butt back to her apartment, but one of the other girls, a vamp named Ginger, leaned out the open door and waved.

  “Come on, Maya. You’ve never partied until you partied with these boys. They’re wild,” she shrieked just before Marcus, one of Horace’s pack members, pulled her back into the limo.

  “See,” Horace said. “You’re perfectly safe with us.” He trailed one finger along her jaw, down her throat, and around the necklace. “We’re just here to have some fun.”

  The door to the club swung open and Shane stood in the doorway like the angel of death. If Maya didn’t know better, she’d say he’d grown about a foot and a half. In the blink of an eye, Maya slid into the waiting limo, but Horace stopped in the doorway and faced Shane. He waved off the limo driver, who promptly went to get in the driver’s seat.

  “The lady made her decision, Quesada.”

  The girls in the car giggled and clung to their dates, but the men kept their eyes on Maya. She gripped her bag tighter and peered out the door past Horace. Her stomach dropped when Shane’s eyes met hers.

  “Yeah,” Horace said on a laugh, “I know who you are. You’re a sentry, one of the soldiers that do all the dirty work for the Presidium. So unless you want to break the nice little truce we have going between our races, I’d suggest you back the fuck up. I’d hate to have to tell the czars that you were picking a fight with the heir to the throne.”

  “Heir? That’s funny, I thought you were the spare,” Shane murmured, shifting his furious glare from Horace to Maya.

  “I’m royalty, and you are the fucking help.”

  Shane said nothing but took a step back. Maya didn’t know whether to be relieved or annoyed.

  “That’s what I thought.” Horace flicked his cigarette butt into the gutter and slid into the seat next to Maya.

  The limo door slammed shut just before the driver pulled away. Maya turned around to look out the window, but Shane was nowhere to be seen. Her gut clenched and tears stung at the back of her eyes because she knew that she’d hurt him. But when Horace implied that Shane had control of her, that he had her on a leash, she lost it. One thought nagged at her: Had she lost Shane in the process?

  ***

  Maya leaned on the smooth granite counter of a lavish bathroom that was bigger than some entire NYC apartments. Staring at her reflection in the mirror, she didn’t like what she saw one bit. One of the human misconceptions about vamps was that they had no reflection, but that wasn’t true. Nope. Maya could see her dumb blond self as clear as day.

  How could she have been so stupid?

  Once they arrived in the suite, which was one of the most gorgeous spaces Maya had ever seen, she quickly excused herself to go to the bathroom and change. At first she worried that Horace might try to stop her and keep her in the horribly tacky dress from the club, but he didn’t. He continued to be a gentleman.

  There had been no sign of Shane, and so far, he hadn’t tried to telepath with her. Right after the limo pulled away, Maya opened her mind to him and found nothing but silence. Achingly sad silence filled Maya’s head and made her long for one of Trixie’s jabs about her bad taste in music or one of Suzie’s silly newbie vampire questions. At this point, she’d even take a scolding I-told-you-so from Sadie.

  She heard none of that. There was only silence because Shane, the one person whom Maya could now telepath with, wasn’t speaking to her—and she couldn’t blame him. Maya nibbled her lower lip and ran her fingers through her hair, attempting to smooth it as she thought about how upset Olivia was going to be when she heard Maya went with the wolves. However, no matter how angry Olivia got, it would be nothing compared to the hurt look on Shane’s face when she went with Horace.

  “What are you doing?” Maya whispered to her own reflection. She rolled her eyes and shook her head on a growl before answering her own question. “You’re going home, you dumb ass.”

  Grabbing the bag, she opened the bathroom door and was struck by the surprising lack of noise. There was no more chatter or giggling from the girls, and the only sound was the music coming from the sound system hooked up throughout the massive, three-bedroom suite. She reached out with her senses and could tell all three bedrooms were occupied—two of them with more than one couple. Closing her eyes, she sharpened her focus and captured the distinct scent of the wolves mixed with the pungent odor of sex—and blood.

  The girls were feeding on the wolves, breaking one of the cardinal rules: no feeding on werewolves. Maya’s eyes whipped open and she ran into the main living room of the suite. Panicked and dizzy from the strong, almost overpowering combination of scents, Maya felt her vision blur, and lights flickered behind her eyes. Her skin felt too small for her body and her necklace hung heavy and cumbersome around her neck, like a noose.

  If she didn’t know better, Maya would think she’d been drugged.

  “Wh-what’s happening to me?” she whispered. Stumbling, Maya grabbed the back of one of the living-room chairs for support. “I don’t feel well… I need to go home.”

  “You okay?” Horace’s voice whisked around her in the air, and he encircled her bicep with his hot, sweaty hand. As Horace helped her to her feet, his face went in and out of focus, and she vaguely noticed him take the bag from her. “Come on, let’s go out on the terrace and get you some fresh air.”

  “But I don’t breathe,” Maya said absently.

  The terrace doors opened and the cold, New York City air hit her, instantly making her feel better. Squeezing her eyes shut, with Horace’s hand still firmly around her arm, Maya focused on the sounds and scents in the air that were so distinctly part of the Big Apple.

  Car exhaust. Human heartbeats fluttering like a swarm of butterflies. Hot dogs and pretzels. Blood.

  Even when her head started to clear a bit, Maya couldn’t rid herself of Horace’s pungent, intriguing scent of burning wood. Th
at same pulling sensation tugged at her gut and willed her closer to him. It wasn’t desire, the way her body yearned for Shane’s, but something else…something she couldn’t quite decipher. Even though she didn’t want him, her body was inexplicably drawn to his like a magnet.

  Maya leaned on the railing of the terrace and gave Horace a weak smile. The tugging sensation throbbed in her belly, making her nauseous.

  “Feeling better?” Horace asked. He linked his arm around her waist and tugged her against him. She could feel his growing erection pressing against her hip, and that feeling of panic began to bubble up again.

  “Not really.” Maya laughed nervously. She placed her hands on his shoulders and leaned back, pushing him away while he tried to nuzzle her neck. “It looks like your party isn’t happening and everyone went to sleep. Speaking of which, I have to get going.” Maya glanced at the glimmer of light on the horizon. The sun was beginning to rise, and her time was running out. “The sun will be up soon, and I’d really rather not use the tunnels to get back, so I should leave now.”

  “They’re not sleeping.” Horace’s eyes glowed orange and he held her against him with surprising strength. “They’re fucking. Which is exactly what I’d like to do with you.”

  “No.” Maya shook her head and tried to extricate herself from his grasp. It should have been easy—she was, after all, a vampire—but to her horror, it wasn’t. “Let me go.”

  “Think you’re stronger than me, little vamp? Not a chance,” he growled. In a flash, Horace’s hand curled around her throat. “I guess your boyfriend didn’t school you on our kind. We’re even stronger than you bloodsuckers. So you’re not going anywhere. You have something I want, and you’re not leaving until I get it.”

  Maya’s fangs erupted as anger, fear, and panic filled her, and she locked gazes with Horace. Using every ounce of strength she had, Maya pushed into his mind with hers in an attempt to glamour him. For a moment, just a moment, she thought it had worked. When a slow smile cracked his face and a low, guttural laugh bubbled up…she knew it hadn’t. Trixie was right. Werewolves couldn’t be glamoured.

  “Sorry, baby vamp.” Horace yanked her neck so that her face was right next to his, and the orange glow from his eyes was almost blinding. “Didn’t they tell you? You can’t glamour a wolf.”

  Horace growled, his teeth extended into the sharp canines of a wolf and his body began to contort and stretch against hers with frightening speed. Maya screamed and struggled to get away from the repulsive feel of his body shifting, but Horace was too strong—it was just like before. Only this time, there would be no Olivia to save her. His claws emerged, ripping her sweater, and Maya prayed for the sun to rise.

  His claws sliced across her arms at the same moment that something rocketed out of the sky and sent them both flying to the stone floor of the terrace. Maya wept in a bleeding heap in the corner, frozen by fear. Memories of the past filled her head, and all she could do was pull her knees against her chest, squeeze her eyes shut, and pray for it to end.

  Glass breaking. Snarls. Gunshots. Howls. Shrieks.

  Maya pressed her hands over her ears and let out a scream just before the darkness consumed her.

  ***

  Shane had followed them from a distance and stayed on the roof just above the terrace of their suite. He was torn between being absolutely furious with Maya and worried for her safety, although he knew he was partially to blame. He should have let Maya tell Horace “no” all by herself. Instead Shane had blurted it out before he could stop himself.

  What. A. Dope.

  He swore under his breath and glanced at the brightening horizon. It was yet another moment when he showed an appalling lack of self-control, once again related to Maya. He made a note to himself to speak with Doug and Olivia about the bloodmate legend. He had hoped to keep his suspicions under wraps, but based on the way things were fucking up at every turn, he needed help. Besides, he heard Trixie and Sadie’s conversation with Maya about their inability to telepath with her. Odds were that they had already shared that tidbit with the czars.

  Squatting on the edge of the roof, elbows resting on his knees and hands clasped, he remained stone still, tuning into Maya’s and the wolves’ scents. Having tasted her blood, he should be able to find her anywhere, but to his dismay, the scent of the wolves was interfering somehow and making her exact location difficult to pinpoint.

  He frowned. That had never happened before.

  Over the four centuries of his vampire existence, Shane had battled all kinds of supernatural creatures, including werewolves, but he’d never had their presence interfere with his ability to track. It was a less-than-appealing development and was going to make his job that much harder.

  Maya’s scent in the air captured his attention, and he looked down to see Horace bringing her outside. Shane’s eyes narrowed. Something was wrong with her. He instantly reached out to touch her mind with his, but it was like running into a mass of psychic cobwebs. She wasn’t blocking him. He’d felt that type of mental stonewall before, and this was different but no less disconcerting.

  Shane’s fangs broke free the instant Horace started to get more physical with Maya. Shane leaped to his feet, and though he wanted to fly down there and intervene, he resisted. He knew that he had to give her the opportunity to get out of this situation on her own. All bets were off when the situation grew more violent and Horace began to shift into the wolf.

  Maya was in way over her head.

  Shane flew down like a bullet with her scream filling the predawn sky. He slammed into them, which released Maya from Horace’s grasp and sent her curling up into a weeping ball in the corner. Shane wanted to grab her and take her back to the apartments beneath The Coven, but Horace was spoiling for a fight.

  He leaped onto Shane’s back, snapping his powerful jaws and attempting to bite the vampire, but Shane reached around, grabbed Horace, and tossed him through the glass doors into the living room. A werewolf bite was almost certain death, due to the poisonous effects of the saliva on vampires. That bite could turn a human into a werewolf, but it could kill a vampire.

  Seconds later, the remaining glass shattered to the ground like rain, and all five of Horace’s pack members appeared in their werewolf forms. Shane barely noticed the human women running out of the suite or the two vamps who flew out the windows because the only sound he could hear was Maya. Her keening wail tore at whatever shred of soul he had and cut him deep in his core. The wolves leaped toward him but skidded to a halt when Shane drew a gun loaded with silver bullets.

  All of them froze and one, a wolf with darker, almost black fur, tilted his snout to the air. Their eyes glowed orange, and the smaller brown one on the right took a step forward, but the big one growled a warning. Shane knew the wolves could telepath with each other, and in all likelihood, the big one smelled the silver.

  Horace was naked and had shifted back to his human form. He rose to his feet, swiping at the blood that dripped from his forehead and with a wicked smile on his face. His five pack members stood by his side, all of them snarling at Shane.

  “Thanks.” Horace laughed at Shane’s obvious confusion. “Not bad. A sentry for the Presidium attacked a member of the royal family and, in the process, has broken the truce.”

  “Hardly.” Shane kept his voice even and took a step toward Maya, who had passed out. “I was protecting a member of the czars’ coven—one of Olivia’s progeny—from a wolf attack. I’d say the truce was broken by you.”

  “I guess it will be your word against ours.” Horace gestured wide with both arms. “I’m sure your czars won’t be too happy with you or the girl. She comes here, leads me on, plays games with me, and then the bitch tried to suck my blood,” he smirked, the lie slipping easily from his mouth. “If anyone used self-defense, it was me. She’s a fuckin’ tease, and from what Rat tells me, everyone knows it.”

  Shan
e gripped the gun tighter, frustration surging through him. Maya’s reputation for toying with men and her willingness to break the rules was working against them now. Olivia and Doug would believe Shane’s version of events, but what would King Heinrich and the rest of them believe?

  “I will make a full report to the czars about exactly what happened here.” Shane holstered his gun beneath his jacket but didn’t take his eyes off the pack. “Feel free to do the same with your father.”

  Their growls rolled around him in the air like a herd of elephants, and he knew it was only a moment before they’d attack. The moment that thought went into his mind, the five wolves lunged. Without taking his gaze off Horace, and in a blink of an eye, Shane scooped up Maya and shot into the sky like a bullet. As he flew away, he heard Horace shout, “Welcome to the war.”

  ***

  Shane told them everything.

  The dreams, the telepathic contact, bloodmates…everything.

  Sitting on the couch in Maya’s apartment, Shane rested his elbows on his knees and held his head in his hands. Waiting for Olivia and Doug to say something, he felt battered by shame, anger, and frustration. Maya was passed out in her bed, with Trixie and Sadie keeping watch over her while Shane had rattled off the evening’s events to the czars with an unusual edge of emotion.

  Normally, when recapping a patrol, he was all business, but with Maya, it was entirely personal.

  “What a shit show.” Olivia ran her hands over her swollen belly and paced back and forth on the other side of the room. “I knew that little bastard was up to something. He deliberately baited the two of you into a fight, and it sounds like our friend Rat is playing both sides. Why would the prince want to start the war again?”

  “I’m not certain,” Shane said quietly. “But if I had to venture a guess, I’d say his motives have something to do with the throne. The fact that he came here to New York and started all of this while his father is overseas is far too coincidental. Maybe he wants his father to see him having heir potential, rather than just being the spare?”