Page 126 of Sun-Kissed Fangs
“Are youdistracted?” Diana asked with a grin. Maya gave her a look.
“If I was, getting decked solved it.”
“I only got to do that because you keep gazing longingly into the distance.” The tease faded from Diana’s expression. “You’re acting differently now that Harper’s here. It’s a good change. She fits in well.”
Maya couldn’t help but smile at that. Rather than return to Chicago, Harper had stayed in the safe house for the past few days. While Aleksander insisted that Maya still took her rest with the other members of the Chains, he was also more lenient about how soon after nightfall he called on her. Every spare minute she spent within hearing distance of Harper’s voice.
Most of that time wasn’t even at the cabin. Harper used it mainly for sleeping, spending most of her afternoons at the outpost instead. Around Angela, especially.
Angela usually hated when people interrupted her while she was working, but Harper was an exception. Angela had described her as ‘helpful,’ which was the highest praise the Chains witch could offer. Even Eden—Angela’s nervous apprentice—had taken to smiling whenever Harper was around. Though she didn’t have any concrete evidence, Maya suspected Eden was alittlesmitten.
That day, Harper had stayed at the cabin. She’d be leaving it soon, too. Harper was going back to Chicago in just a couple of days, and though Maya wanted to steal as many hours with her as possible, Aleksander wanted her on call, so to speak. Even though he hadn’t given a reason, nor was he present.
A lot of people weren’t present. The outpost was quiet that evening.
“Come on.” Diana cracked her neck and rolled her shoulders. Muscles corded under her tan skin. “I talked myself into an evening patrol, and I scout better after a workout.”
Maya raised her hands. “Is that what you call kicking my ass? A workout?”
The quip didn’t soften her attitude in the slightest. Diana darted forward, forcing Maya to rescind ground immediately. But she did dodge the strike.
“How did you even get on a patrol?” Maya sidestepped Diana’s fist, barely staying inside the ring. “Cassius only let you come out here as backup. You’re not supposed to go anywhere risky.”
“What Cassie doesn’t know can’t hurt him. Unless someone snitches, it’ll be fine.”
She sounded almost excited. An unpleasant thought on its own. Diana was thrilled about a job most other people would groan about being stuck with.
“Are you still thinking about leaving?” Maya asked.
Diana stiffened. Then scoffed. “I shouldn’t have told you that. It was a dumb thought. This place is my home. I can’t leave it.”
“Of course you can’t. Your brother won’t let you.”
Diana smirked. And then advanced so fast that Maya started backwards and tripped beyond the boundary of the ring.
Technically, vampires were supposed to have the advantage against therians—at least in a one-on-one fight—but no one had mentioned that to Diana. She fought like she came out the womb swinging.
“If you want, I can ask Aleksander about it. See if he’ll talk to Cassius.”
Diana laughed. “Look at you, making use of being the King’s favorite.”
Maya rolled her eyes and gave Diana a shove. “Shut up.”
“No, I like it. What’s that saying… Power doesn’t corrupt, it reveals.” She grinned, shoving Maya back. “You’re revealing yourself to be a big softie.”
Maya stepped back into the ring, intending to show Diana just howsoftshe was, when the wind picked up. Powdered snow cascaded off a nearby roof, and the trees surrounding the small group of cabins bent and groaned.
Her phone vibrated with an incoming message. She read it over, frowning.
“Something wrong?” Diana asked.
“Aleksander wants me. Right now.”
Maya looked around. The sparring ring usually had a bigger audience, but the biting wind and lack of people meant the space was empty.
An odd development. The Chains were here to posture, and that was most effective when you had something to posture with. Aleksander had drawn over half the force away from the area.
“Then you’d better get going.” Diana tried a smile, but it came off stiff. “Be careful, yeah?”
