Page 127 of Sun-Kissed Fangs
Maya smirked. “Aw. And you call me a softie.”
Diana groaned, but her smile turned more sincere as Maya pocketed her phone and took off north, running through the trees. Diana had a rather gruff approach to worrying about other people. She got fidgety when problems couldn’t be solved through hands-on methods.
Getting her out here might just have made matters worse. It got her closer to the action she craved, but it didn’t let her engage with it.
Maya knew what that was like. Every time she’d worked at the Court of Chains bar, at least on open nights, she’d been adjacent enough to normalcy that she couldalmostforget how different everything was. But only almost. The dark gap, however slight, was painful to stand in.
Strangely enough, her thoughts didn’t really linger in that darkness anymore. They just visited occasionally.
She followed the path of the river, continuing until she broke through the trees, coming upon a bridge. It crossed into a small township, the distant sidewalks mostly empty as the cold had driven people inside. On the Chains side of the river, a thin layer of snow covered the winding road cutting into the woods.
Woods dense with silence. A cursory glance and all you’d see would be snow and darkness. But this darkness saw you, too.
Dozens of people stood among the trees. Some were human, wearing black clothes fit for the weather. Others were lightly dressed, unbothered by the cold and with steam curling off their bare skin. And several were mostly obscured by the shadows, the only visible part of them being the silver sheen of their black eyes.
They all faced the bridge and the town beyond it. All quiet. All waiting.
Aleksander stood near the tree line, barely obscured by the shadows. Snowflakes caught in his black hair.
“You wanted to see me?” Maya said, walking up next to him.
Aleksander stared at the bridge ahead, black eyes steely. He handed Maya a piece of paper, the edges shimmering as though covered in frost.
With only slight hesitation, she accepted and unfolded it.
Regents of Chains,
Dogs are loose near our shared border. Since attempts at collaring them have failed, the issue calls for a more direct approach. I hope we can come to a mutually beneficial solution regarding this matter, and I find discussions of this caliber are best conducted in person.
The wolves most prominent in the region have already agreed to be in attendance. Hopefully, Night will find time to do the same.
I look forward to making your acquaintance. I am eager to see this issue resolved.
R. Frost.
Beneath the text were a date, time, and address. The date was today’s, the time only minutes away, and Aleksander’s stare made it clear where the address was located.
“R. Frost?” Maya asked.
“A delegate from the Court of Winter. High-ranking, too. Only the children of the Winter Queen are permitted that last name, though I don’t know which one this refers to. They rarely survive for long, and the ones who do keep themselves well hidden.”
The message being from Winter was obvious, even if it didn’t bear an official Court seal. Aleksander was wearing his; a signet ring marked with crossed chains.
“Odd that they’re here,” Maya said. “Winter likes instability. Uncertainty is potential for them. They should be eager to prolong this conflict, not resolve it.”
Aleksander’s brows furrowed. “I didn’t teach you that.”
“There’s a lot of old money in the Court of Night. Plenty of vampires have made bad deals with Winter. They like ranting about it.” She folded up the paper. “Are you going to go?”
Aleksander regarded her for a long moment. Then looked back at the bridge.
“I can’t. It’s outside my territory.”
The laws of Chains were hard as steel, and no one was bound by them more than the King of Chains. A few years ago, he’d endangered a human and given himself the same punishment as he would any other member of his Court. Years of territory confinement.
Winter had set this meeting only a stone’s throw from the border.
“They’re provoking you,” Maya said. Aleksander sneered.
