Chapter 17: 17__On thin ice

Maia felt like a cold wind had wrapped itself around her as Zainab’s sharp gaze became focused on her.

“I asked who she is?!” the princess shrieked and Cassie rolled her eyes.

“Dude, relax,” she said. “You didn’t come here for her, so say or do what you came for and leave.”

“Yeah!” added Clover.

The princess narrowed her eyes and scoffed. “*'Dude*?' How low class. I’m your Princess and you will refer to me correctly!”

Cassie dug her hands into her back pockets. “You can take your little title and shove it. This my Hostel, I don’t need to respect you here.”

Looking like she was going to faint from fury, Zainab raised a trembling hand and ran it through her long, white hair. It was clearly a nervous habit because it seemed to calm her down a little.

“You know what?” She waved Cassie away. “You wait your turn. Now, you.” She looked at Maia again. “Who are you? Why’re you wearing my mate’s clothes?”

Maia gulped. Her... mate? “Uh... well, I borrowed it—”

Clover’s hand landed firmly over Maia’s mouth. “Nunna yours. Now leave,” she told Zainab.

“Fight me,” Zainab said to Maia, her eyes sparkling with malice. “Fight me and beat me and I’ll leave.”

“You’re crazy,” Cecile muttered, her arms crossed. “What kind of princess goes about the kingdom randomly battling subjects?”

Zainab’s mouth curled. “She is not a subject. She’s a stranger, and you all know it. Now it’s either she fights me or I inform my brother immediately.”

“Oh, my God, you’re so annoying!” Claudia stated, her face twisted with disgust.

Zainab shrugged, pleased with the looks of uncertainty that passed over the women’s faces. She had them right where she wanted them.

Cleo rose into her human form and flicked back her short, straight black hair. “Fight her, Maia.”

Maia’s eyes went huge. “What?”

“Cleo!” said Cassie.

“Let them fight, Cass,” said Cleo, fiercely glaring at Zainab. “The ice princess is underestimating Maia.”

Maia looked around in shock as Cleo pushed back the others and stood aside herself. They wanted her to do what?!

“G-guys, I can’t!” she squeaked in fright.

“You got this, Maia!” Clover cheered.

Maia shook her head vigorously. “No! No, I don’t! I *don’t* got this!

“When I win, that jacket’s mine,” Zainab stated confidently.

“Just keep your eyes on her,” Cleo told Maia calmly.

Gulping, Maia turned to face Zainab. How on earth did she end up in this situation? Battling a Gemini princess with powers of ice?!

Zainab smiled, raising her hands and extending from the tips of her fingers, long icicles, sharp and cold like frozen swords.

“Let’s go,” she whispered.

Maia had barely blinked when there came flying at her ten glinting icicles, their pointy ends all aiming for her chest.

With a shriek, she dropped to the ground and the frozen blades shot over her, barely missing her head.

“Wait!” she screamed, but Zainab wasn’t listen.

Maia was trying to stand when the princess froze the ground beneath them, making Maia slide around in a struggle to remain standing.

A strange ball of blue energy shot out of Zainab’s hand and, with no balance whatsoever, Maia tried to duck. The ice beneath her feet, however, wasn’t co-operating and Maia found herself bending backwards, one foot sliding and the other thrown up in the air.

The ball of energy missed, flying right over Maia’s face. She continued to slide, stopping when, by complete accident, her airborne leg caught Zainab in the face, delivering a sharp kick to the chin.

“Yes!” screamed Clover as Zainab when falling back from the powerful kick.

Maia gasped as she tried to stand upright. “Oh, my God, I’m sorry! Are you okay?”

Zainab responded by flicking out five icy daggers and launching them at Maia. With a gasp, Maia tried to safely dodge when, again, the spiteful layer of ice beneath her feet made things difficult and Maia found her legs gliding into a sharp split. She shot out both arms for balance, effectively evading the icicles and throwing a punch into Zainab’s face.

“Good one!” Clover yelled as blood trickled from Zainab’s nose.

Maia jerked her fist back, her face frozen with shock. “I swear, that was an accident!”

Snarling, Zainab held her nose and glared at Maia. “Like hell it was! I’m gonna kill you!”

Maia shrieked and tried to crawl away on the slippery ice when Zainab threw herself at her. It was completely unintentional that Maia raised a leg at the exact moment that Zainab landed at her feet, planting a powerful stomp into the Princess’s face.

The Hostel women were bursting with laughter, but Maia could barely focus on it.

“Oh, my God!” she gasped, jerking her foot back. “I’m so sorry!”

“You bitch!” Zainab shrieked, holding her face which had a black print of Maia’s boot on it.

Maia was torn between checking if Zainab’s face was okay and bolting it right out of there.

When Zainab put her hands together and started forming a huge blue energy ball, Maia got her answer.

Panicked, she turned around and tried scurry away, but the ice grew even more slippery, not allowing her to get very far.

Maia had barely managed to stand up and turn to face the Princess when Zainab reached her energy ball yielding hand back and, with a guttural cry, launched the thing at Maia.

******************

The ghost was tired now and the fact shocked Rogan as he calmly followed the thing. Ghosts could get tired?

They were going through the deepest parts of a neighbouring forest and Rogan was just about one hundred percent sure that this ghoul would lead him to whoever was digging into his business.

“Keep going, Casper,” Rogan encouraged as the ghoul seemed to droop to the floor.

Shaking his head, the ghost curled up on the ground, refusing to go any further.

Rogan frowned. What was wrong with this thing? Did the ghost think Rogan had taken his precious time to follow it all the way here, just for it to take a sweet nap on the forest floor?

Annoyed, Rogan stalked over to the curled up entity, but before he could zap it in the ass with some power, the ghost faded from his sight.

Rogan blinked and looked around him. Where the hell did it go?

Actually, a better question was, how the hell did it go? In Rogan’s presence, surrounded by his power, no ghost could come and go as it pleased.

A rustle of bushes captured Rogan’s attention and he turned his gaze in that direction.

Raising a brow, he pulled off his shades and slipped them into his coat pocket. There seemed to be someone in the dark, trying to scare him. Rogan would have to gently inform them that it was impossible to frighten a villain. Rogan’s own thoughts were more of a nightmare than anything that could jump out from behind those bushes.

“Show yourself and stop wasting my time,” he calmly said.

There passed a moment of silence. Then two.

Silently and carefully, out of the shadows appeared a man with the build of a quarterback.

Rogan narrowed his eyes, studying. Neither Vampire, nor Sorcerer. Neither Gemini, nor Werewolf.

The man’s mouth curved in a smile, his yellow irises lengthening and narrowing to resemble a Viper’s.

Rogan scoffed, flicking back his coat to slip both hands into the pockets of his pants. A goddamn Shifter.

The Shifter laughed. “You got it yet? Bingo?”

Rogan had no time to waste. “You wanna die today?”

The Shifter tilted his head. “Shouldn’t the first thing you ask be something like, ‘Who are you?’ Huh?” He raised his arms to the sides and grinned. “Don’t you want to know who *we* are?”

Rogan stood utterly still as, from shadows and bushes all around him, there trickled out members of the pack of Shifters, their hungry gazes focused on him.

With similar build and clothing as the one before him, the Shifters seemed to be reflections of multiple mirrors. It was making Rogan dizzy so he shook his head.

With a sigh, he scratched his chin and regarded the first one. “Okay, so... do *y’all* wanna die today?”

The Shifter leader laughed, his sharp-toothed grin wide across his face. “Oh, my, oh, my. Rogan, royal of Cassius.” Rogan tensed. Who was this bastard? “It’s a good thing you followed our little ghost friend as we’d planned and now we can take care of this quietly in the forest, and not where your admiring little subjects can see.”

The Shifter’s grin was annoying Rogan and his fingers itched to rip the bastard’s teeth out. With a calming breath, he held back.

So they’d sent the ghosts? And what? The ones stalking him were Shifters? It made no sense to Rogan.

He looked at the Shifter. “Anyway, this isn’t making much sense to me so decide quickly. You’re lucky I’m even giving you a damn choice, you fucking bastards.”

The Shifter blinked. “Decide what, your royal highness?”

“I asked you a question. You wanna die or not?”

They looked at him for a moment before all ten of the group roared with laughter, slapping one another on the back.

“Oh, Rogan!” said the Shifter leader with a chuckle as he wiped his eyes. “You sure are funny! Let me clarify. None of *us* are dying today.” The Shifter’s smile wiped clean off. “*You* are.”