Chapter 19: 19__The real target

Rogan stared at the lifeless Shifter. What had he just said?

The girl. He’d said, ‘The girl’.

He frowned. They were after “the girl”. What bloody girl?

His frown deepened. “Maia?”

Why the hell would they be after Maia? She was just a clueless forest girl. Who on earth would send a whole troop of ghosts and a pack of Shifters after her?

Who was she?

Rogan bit his lip in thought, wincing when his jaw ached from the action. That was the exact question he needed answered right now. Who was Maia and what the hell did they want from her?

But wait. He could just be getting ahead of himself here. They could be talking about some other girl… No. Rogan shook his head. That damn ghost looked into *his* bedroom window. If they’d been following Maia they’d know that she was in his house.

Was she that important? Important enough for a ghost to take the life-threatening risk of looking into the house of a Vampire Sorcerer?

Frustrated, he ran a bloody hand through his golden blonde hair, staining it red. That girl had literally appeared from out of nowhere in the forest and now she was here in Geminor where he’d brought her. It now seemed a little illogical when Rogan thought about it.

Sure, he needed her to find the Trojan, but how could he have brought her without checking where she was from and what she did? Without asking for some goddamn ID?

Was she being chased by more than just those Avatars in the forest? Was she in some real danger?

And why? Again, she was just a simple forest girl.

He raised a hand to rub his forehead, but froze halfway through the act. Rogan suddenly realized something and slowly lowered his hand.

If he was here and Maia was still where he left her… if it wasn’t him they were after, but her… Maia was in danger. And he wasn’t there to protect her.

With a muttered curse, Rogan snatched his coat off the ground and stalked back through the forest.

Damn the girl for worrying him.

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

The room was filled with pin drop silence after Cassie’s bold curse at the King and Maia felt like her heart would explode from anxiety.

Aiden stared at Cassie, his silver eyes assessing. This woman. What in the hell was her problem?

Maia tensed at the look in his eyes. They were dead. Aiden would chuck them all in a dungeon as kings were known to do.

“What?” Zainab asked with simmering rage.

In the next instant, she shot forward, ice blades snapping out of her fingertips.

“What did you say to the King?!” she demanded furiously.

Her eyes were crystal blue with rage as she raised her blades, marching towards Cassidy.

Aiden’s arm shot out, barricading his sister so she couldn’t reach Cassie. Zainab looked up at him in shock.

“She insulted you!” she growled.

Aiden said nothing, still studying Cassie with his assessing gaze.

“I did,” Cassie said with a nod. “And I might do it again if you don’t get the hell out of my Hostel.”

“Cass,” Cleo whispered and laid a hand on Cassie’s shoulder.

Maia bit her lip at the sight when something occurred to her. In all of this drama, Aiden hadn’t noticed her yet. If she snuck out now, he’d never know she was there and Rogan wouldn’t get scolded for bringing her into the kingdom.

Another good point was that, if Aiden did decide to chuck them all into a dungeon, her escaping now would save her from that. She hadn’t come to Geminor to get chucked into a dungeon, she’d come here to survive. And survive she would.

“I told you to leave,” said Cassie.

“You have no fear before your King,” Zainab said to Cassie. “Shut up before I make you kneel and kiss his feet.”

Cassie scoffed and said something equally snippy, but Maia hadn’t heard because she was currently tiptoeing her way to the front hall where she would finally be free.

“I warned you!” Zainab roared and before Maia could take another step, a hand grabbed her by the elbow, wrenching her around to face the others.

Zainab marched back to Aiden, dragging Maia with her. She shoved Maia before the Hostel women before clutching her arm again.

“They’ve been hiding an outsider!” the princess told her brother, looking at Cassie with a triumphant smirk.

Aiden’s attention finally left Cassie and went to the girl in question. He studied Maia, taking in the deer-in-headlights expression on her face. She stared at him like she suspected him of having eaten outsiders before.

“Introduce yourself,” Aiden told the girl.

Maia's lips pressed together to form the M for Maia, but by some wicked sorcery, the next letter just couldn’t seem to make it past her throat! She stood there, staring at the king like a startled chipmunk.

“Didn’t you hear him?!” Zainab barked.

“Hey, go easy!” Cassie growled. “You don’t need to yell at her.”

“Yeah!” Clover agreed, her eyes glistening with tears. “She didn’t do anything wrong!”

“We can explain the reason for her presence, my King,” said Cecile quietly.

Aiden glanced at her and back at Maia with a raised brow. “I asked you to explain for yourself. Can you… not speak?”

“She can too!” said Clover.

Aiden squeezed his eyes shut for a moment. “Can everybody except this girl just shut up?”

Cassie scowled. “You shu—”

“Yes, King!” Cecile interrupted, pinching Cassie to shut her up.

Aiden turned to the girl whose arm was still in his sister’s tight grip. “Right. Now, who are you again? What are you doing in Geminor? Are you…” He looked around the Hostel with eyes full of judgment. “…the latest addition to this little… business?”

Cassie felt her blood boil so hot, she thought steam would rise off her skin. Biting her lip, she remained silent.

Maia thought to herself. Would it be best to say she was just the new bartender at the Hostel? That way Rogan wouldn’t get scolded.

She nodded, with a nervous smile. “I’m the new bartender here!”

Aiden scoffed out a laugh and let his gaze trail over to Cassie. “Oh? Is that what they call it these days?”

Maia blinked. “Hm?”

“Who are you?” Aiden asked again, his tone holding less patience. “How did you get into Geminor?”

Maia felt her heart thump with fear as the royals stared at her. Her arm throbbed in the princess’s tight grip. “Uhm…” She gulped. “I—”

*Bam!*

The whole room jumped at the loud sound as the front door was seemingly smashed down by someone.

The someone was revealed when Rogan came stalking in, his appearance drawing shocked gasps out of everyone’s mouths.

“You don’t have to answer that,” he said darkly to Maia as he approached them.

“Rogan!” Zainab gasped, her silver eyes wide. “What the hell happened to you?! Who did this?”

Reaching them, Rogan snatched Maia’s arm out of Zainab’s grip and tugged her behind him.

“What are you doing with her?” he demanded in a low tone.

Aiden only looked at him curiously, but Zainab was beside herself with fury.

“What do you mean, what are we doing with her?! She’s an outsider! Did you bring her in here?!”

Rogan merely ignored Zainab and silently stared at Aiden.

“Well…” said Aiden, taking in the sight of Rogan, from his bloodied face, to his swollen left elbow. “You disappeared once more so I came here to look for you and…” Aiden waved that away. “Forget that, what the hell happened to you? And…” He pointed to Maia. “Who is she?”

“No one you need to pay attention to,” Rogan told him curtly. “She’s with me.”

Aiden’s eyes narrowed suspiciously and he took a single step toward Rogan. “What are you doing with her, Rogan?”

His question went unanswered, the words becoming silence. Rogan glanced at Maia behind him, for the first time, seeing how wide her eyes were as she stared at him. Her gaze only grew more horrified when he turned to look at her.

Clenching his jaw, Rogan turned away from her. He hadn’t meant to expose her to the ghastly sight of him right now, all the blood and bruises at their worst, but she’d seen it and now she was horrified.

“Cassie,” Rogan murmured. “Take Maia to another room.”

Cassie glanced at Claudia and with a nod, Claudia stepped forward, curling her hand around Maia's and gently tugging her away.

When they’d gone upstairs, Rogan looked at Aiden again.

Zainab crossed her arms. “Why is she wearing your jacket?!”

Rogan didn’t even look at her. “It was either that or she stay naked.” Satisfied with Zainab’s shocked gasp, Rogan referred himself to her brother. “She’s here for a reason.”

“What reason?” Aiden asked. “What are you doing, Rogan? Keeping things from me? Is that why you’re always here with *them*?” He pointed at the women standing behind Rogan. “You’re a royal Vampire Sorcerer. Despite your mistakes, you should never forget who you *are*! Stop entertaining the wiles of these people, you’re supposed to be with the Elite of Geminor!”

“These women *are* the elite of Geminor!” Rogan roared. Aiden looked flabbergasted but Rogan didn’t stop. “Stop trying to get me in a room with pretentious bastards you call Elites, who act like they’re on your side and then stab you in the fucking back! I’ve been there, Aiden, I’ve done all that and I don’t want a repeat!”

Aiden kept quiet for a while, chastised by Rogan’s words. He knew what Rogan had been through and everything he’d done. His entire story. He could admit that his wanting Rogan to rub shoulders with the rich and famous of Geminor had been a thoughtless desire.

“Who’s the girl, Rogan? I could let her stay,” Aiden said quietly, an offering of a truce between them.

Rogan accepted it. “Maia,” he said. “She currently in danger. There are ghosts and shifters crawling around the place for that girl.”

They all looked at him in surprise, the women more shocked to hear this than the royals were.

“And?” Aiden asked.

“And I won’t let them get her,” Rogan said simply. “As of this moment, that girl is under my protection.”