Chapter 41 — Husk

Fagua was conked out in the hotel bed and I stepped out onto the balcony, allowing the moonlight to wash over me. I couldn't believe that we had mated. And running with her in our wolf forms felt so right. Hadn't even known a half-breed like her could shift. But then again, maybe I'd had more wrong than I'd once believed. Fagua was making me see things in a new light.

Maybe I could open up a little more to her. Trust in the fates, or whatever Sky called them.

I chuckled, shaking my head, and leaned my elbows on the railing. Vegas stretched out with twinkling lights and a warm late summer breeze. They said New York was the city that never sleeps, but whoever had coined that saying had never been here.

Gamblers, drunks, and party goers would be carrying on until dawn. I glanced back at Fagua, who hadn't stirred since I laid her on the bed. I wanted her again, but she was sleeping like she was in a coma. The best I could do was wait, even if I was being impatient. I had to leave her alone so I wouldn’t wake her.

There was movement near the edge of the hotel parking lot that caught my gaze. Three dark figures blurred closer, and a growl rumbled low in my throat.

Vamps.

What the fuck were they doing here?

Their smirks had me leaping over the balcony and landing in front of them. Had Fagua's father stooped so low as to hire vampires to come after her now?

"What do you want?" I asked, my hands curled into fists.

"You're the eldest brother?" One of them stepped closer. His pale face gleamed in the moonlight. "Alister wishes to speak with you."

"About what?" I held back my wolf, who wanted to pounce and tear into them.

"A deal your brother Sky made that hasn't been fulfilled."

Fuck! Damn my brother and his knack for always getting into shit. I stared at them, then at the limo, then back to them. It seemed I had no choice but to go along with them to see what Alister wanted. "Where is this Alister, then?"

The vampire bowed and held his arm out to the black limo that idled at the back of the parking lot.

"He awaits you," the vampire said, and his two cohorts stepped aside.

I walked to the limo, climbed in, and slid onto the black leather seat with a sigh.

Seated across from me was a vampire with dark eyes that looked ancient. Like he'd seen a hundred years of hatred and war. His face was wrinkled and pale like a doll that had been out in the sun too long.

When he looked at me, I could feel cold fingers reach through my body and grasp my soul. His expression was bland, but his presence was sinister. He smelled of incense and decay—a foul odor that made me think of a dozen bodies rotting at once.

Alister leaned forward from the rear seat. Something about the vampire made my wolf uneasy, like it sensed danger.

I couldn’t help goading the bastard. “So found what you were looking for?”

"Not yet," he said and sank back into the leather seat, which creaked from the movement. His long, pointed nails tapped the edge of the seat. "But don't think I won't. We'll discuss the details."

I eyed the other two vampires that flanked the car, each one gripping a dagger in their hands. Blades would do no good when my wolf came out, but I played along.

My wolf paced under my skin and I closed my eyes, reining him in. The last thing I needed was to let loose and shift into a wolf in this car, which would make the vampire suspicious and start a bloodbath. Not that I couldn't handle a few bats, but something told me this was an important vamp in the vampire hierarchy.

I opened my eyes and said, "What do you want?"

"Your Fagua has had contact with a half-breed... A vampire and wolf."

I tensed at her name on this foul beast's lips. He was talking about Mayia, and while I didn't care for the girl, she was Fagua's friend.

"What about her?"

"Bring her to me."

"Or what?"

Alister leaned forward again, his expression hard. "Do you want to see your Fagua again?"

A cold fist squeezed my chest. It was a threat. "You're not going to harm her."

"Bring the half-blood vamp to me and I promise no harm will come to Fagua or your pack."

I wanted tell Alister to go fuck himself, but knew I couldn't. Fagua would do anything to save Mayia. And she'd never forgive me if I turned over her friend.

"And you'll leave us alone?"

The vampire chuckled. "Of course."

That sounded like I wasn't going to be let off easy. But there was one thing I needed to know before I said shit else. "Why her?"

Alister sighed and leaned back. "She's a half-breed. And half-breeds are rogues without a master."

A sickening sensation rolled in my gut. My guess was Mayia was trying to put herself back together, and if this vampire could reach her and hurt her, then Fagua would never forgive me if I didn’t try to help her friend.

"No," I said and gripped the edge of the seat.

Alister's lips curled into a cruel smile and his eyes narrowed. "You should really reconsider if you want to live."

"She's an innocent," I said, and my wolf snarled. This vamp was definitely not worth my life.

One of the vampires stared into the limo window at us, and I knew he'd rip the door off, and my head too, if I wasn't careful.

"Will you bring us the vamp girl or not?" Alister sounded bored, but there was a warning laced in his tone.

"What if I get her to swear fealty to you?" I leaned back in my seat, acting like I wasn't up a shit creek without a paddle.

The vampire's eyebrows rose. "That's not enough to change my mind."

"Okay." I licked my dry lips. "What if we throw in two wolf packs too? Us and Fagua's home town. A truce between us that we'll never spill any vampire blood from your clan as long as you don't kill any of our wolves."

Alister smiled but shrugged. "Fagua doesn't have a pack to save you and your two brothers."

"That's where you're wrong. Her father is an alpha." I pressed my palms to my thighs. "She's his heir." And when we took him out of power, we could work with the new alpha on keeping this peace between us and the vampires.

His smile widened. "You're a gambling man, Husk. What's to say I don't kill you all and take what I want?"

"Because Fagua's father has a huge pack... an entire wolf town. And every single one of them will hunt you and your goons down until you're nothing but smoldering piles of ashes."

He steepled his fingers, looking over them at me. "I'd love to see that."

Alister's pupils dilated into black pools. It was hard to read what the hell he was thinking. But then he shrugged. "Bring me the vamp girl and it's a deal."

"I have your word that you won't harm her?"

He chuckled. "Of course. It's not every day a half-breed girl comes with the promise of wolves behaving themselves."

Fuck, I hated vampires. But what choice did I have? If I hadn't met Fagua, I'd give Mayia over to him and not think about her again for the rest of my life.

But I couldn't do that now.

I turned to the open door and was halfway out when he said, "And do not come to me again unless you have her and what you promised, wolf."

I glanced back into the limo and snarled, my wolf practically shaking with rage. "No one threatens me."

"We're not threatening, just telling," he said, and the two vampires by the door straightened and hurried out of my way.

Now all I had to do was track down Mayia and get her to pledge herself to Alister.

Yeah, right. This was going to be a bitch.

****

I shifted and ran through the woods, letting pride fill me. Tonight I was gambling everything and hoped to God I was lucky enough to pull this off. If I got out of this unscathed, I was going to beat Sky's ass for making a deal with vamps that could get us all killed.

For a heartbeat, I felt someone following me. I spun with a growl. A black wolf crept forward, his head down.

Darkness? Yeah, that was his name. I howled a greeting and he returned it. Shit, I didn't have time for this. I couldn't go hunting with him or chitchat.

After a quick howl goodbye, I raced away. For a while, he chased after me until I pounded the ground and he couldn't keep up. Then I took a detour back to the city.

An hour later, I tracked Mayia down at the bar Fagua frequented. She was dancing with another wolf and I tapped him on the shoulder. "Go get her a drink."

Fuck knows she was going to need it.

"Husk?" She frowned, wiping a hand across her forehead. "What are you doing here?"

"We need to talk," I said in a low growl.

"Is it Fagua?" She winced, then looked at me with a hard expression. "Is she okay?"

"She's fine." The music of the place pounded against my skull. "Let's go outside."

For a moment, she stiffened, then she nodded and followed me out onto the sidewalk. Cars whizzed past and a few giggling women strolled by.

"All right, what's going on."

"Do you know Alister?" I shoved my hands into my pockets. If I couldn't get her to agree to this, I was going to have to haul her to him.

She paled. "The master vampire?"

"Yeah." I nodded. "He wants to see you."

"I can't." She backed away, looking like she was going to start running.

"It's for Fagua." I cringed on the inside from using my mate like this. Except I had to have her and my brothers safe. Even if it meant manipulating a half-vamp to do so.

Mayia paused, waiting for me to continue.

"He's threatened to kill her and all of us." I held up a hand when she opened her mouth to protest. "I have his word that he won't harm her or you."

"At what cost?" she whispered.

"I'll take you to him, you swear your loyalty to him, and he'll let us go."

"I don't want to be a vampire." She shook her head and hugged herself.

"You won't be."

She peered over her shoulder at the club we'd come from. "How do I know I'm not walking into a trap?"

"Because I'm going with you." I pulled out my phone to see if Fagua had woken up and texted me. Nothing. Thankfully, she must still be asleep. "And I won't let anything happen to you."

"Are you fucking joking? He'll turn me into a slave."

"Mayia, you have to think this through." I ran a hand through my head. "Fagua's life, our lives, are at stake."

"God, you're an asshole." She held up her hands. "I know you don't think I'm worth it, but fuck you. I'm not going anywhere."

I opened my mouth to argue, but then clamped it shut. Fagua's life was on the line and I wouldn't sacrifice my mate. I had to figure out how to get Mayia to cooperate, or Fagua would skin me alive if she ever found out.

"You have to pledge yourself to him." Even as I said the words, they sounded like a bad idea. If a vampire had a half-breed in their power, and one of the allied packs tried to take the half-breed away, the vampire could do whatever they wanted to the pack and get away with it.

"There has to be another way," she said, her voice sounding panicked.

"I'm sorry." I sighed. "But you're the only way to keep your friend safe. He agreed that he'd let you go and leave us alone if you did this."

"What about you?" Her voice was shaky.

"I promised him that neither me nor my brothers or Fagua would spill any vampire blood from his clan." Convincing Fagua of this along with her father's pack was another issue I'd deal with later. And if we overthrew her dad, we could put an alpha in place who would go along with this insane promise.

"And Fagua agreed to this?" She arched her eyebrow.

For the first time, I wanted to be honest about this much at least. "No. I haven't told her and I don't plan on it unless it is necessary. She's gone through a lot; she doesn't need this shit."

"You're doing this for her, aren't you? Otherwise, I'd already be in Alister's clutches with no escape, wouldn't I?" Mayia's entire body shook as she nodded. "I'll go."

"Good." I stepped back, preparing to walk her over to the vampire, but she didn't move.

"Husk?" she said and stared at me like she was seeing me for the first time.

"Yeah?"

"Thank you," she whispered, and tears glittered in her eyes. "Thank you for helping me."

I nodded. "We'll be careful. If he tries anything, the deal's off and I'll slaughter the lot of them." Not that a dozen vampires would be easy to fight with just me and a scrap of a girl.

"This may take all night and into the morning." She gave me a watery smile. "What about Fagua?"

Vamps and their stupid rituals. They had ways to allow themselves to stay up past sunrise for short periods of time. "I'll make it up to her later."

We headed up the street, back to the hotel. The moon hung high overhead, casting silver light across the sidewalk, and I prayed that Fagua was still asleep. That she'd wake up and I'd be done with this mess. That I'd be able to kiss her again.

"Promise me one thing, will you?" I asked, my voice ragged.

Mayia glanced over at me. "What?"

"No matter what happens, if we come out of this vampire meeting alive, don't tell Fagua." I turned my phone on silent as we walked, then stared ahead. "Even if she hates me for keeping this secret from her, don't say anything about this.”