The crowd went insane, and then our driver started to shift. Fur bulked out on his arms, bones snapped; he hunched forward, panting, as the shift took over him. All the while the king watched my face for my reaction. I grinned delightfully, hoping I was as good of an actress as I felt.
The troll held out his hand and a scream of shock ripped from the crowd as a fey blade magnetically attached to his palm.
The king chuckled. “Let it be!” he cried as a fey rushed forward, seemingly to retrieve their blade.
It was obvious to me why the king didn’t allow trolls and werewolves to be free. They were powerful and a threat to his crown. Why the fey bowed to him, I had no idea.
The bell dinged and the giant troll lunged at the wolf. I winced as the wolf leapt into the air and brought his jaws around the troll’s arm. The crunch of bone rang throughout the space and everyone cheered. The troll used his free hand to swipe at the wolf’s belly, but Tink released his arm and rolled to the side in time to avoid it.
‘The team met some resistance with House of Rose, but they are in,’ Luka told me.
My heart plummeted into my stomach.Maz brought House of Rose here to fight against us?My own people. The ones she had left that were still brainwashed, I guessed. It all made me sick. To be sitting a few feet away from her made my blood boil. Maz stood, and the king looked at her. “Leaving so soon?” he asked with slight annoyance in his tone.
Maz gave him a sugary smile. “Just using the ladies’ room.”
Yeah, right! She was going to foil our escape.
I stood as well. “I’ll join you. I’d like to touch up my make-up,” I told the king and Luka, clasping my purse, which had zero make-up in it. It’s not like anyone would believe me if I said I had to pee since I didn’t do that anymore.
The king gave me an approving look, as if he loved the idea that I cared enough about my appearance to want to freshen up midway through a night.
“Girls’ trip to the bathroom!” Liv stood as well, and Maz looked so pissed her jaw ticked.
“Lovely,” Maz growled, and we all left.
Luka’s voice in my head was an ominous warning:‘Be careful. Remember you can’t hurt her but she can hurt you.’
Liv was strong, a great hunter, but up against a Munai …it would spell her death. I didn’t need to hurt Maz, we just needed to incapacitate her for a bit so our team could get the women out.
I grabbed Liv by the upper arm and pulled her back and away from Maz.
“Go get the collar Carmen just pulled off the wolf. I have an idea,” I muttered as softly as I could.
Liv’s eyebrows hit her hairline, but she nodded.
I picked up the pace, following Maz into the house as she took out her cell phone. Reaching out with blinding speed, I snatched her phone and snapped it in half. A few partygoers looked in my direction.
Maz simply stilled, a small flicker of her illusion fading as the anger took hold of her. I could see her grotesque demon-like appearance just beneath her skin.
“I’m sorry. Did you need that?” I asked her.
“You’re up to something. You don’t want me to check in with my team,” she growled, and stepped deeper into the hallway.
She was going to flee.
I stalked forward as she moved backward. “What team? The one who came to Vampire City asking for help recovering from your brainwashing and lies?”
A snarl ripped from her throat and her illusion fully dropped for a moment. “Mind your own business, Aspen. Leave Los Angeles and the other cities to me,” she snarled again.
I laughed. “Not. On. Your. Life.Bitch.”
She lunged for me and I threw myself forward, wrapping my arms around her wrists before she could throw a spell. The second my hands clamped around her forearms, an intense pressure came around mine.
My eyes widened and Maz grinned.
“Oh yes, darling,” she purred. “You won’t be harming a hair on this head.”
I had a flashback then of when I was six years old and I’d been playing at the park with the other orphans. I’d tripped and skinned my knee and cried. Maz had been the one to rush over and comfort me.
