Booker huffed. He turned back towards Evie, eyes glinting with menace.
“You pathetic little cunt.”
He grabbed the chain affixed to Evie’s ankle, yanking her closer. She let out a pained cry.
“You’renothing! You hear me?” He pulled at the chain again, dragging Evie over the concrete floor. “You’re worthless. A weak human nobody, who’s only important because a fiend made you its toy.” He grinned down at her. Evie’s eyes went wide. “I’m curious what the fuss is about.”
Maya darted away from the throne, surging across the floor with her blade raised. The movement pulled a pained groan from her lips, and Booker stiffened right as Maya threw herself at his back.
She grappled him from behind, wrapping one arm around his neck and her legs around his waist, and then stabbed her knife towards his heart.
If he hadn’t noticed her, she would have gotten him. Instead, he raised his arm just in time to divert the attack, her knife hitting his clavicle rather than his chest.
His flesh sizzled under the silver. He yelled out, stumbling back and spinning around as Maya clung to him.
She stabbed at him again. Flurried, imprecise hits that barely broke the skin. Booker spun in a panic, thrashing and cursing, and then reached over his shoulder, grabbed her arm, and threw her to the floor. The switchblade skittered over the concrete, and he darted for it, picking it up with a hand that shook.
“Y-you?” he stammered. “How? You’re supposed to be dead.”
Maya got to her feet. Her eyes drilled into Booker’s, and he staggered back. Fear thickened the air, his breath panting. Blood dripped from his chest onto the floor, helped along by a racing heartbeat.
“Haven’t you gotten it by now?” She flashed her teeth, fangs extending. “Nothing can kill me. Not the sun. Not a stake. Not that knife you’re barely holding onto.”
Booker stumbled back further, shaking his head.
“Please,” he whispered. “No. No, I didn’t do anything wrong! I just did what I was told.”
She didn’t dignify that with an answer. They both knew terror had turned him into a liar.
Stifling the pain still flaring through her body, she rushed forward. She wasn’t as fast or precise as when she’d fought Kieran earlier, but she didn’t need to be. Not when Booker wailed like a frightened child, swinging the knife wildly as she closed in.
She grabbed his armed hand by the wrist, taking a cut to the side, but she’d anticipated the pain. Fabric tore, and she pushed his knife hand away, leaping onto his chest and knocking himbackwards. Her fangs sank into his neck before he even hit the floor, his scream of protest being cut off by a sudden gurgle.
Bitter rot filled her mouth, but she kept her teeth in place. Kept tearing at him until she was sure the damage couldn’t be undone. Only when his throat was a mess of shredded flesh did she lean back, spitting on the floor with a grimace.
Blood spattered out of his mouth. His eyes were wide, his breathing raspy.
“But…how…”
She stayed quiet. This insect of a man wasn’t owed clarity in his last moments of breathing.
She wrenched the knife from his hand, snarling, and plunged it into his chest. Silver to the heart was a certain way to kill a therian. Unlike her, Booker wasn’t an exception.
He tensed. Then gargled. His fingers twitched, blood bubbling from his lips and neck, before his eyes went dim.
Pain surged back into her body. She fell onto all fours, catching herself on shaking arms. That burst of an attack was all she’d had in her, and even that had been too much. Her bones felt like they were coated in acid.
And fear was still present in the air. As thick and insistent as before. Its source was just different.
Evie was staring at her. Eyes wide, body frozen, breathing shallow.
The chilling hatred faded. The fear oozing off Booker’s body had spurred her on, but Evie’s did the opposite. It was a sharp, needling scent that she’d sensed whenever this woman saw her. An ever-present terror that time did nothing to lessen.
Not that she could blame Evie for this reaction. Maya’s clothes were ripped, her hands and feet stained from dirty snow. Blood covered her mouth and chin, and in the low light of the warehouse, her black eyes would be glinting silver.
She looked like a monster. Even if she wasn’t one.
Maya retracted her fangs and wiped her mouth with the bottom of her t-shirt. There wasn’t much she could do about her bloodied appearance, but she could at least lessen it.
