“How did your interview go?”
Maya eyed Diana, who was still standing frozen in place, eyes on the ground.
“It… It went well. I start working in a couple of days.”
‘Well’ was a generous description. Patricia—or Trish to everyone but an elected few—was as exhausted as she was desperate. And strict, too, based on the interrogation-like questions she’d asked.
Natalya looked at Diana. “And you?”
“Don’t know yet. I’m not meeting with the manager until tonight.”
Natalya sighed, closing her eyes. When she opened them again, a few red strands had returned to her irises.
“Diana, head back to Chicago. This situation just became a lot more sensitive, and right now, I can’t have you anywhere near St. Louis.”
Diana’s eyes stayed locked on the forest floor. “Yes, Natalya.”
“Good. And you…” Natalya looked to Maya, eyes sharp like daggers. “Come with me. We need to talk.”
Maya stared as Natalya walked away. The Chains followed a strict hierarchy system based on seniority and earned trust, neither of which you gained a lot of by tending a bar for a few months. And it certainly didn’t earn you a private conversation with a Regent.
“What is she—”
“Not now, Maya.” Diana turned away, starting towards the tree line. “I know this isn’t your fault, but… I can’t talk to you right now.”
She didn’t even glance in Maya’s direction as she walked off, vanishing between the trees.
This was more than just a job to her, Maya knew. Diana’s brother was in charge of the patrol teams, and he was also overprotective. This was the first time in years she’d been in charge of anything more than bartending shifts. Her chance to prove she could handle it.
And now she’d been ordered to step away. To return to a high-rise that was supposed to feel like home but which Maya knew from experience could feel like a prison.
She’d kind of gotten used to people being scared of her, awful as that was. Peoplehatingher, though… That was new.
“Is there a problem?” Maya said once she’d caught up to Natalya. Her standing in place, wallowing, was technically breaking a direct order.
Natalya kept her eyes pointed forward. “Did anything happen between you and Harper Montgomery last night?”
The question made Maya stop in place, but only for a second before she hurried to catch up with Natalya again.
“No! Of course not.”
“Are you certain? Because you nearly ripping out a man’s throat just for saying her name implies otherwise.”
Natalya obviously wasn’t pleased. But Maya wasn’t lying. Nothing had happened.
Nothing except for the strange…intensityshe felt whenever she remembered how many shades of blue made up Harper’s eyes. How her smile turned crooked when she said something intentionally provoking. How her fear had dulled with every word Maya spoke in her presence.
“Nothing happened. I swear.” Maya forced her voice to stay even when Natalya’s piercing eyes snapped to hers. “After Kieran left, I waited with her for a few minutes. We talked. That’s all. She was upset, both because of what Kieran did and… and because it was Evie’s birthday.”
Though the sternness didn’t vanish from Natalya’s face, it faded from her eyes.
“Evie was upset, too,” she said quietly. “This was supposed to be simple. No attention. No risk. And now it’s turned into this fucking mess.”
Natalya’s pace slowed to a near stop. “If I had my way, we’d have them in Chicago by the end of the day, damn the rules. But I can’t allow that. The Chains have no end of enemies, and they’d like nothing more than to have us look like we’re risking collective safety. Breaking the laws of initiation would do just that.”
The world of the supernatural Courts was veiled in secrecy. Most people didn’t know the monsters from legends and folklore weren’t just figments of fantasy and revealing that fact had to happen under controlled circumstances.
It required weeks, ormonths,of investigation. If the Chains waived it, or were suspected of doing so, other Courts could consider them a threat to their secretive existence. The Chainsmight be powerful, but against a unified force with the law on their side… they wouldn’t stand a chance.
