Sara Humphreys - Vampire Trouble

He shook his head and continued to try to get away. Maya knew she couldn’t glamour a werewolf, but this man no longer seemed to possess any hint of being one. The voice of doubt and fear fired through her when she realized his blood may not help. Do or die—it was their only hope. She had to try. Maya gripped his arms tighter, locked gazes, and pushed into his mind. To her surprise, it was like running a knife through butter.

“Give me your right arm,” she murmured. The man nodded. His body relaxed and his jaw went slack while he extended his arm to her. “You won’t move or fight, and this will not hurt. Do you understand?”

Maya took his arm and pierced the flesh with her fangs. Lottie held Shane’s head in her lap, lifting it slightly so Maya could press the man’s wrist to Shane’s lips. While blood flowed into Shane’s mouth, Lottie chanted something under her breath and rocked slowly. Maya threw a prayer to the universe, to whatever god or goddess might be listening, and begged for her lover’s life to be spared. Shane remained motionless and her hopes began to fade. Just when she thought she’d scream with frustration, Shane’s body twitched.

“It’s working,” she whispered.

Maya pushed the blood-soaked fabric of Shane’s shirt aside, and tears of relief spilled down her cheeks when she watched the wound begin to close. Laughing, she swiped at the tears, allowing Shane to drink for a few more minutes. When the man’s heart began to beat erratically, Maya knew they had to stop. It wasn’t that she cared whether or not their assassin died—he had information they needed.

Pulling the man’s arm from Shane’s lips, Maya licked the wound on his wrist closed. Shane’s body was healing, and though he hadn’t woken up yet, she felt confident that within a few more hours he would fully recover. Lottie continued to chant and stroked Shane’s head the way a mother would with a sick child.

The naked man’s eyes fluttered and Maya thought he was going to pass out. So she smacked his face a bit and brought him back to reality. She wanted to kill him. To tear his throat out and eviscerate him for the way he and the others had attacked her and Shane, but she needed answers more than she needed revenge.

“Wh-what did you do to me?” The man whimpered through wide, frightened eyes. Trying to get out of her grasp, his hands clenched and unclenched. “I…can’t shift. Th-the Vanator legend is true. Otto said all we had to do was get the necklace.”

“What’s your name?” Maya shook the man, hoping it would shake some sense into him.

“Greg,” he said in a barely audible voice.

“Otto? He’s the one who sent you here?”

“Yes.” Greg, who didn’t look to be more than twenty years old, nodded furiously.

“Is Otto working for the royal family? Are they the ones who sent you here, Greg?”

“I don’t know. I swear. All I know is that he told us we had to wait for you here and get the necklace.” His muscles tensed when he saw the bodies of his dead pack members. “You killed Mario and David…why?” His brow furrowed and his voice remained small. “You have the necklace. You could have taken their wolf, like you did with me. You didn’t have to kill them.”

“What are you saying?” Maya asked warily. She loosened her hold on his arms and stared at him through frightened eyes. “What do you mean, I could have taken their wolf?”

“You’re Vanator,” he whispered. Greg’s eyes flicked to her necklace and then locked on to her face once again. His thin lips quivered with fear, and he barely got the words out. “You really did what they said you could do. You took my wolf.”

“Took your wolf?” Maya repeated the words again, hoping they would make more sense, but they didn’t. “I don’t understand what you’re talking about.”

“You made me have to live as a human,” he whispered.

“Well, there it is,” Lottie murmured. Pursing her lips together, she looked Maya up and down. “I’ll be a son of a bitch. No wonder the wolves want that necklace so damn bad.”

Maya’s body went numb and she sat back, releasing Greg from her grasp. She lifted her quivering hands and stared at them before looking back at Greg, who was inching farther away from her. He looked at her like she was a monster. Maya’s gaze skittered over the two dead men on the lawn, and she started to feel like one.

With lightning-fast reflexes Maya grabbed Greg by the arms and stood up, dragging him to his feet. Shaking with absolute terror, he whimpered, “Please don’t kill me.”

Maya pushed into his mind, dropped her voice to a low tone, and glamoured him. “You’re going to run,” she whispered in a shaky voice. Maya turned to Shane, who looked almost as surprised as Lottie. “You’ll have no memory of me or of what happened here tonight. You and your friends got drunk on tequila, and you woke up naked and alone.”

“Naked and alone.” Greg’s eyes had a faraway look while he nodded his understanding. “Too much tequila.”

“Forget me and this place.” Maya leaned close and whispered, “Now run.”

When she let go of his arms, Greg ran past her into the wild of the bayou with the stumbling gait of a drunk. As his naked ass disappeared into the darkness, Maya turned around to find Shane standing behind her.

She let out a cry of relief and wrapped her arms around him, burying her face in the crook of his neck. Instead of returning her affection, he linked his arms around her wrist and pulled her off him.

“What’s wrong?” Maya looked at him with confusion and immediately felt stupid for jumping all over a man who’d just been horribly wounded. “Oh my God! I’m so sorry, Shane. Did I hurt you? I probably shouldn’t have jumped your bones like that, but I’m so relieved you’re okay. I wasn’t sure if Greg’s blood would work but it did. Here, let me see how you’re doing.”

Her hands flew to his shirt and she attempted to look at his wounds. Shane pushed her hands away and shook his head. Recognizing the serious, flat look in his eyes, she felt a heavy sense of dread creep up her back and something inside her ached. Maya knew that look. It was the same cold, calculated, emotionless expression he used to have.

“No. I’m fine.” Shane winced and took a step back. “It will heal completely once I’ve had an opportunity to sleep.” His expression darkened. “Did I hear that correctly? Did you turn the boy into a human with the power from that necklace?”

“Yes.” Maya nodded excitedly and grinned, but based on the look on Shane’s face, he didn’t share her excitement. “Why do you look so unhappy? I mean, I know it’s kind of weird and everything but…”

“It’s a death sentence for you, Maya.” Shane stared at her through furious eyes. “Don’t you understand? Are you such a child that you don’t fathom what this will mean?”

“I am not a child.” As she glared at Shane, anger flickered up her back. “I’ll just go back to New York and give the stupid wolves the stupid fucking necklace, and then everyone will be happy.”

“Somehow I doubt that,” Shane murmured quietly.

“Oh please,” Lottie scoffed. “Can you two zip it for five minutes? I’ve got two dead werewolves in my yard, and I’d like to get ’em cleaned up so I can go back to bed. I don’t know what kind of crazy shit y’all do up there in New York City, but this ain’t exactly my usual Saturday night.”

Before Maya could ask Lottie just what she planned on doing, the old woman raised her palms to the sky and started chanting again. It was a language Maya had never heard before, and as her chanting grew louder, the ring on Lottie’s hand glowed brightly. Shouting one final chant, Lottie leaned forward and swept her hands, palms down, above the bodies of the two dead werewolves.