Maks, on the other hand . . . he got up and ran into the graveyard and heaved after just a few bites. I shook my head. He was not going to survive this journey. Not at this rate. It was only going to get harder from here on in, not easier.
“He didn’t like it?” Lila’s question was tinged with hurt.
“He’s human. Which means he can’t handle a lot of things.” I took another bite, tearing the flesh off and mimicking her move of throwing my head back to get it down. “I like it. I could eat medium rare rabbit all day.”
She grinned up at me, a piece of hide hanging from her mouth. She licked it in. Yeah, supes were not known for doing well in polite society. Good thing we weren’t being invited to a tea party any time soon.
Maks cleaned up the campsite, scattering the hot coals, and fed the horses while I checked them over.
But from there on out, Maks was quiet and Lila chatty. She guided us through the forest, staying just inside the edge, using the trees for cover. “The dragons look for those traveling the outer edge. They know that no one wants to come onto their ground. Which makes this a perfect hiding spot.”
“Your ground,” Maks said.
She shook her head. “No, I meant their ground. It has never been my place, not really. I’ve always been an outcast.” After that, she went quiet and Maks took her place in the chatty department.
“We aren’t far from the edge of the Witch’s Reign. We could reach it late tomorrow and we need a plan,” he said.
“I know.” I could feel the spirit or spirits she set to watch me, trailing behind us like a connection I didn’t know how to cut. I twisted around in the saddle and saw a dark shadow duck behind a tree.
Yeah, that was what I thought. Damn it, the dead vamp was spot on.
“What about Steve? Should we wait for him and go into the Witch’s Reign together?” Maks glanced at me. “Safer that way, maybe working with someone with a bit more . . . size?”
I snorted and gave him a pointed look. “Someone gave up the fact that we headed out early, that we’re on our own, and now the Ice Witch knows we’re coming.” And if the vamp ghost was right, she wanted my hide for some reason in particular.
Just to add a little extra spice to the trip in case we were lacking any.
“So . . . why are we going into the Ice Realm again?” Lila said.
“My friend was taken by the witch. We have to get her back before she’s handed over to the Jinn.” I twisted around, catching a glimpse of the shadow stalking me. That was not going to bode well. I had to find a way to un-attach it.
“And the jewel that Steve is going after?” Maks asked. I looked at him. He shrugged. “I’m curious, what can I say?”
“The jewel is an ice sapphire, created when the witch took her seat in the north and agreed to hold her end of the wall. Far as I know, it’s in her crown. At least, that’s where Ish thought it would be.” Which meant it was going to be a bitch to get, but that wasn’t my problem. That was Steve’s problem. The thought made me smile. I didn’t want Ish to not get the jewel, I just wanted Steve to fail miserably.
Lila landed on Balder’s neck, near his ears, using his bridle as a strap for balance. “How are you going to get it then?”
“We aren’t.” I grinned at her. “But if it were me, I’d go in as a cat, grab the jewel and be out before she even knew we were there. As it is, that’s up to Steve and Kiara now. And they’d better not fail Ish.”
To be fair, that was always the plan when I worked on a heist, but so often Steve fucked it up because he wanted to go in too and he was a hell of a lot harder to hide considering his size as a shifter. He didn’t want to wait on me and lose out on any glory, as he saw it.
“That sounds easy enough,” Maks said. “But it never goes that way. At least, not from what Ish has told me.”
I spun to glare at him, my defenses going straight the fuck up. “What would she tell you about anyway? How could she trust you with anything, human?”
He shrugged and looked away, a faint pink on his cheeks. “I might be human, but I do have feelings, you know. Ish has been kinder than she needs to be to me, and I have done what I can to reciprocate by listening to her.”
“She likes charity cases,” I said.
“I’m not a charity case.” There was more than a hint of anger in his words.
I rolled my eyes. “You’re a man, which negates any feelings you might have as a moot point. And trust me, Ish showing you kindness has done you no favors. You’re human, and you’re going to die here weak and afraid.”
Lila snorted softly. “I don’t want to die like that.” I didn’t either, but Maks had to get it through his head that his life was on a timer.
“You understand, Maks? You’ll die here, because you are of zero use to anyone. Zero. You don’t have the balls to be an alpha and take charge, even if you were a supe.”
Then Maks did something I did not expect. He dropped his stirrups and pushed off his horse, strode over to me, and grabbed my leg, his fingers digging into my calves. I arched an eyebrow at him, not comprehending just what was going on until it was too late. He yanked me out of the saddle. I let go of the reins so I wouldn’t pull Balder with me.
“Hey!” I yelped as he threw me to the ground and jumped on top of me. What the fuck was going on?
His hands were on my wrists faster than they had any right to be, and he pinned them to the ground with an ease I didn’t like. I twisted my body out from under him—my flexibility was a bonus here—and drove a knee into his side as hard as I could. But he didn’t let go and I didn’t have the leverage to break any ribs.
Instead he pulled me harder toward him, using his size and weight to overpower me.
“Maks, get off me now!”
His face was flat, no emotion showing in his eyes—not even a flicker. What was he thinking? For a moment, fear sliced through me. Bryce had said it. I wasn’t strong enough, and Maks was loaded with muscle. Even though I was a supe, he was stronger than me.
“You want help?” Lila flew above us.
“No.” I growled the word and then the fight began in earnest. I managed to get a leg around his hip, and with a heave, rolled him off me. But he didn’t let go. I tried head butting him, but he held me at arm’s length—like it was easy to keep me held down, which did nothing but piss me off more. I tried getting my legs between us to kick him in the balls but he blocked me with his thighs, twisting with each blow I landed.
“Let me go!” I screeched finally, losing my temper and whatever sense of control I might have had.
“Apologize. You need to apologize for being a snot, Zamira,” he said as calmly as if he weren’t holding me down.
And then suddenly I was on my belly, my face shoved into a bank of snow. It was like I was wrestling with Bryce again, unable to move, unable to truly fight his strength and speed. When Steve and I had been a couple, he’d never out-wrestled me because he’d not had the speed. Strong, yes, but not like this. Never like this. So just what the hell was happening? It was like Maks was seeing past me, to my next move and blocking it before I had a chance to see it through and turn it on him.
He pushed my face harder into the snow so the ice crystals went up my nose and bit at my closed eyes.
“Apologize, Zamira. I get that you’re bitter, but it’s not a good look on you. Not all men are assholes, not all men are useless. Not even a human like me. And if you hadn’t noticed, I just made you submit.” His voice was right in my ear as I lay there, humiliation flowing through me like I’d never felt before. I’d just been thumped soundly . . . by a human.
“No.” I gritted the word out, my pride not letting me buckle under his demand, as simple as it was. I would not admit I was wrong.
“Never thought I’d say this, but I think I feel bad for Steve. That he married you that is. That he had to put up with your shit day in and day out.” He pushed off me and I scrambled away from him. Part of me wanted to lash out at him, to prove I was stronger.
But . . . he’d already shown he was tougher than me, and the cat in me buckled to that truth and submitted. Just like it buckled under Bryce’s demands that I listen to him. Because there was a time when he’d been my alpha—my brother, yes, but my boss, too, and I respected that.