Wildblood

Chapter 37

37

Miya

The late afternoon sky hung low and heavy. A gray pall wove around streetlamps and canopies, spatters of rain and hail stippling the small windows of the apartment. They’d avoided Pyotr’s notice for several days, though evasion wouldn’t serve them forever. Even Miya was getting antsy, frustrated by her lack of inspiration. Conjuring a clever solution to Caelan’s plight seemed more daunting than witchcraft, and it was only a matter of time before Pyotr, the leshy, or the teen’s sinister caller struck. As Miya stewed, Kai stepped out for supplies after losing three rounds of a macabre card game to Caelan—something about unicorns murdering each other. Miya had no idea where he’d pilfered it from, but she didn’t care to ask.

“He’s such a sore loser,” Caelan said once he was gone. She flopped down on the couch, the orange munchkin between them.

“He’s competitive”—Miya shut her book—“and unaccustomed to losing games.”

Caelan pulled the throw over her legs. “Didn’t think he was the type to like games.”

“He’s more playful than he looks. Bar bets are his favorite hobby.” Miya set her paperback aside and grinned. “So, did you win anything?”

The teen shrugged. “I get to see one of his fights—eventually, that is—and he has to make me fluffernutters on demand for the next week.”

Caelan must’ve liked staying with them if she presumed to hang around for another week. “No wonder he looked like you’d put kale in his whiskey.”

Settling back against the cushions, Caelan scratched through the thick fur around Ripper’s neck. He leaned into her hand, purring contentedly—a strange sight given his origins.

A knock sounded on the door then, jolting the girl. Ursula had stopped by earlier to gossip, the impromptu visit sending both cat and girl skittering. Loud noises didn’t sit well, it seemed.

“It’s all right—just Ama.” Miya called for the white wolf to enter. “The door’s unlocked!”

Ama let herself in and removed her shoes. “Taking the day off?”

“It’s been pretty slow.” Miya rose from the couch with a long stretch. “And Crowbar insisted.”

Ama nodded, her gaze sliding to Caelan. “How are you doing?”

“Okay. Haven’t gone sleepwalking since…” Her eyes wandered as she wrestled with the memory.

“Good,” the white wolf interjected. “Any bad dreams?”

Caelan sighed. “Yeah. Those are standard.”

“Well, I’m here to do something about that.” She nodded to Miya. “You went into the dreamscape to find Caelan, and while I found it ill-advised, I can’t deny that it worked. What if we do the same for whatever’s calling her?”

Miya bristled internally, but now wasn’t the time to bicker over Ama’s appraisals. She glanced at the teen. “Caelan would be tethered to it. I suppose we could try?—”

“No.”

They both turned to the teen.

Her lips pursed into a thin line. “Please don’t dig around my head,” she said, her voice tight and small.

Ama opened her mouth to protest, but Miya cut her off. “We’ll find another way.”

The white wolf’s eyes narrowed to amber slits, her expression promising a rebuttal. “Can we have a moment alone, please?”

Caelan’s head jerked down in an eager nod, and she fled to the bedroom. Ripper had abandoned the couch with Ama’s entry, scampering into hiding beneath the bed. At least he could keep Caelan company.

“This is a mess,” Ama said with a sigh, pinching the bridge of her nose. “I know you want to protect her, but you aren’t doing her any favors by enabling her avoidance.”

Miya wasn’t convinced Ama was solely concerned for Caelan’s coping mechanisms. She had an agenda, and this was an easy scapegoat—a rationalization for her to get her way. “I’m not going to push her boundaries. She’s just barely come around to trusting us.” Miya tracked Ama as she circled the cramped apartment. “I know how headstrong you can be about your methods.”

“My methods get the job done,” came Ama’s brusque response.

“And sometimes, you can be too Machiavellian.” Miya hesitated, ill at ease making haphazard decisions about Caelan. “We should wait for Kai.”

Ama crossed her arms over her chest. “ Kai is the whole reason we’re in this quagmire. He keeps dragging you—all of us —into his messes, and he’ll never claw himself out. When are you going to see that?”

Heat crawled up the back of Miya’s neck. Yes, Kai had screwed up. Good intentions, perhaps, but old patterns were like scar tissue; they marked you forever. Miya held the white wolf’s gaze until the bond between them grew taut—a rope stretched to the point of fraying. “He’s traumatized. I don’t say that lightly or as an excuse.”

“I think that’s exactly what you’re doing,” Ama shot back. “Yes, he’s traumatized—more than anyone ought to be. I acknowledge that. But he’s hellbent on letting those traumas control him. They give shape to his mistakes. Gargantuan ones.”

A scalding lump of coal materialized in Miya’s throat. She hated this part of their relationship—despised having to defend the love of her life from a surrogate sister. “If you think he hasn’t worked on his problems, you’re not paying attention.”

“It’s not enough,” Ama growled back, frustration seeping into her voice. “I’m tired, Miya. I’m tired of worrying when the next calamity will hit. And it always starts with him. I don’t want him bringing his demons into our lives—into Dahlia’s life.”

Miya nearly crumpled under the indictment. Crowbar and Kai were close. He let loose at the Confessional, but he adored the King of Spades, cherished playing guinea pig to Crowbar’s cocktails and gossiping about clientele. “This isn’t about him, Ama. This is about you wanting to protect the people you love from harm. You’re blaming him, but I made choices too. The leshy came to me for help.”

“Yes, and if Kai hadn’t gotten involved with the mob, this would’ve been more straightforward. We’d only have to contend with spirits, not worry about pissing off gangsters. We could’ve investigated in peace, sent Caelan back to the dreamscape, and the mob would’ve been none the wiser.” She huffed through her teeth, thrusting a finger toward the bedroom. “Now, Caelan’s fate is directly tied to Kai’s dealings with Bratva. Now, Miya, we have to fight a battle on two fronts.”

She was right. Even if they made Caelan disappear, Kai was still on the hook because of his entanglement with Sergei.

The front door crashed open, striking the adjacent wall. Kai loomed in the entrance, his glower announcing that he’d heard Ama’s every charge. He dropped the shopping bag and shrugged off his jacket, his lip twitching into a humorless smirk. Stepping into their circle, his arm brushed Miya’s shoulder. She saw the blaze in his eyes as they trailed up to Ama’s steely gaze. “Why don’t you say it to my face?”

“You heard me,” Ama hissed. “It’s not like I didn’t know you were here.”

“Yeah?” He raised both eyebrows. “So, should I keep away from your girl? Fuck off and never set foot in the King of Spades?”

Ama stood her ground, shoulders pulled back. “Preferably, yes.”

Miya’s head snapped to the white wolf. “You’re not serious.”

“She’s dead serious,” said Kai, eerily collected despite the exchange.

“What about Crowbar’s opinion?” Miya pivoted toward the white wolf. “You think she won’t notice if Kai drops out of her life? You think I won’t tell her why? You can’t make decisions for everyone.”

“I’m doing what I think is right,” she rebuked, then gestured at Kai. “I don’t want him bringing his shit to my doorstep. If that means causing a bit of hurt to someone I love, then so be it.”

“But I won’t do it.” Kai’s voice was steady, inflected only by his conviction. “I’m not going to hurt her just because you’re obsessed with control.”

Anger rippled across the white wolf’s face. “What did you say?”

“You’re manipulative,” said Kai, “moving everyone around like chess pieces, and if they don’t obey, you knock them off the board.” He stepped past Miya, slicing into Ama’s space. “You worry about it, don’t you?”

“Worry about what?” she spat, teeth bared.

His mouth cut into a knife-like smile. “That you’ll always be second fiddle to everyone in your life. You don’t want Crowbar to help her friends if it means you can’t get your way, so you try to force a wedge between us.”

Ama jerked back, and Kai followed, his shadow devouring hers. “You have no clue if Gavran gives a damn about you, or if he used you to find his precious Dreamwalker.” His eyes flicked to Miya’s, a dark fire writhing behind them before they returned to Ama. “Do you really care about Miya’s safety, or are you scared your raven will fuck off if you don’t keep her close?”

Speechless, Ama backpedaled as Kai corralled her further into the room. When she ran out of floor, she shoved him back.

Kai chuckled quietly as he stumbled but caught himself. He always seemed so resigned to her contempt, rolling with every punch she hurled at him. Now, Miya feared the white wolf had bitten too close to the bone.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Ama seethed, her eyes shining with moisture. She was unprepared to douse the flame she’d lit with her own match.

“And then there’s me…” Kai spread his arms, irreverent. Agony, self-loathing, and rage curdled into a torrid stare as he snared the white wolf in his maw. “The bad influence.” He prowled closer. “The weed choking the flowers in your perfectly manicured garden.” Closer. “The traumatized piece of shit who breaks everything he touches.”

He leaned forward, a sliver of wrath splintering from his control, lashing his mouth into a snarl. “Judge me all you want, you cold, conniving bitch, but don’t hold your breath. You know she’ll always choose me because I actually give a shit about what she wants.”

Cruel words, thrown out like a shiv to the gut.

A sharp sound like a snapping cord pierced the air as Ama’s palm connected with Kai’s face. His head whipped to the side, his eyes wide with surprise. As he reached up to caress his jaw, Ama stormed past him. Without sparing Miya a glance, she fled their home and slammed the door behind her.

“Where’s Caelan?”

Kai’s question was so blasé, Miya thought she’d imagined it. She slanted a look at him, searching for something vulnerable beneath the stony fa?ade. Ama was liberal with her insults—sniped at Kai constantly without compunction. But when she’d directed her scorn at Miya, he’d dispelled the illusion that he’d eat her vitriol forever. Kai was also a wolf, and he too bore fangs. “In the bedroom. Is that really what’s important right?—”

“She’s not in the bedroom.”

Miya froze, her heart pummeled by yet another shock. “What?”

“I don’t hear her,” he said with a weighty glance.

They raced down the hall in unison, Kai a step ahead as he blasted into the room, eyes scanning the half-made bed, the pajamas splayed across the pillow, the sealed closet, and the window…

The window was open.

“Fuck.” Kai spun around and left the bedroom, not bothering to examine Caelan’s exit point.

Miya thrust her torso out the window and peered into the alleyway. Their building was old, each floor equipped with a fire escape, the black paint on the wrought iron chipped away and mottled with rust.

“I’m going after her while the trail’s fresh,” Kai said when Miya returned to the living room.

Before he could rush out, she threw her arms around him, and he wrapped her in a tight embrace. “This is my fault. She probably heard us arguing and ran off.”

His nose brushed her neck as he exhaled. “It’s no one’s fault.” Reluctantly, he let her go. “I’ll get her back.”

“How do you know?” Miya asked, wavering with uncertainty.

His grip on the brass knob tightened until the metal squealed. “I don’t have a choice.”

Desperation was a painful but effective motivator. He offered a weak smile, bereft of reassurance, then disappeared down the stairwell.

Miya shut the door behind him and sank to the floor.