"That bitch broke my arm!" What sounded like a mans voice sounded in the woods, followed by the crunching of branches.
"Mmhmm." Seth agreed, as he and another tall muscular boy entered the small clearing.
"And you!" The boy pointed at Maisie, "Jake almost had her! What the hell were you doing alone in the woods?"
If Maisie was understanding right, the boy was referring to the red wolf as Jake. Which was strange, unless you had certain knowledge. Could they turn into wolves and did they have any connection to Lycaon?
"Embry! She doesn't-" Paul started but Embry cut him off. "What the fuck even was that anyways? Who are you?"
The weight of Maisie's staff felt impossibly heavier in her hands and she wanted nothing more for it to have disappeared.
"At least I'm not the one who turns into a giant wolf." She puffed her chest to seem intimidating, though it was hard to when compared to the six foot boys surrounding her. "How many of you do that anyways?"
"Who told you that?" Paul asked, a little alarmed.
"All of you. You're bad at trying to act normal." She shrugged.
"Well, what are you then?" Seth asked, less hostile than Embry had been.
"All you need to know is that I kill monsters, and right now things aren't looking too good for you." Maisie replied, hoping to scare an explanation out of them.
"We kill monsters too, or well we tend to call them the Cold Ones." Paul held his hands out in an expression of peace.
"I'm not talking about your freaky fast lady." Maisie muttered, digging her heel into the ground. "Have you ever heard of Lycaon?"
"Who?" Embry asked.
"Nevermind." Maisie shrugged. They obviously had no connection. If they killed these Cold Ones, perhaps they were not bad. They weren't Monsters in Maisie's mythological sense of the word. Maybe not at all.
"So..." Paul dragged the word out.
"So." Maisie reflected, cutting the word short. With a flick of her wrist, her bo staff twirled and shrunk down. She stuffed her hand into her pocket, fingers nudging the gold coin inside.
"Should we all just.. go back to Sam's then?" Seth asked, gesturing towards the house.
"Jacob should almost be back by now. He chased her all the way to Canada again." Jared jogged into the clearing. "When he gets back we need to hold a pack meeting."
Seth nodded. Paul bristled, not liking the tone Jared took. "Is there a problem?"
"Yeah, Paul, your girl's a psycho who goes running off into the woods and ruins plans." Embry snorted, gesturing to Maisie, who sneered in response, saying, "I'm not his girl."
At the same time, Paul puffed his chest and growled, "She's not a psycho."
Silence set for a second as Embry and Paul stared unwavering. Paul broke the silence by mumbling, "She's not my girl, either."
He didn't sound too happy about that, and that made Maisie feel some type of way, so she stepped between them to get in Embry's face and said, "I don't belong to anyone, and I almost had her before someone distracted me."
"Please, little girl, she threw you across the clearing." Jared snorted from behind Embry.
Little girl? Oh hell no.
Excitement bubbles in Maisie's stomach as she bounced nervously, hand linked with Jess's. They trailed behind Liam, who was leading them to a largely unused building in New Rome. Sounds of laughter and chatter were amplified as Liam swung open the doors.
Right away, Liam pointed his finger at a blonde, radiant man who was surrounded by other kids. It seemed he was boasting about himself. Jess smiled bright and bounded over, eyes fixated on the man who paused his story to smile at her.
Liam's gaze swept around the room once more, eyes picking up on six more radiant figures. These six sat at an elegant table, stern looks on their faces as they discussed matters with Praetors Grace and Reyna. An especially tall man stuck out at the table, and Maisie pointed at him, asking if he was her father.
She had been told her father was Bacchus, though she really didn't know what that meant. She was also told she could meet him today. Liam shook his head, naming the man Jupiter. As if he had heard his name even from across the loud room, the man turned and glowered at the pair. The woman beside him scoffed, staring judgmentally at them.
Liam's eyes settled into a dark corner of the room, where a mostly empty bar sat. A middle aged, balding man, sat there, pouring diet pepsi into a wine glass. Liam gestures her over. Maisie felt a bit disappointed. Her dad was supposed to be Bacchus, god of wine, madness, and theatre, not some old guy alone at a bar.
Nevertheless, Maisie slipped her way over to him, clambering into the too tall bar stool next to him. She grinned up waiting for him to look over. He didn't.
"You're too young to drink, kid." He took a sip, eyes fixed on a tv screen playing a football game.
"Oh. I just wanted to talk to you." She replied. "Liam says you're my dad."
The man turned to look at her, studying her features.
"You've got the eyes, I guess." He hmphed, and turned back to the tv. Her eyes were quite the unusual purple shade.
"So how come you're not at that table?" She asked. Bacchus ignored her, taking another sip.
"Go away, little girl. Can't you see I don't want to talk to you?" He met her eyes again, this time his lit with the same purple glow that graced Maisie's when she used her magic.
Maisie's, however, filled with tears as she stumbled off of the bar stool. She rushed past the table, where she passed Praetor Grace being given a handshake by his father, and Apollo handing Jess the first of many gold arrows to come. Liam watched her slip out of the door to the hall and run down the street towards the second cohort's barracks silently, hands clenched.
For the first time since she had forsaken the gods and her father, Maisie felt her magic bubble underneath her skin. The madness that she could guide into the minds of others. The ability to turn the most sound of minds to ruins ran through her fingertips like a spark as she glowered.
"Do not, ever, call me little girl." Maisie turned her full glare on Jared, who's own glare broke in shock. Paul stood behind her, close but not enough to lean back and touch him. It appeared he was backing her up, which was nice.
"Hey! Can we talk about the shrinking stick? That was cool!" Seth inserted himself between Maisie and Embry, breaking the showdown.
"Let's just get back to Sam's." Embry replied, jaw clenched. He marched away, leaving the others to follow silently in his path.
Paul caught the door and held it open for her on the way in. She mumbled her thanks and he nodded in response. Leah sat in the corner of the living area, looking uncomfortable as Emily tried to make small talk. Sam leaned in the doorway, staring hard at the wall.
As the group filed in, Sam did a sort of head count, resting when the last of the group entered.
"She knows." Jared declared, flopping into the couch.
"And she's some kind of magic fighter." Embry added on. Seth pushed Jared upright sitting next to him.
"Leah briefed me." Sam nodded, looking unsurprised. Soon the rest of the boys were sitting on the tiny couch, leaving Leah in the corner with Bella and Maisie leaning on an armrest. Paul's arm sling over the edge, brushing her lower back with a jolt.
He had backed her up in the clearing, not pushed her aside or ordered her around. That was nice. He smiled up at her.
"It's not magic. It's martial arts." She let the statement into the room. Several heads turned to look at her, most in some form of disbelief.
"What about your magic shrinky stick?" Seth asked, tilting his head back.
"The bo staff is enchanted to shrink and grow." She agreed. That doesn't mean any old person could pick one up and use it. She put years of effort and training to hone her skills into anything near deadly. There wasn't a pointy end to stick anyone with, it was harder than that.
"So what are you, then? Some kind of hunter?" Sam asked. Maisie nodded in affirmation. She may not know about these kinds of monsters, but she can sure kill them, and that was all they needed to know. She wasn't about to spill the beans on the gods.
"Then you can help us track down Victoria?" He asked.
"Little redhead? I can't track her down but I can end her if I see her." She shrugged.
"Well, we know for sure she's coming back, right? I mean, she's coming for me." Bella stuttered out. All eyes left Maisie for a second, which was a relief, but they trained on the pale girl in the corner with shaky hands and bags under her eyes.
"She won't touch you." Jake promised.
Maisie wondered how equipped they were to keep that promise.