17. Maisie

Chapter seventeen

Maisie

When the sun has long set and it’s nearly midnight, we decide to call it. I tell Barnaby that I could really use a shower after all our work, and he offers to let me use his, even though my apartment is right upstairs. I already know what he has planned, and I relish the idea of him fucking me senseless in the shower.

He doesn’t bite me every time we have sex because he knows my body needs time to heal and recover. Luckily, though, the wounds heal exceptionally fast, leaving only the faintest of pink marks behind.

Something I’ll always be able to remember him by.

When we leave the shop, I’m surprised to find the town is brightly lit. I glance up to find a huge full moon sitting high in the sky, casting everything in silvery light.

“Wow!” I grab Barnaby’s arm and point. “That’s amazing. ”

He smiles down at me, stroking my hand. “It’s lovely when there are no other lights to compete with it.”

I think he’s right. The moon and stars would never look like this in the city. There’s something magical about Hallow’s Cove, and again the thought flits through my mind: what would it be like if I stayed here?

I already work from home. Internet is really all I need to do my job—if I even get to keep that job.

If I get fired, that gives me even less reason to return to my stuffy condo. I’d have to find another job, but I could easily see myself pouring coffee at the coffee shop, or perhaps helping Barnaby stock books. What if I spent more time on my game and sold it to a larger company? That could support me for a while.

But I don’t mention these thoughts because I don’t want to scare him off, either. I’ve known too many men who are afraid of commitment, and I worry that bringing up anything more permanent could ruin what we already have.

As we drive down the dark road toward Barnaby’s mansion, a sudden streak of shadow blazes across the path. I slam on the brakes, afraid of hitting a deer and destroying my car. Both Barnaby and I fly forward in our seats, but the seatbelt jerks me back again, sending a ricochet of pain through my spine.

“Fuck!” I moan as I straighten my neck, then glance around for any sign of the deer. “What the hell was that?”

Barnaby’s eyes narrow .

“Maisie,” he growls. “Stay here.” He climbs out of the car, his whole body tense in a way I’ve never seen it before.

I gape after him. “Stay here? Why? What was that, Barnaby?” Of course, I ignore him, opening my own car door to peer around the dark woods.

“Maisie!” Barnaby glares at me over the hood. His eyes are bright and glowing in the night, like those of an animal. “Get back in the car!”

He’s never bossed me around like this, not outside the bedroom, and I don’t like it. I grab my keys, where I keep the bear spray I bought, and aim the canister.

“Don’t worry about me.”

He groans with annoyance, but then a crunching sound off in the trees grabs his attention. Barnaby moves around the car toward me, eyes transfixed on a point off to our left, keeping his body in front of mine.

“Come out!” he calls into the darkness. “I know you’re there!”

Why is he attracting attention to us? Maybe I really should have stayed in the car.

“It was just a deer.” I place a comforting hand on Barnaby’s arm. But he shakes me off, and when he glowers at me again, his face looks... different. His brows are more severe, his fangs long and sharp.

“It is no deer,” he snarls in a voice that’s much deeper than usual.

That’s when I hear it: twigs snapping, followed by a low growl. Oh, fuck. Whatever it is, it definitely isn’t a deer .

“Bear!” I call out in warning. “Get back in the car, Barnaby!”

He shakes his head. “A car will not protect us from this, if it is what I think it is.”

From out of the shadows, something finally appears. It’s tall, far too tall to be any sort of human. Fur covers its body, the shaggy ends highlighted by the moon’s glow. Pointy ears flatten against its head, and yellow eyes glow in the dark.

“Vampire,” the creature says, voice low and husky. When it takes another step out into the light, I know what it is.

A werewolf.

The werewolf is enormous, with dagger-like claws and white fangs so long and so sharp it could tear me to ribbons without much effort. I gasp and shrink behind Barnaby, wishing that I’d listened to him and stayed in the car.

Not that a car door could stop something this size. He was right about that.

“Do not come any closer,” Barnaby warns the monster, and there’s an ethereal hollowness to his voice. His fangs protrude from his mouth, sharp and white. “I will not hesitate to kill you.”

A laugh tumbles out of the werewolf’s mouth. “What are you going to do, vamp?” it asks, ignoring Barnaby’s command as it takes another step toward us. “Bite me with your little teeth?”

Fear floods my nervous system, and all I can think about is how far I would have to run to lose a creature like this. But the rational side of me knows there’s no way I could possibly outmaneuver it, not when it has legs that long and powerful.

“Do not make me take drastic measures.” Barnaby’s shoulders are coiling tighter, as if he’s preparing to strike. What could he possibly do to fight such an immense beast?

“Hmm,” the werewolf says. “Your human looks mighty delicious.”

When it takes yet another step in our direction, Barnaby squares his body. And then... he starts to grow.

“I don’t know what you are doing in my town,” Barnaby snarls as his legs lengthen and his shoulders spread apart, “but I will make sure it is the last decision you make.”

I step back, butting up against the car door as Barnaby continues to sprout into the air high above me. He roars as two objects emerge from his back, ripping through his shirt and vest. His clothes are splitting open, and even his feet have torn his shoes to shreds as they become... claws?

“Barnaby?” I whisper as terror fills me.

The protrusions on his back elongate and then spread open, revealing two immense wings. His flesh has even changed color from his usual pale, human skin tone to white, now laced with pinkish veins. Two sharp points grow out of his head, lengthening into fearsome horns, and his ears widen and spread open, like those of a bat.

Barnaby isn’t a vampire. He’s a monster .

I grab the handle of the car door and yank it open, then jump inside. Barnaby—or the creature that used to be Barnaby—flicks a look at me over his shoulder, and the sight of his face tears a shriek from my throat.

He has utterly changed. Now he has two rows of sharp teeth in his mouth, and his eyes are a fierce, glowing red. His brows are heavier, and his legs have reversed in angle, like that of an animal. His white hands now bear huge claws, even bigger than the werewolf’s.

“Fuck,” I hear the werewolf say just as I slam the door. Then there’s a flash of white. A flap of Barnaby’s massive wings rockets him forward, toward the werewolf, and he leaps onto his prey, shoving him down to the ground. Then the monster-formerly-known-as-Barnaby swipes with one huge hand, tearing open the flesh of the werewolf’s chest.

The furry creature howls in pain, writhing on the ground. But he doesn’t lie prone for long. Soon he fights back, pushing Barnaby’s huge form off him before rolling away. Now freed, he leaps back to his feet, crouching on all fours.

Barnaby rises to two legs once more, the light of the moon highlighting every feature of him. Pink and red lines trail all across his white skin, as if he’s been deprived of sunlight for eternity. His wings are massive, each one casting a long shadow on the ground.

For a moment, my fear recedes. He is strange but also... magnificent. I’m awed as much as I am horrified.

Barnaby strikes again, moving as fast as lightning. He rushes the werewolf, but it skids out of the way. Each of the two beasts attack and then feint, lashing out at one another with claws and fangs. I feel like I should do something, anything, to help Barnaby—but what could that possibly be?

The car. I press the button to start it just as the werewolf strikes. Barnaby’s roar of agony sends goosebumps erupting across my skin. He is clearly powerful in this form, but is he stronger than a werewolf on the full moon?

When I back up the car, Barnaby’s gaze darts to mine, confusion written across his face. While he’s distracted, the werewolf lunges again, wrapping his huge, fanged maw around Barnaby’s arm.

That’s it. I won’t stand by and watch this happen. I turn the wheel, aiming the front of my car right at the furry monster, and slam my foot on the gas. The car lurches, and as these electric vehicles do, instantly barrels forward at full speed.

Within half a second, there’s a terrible crunch! as the front of my car smashes into the werewolf’s bulky body. He lets out a horrid whine, but he’s so big that even the car’s spinning wheels can’t seem to knock him over.

However, it does buy us a few moments without the werewolf on the attack. I put the car into reverse again, intending to ram the beast a second time, but Barnaby moves even faster. He wrenches the werewolf up to its feet by its throat, gripping it with both hands, blood still dripping down his arm.

“You will not hurt my woman,” Barnaby snarls, squeezing his enemy’s neck. “And you will not corrupt my town. ”

With incredible force, Barnaby hurls the werewolf into a nearby tree. The body slams against the trunk and he crumples, sliding down to the ground. Barnaby stalks toward the motionless object, fangs bared, and crouches down with claws out. I think he plans to rip open the werewolf’s body.

Then I remember the man at the bar. The yeti had hinted he just recently turned, which explained his unhinged behavior.

This must be him, and he doesn’t know how to control himself—the same way that once upon a time, freshly reborn as a vampire, Barnaby only knew how to feed.

“No!” I leap out of the car. “Barnaby, don’t!”

He pauses with his mouth mere inches from his victim’s throat.

“Don’t kill him,” I say, grabbing onto Barnaby’s huge, veined arm. His skin is cold to the touch, and eerily smooth. “He’s not a bad guy. He’s just new. He can’t control himself.”

The massive, white monster stares at me with those huge, glowing eyes, and for a split second, I wonder if he might turn on me. I drop his arm and back away, my throat bobbing.

Then, his eyebrows tilt down, and he rises back to his feet.

“Maisie.” His voice comes out a growl. “The wolf could wake up at any time.”

“He’s... he’s not going to attack us,” I say, my voice quiet and frightened. “I think we’re safe now. ”

Barnaby’s wings lower, and then slowly fold up against his back. He glances at the werewolf one more time, baring his teeth as if daring him to get up again.

He doesn’t.

I shrink back against the car as Barnaby turns his full attention toward me. He must be eight feet tall like this, and he’s completely, utterly naked. His muscles are swollen and defined, though they’re strange in their anatomy. The only thing on his body that isn’t white are his horns, which are black and curl up and over his head.

All I can do is stare, though I carefully avoid looking between his legs.

“Maisie.” Barnaby’s voice is so strange and foreign, but I can still tell it’s him under there. He takes a step in my direction, and I press myself harder against the car. “I’m... I’m so sorry you had to see me like this. I didn’t mean for it to happen.” He looks away, his body tense. “I had to protect you.”

A warmth fills my chest. So that’s what triggered this, whatever it is.

“What are you?” I finally ask, my heart beating a rapid tattoo in my chest.

His eyes fall to the ground, and his shoulders sag. He kneels so he can look into my eyes but doesn’t move closer. “This is my true form, Maisie.”

My hand is shaking as I raise it. I hope he doesn’t kill me. I have to believe it really is Barnaby, that he would never hurt me. My fingers land on his cheek and he flinches, but he doesn’t move away. Then he lifts his own massive, clawed hand to cover mine. I shudder underneath him, but he makes no further movement.

“Your true form?” I stare at him with my mouth open. “You’ve been hiding it all this time?”

“I didn’t want to frighten you. But I had no choice tonight. I should have told you sooner.”

My heart softens toward him. Of course he would hide this given how terrifying it looks at first glance.

I can’t help a manic giggle. “So you appear in mirrors, and you’re not afraid of crosses or garlic, but you turn into, um, this?”

A slight smile pulls at his lips, revealing his monstrous fangs. “Yes. This is the real secret vampires are hiding. You’re probably the first to see this form and live to tell about it.”

A shudder travels through me.

“Wow.” I kneel, too, and scoot closer to him. It’s clear Barnaby is ashamed of what he looks like, and I don’t want him to feel that way about himself.

“This form is strange, but also beautiful,” I say, stroking his cheek.

He blinks those red eyes at me. “Beautiful?”

“Terrifying. Majestic. Special.”

Barnaby leans into my hand, and then suddenly his arms are around me, pulling me tight to his chest. He heaves with the force of his labored breaths.

“Maisie.” His voice is thick with emotion. “Thank you.”

I wrap my arms as far around him as I can and hold him like that, this huge monster. My monster.