Page 82 of Teach Me How To Fly

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MAKSEN

As I stepped out of Lukyan’s limousine and finally arrived back home, I raised my gaze up to the dark sky and instantly decided to stay out for a little longer.

I had an enormous yard, full of pines and spruces that managed to clean the whole air. Everything looked very similar to Annalise’s house, which made me feel somewhat closer to her.

I missed her so fucking much even though I saw her yesterday.

As I sat down on a high and thick root of a tree, my gaze fell into the void, allowing myself to penetrate all the thoughts that did not give me peace.

I knew that once I would’ve stepped inside the house, I would have had to prepare myself emotionally to help little Lysandre get through everything she endured. I had to be there for her, to create a safe space where she could feel comfortable and I knew damn well that was something hard to accomplish.

I needed to be okay with myself to help others, and that was the hardest thing for me.

I had to be there for her just as much as I would’ve needed someone to be there for me when I needed a shoulder to cry on the most.

Little Maksen needed to heal by helping others, that was the only thing that I could do so I could feel better after finding out everything about me.

The bird in flames kept coming into my mind and the way Sylvian was looking at Annalise during the visit was still deeply impregnated into my mind. I could’ve just entered the room, killed him and stopped all the pain he caused for everyone, yet I had respect for Annalise and her decision. But I was ready for anything if the right time came.

I inhaled deeply in my lungs and walked towards the entrance. Once I opened the door, the deadly silence in the house made me think Lysandre was already sleeping, which I would’ve been glad to see because it would’ve meant that she felt comfortable.

I moved my feet slowly and cautiously to the guest’s bedroom, and once I opened the door without making any sound that could’ve announced to anyone I was home, I saw her cuddled up in the blanket. She still had the makeup on her face, but she seemed to finally enjoy the sleep she lacked.

I smiled at the sight of her and closed the door behind me, sighing and making my way to my bedroom. The entire house was drowned in such darkness it scared me, so on my way to the bedroom I turned on the lights just to feel better.

I was looking forward to the next morning when Lysandre was going to wake up and I was going to be there to calm her down, hoping to make her trust me.

It was the hardest thing for me to do because if there was something I wasn’t so good at, that was it — making people trust me. I still didn’t know how I managed to do that with Annalise.

With each step I took upstairs, the itchy iron smell came to my senses and I instantly knew something was wrong. The odor was drowning the entire house in a macabre scenery and I felt the need to grab the knife out of my belt.

No matter who was there, either armed with a pistol or even a bomb, I knew how to get out of the situation and also kill the motherfucker.

The moment I reached my bedroom’s door, I noticed it was already open, which made me think that there either was someone inside my room or someone snuck in the house while I was gone. How the fuck did someone break in while my bodyguards were all around the house?

As I slowly walked inside, the smell became bitter, making me almost puke just by sensing it. And the moment my steps came closer to the bed and I turned on the little lamp on the bedside, my breath shortened.

“Fucking Hell!”

The freshly chopped head of a deer was soaking my bed in deep burning red blood as a message was hung on its beautiful horns. I covered my face with my palm hoping not to sense the smell anymore as I took the little piece of paper from it, reading it out loud.

“Remember, you’re just one little deer, Maksen. The darkness wants his son back. Prepare yourself because this is just the beginning of a war.”

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

I instantly thought about Lukyan and all I could do was to take out the phone from my pocket and call him. He knew better than me at that moment what I should do because my mind couldn’t come up with anything clever. It didn’t take him long to answer the call and as soon as he heard my deep sigh, he knew something went down.

“There is a chopped head of a deer on my bed with a message on it,” I said, clenching my jaw as I squeezed the piece of paper in my hand.

Lukyan remained silent for a few more moments, and then I heard him mumbling something I couldn’t catch and sighed deeply. “It must be Ender’s threat. We have to do better to stop him from doing even worse things.”

“What do you mean by that?”

I knew from the way he was breathing that he had that mischievous smirk on his face.

“Kill his son, Killian McKnight, and he’ll stop threatening our family forever.”

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