Page 64 of Soaring in Flames (Reborn 2)
Chapter 17
Maya
It was an odd night. I had fallen asleep around ten after the agents had left, wrapped between Marco and Atlas. Except...I didn’t wake up there. No, instead I woke up with the cold wind brushing over my skin and the sound of the sea in my ears.
What the heck?
When I opened my eyes, I assumed I was in some type of dream. I stood on a rigid dark cliff edge, the forest rustling in the pitch black night. The wind smelled like brine and my chest pulsated with an odd type of pain. My hair laid in a crazy mess of waves and my oversized shirt did nothing to keep my skin warm. I looked over the ocean and my neck prickled with awareness as I felt someone watching me.
Turning on my toes I faced the forest, watching as a shadow shifted and walked forward. I felt my lips pull back into a snarl as I examined Lorn’s face. How the hell did I end up here? I tightened my fists, glad to know Bella and the boys were safe at home.
“Lorn,” I growled, “what are you doing here?”
“Better question, is what are you doing out here all alone, Maya?” he asked, his voice rough and my eyes wide as he stepped into the moonlight, his entire face black and blue, maybe a bit of yellow and purple even.
I didn’t have an answer to that...because I had no idea.How did I get here?I swallowed as I stepped back, rocks tumbling behind me. He chuckled, stepping closer.
“You know, when I watched you stumble out of your house, I couldn’t believe my luck that you were willingly leaving the safety of those fucking dragons.”
I had not left on purpose. Christ.
“I’m not going to waste my fucking opportunity though,” he pointed out, and my breathing began to turn rapid as I considered jumping off the cliff behind me. I did not want his goddamn hands on me again, my throat still hurt a bit from his rough strangling.
A whistle through the air had me reflexively ducking down as a thud caused me to look up. Lorn let out a pained groan and fell to the hard ground, looking stunned. His wide eyes focused on me solely. Except his lack of movement didn’t make me feel any better, instead the rustling from the trees had me facing a far scarier opponent. One that I knew hadn’t hurt Lorn to protect me.
“Maya,” my father hissed. “Good to see that my summoning spell worked despite the wards around their home.”
Summoning spell?
I must have echoed it because he nodded, his energy sparking dangerously as he rolled up his sleeves revealing runes that scattered his arms. I had never seen those before. His eyes darkened, he chuckled darkly.
“You didn’t think you stayed down in that fucking basement because of pure luck, right?” He grinned. “No, I'd been spelling that place with wards for years. I have no idea how that fucking human bitch finally got you out. Greedy bitch. She’d been wanting to get away with Jed for years now—”
Jed was from Louisiana?
He tilted his head looking amused in that demented way of his, “You seem confused. But that isn’t my problem, Maya. What is my problem? That you aren’t in fucking Louisiana, serving the only purpose that you had.” Maybe if I kept him talking...
“What purpose?” I asked quietly.
“Don’t act dumb, stupid girl,” he growled, “I know they probably told you everything. They aren’t wrong. Your blood and magic is going to fuel my coven for hundreds of years.”
Shit.
“I have been watching all week and waiting to get you alone. I’ll admit it was far harder than I thought, but this? This is a fucking present, Maya. You practically walked right into my arms. It’s time to go home, where you belong, and then I am going to have the local witch coven, namely Earnest, take care of your fucking dragons.”
I could feel my chest freeze at that. It was one thing to threaten me. But my mates? I felt a growl build in my throat as he neared. I had never realized just how much I hated this man, but every word that came out of his mouth further deepened the hatred. I wasn’t someone that liked to hate others. But he deserved it.
This was the man who had kept me imprisoned my entire life.
The man who stood and watched my mother beat me.
The man who hit me himself while subjecting me to his religious ‘lessons.’
The man who knew what I’d been my entire life and instead chose to lie to me.
Told me the devil was inside of me.
The truth? If anyone was a devil, it was this man. I didn’t want him near my family.
