Page 69 of Firethorne
The fact she was still fighting made me smile, and I slid a knife across the counter towards her and took slow steps over to her, holding my arms out. “If you want to stab me, I won’t stop you.” She picked up the knife, and I took a few more steps to stand directly in front of her. “You have to do what you feel is the right thing for you.” She held the knife out in front of her, but from the resignation on her face, I knew she’d never do it. Not to me. “So go on then,” I urged. “Fight me, if that’s what you think you need to do.” I reached forward and picked up her hand that was holding the knife, putting it against my chest as she gasped.
“I couldn’t stab someone,” she announced. “I could never hurt another person like that.”
“And that’s what makes you different to everyone else in my life,” I replied. “Because you actually have a soul.”
I spent the afternoon preparing the meal for her, occasionally stopping to check my emails and messages. She pretended she was reading, but I could see her out of the corner of my eye, watching me as I watched her sitting on the kitchen stool.
“Do you need any help with that?” she’d asked a few times.
And every time I’d replied, “It’s all in hand. You don’t need to do anything. I like cooking.”
She always responded with a slight scowl that indicated she didn’t believe me. There were a lot of things about me that she probably wouldn’t believe.
Once the steaks were cooked to perfection, with the vegetables and accompanying sauces ready, I set up the small dining table in the corner of the living area and called her over to eat.
She sat down, sighing as she breathed in the scents and proclaimed, “This smells delicious.” But she cut her meat up into tiny slices and nibbled like she thought I might’ve poisoned the damn thing.
I dropped my knife and fork onto the table a little too dramatically and stated, “I came here to feed you because you’re looking pale, Maya.” She stared at me, not saying a word as she chewed the smallest mouthful. “So stop eating like a fucking rabbit and dig in. The steak isn’t gonna kill you.”
“No,” she said as she swallowed. “The steak might not kill me, but you might.”
I paused, my fork in midair, holding a prime cut of steak. “If I was gonna kill you, don’t you think I’d have done it by now?” I retorted, then ate the food from my fork as I glared back at her, chewing and savouring the taste as fire burned inside me.
“Then answer this,” she asked, placing her cutlery on the plate, leaning her elbows on the table, and then resting her chin on her entwined fingers. “Why am I still here? Why are you keeping me locked up?” She leaned forward a little, darkness clouding her face as she whispered, “And who the fuck was in the apartment last night, trying to fuck with my head?”
I almost choked on my steak, and I dropped my own cutlery onto my plate as I replied, “What the fuck are you talking about?”
Her eyes narrowed as she gritted her teeth, seething, “You know exactly what I mean. Don’t play with me.”
I mirrored her stance, leaning across the table as I said, “Are you telling me you thought someone was in here last night?”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying,” she snapped. “I know what I saw.”
I didn’t want to tell her about the cameras. But I was damn sure I’d be checking them out as soon as I could. I’d watched a little of the footage from last night, but after she’d gone to bed, I’d stopped watching. But the windows and doors were alarmed. If anyone had even attempted to breach my security, I’d have been alerted to it. No one had been in here. But I kept cool, my expression unreadable as I asked her, “Then tell me exactly what it was that you saw.”
She began explaining how she was having trouble sleeping, that she’d come into the living room during the storm and found her book had been moved. That was something I didn’t read into. She could’ve easily left it like that herself and forgotten.
Then she told me about the dark figure behind her. A figure that disappeared when she’d turned around. And how she’d barricaded herself into her bedroom but woke to find a figure standing over her, despite the chair she’d placed in front of the door remaining unmoved. She was spooked, on edge, and once she’d offloaded it all to me and let out a deep breath, her bodyrelaxed slightly as the weight of what she was carrying subsided a little.
I told her, “First, you are safe here. No one could’ve gotten into this apartment without setting off all sorts of alarms that would’ve alerted me and Trent. And if I find any breach when I assess it all in a moment, I will stop at nothing to put it right. But second, I believe you. You saw something last night, and you were right to be scared. I will look into it, but I think you need to remember how powerful the mind can be. Especially one that’s been through the trauma you’re going through. You’re bound to be on edge. And under stress, you will see things, experience things that might upset you. I’m here to help you, Maya.”
“Whether it’s real or not, I can’t sleep. I can’t handle being locked up in here, not knowing what’s happened to my father, or what could happen next. I feel like a sitting duck. You have to let me go.”
I wasn’t going to let her go. That was out of the question. But I’d do what I could to get her through this.
“I’ve already told you, it’s not safe for you to leave now. I’m working on getting you out of here, but it takes time. To escape, you need a new passport, a new identity, cash and a place to run to. I can’t put that into place overnight.”
It was already in place, but I’d never let on about that.
“And my father?” she asked, the faintest glimmer of hope still shining in her eyes.
“Is long gone,” I replied. “He isn’t coming to save you, Maya.”
I had my suspicions that he wasn’t here anymore, as in, my father had gotten to him and silenced him for eternity. And I didn’t believe in an afterlife, but if I did, I’d think that maybe that was who she saw, standing behind her, watching over her. A shadow of retribution, trying to make right the sins of his mortal life.
“You’re gonna be okay, you know,” I assured her. “You’re strong. You’ll get through this.”
She nodded but she didn’t speak, just picked up her knife and fork and started to eat again.
