Page 65 of Soaring in Flames (Reborn 2)
I looked behind me, wondering just how bad it would hurt to hit that water. If I was a phoenix...it wouldn’t be fatal. Or if it was...I’d come back. My eyes strayed back to my father. At least then I could escape. With him though? With being back in the basement? That was a prison sentence that may have no end. My mates would have no idea where I was. I swallowed and steeled my reserve.
Right as I stepped back, ignoring the insane words from Pastor Malcolm’s mouth. My feet left the ledge and with a slight prayer, I let myself fall from the cliff. I cried out as my body dropped, plummeting through the cold air. Holy hell. A vicious growl sounded through the air above and my chest fluttered knowing it was Croy. I didn’t even question how he had found me. I just knew he had and my father screamed, his pain like a symphony that I shouldn’t have enjoyed.
I knew I was nearing the water.
I knew I was probably going to die.
I didn’t want to die.
I wanted to be back with my mates. I wanted to be back up on that cliff, just a moment later. Croy would have solved all of this. I had probably acted rash.
Tears streamed in my eyes knowing this was going to hurt like hell.
***
Croy
SITTING UP IN BED,my head began to pulse in pain. I could barely hear the voices outside of my door because of how loud and angry my wolf was. I snarled, squeezing my eyes shut as I tried to tell him to shut the fuck up so I could figure out what was wrong. Pulling on a pair of jeans, I walked into the hallway that was in mid chaos.
“What the fuck do you mean she’s gone?” Atlas snarled as the twins offered him a stressed and tense look.
“I am telling you she’s not on the property, fucking anywhere,” Anani bit out.
“I have no idea how she would have gotten past our security,” he growled and was down the steps as I blinked, trying to process his words.Maya was gone?I couldn’t even pay attention to the others arguing, but I could see how fucking furious Marco was as Atlas pulled him back from one of his security officers, clearly afraid for the poor man’s life. As far as I was concerned, if Maya got hurt they deserved to die.
Instead of waiting, I shook my head and shifted immediately, hoping they would follow. All I could focus on was Maya. My mate. Inhaling her scent my wolf let out a vicious howl and I was sprinting through the forest, feeling the others shifting and following me from above, their wings heavy and loud in the air.
Her soft scent was making me crazy as I sped up, finally locking onto where she was. I couldn’t see her yet, but I could hear her voice as she said something. Her quick heartrate letting me know she was fucking terrified. As I broke through the treeline, I let out a growl upon seeing Pastor Malcolm. Fuck. I watched as Maya fell back and down towards the ocean, making me pray to the gods that the others would catch her.
Before I could even clear my head, rage like I’d never experienced filled me. At the thought of her hurt. At the thought of her dead. At the thought of never seeing that stunning smile or hearing her carefree laughter that fills the dark, lonely corners of my heart.
I leapt, my teeth clamping down on Malcolm’s leg making him scream as I tossed him towards the trees. I moved forward as I felt him attempt to use his magic, but it didn’t fucking matter to me. I had faced every creature on Earth realm, so his small parlor tricks barely phased me. Nothing mattered to me except seeing his blood.
I stepped on his chest and gripped his hair with my sharp teeth, pulling back and forth causing his head to hit the rock and the tree trunk he’d landed between. His scream was loud and high, his hair ripped out in my mouth making me realize that he was bleeding a fuck ton. I could feel it coating my fur and it fucking thrilled me.
Malcolm’s laugh caught me off guard as my head snapped to the side, my wolf freezing for a moment...because HOL-Y SHIIIT?! The bastard under me grinned, his voice low and full of pain. “Fucking finally.”
My eyes widened seeing a flash of something moving through the dark skies like a comet. So many thoughts hit me, but before I could react, I felt Malcolm pulse power through me. I huffed at his minor spell and pressed my paw to his face, my claws digging in as I heard a snap from my weight on his nose. I shifted almost immediately, and pulled his head back and punched him hard enough that he blacked out. His blood was like a badge on my skin at this point.
His last words before passing out had me growling, “This doesn’t end here, I have an entire coven that will be coming for her. They know where she is now.”
I growled, my fury turning my vision red. I fucking believed him. For the first time in my long life, every drop of my calm nature was absent. The threat to my mate was enough to terrify me to my very core. I would kill every single one of those fucking witches before they laid a hand on Maya.
***
Maya
MY EYES TEARED UP,knowing that there was a possibility I might not come back. Maybe I couldn’t be reborn. Maybe I wasn’t really a phoenix and the last time had been some weird circumstance... Or maybe I would drown and they wouldn’t be able to find me. God I didn’t want to lose this. I didn’t want to lose what I had with Marco. What I had with all of my mates. Those thoughts and the fury I felt towards Pastor Malcolm had my chest burning like an inferno right as my head started to pulsate.
Right at that moment, something I couldn’t explain happened.
My throat burned like someone had stuck a hot coal down it.
My skin felt dry as if it was going to break and crack open.
My mouth was dry.
My tears evaporated and I could almost smell my hair and skin smoking.
