Page 1 of Dying in Flames (Reborn 4)
Maya
Fear.
I’d experienced it so often in my life, I should have been numb to it, or at least used to it. There had been times where it had consumed everything, and sometimes I expected that way of life to crawl back out from where I’d boxed it away. That was a different Maya…a different woman who was far more scared and cautious than I was now. I used to be afraid of so much.
I used to fear that my mother and Pastor Malcolm would just never show up again and I would be left to perish in that dark, horrible basement cellar.
I used to fear that I wouldn’t ever be given food again, their starvation techniques pushing my body to the point that my stomach ached and my head pounded in protest.
I feared knowing my mother would show up to punish me, and I feared even more not knowingwhenshe would show up to punish me.
But the main fear that always stood out to me, even in my memories? The pure dread I felt looking into Pastor Malcolm’s gaze, knowing instinctively that he wanted to harm me.
Except this time, meeting his gaze from feet away, I realized I didn’t feel fear. Not fear for myself, at least. Maybe for those around me, knowing this needed to be handled with the utmost care… But more than anything, more than any level of terror, I felt anger. So much anger that it was nearly overwhelming.
Every single time that I began to find a small sliver of peace, this man ripped it away and shattered my small hope that my life could be normal. When I had first found my mates, he had shown up demanding that I go home with him after my own mother and Jed had killed me.
Then, after finally edging into some sense of normality, he had lured me to the edge of a cliff and all but forced me to jump, probably so I’d shift.
Now, after so many revelations and the freeing realization that my only family didn’t consist of a mother who had all but tortured me my entire childhood and a man that was trying to use me for his coven…Pastor Malcolm was back again. Back to take it all away from me.
I was done. I was absolutely done.
“I told you I was coming to take you home.”
The words still rang in my ears seconds later, but the panic that had been threatening to emerge was superseded by the animal inside of me who demanded that I be brave. Who demanded that I remember I was surrounded by not only my mates, but a group of young dragon shifters that would be in a dangerous position if we didn’t handle this correctly.
I couldn’t let them down. I wouldn’t let any of them down.
Pastor Malcolm was my problem, and I wanted him solved.
I’d known something was wrong before we’d even stepped out of the portal and were assaulted by sights and sounds that didn’t match the dragon council building we should’ve arrived in. Instead, cold, icy water from the ocean sprayed on our backs, making me know we were feet from a cliff’s edge. Ahead of us was a thick line of pine trees that served as a natural barrier out of here, lined with what I now knew to be Pastor Malcolm’s coven. The same group of magic users that had encircled us in a spelled circle of flames that I had to assume was dangerous to the touch.
The fire didn’t scare me, though. Instead, I immediately focused on just how many precautions he was taking to ensure we were trapped…because he was scared. The realization that the man who haunted my nightmares was scared of my mates and me caused me to feel a surge of confidence in myself and our ability to get out of this situation.
I narrowed my eyes at the tall, skinny, pale man that had caused me so much pain. So much suffering…and realized I didn’t feel bad for him, or his level of fear. So, for the first time ever, I allowed myself to revel in his discomfort, every second of it, for all of the pain he’d caused me. I felt a calm come over me as my phoenix let out a small sound from my throat that had all my mates tensing. I knew it was her way of communicating with their dragons, but it still surprised me.
“Baby girl,” Marco warned as I stepped through and past Henry and him, their fingers grazing my skin as if they didn’t want to let go. I honestly didn’t want them to, but I also enjoyed the way Pastor Malcolm practically jolted back at my sudden move forward. Above, the sky cracked with lightning and then rumbled with thunder, a storm rolling in from over the ocean as the flames from the witches’ circle grew higher. I could see the uneasy looks they were exchanging, and it made me curious what they hoped to accomplish.
I had many reasons to be scared of Pastor Malcolm, but my mates? I knew they were stronger than him. The man was conniving and cruel, able to trick and trap people easily, but to take such a blunt stand? It didn’t seem in his nature, and it had me knowing that he felt uncertain about how to handle this. He wasn’t the only one, though, and I continued to take a moment to assess the situation, wanting to make sure there was a way to keep my mates safe.
One of the most prominent things that stood out to me, still, was that Larry, one of the dragon council members, was tied to a tree near the forest line and surrounded by witches. He was completely unconscious, and unlike Anna, clearly an unwilling captive. She must have used his powers to aid in opening and changing the direction of the portal… but why?
“Anna?” I looked at her instead of Pastor Malcolm. “Why?”
“None of your fucking business,” she growled, her tone tight and tense.
I tilted my head in confusion. “Is this how you knew so much about my past? How long have you been working with him? I promise you, Anna, no matter what he has promised, he’s not a good man—” My words caught in my throat, unable to contain the slight tremble in my voice.
I couldn’t deny that her actions hurt. I knew she had never liked me, but this seemed like a betrayal on a far deeper level. And for what? What stake did she have in this game that I had no interest in playing?
Anna didn’t answer at all this time, her eyes darkening on me as she turned her gaze back to Pastor Malcolm. The man was staring at me with a malicious smile as he seemed to be waiting for me to make some type of move, like a cat toying with a mouse.
What he didn’t realize? I was well aware that we had the upper hand when it came to actual power.
I would have loved to say I could face Malcolm alone and be able to beat him, and maybe I did physically have that ability, but emotionally this man had been one of the single reasons I had been traumatized for years on end. Sure, my so-called mother had administered a lot of the beatings, but he had ordered her to. I didn’t trust myself to not give in to the panic that I naturally felt while he was around.
But with my mates here? Right by my side? I wasn’t afraid. I trusted them completely. Trusted them to take care of this situation, the younger dragons, Bella, and myself.
