Page 6 of Dying in Flames (Reborn 4)
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“Firefly,you don’t have to look,” I insisted quietly.
Maya’s large golden eyes were darker than normal, shaded with something that made me know that she wasn’t feeling herself, and her lips were pressed together in frustration. Something was wrong with my firefly. Something was very wrong, and I had a feeling it had to do with the number of bodies we were having to dispose of. I don’t think it had escaped any of our minds that the last time we’d killed someone was the night her ‘mother’ and Jed killed her. This was the first time Maya had ever seen us actively be this violent and work as a team, and I could absolutely tell it had affected her.
What I didn’t know?Howit was affecting her.
“I do,” she murmured, her brow dipping as she intertwined her fingers with mine, Bella sitting on her shoulder and licking her cheek in a sweet gesture. I kissed the top of my mate’s head and she melted against me, somehow not minding the blood on me.
Or maybe she did mind it but wanted the comfort more.
I should have been ashamed of my actions, but when Maya had gotten hurt…I just snapped. Completely snapped. And now I was soaked in blood, and I could only be thankful that Maya wasn’t looking at me like I was a monster. Or maybe she was distracted by Marco, who was incinerating body after body before dumping the ashes off the cliff. I would have expected my mate to be horrified, but instead she had an odd look on her face. It almost looked like guilt.
“It’s my fault they are dead,” she murmured. “Malcolm would have never brought them if it wasn’t for me.”
My sweet firefly. It was very much not her fault, but I had a feeling that she wouldn’t believe my words.
“Maya, these are some of the men who knew of your imprisonment and were not only okay with it, but crossed the country to do it again,” I said, trying to not let my temper take over.
“My phoenix is glad you hurt them,” she admitted, frowning. “She is furious that they not only tried to hurt you guys, but us as well.”
“And how do you feel?”
She suddenly turned into me, grasping my shirt as she looked up at me with panic. “I shouldn’t like it. After everything I’ve been through…” She hesitated, her voice catching as I saw the demons of Malcolm and her mother’s treatment flash through her gaze. “I really shouldn’t be okay with this…shouldn’t like it.”
There was a dark part of me that was thrilled with her admitting that she was okay with it. More than that, that she liked it. I tried to ignore that part of me, my cock hardening as I tilted her head back with my hand on her jaw to look over her gorgeous, tormented face.
It wasn’t like I didn’t understand where her distress came from. After all, Maya and I weren’t very different, both coming from a heavy amount of abuse. I had always hated that, unlike my twin’s, my dragon was so eager for violence and bloodlust. It was why I had contradicted that part of myself by putting on a veneer of relaxed calm, but that part of me was always present and right underneath the surface, waiting to strike. Waiting to rip out someone’s throat. After a time, I’d accepted it, because the truth was…we weren’t human.
We were something so much more, and I think that was going to be the most difficult part of what Maya had to accept about herself.
“Firefly,” I whispered softly, “you aren’t the same Maya that was held prisoner in Pastor Malcolm’s basement. You are the Maya that is heir to the entire Dreki realm. The Maya that has a fierce, dangerous creature inside of her that knows instinctively to defend itself when in danger. To seek retribution when you’ve been wronged or when others that you love have been. You have to accept that part of yourself, because it’s only going to grow. It’s not a bad or an evil thing—it’s one of the most natural things about being a shifter.”
“But they had lives,” she choked out. “They had family members, loved ones, maybe even children—”
I seared my lips to hers, and she let out a soft sound and melted into me, a small whine breaking from her throat as her desire wrapped around me and had my cock pressing against her soft stomach. Fucking hell. I really had no idea how long I was going to be able to go without fully claiming Maya with my dragon so close to the surface like this. I knew I needed space from her, to control myself, but with how distressed she was, everything told me that was exactly what I should not do.
“They hurt you. We would have killed them no matter what,” I admitted honestly as her eyes widened. “You can blame it on us, firefly. I know this is a lot to process, but even if we had tried to walk away before the violence started, the minute you were hurt by them, it was game over. They were going to burn, one way or another.”
I saw a flame light in Maya’s gaze as she nodded, her cheek resting against my bloodied chest as she relaxed completely against me.My brave little mate.I could feel her relief through our connection after talking about what was bothering her, but I noticed that my twin was looking at us with concern. I offered a small nod so he understood that the problem was fixed. I had no doubt it wasn’t forever, but for now she seemed better.
“Marco!” I called out, and he snapped his head over. “Any idea where they pulled us out of the portal at?” I seriously had no idea where we were right now, but unlike him, my sense of direction wasn’t the best unless I was flying. Our alpha’s gaze ran over Maya as he seemed to shield his emotions, probably worried about her reaction as well, and preparing for the worst.
He pointed down the coastline. “We are about thirty miles north of home.”
I saw Maya’s eyes run all the way over the ash covering him before she let out a slow exhale and offered him a hesitant smile, which he returned. I could practically feel the relief.
“Why all the way up here?” I asked, clarifying.
“Isolated. Easy to get rid of you guys and probably have a place nearby to contain me,” Maya answered immediately, frowning as if she wasn’t positive how she knew that.
I knew how, and it was fascinating to see Maya’s phoenix and heritage come out to play. Her true mother’s mates may have been terrifying, but in order to be a good leader and respected in the Dreki realm, you had to be able to stand on your own, and I had heard the rumor that Queen Cyra was a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield. There were moments when Maya’s thinking became extremely tactically focused, similar to a military leader, or when her phoenix took over and decided to engage in violence to defend those around her. I honestly couldn’t wait to see the leader she would become.
But for now, I found myself still wanting to shield her from all of it. Despite that not being realistic. I mean, clearly not, considering she was soaked in blood from my shirt. There was no hiding my actions.
“We should fly home,” I suggested. Maya nodded, looking exhausted.
“I think we should take the younger flight back,” Atlas suddenly said, but I knew he wasn’t worried about the boys, who looked unfazed by this and had been through worse. No, he was looking at Maya.
