Page 54 of Dying in Flames (Reborn 4)
Trust me to be strong.
Trust me to try to find a way out of this for us.
I tried to keep the tears from my eyes as Malcolm motioned for me to step up to the door, my mates arguing behind me and calling out my name. Ignoring them was completely against my natural instincts, as was the feeling of Malcolm slipping a collar around my throat that muted my magic. Marco bellowed my name, and I swallowed nervously as Malcolm opened the cell door enough to pull me through before slamming it shut again. I trembled slightly, hating his fingers on me, the feeling of the magic in the space stinging my skin.
“Firefly.” Ledger’s soft voice stood out amongst the chaos as I turned and met his gaze, seeing the knowledge there. He knew what was going to happen. He knew I probably wouldn’t come back unharmed, and he knew he couldn’t stop it. When the door slammed shut and I found myself in a cold stone hallway, I tried to push down the fear and keep my head up.
“I know you think you’re being brave,” Malcolm chuckled, “but you are still just a foolish girl, Maya. You could have stopped all of this. You could have protected them by coming home the first time. This is your fault. Their pain and everything that happens is your fault.”
He was right. I knew he was trying to manipulate me, but what he was saying wasn’t wrong, and that truth was a constant sense of dread under my skin. I didn’t respond back to him, and when he tugged me to the left through a metal door, my eyes darted around, not recognizing the space.
The cold metal table in the center of the room had straps and caused my body to tense as he led me towards it. I breathed out a slight sigh of relief as he sat me down on a chair against the back of it. I knew I couldn’t do anything right now, not only because my magic was null and void, but because if I retaliated, I wouldn’t be the only one to suffer.
Instead of focusing on what he was doing, knowing he would see my fear, my eyes moved towards the small sliver of light I could see through the floorboards. Why was this ceiling not stone? Did that mean this part had a room above it? If so, we would be able to reach it easier from this room than the other—
A cry broke from my throat as my phoenix released a small, panicked noise at the blade that came across my palm. I thought I heard a distant groan of iron and a roar that distracted my phoenix and I from the pain. I knew intuitively my mates could feel my panic, so I tried to calm down as I watched Malcolm gather four vials of my blood. I felt my jaw clench as he deepened the knife again, watching my face as he did.
“I’m impressed, Maya,” he mused, stepping away and placing the vials on the table. “You are far different than when that cunt took you away from me.”
I flinched at his tone, and amusement jumped in his gaze. “Or maybe not so much so.”
Before he could say anything else, shadows seemed to fill the edges of the room. Malcolm froze, a flash of fear crossing his face that he quickly hid, continuing about his business. I couldn’t control my same reaction as I narrowed my eyes at the man who stepped from the corner of the room.
Like I said, I should have been scared of him, but instead I found myself angry. His dark eyes watched me cautiously, like I was somehow the real threat, keeping to the wall as if not wanting to come too close to me. I noticed briefly that he was dressed far more casually than before, his suit exchanged for just a pair of jeans and a short-sleeve shirt. My eyes moved to the thin lines on the inside of his gold arms, the pattern causing me to feel a weird wave of sadness. Those weren’t battle wounds. Well, they were…just not a physical battle. No, those were from a mental war. I looked back up and found him now angry at me, his silver hair glinting as he refocused back on Malcolm.
“You don’t need to be here, demon.” Malcolm’s voice was casual as he worked on something at the table behind me, but I could hear his annoyance. He didn’t like this man in the room with us, and it had me wanting him to stay. It was always better to have other people around when it came to Pastor Malcolm.
“I do,” the man responded indifferently, his French accent rolling over my ears. When he had stormed off after I’d gotten mad about Bella, he’d been cursing in French, so it only made sense.Mr. I Put Kittens In Danger—that should be his freakin’ name.
No. I needed something easier than that.
“Why?” Malcolm bit out.
The man stepped further from the shadows, and my eyes widened to find smoky black wings spread behind him, his power running across the cement floors. I drew my foot back when it ran across my skin, making me nervous. If he noticed, he didn’t say anything, instead continuing his path to the table. My eyes darted to his wrists that were covered in those black bracelets, currently sparking with red magic.
“The Master wants her kept safe and unharmed. You’ve already made her bleed, so you can understand my concern, I’m sure.” His voice was fluid and sharp. “You wanted to talk to her, here she is. You do not touch her again until he tells you so. After tomorrow…” He hesitated and shrugged. “Well, who knows then.”
That did not sound good at all.
“Why is she so special to him?” Malcolm bit out.
“You know so little about him,”Mr. I Put Kittens In Dangerstated coolly. “Why do you think he had us wait until she bonded with all her mates, witch?”
Malcolm seemed unsure. “He has hundreds of others. I don’t know why this matters. So she is from a line of—”
“I didn’t realize you had other phoenixes and dragons…I thought I was the only one.” My voice echoed through the space, interrupting them and pulling their attention because I really didn’t like them talking about me.Mr. I Put Kittens In Dangermoved to the other side of the room, as if my voice had somehow caused him physical harm.
Malcolm chuckled. “No, girl, you are one of many. Both back home, and especially here in the temple of fire. I suppose I shouldn’t be all that surprised… Your magic was so strong, even from a young age, that I knew you were something special.”
But did he know who I really was? Did he know how powerful I had the potential to be? That I was the daughter of the Queen of the Dreki realm? I mean, if they knew about the mating thing…maybe they knew I was a Blue Phoenix. He had seen me shift, after all.
“Why?”
“The Master’s reasoning is not your concern,”Mr. I Put Kittens In Dangerbit out.
“She deserves to know.” Malcolm seemed to enjoy his discomfort. “Why don’t you tell her, demon, why the others are here, why your Master keeps all these other phoenixes and dragons around. Surely you aren’t ashamed of it? I mean, how many years has he had you? Hundreds? Thousands? I am positive you are used to it by now.”
Silence greeted him. I could practically feel the tension.
