Page 61 of Dying in Flames (Reborn 4)
Maya
“That is fucking impossible.”
The first sound I heard outside of the buzzing in my head was the furiously snapped remark as the chest underneath my ear rumbled in response. I knew without a doubt that I was in Croy’s arms, but he wasn’t the one that had spoken. No, that voice belonged toMr. I Put Kittens In Danger.
What the heck was he doing here?No, seriously, the last time I’d seen him…
My chest tightened as I remembered the way he had appeared in the room and absolutely…slaughteredwas the only word that came to mind, the others there. It was like his shadows had jumped off the walls and attacked the three people who were torturing me. I had been so happy and relieved to see him, to have the pain stop for a moment, that I’d forgotten I was even mad at him.
Now, though? I was mad at him again.
“Mon lapin, please wake up before your mates hurt themselves by trying to bust out of these damn cages,” the voice snapped again, causing me to frown as my heavy eyes opened, squinting into the dark light of the room.
Pain radiated through every inch of my frame as I found myself pressed against a bare golden chest that had me letting out a small, happy noise. I shouldn’t have been happy considering the amount of pain I was in…yet I was. I was happy because my mates were happy and healthy…or at least one of them was. Croy didn’t have cuts on his skin because I did, and I was perfectly okay with that.
“What the fuck did you just call her?” Atlas demanded sharply, his voice more threatening than I’d ever heard it before, causing me to worry about him. I didn’t want him to act rashly and injure himself more than he already had been.
“Mon lapin,” Henry bit out. “It means—”
“My bunny,” Marco finished, his tone towards the notion odd. I really didn’t like how it sounded. It sounded furious, but more than furious…more like he’d already decided to killMr. I Put Kittens In Danger.What he didn’t realize was that we needed him to get out of here.
“We can do it without him,” Henry assured me, reading my mind as I forced myself to try to sit up, but quickly my arms gave out. My eyes closed again as I melted against Croy’s frame, feeling so extremely out of it that I wondered if maybe I was still sleeping.
“Sugar.” Croy’s voice was soft. “I need you to open your eyes.”
Had I closed them again? When did that happen?
Besides being in pain, there was something else running through me. An elixir-like magic that seemed to flow through my veins and had my skin turning hot and almost luminescent as I looked down on it.
I didn’t feel nearly as weak as before I’d fallen asleep. I didn’t feel great by any means, but far better…almost a bit high. I wanted to focus on the bubble of tranquility and healing I was in, but I knew there was more to do, more that I needed to focus on… Something bigger. Why couldn’t I remember what that was?
“I’m so tired,” I drew out.
“She’s high off my healing magic,”Mr. I Put Kittens In Dangeradmitted.
“You shouldn’t have used your fucking magic on her,” Ledger bit out, causing me to almost snap my head over to find him because he seemed so worked up.
“What would you have preferred?” the man growled. “To let her suffer? She wouldn’t have healed from those, even though she bled. She would have had to either be reborn, or one of you would have had to make her bleed.”
Oh.
“Thank you.” I turned my head and found him standing in the shadows outside of the cell. Those large wings behind him, which had lit up with electricity, were highlighting his face in the shadows, and I could see pain written across it.
He grunted and sighed. “Just fucking tell them to not try to break out of these cells.”
“According to you, we have less than an hour now!” Anani slammed his fist against the bars of the cell, the entire structure rattling.
The man’s face turned sad. “You do. But trying to break out will be impossible with the magic drain. Same for the wards. That is why it’s a perfect setup.”
“What about the stone?” Ledger immediately questioned.
What stone?
Ember spoke up, my eyes tracking to where she held Bella against her, looking scared of the men in this cell with her…my men. How were they in here? How was that possible?
“The stone is what drains your magic,” Ember explained. “If you can destroy the stone, your magic would regain its power. All of our magic would.”
The older girl from before spoke then. “And if you can do that, you guys may be powerful enough to break out of these cells and maybe the ward of the room.”
