Page 14 of Ruling in Flames (Reborn 5)
For someone that had been treated harshly, only exposed to the most depraved shit for years, forced to stand by as phoenixes and dragons alike were used, her openness soothed a deep anxiety inside of me, one that told me I didn’t understand anyone in this world, let alone her.
Fuck. All of this was so fucked. I was so fucked.
Even worse, I was well aware that I didn’t deserve Maya’s attention in the least. I may not have actively played a role in any of Ry’s games, but I had still played my part. I had stood by, clinging to my life, because I knew anything else would result in my true death.
Without those stupid bands on, I would’ve had the power to defeat him. But with them on…I had been nothing. My eyes closed as I was suddenly thrown back to a time when I’d thought those bands had been my best option.
“For those that have surrendered,you have been marked by a god. You will serve them as repayment for the part you played in the cosmos wars—for your traitorous actions.”
Annoyance crept out, and I refused to meet Ry’s gaze. We may have spent eons being friends, but this war had put us on opposite sides, and now things weren’t the same. A not-so-small part of that being the fact that I was now tied to him as a servant. It was fucking bullshit.
Still, I hadn’t been executed. I was alive, unlike so many of my comrades who had been slaughtered, their immortality nothing with these damn bands on.
I hadn’t understood the need for this war from the start—who needed a war between gods and angelic beings? There was room for all. Apparently not though, because most angels had been extinguished—absolutely butchered. There were the fallen—at least I’d heard rumors of them—and then there was us. The ones who were indebted.
My head dropped as I wondered what the future would bring for me.
Nothing good,it turned out.
In fact, it had been years of pain, and when I was finally relieved from it, I’d been far too caught up on saving Maya to even care. When she had asked me to help break the stone, I realized that the best thing I could do for Maya was to sacrifice my own immortality. I’d been fully prepared to die.
And now I was possibly going to be reborn.
Did I want that? I wasn’t positive… No, I was positive. I was positive I wanted to be brought back if it meant staying with her. I had to explain to her what this bond meant, though. I didn’t expect her to embrace the bond, but she had to at least know. I could never hope she would love me like her other mates, let alone want to spend eternity with me, but I also wouldn’t push for true death because severing that bond would hurt her so damn much.
I wouldn’t be able to leave her alone as it was—there was an obsessive pull this woman held for me, and it wasn’t one that would disappear anytime soon. I had no doubt about that.
“Az?”
I loved that Maya had nicknamed me—it felt like a claiming mark.
“His name is Az?” Anani asked curiously.
We now stood at the bottom of the hill, and I looked down at the beautiful woman next to me. She was watching me with interest, with a soft trust and affection, and I had to fight the urge to push her away. Not because I wanted her to leave me behind, but because I knew it would be for the better. I realized, after staring at her for a moment, that I’d never responded to her.
“We need to go up the mountain.” I nodded forward. Anani turned and walked ahead, but Maya didn’t move, her teeth biting down on her bottom lip.
“That isn’t why I stopped,” she said, opening up her soft, elegant hands. “One of your feathers came off.”
A choked sound nearly left my throat at the sight of her holding one of my black feathers in her golden hands, cupped together like it was precious to her.
The significance wasn’t one she understood. I hadn’t lost a feather since shedding my adolescent wings—it wasn’t a common occurrence. No, this had happened for Maya.Only for her.Holy fuck.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have picked it up,” she said in a panic, thrusting it towards me.I hated that.I reached forward and wrapped my hand around hers, cradling it, not wanting the feather back.
“Please keep it,” I whispered, emotion clogging my throat.
She examined my face and nodded in understanding. “I’ll keep it safe,” she promised, tucking it against her chest. I tried to not think about my feathers against her bare skin, my cock hardening again.
It was a sensation I wasn’t used to, and I was fighting the urge to pin her down and fuck her into the ground, hard enough that her cries of my name echoed through the entire space again and again.
One of my feathers was in her possession…that was insane. The idea had my pulse beating hard and fast, pushing a heated electric feeling through my entire body.
“You guys coming?”
Oh, I wanted Maya to come alright.Maker.
I inhaled and followed Maya as she nearly floated towards her dragon mate, her determined attitude damn near intoxicating. When we got to the top of the hill, though, I was confused, wondering why he wanted her to climb all the way up here instead of taking off from the ground—what an odd request.Hebeing the stranger who appeared out of nowhere to talk to my mate. I didn’t like that shit at all.
