Page 32 of Ruling in Flames (Reborn 5)
Closing my eyes, I decided to relay to them the exact conversation I had with the strange man, word for word. It wasn’t hard for me to remember because it had left such an impact, but I tried to emphasize the main points: what I had to do to kill Ry, the upcoming danger to our universe, and finally, my personal fate.
That I was supposed to lead the community of dragons and phoenixes on Earth realm. To serve as the in-between of this community and the Dreki realm. To be the leader that could keep them safe through whatever was to come.
I could tell my mates were absolutely shocked by my words, and I let out a slow breath, finally finishing with, “So I’m not really sure what to do from here, but I need to figure that out.”
“We’ll do that together,” Croy promised. I nodded, knowing they would be here with me one hundred percent. I finally looked up towards the rest of the room, everyone staring at me in surprise.
My mom examined my face, looking a bit dazed. “That’s a lot.”
“How about we give this a little time to settle in? Maya is probably exhausted, and that was a lot of information,” Nuriel said. “We will have dinner tonight and then speak on the plan going forward.”
“That would be nice.” I exhaled, leaning back into Marco, who kissed my shoulder.
“You’ve been through so much.” My mom walked towards me as everyone else broke into conversation. “Maya, I wish I could’ve been there—”
“We’re here now.” I squeezed her hand. “We’re here, and that’s what matters.”
“Well, that and how the hell you have died twice now in their care,” Gavriel, one of my brothers growled. “Come on Mom, this is bullshit—they clearly aren’t safe for her to be around.”
“Don’t,” Henry snarled.
“Please don’t start,” I said to them both.
Gavriel’s jaw tightened, his eyes narrowed on Marco. “This isn’t okay. I don’t fucking like it.”
“I don’t care what you do or don’t like, Gavriel,” Marco said, his voice cold and dark.
“Let’s not,” my mom suggested and gently took my hand, leading me towards the side. I let out a surprised noise when she wrapped her arms around me. I melted into the hug and let out a sigh, feeling relieved that everything had been put out there. There were no more secrets, and now we just had to figure out what to do.
Something occurred to me then as I pulled back and looked towards my mates. “Did Pastor Malcolm… Is he…”
“Escaped,” Az nearly spit, Atlas letting out a frustrated grunt.
“We already have feelers out for him,” Ledger promised.
I nodded and noticed Eleven walking away from Rhysand and Fintan, both looking upset but trying to hide it. My mom instantly lit up as she walked over.
“I don’t mean to interrupt,” Eleven stated in an unsure tone, looking a bit out of sorts. Her hair was loose around her face, softening its angular nature.
“You’re always welcome and never interrupting,” my mom insisted, and I watched Eleven’s cheeks flush as if embarrassed. I didn’t understand why—it was obvious that everyone liked and respected her.
“I just want to say I’m glad you’re okay.” Eleven awkwardly reached forward to grab my shoulder—so I crashed into her, squeezing the heck out of her in a hug. It was beyond clear to me that she wasn’t good with this friendship stuff, and I was much the same, so it made me happy when she laughed and hugged me back.
I pulled away, stepping back and squeezing her hand. “Thank you for coming with them.”
“I tried to go before them,” she muttered, dropping my hand and running it through her hair.
“How did that go?” my mom asked, looking amused.
Eleven blushed again. “Yeah, they’re still being a bit protective.”
“A bit?” Alois appeared next to her, his golden eyes warming on me before picking up a piece of her hair. “Did you hear that, Faolan? We’re only a bit protective.”
His twin appeared on her other side and shook his head. “We need to do better.”
Mom sighed, smiling as she squeezed my shoulder, saying she’d be right back. Eleven scowled at both of them. “I was trying to not make you look like a total psycho to your mom.”
“Oh, she’s aware.” Dusan appeared, his golden hair glinting under the lights as he looked down at me, offering a cool relaxed smile. “Maya, do you think we’re psycho?”
I looked to Eleven and then back at him, shrugging. “Psycho? Maybe. I think you’re just super into her. She may be into you or she may not be, but I know you’ll keep bugging her until she finally decides to give you a chance.”
Eleven muttered a curse. “We’re getting to that point.”
“We are?” I smiled happily. One of the twins made a surprised noise and Eleven froze, clearly not having meant to say that out loud.
Before I could ask any more questions, I was lifted up and into Croy’s arms. I clung onto him, his strides taking me towards my mates. I put my head down on his shoulder, melting into him as he whispered something soft in my ear about ‘loving me.’ I murmured the same back before closing my eyes and relaxing into his frame.
I had no intention of sleeping, but I didn’t mind pretending to be asleep if it meant not having to answer any more questions right now.
