Page 35 of Ruling in Flames (Reborn 5)
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SAI
“Sai?”
“Yeah?” I bounded down the stairs to find my mom looking over a stack of mail, her gaze not even darting up to meet mine. That wasn’t particularly unusual—I couldn’t remember the last time she or my father had given me a hug, let alone looked at me.
I didn’t mean glance at me either—I meant look at me or ask how I was doing. Hell, even simply asking about my day. Nope. That wasn’t a thing in our family, and because I was smaller and slightly quieter, I got overlooked compared to my siblings.
The house was in absolute chaos right now because of those siblings, everyone getting ready to go to school today. I’d been up since five, wanting an opportunity to eat breakfast without being pushed around. I may have been large, but I still wasn’t as big as the others, something they exploited fairly often.
“You have a letter—it’s from Eldur Academy.”
I grabbed it out of her hand as she kept sorting the rest of the mail, tearing the envelope open and hoping for the best.
“I got in!” I couldn’t contain the smile that broke out onto my face. “Mom, I got in—”
“That’s wonderful honey,” she muttered, glaring down at a paper. “Arolly! What the hell is this bill for?”
He called something back, and she stormed from the room, leaving me to stare blankly at her.
In that singular moment, my excitement was diminished. My heart squeezed painfully, causing me to find a chair nearby to sit down on. I could hear them arguing upstairs, and I realized that my hope for gaining their attention by getting into a prestigious school had amassed to nothing. They didn’t care. They barely left their country home, let alone cared about standings within the military. Why had I thought this would work?
Cursing under my breath, I read the letter carefully, learning where I was supposed to report to and when. As I did, my future became clear—I was going to do this. I was going to join the academy, not because my parents wanted me to or would be proud, but because I needed to get out of here.
I needed to find myself, and it wouldn’t happen in this house, where I was forgotten about constantly. Maybe, just maybe I would be able to find a flight that actually gave a shit about who I was.
As Maya’shand tightened on my scales, my thoughts strayed to how far I’d come from the forgotten young man that was vying for some type of attention—some type of love. Now I not only had a flight that cared about me, but a mate who loved me. The way she held onto me as we soared through the skies had pleasure lighting up every nerve ending, making my dragon proud that she trusted us so much.
There was no fear or trepidation through our bond as we flew upwards into the mountain range that Az had directed us towards. A sound of excitement left her throat as I made a few extra dips and dives to make the ride a bit more exciting for her. Marco made a sound of concern, but I ignored him for the most part. He knew I would never let anything happen to Maya.
My kitten.
I would never be able to properly explain how I felt when she died, the sensation of my heart being torn from my chest and devoured whole by anguish that I didn’t even know could exist. Maya was the only person outside of my flight to ever make me feel like I mattered, that I was loved simply for being me. I wasn’t positive what I had done to deserve such a perfect and accepting mate, but I would never take it for granted. Never takeherfor granted.
Which was why her death would probably continue to haunt me for the many years we had to come. We may have been blessed with immortality, but if I ever had to see her die again… Well, that just wasn’t an option.
In some ways, her brothers weren’t wrong to be concerned that she had died twice in our care—those numbers were completely unacceptable. I did notice that her fathers, while upset, seemed slightly more understanding. It made me wonder how many times Maya’s mom had gone through the same thing. I didn’t think it was possible to ask that—actually, I knew for a fact that it would be viewed as rude—but I was curious nonetheless.
Not that it really mattered. I would make sure that it never fucking happened again.
When my flight took a sudden sharp turn, following Az, whose wings nearly glowed like a beacon in the dark skies, I felt a weird sense of power radiating around us. My gaze narrowed on the mountains ahead, where I could see the slight shimmer of a ward—one that would’ve been barely visible if we were anyone else. It also probably would’ve been impossible to get through if we weren’t as powerful as we were.
Maya couldn’t see ahead of me, but she must’ve sensed it too because her magic tightened around her, and I swarmed her with a protective coating of my own power. She relaxed against me, only tensing slightly as we broke through the ward, a vicious sound leaving my throat as the air sizzled around us.
The cold night air was replaced by a blanket of humidity that had us slowing down, the air heavier overall and affecting our speed. I wouldn’t have called the atmosphere warm, but it wasn’t nearly as cold as the air outside of the protected space. If I had to guess, the barrier served not only as protection but to ensure that the environment was livable for the community inside.
“Holy crap!” Maya’s voice was filled with awe as we spotted a warmly lit town nestled between two mountain peaks. We began descending towards it, our magic infusing the air in a spiral of intensity, warning any dragon or magical being in the area that we were nearby.
“It’s beautiful,” she whispered, her voice getting caught in the wind so that I was probably the only one who heard it.
She was right—it was beautiful, even if it was a bit odd. The small town consisted of longhouses scattered through the snow, like a Viking village or some shit. My dragon let out a defensive rumble as people began to stream out of the sanctuaries of their homes to see us. I could practically feel the nervousness in the air, and while I was aware we looked intimidating, my hope was that once Maya talked to them, they would be affected by her sweetness and the soft, compassionate energy that surrounded her in such a contrast to ours. She was a natural at making people comfortable.
The minute we came to the edge of the town, I shifted back, choosing not to be naked this time despite secretly wanting to watch Maya’s reaction. If I had to guess, she would be turned on, only to get upset that others could see me naked as well—our little mate had a possessive side that I loved. This wasn’t the time for that, though.Unfortunately.
The moment she was steady on her feet, Maya was moving out of my arms and looking over the gathering crowd with interest. I briefly noted that she was keeping all of us behind her in a protective gesture, making me nearly smile—so damn perfect.
Maker, I fucking loved Maya.
