Page 51 of Ruling in Flames (Reborn 5)
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MAYA
“We found him.”
Those whispered, hushed words instantly had my attention. I looked away from the ocean’s darkening horizon. It was late into the night, the coastline lit by the warm twinkling lights of the houses, and the sound of the waves crashing against the cliffside filled the air. The celebration following my coronation had started to slow about an hour ago, and even my parents had departed, needing to attend to something in the Dreki realm.
Honestly, as much as I liked having them here, I wasn’t exactly sad to see them leave. It felt like a lot of pressure having them constantly watching us, and I felt far more relaxed when it was just my mates and me, like right now. We were sitting in a stone patio that was near the cliffside, away from the guests, but behind me I could still hear them celebrating.The majority, though, had taken the rides offered back into town by my brothers and Eleven, leaving our house in a state of lulled peace.
One that was now being fractured by the excitement in Atlas’s voice. He attempted to hide it, but his dragon’s energy surged to such an extent that it felt like the air itself was sparking. I turned in Henry’s lap as he ran his fingers through my hair in a soothing motion. All of my mates were gathered around the patio, and even Az, who was leaning against a tree nearby, was right within reach.I wished he was closer.I was starting to feel on edge, not having talked to him about the feather, but the soft vulnerability and affection he regarded me with every time I caught his gaze reassured me to an extent.
“Where?” Marco demanded, intensely focused.
“Near a small coastal village about twenty miles from here. He’s been hiding in one of the cliffside caves that’s only reachable by flight. My sources say there have been odd weather surges, like electrical storms that have been catching things on fire,” Atlas said, his voice tense.
“So he did absorb some of Ry’s power,” Henry muttered.
I nibbled my lip, not knowing exactly what to say in the moment. What did we do now that we knew where he was? Did we try to imprison him again? That hadn’t worked previously for us. I just wasn’t positive how to handle this besides with violence, and while I hated Malcolm, I wasn’t positive I could decide to simply kill him in cold blood.
Or maybe it wouldn’t be a problem. I nibbled my lip, feeling a tug on my consciousness as my phoenix brushed off my worry, flashing images through our head in a snapshot slideshow of everything he’d done to us—everything he’d instructed Tina to do to us. He was truly a vile man.
“There is another element we need to consider.” Atlas hesitated, meeting my gaze. “It’s possible that since he knows we’ll be searching for him, that he took hostageswith him.”
Oh no.
“Crap.” I stood up, feeling a surge of stress. “Is there any way we can find out for sure? I need Malcolm taken care of. I’m not sure what that means, but I can’t…I can’t have him just walking around. If he has people imprisoned, we have to handle this tonight, though. It’s not an option.”
“Peanut, it’s been a long day,” Anani said, looking at me with concern. “Why don’t we get more information?”
“What if he moves?” Ledger countered.
“Atlas has sources looking into the hostage aspect,” Sai said as he tucked a piece of hair behind my ear. “If we find out he does, we will go immediately, but we don’t want to walk into this situation blind.”
Except now that I was aware of the potential captive situation, I wouldn’t be able tonotthink about it. I knew well what happened to people placed under Malcolm’s thumb, and I would never wish that on anyone.
“Can we try to get an answer tonight?” I nibbled my lip as Az made a troubled noise, my gaze moving to his. I could feel frustration on his end, and I realized with surprise that he didn’t agree with the other men either—both of us knew how important time was when you were being held against your will.
“Yes.” Atlas nodded and stood. “I need to make a few calls if we are going to expedite this. Can a few of you help me?”
Most of them nodded and stood to follow Atlas, a few of them walking a bit more slowly as they made plans for the off-chance that we did need to go tonight. I could tell Henry wanted to be part of the planning process, so I slid off his lap and melted into the lounge cushion.
Henry pressed a kiss to my forehead. “Do you want to come?”
“I’m actually going to take a bit to relax after today,” I admitted. “I just need to sit out here and come down from all the excitement.”
“We will make sure the guests that are left head out. Don’t leave this area,” Marco warned, looking at me with a hard expression. I nearly smiled. I wouldn’t go anywhere without them, but he could probably also tell I didn’t agree with waiting.
I could wait for now, and if I really wanted to go, I would tell them that. But I did want confirmation on the hostage element—that would tell me the urgency of the situation at hand.
“I won’t ever leave without telling you, Marco,” I promised. He let out a low rumble and nodded as he followed my other dragon mates towards the house, leaving me to have a moment to myself. I knew they only felt comfortable with it because of how well guarded this place was, but it was still thoughtful, especially since today had been so overwhelming. Not in a bad way, just in the type of way that a little peace and quiet was a nice thing.
“You okay? I can leave as well if you want alone time.” I wasn’t surprised to hear Az’s voice as he came to sit next to me, his handsome face filled with concern.
“No, I don’t want you to leave… I’m just worried,” I breathed out. “I didn’t think about Malcolm taking hostages, but I should’ve known. If it means keeping himself safe, there isn’t much he wouldn’t do.”
“I know they want to wait,” Az stated softly, his eyes filled with so much heat and softness for me, “but whenever you want to go, I’ll go with you. This witch isn’t a threat to me, even with Ry’s magic.”
“You would just drop everything and go with me?”
