Page 55 of Ruling in Flames (Reborn 5)
Violence flashed through my vision at her words, courtesy of my dragon, feeling like they were permission to truly finish this.
Henry and I followed her downstairs as she asked him questions about which way we were flying. I was caught up in watching her, though, noticing the subtle things that had changed in her since being reborn.
Maya had always been drop-dead gorgeous, but since being reborn, she seemed to have an ethereal glow surrounding her like a vibrant sun that you couldn’t help but be pulled to, the gravitational force of who she was and the power she held absolutely addicting.
I kept waiting for the calm to shatter, for her to have a breakdown about everything that had happened, but in some ways, this situation—the suffering she’d undergone—was something she was unfortunately accustomed to, coming from the background she had. It was something I fucking hated, but I couldn’t deny that truth. The way she had moved on and faced the overwhelming amount of things that had happened in the past few days was mind-boggling, motivating me to match that level of dedication.
Which is why I had finally found a use for all this damn money. I’d been given a guarantee that Maya’s new kingdom would be ready within two months, and considering the contractors I hired were shifters, the best in the business, and had connections to the import and export industry, I trusted in their ability to get it done. I would make sure that Maya spent her first Christmas with us here in her new home with the people that already were gaining a steadfast loyalty to her.
I may not have loved the idea of sharing Maya because I was a selfish bastard, but I couldn’t deny that she was already changing lives, already giving hope to those that had felt trapped for so long. It was clear as day that this is what Maya was meant to do, and I would do anything I could to help and encourage her.
“So who am I riding?” Maya asked curiously. My lips twitched as she cast me a small teasing smile, amusement in her gaze. She absolutely knew what she was doing, and the groan that Henry let out had her eyes flashing with heat and victory.
“Me, baby girl. I need you close to me if we’re going close to this bastard again,” I said, not liking that we only had a limited scope on what we were walking into. I had no doubt we could defeat him, but he had an element of surprise that I didn’t like in the least.
“Okay,” she murmured in thought as we walked towards the cliffside on the right side of the pool. Atlas hit a button to open the safety railing, revealing the perfect place to jump off. While we could see the entire coastline, our house was somewhat hidden in the shadows, so shifting into a massive dragon wouldn’t be an issue. This particular spot had been created for just this—to have the ability to shift whenever we needed to.
There was an excited edge to my flight tonight, everyone fired up that we were finally getting the chance to get rid of Malcolm. I didn’t think it would be difficult to do so, but it was fucking frustrating to go for months without killing the bastard that had caused your mate so much goddamn pain.
Eager to get over there, I jogged towards the ledge and threw myself off, airborne and falling towards the water for a singular moment before heat flashed across my skin and I shifted. I heard Maya offer a pleased noise that emanated from her phoenix as I swung back around and came up to the edge.
Much to the concern of her other mates, there was no hesitancy as she bounded forward and threw herself onto me. My dragon let out a sound of amusement at the way she tightened her grip on us and sat up confidently, no longer intimidated by the massive heights we would soar to or the way we seemed to almost float effortlessly through the air.
Flight was becoming second nature to her, and I couldn’t wait for the lazy afternoons where we could fly the Mediterranean coastline for the simple pleasure of it. We wereso damn closeto having that.
I flew away from the cliffside and soared towards our destination, the rest of my flight shifting and following behind. As Maya gripped me harder, burying her head against my neck and melting against me, my thoughts trailed to everything I wanted to change about our life now that we were so close to having peace.
I wasn’t positive what I’d expected when we first met Maya or realized she was our mate, but it was clear now more than ever that I needed to step away from work even more. Of course I would retain holding interests in the company, but the idea of collecting human assets didn’t appeal to me as much as staying at home with Maya and helping her with our soon to be growing family.
Not only our own children, but those that I could see Maya taking under her wing.
I knew that despite creating an academy for them, Maya would never let the little ones from Ry’s compound feel alone. In fact, I expected them to be at our house most nights for dinner, and I was completely okay with that. Hell, I would be happy with them staying at our house full-time if that’s what she wanted.
Like I’d told Maya, my relationship with my parents and experience with family was absolutely lacking, so if she wanted to bring more into our family, then that was what we would do—I loved the idea of having a house full of people at the holidays, filled with laughter and happiness. It was what our flight had been missing.
Mayawas what our flight had been missing.
As we neared the series of caveside cliffs, I looped back around, keeping out of sight but scoping out the dark gaping hole that showed no light or signs of life…at first. The longer I stared, though, the more I began to see the faint trace of light further inside the cave, almost as if it were bouncing around a bend.
No wonder we had so little info, even from Atlas’s sources, who were objectively the best—Malcolm had made sure they were truly fucking hidden.
Upon realizing the same thing, the flight began to land at the entrance of the cave. I shifted with Maya in my arms, Az and Croy coming to stand next to us. I nodded at both of them, and as we walked silently into the large cave, a chill of apprehension came over me. I had figured we would face problems with Malcolm, but the silence was more disconcerting than a straightforward attack would’ve been.
“Careful,” I said in a barely audible whisper, but I knew they all heard it.
When we finally turned the corner, we came to a dead stop. We’d reached a dead end, but there was a fire in the center of the room. It highlighted two young, small frames laying on the ground, unconscious and bleeding, locked together with their hands behind their backs.Fuck.I looked around and up towards the ceiling, searching for threats but seeing nothing.
Maya suppressed a pained gasp and walked forward to the boys, Croy and Az following her, keeping her within arm’s reach.
“Something is wrong,” Atlas muttered. I nodded, not feeling Malcom’s presence here.
“It’s possible he left.” Henry hesitated, looking confused. “Especially if he got word—”
“No, he’s here,” I hissed, snapping around towards the entrance as a massive surge of power suddenly filled the space, black electric fire that smelled like both witch and shifter magic bouncing off the walls.
I shifted without hesitation, keeping my flight behind me. Maya’s magic counteracted his, throwing up a gold barrier around the space as the man in question, the problem from the fucking beginning, appeared in front of us.
“I knew you would fucking come.” Malcolm sneered as I let out a threatening growl at his mere presence, one that shook the entire cave. Stones and dust rained from the ceiling, causing Malcolm to pale.
