Page 67 of Ruling in Flames (Reborn 5)
“Yes, and the boys”—I tilted my head, hearing one of them speaking—“are waiting out in the back.”
“Let’s go meet them,” Maya suggested with curiosity and a bit of concern. I knew she wanted to see them herself, and I was glad they had a few days to heal because their injuries had been far rougher than they appeared now. In fact, they looked far different overall since our personal shopper had purchased them everything they could possibly have needed. Not only them, either—all of the children under Maya’s new rule had been given the same.
We would’ve done the same for the adults, but it was clear they wouldn’t have accepted it, mostly due to pride, so we had given all of them a ‘relocation stipend’ since we were the reason they were moving. It had actually been Az’s idea, and I think it had been the perfect way to soften the experience and ensure they had everything they needed.
When we reached the back yard, I rubbed a hand on Maya’s back as she came to a full stop, examining the situation in front of us. Ledger and Anani were talking to the two little ones, both of them watching them with large serious gazes. The dark haired one replied to one of the twins, his brow furrowing, as the shorter one with red hair looked over at us.
“This is Maya,” Anani said, gesturing to where we were standing. “She’s the lady you asked about.”
Maya stepped forward nervously. “You asked about me?”
“They said they could hear you and feel that you were watching over them in their heads,” Ledger explained. I followed Maya, as she crouched down so she was looking at them on their level. I had a feeling that when Maya healed them, she had connected to them through magic. I didn’t completely understand the dynamics of it, but I was almost positive that was the case.
“I’m so glad both of you are okay,” she said softly, emotion coating her words. “I’m sorry I wasn’t here when you woke up.”
“It’s okay,” the dark-haired boy said with a smile that I hadn’t seen on his face yet. “You were injured like us?”
Maya’s cheeks flushed, offering an awkward smile. “Sort of.”
“Where is the bad man?” The red-haired boy asked. I realized it was the first time I had heard him speak, his voice raspy and broken as if injured. Maya’s brow dipped as she swallowed, seeming nervous on how to answer his question. There was something else there, though, something dangerous as her eyes flared with anger in response to the idea of Malcolm hurting these boys.
“He’s gone and he will never be back. Neither of them will be.”
Both of them nodded as Maya took a steadying breath and turned the course of the conversation. “I heard we’re going to Seattle. Do you guys want to come with us? Also what are your names?”
I knew it was important that Maya was giving them the choice in what to do—I could tell it made them feel far less pressured.
“We don’t have names,” the dark-haired one admitted, looking ashamed. Maya’s eyes shaded dark before he continued, “But yes, we would like to come.”
“Do you know what names you’d like? I can help if you’re unsure.”
The boys shook their heads in response to the question. Maya nodded, standing and offering each of them a hand. “Let’s go to the car. We can look up some names on our way to the airport, find something you like.”
The boys nodded eagerly, and I watched them walk towards the driveway, each holding one of Maya’s hands.
Anani let out a low rumble. “They have been through way too much for being so young.”
“They need to be kept here, under our roof,” Ledger admitted. “They wake up every night with nightmares, screaming. Now that the mating heat is over, I think we should permanently move them into the house. We have more than enough bedrooms.”
I nodded and then frowned. “Do they have any parents on record? Any history?”
“Not that we found.” Anani sounded pissed about it.
I hated that, but it would also make it easier in some ways—easier to legally adopt them into our growing family, because I had no doubt that the idea was already running through my little mate’s head.
