Dying in Flames by M. Sinclair
Ledger
“Firefly,you don’t have to look,” I insisted quietly.
Maya’s large golden eyes were darker than normal, shaded with something that made me know that she wasn’t feeling herself, and her lips were pressed together in frustration. Something was wrong with my firefly. Something was very wrong, and I had a feeling it had to do with the number of bodies we were having to dispose of. I don’t think it had escaped any of our minds that the last time we’d killed someone was the night her ‘mother’ and Jed killed her. This was the first time Maya had ever seen us actively be this violent and work as a team, and I could absolutely tell it had affected her.
What I didn’t know? How it was affecting her.
“I do,” she murmured, her brow dipping as she intertwined her fingers with mine, Bella sitting on her shoulder and licking her cheek in a sweet gesture. I kissed the top of my mate’s head and she melted against me, somehow not minding the blood on me.
Or maybe she did mind it but wanted the comfort more.
I should have been ashamed of my actions, but when Maya had gotten hurt…I just snapped. Completely snapped. And now I was soaked in blood, and I could only be thankful that Maya wasn’t looking at me like I was a monster. Or maybe she was distracted by Marco, who was incinerating body after body before dumping the ashes off the cliff. I would have expected my mate to be horrified, but instead she had an odd look on her face. It almost looked like guilt.
“It’s my fault they are dead,” she murmured. “Malcolm would have never brought them if it wasn’t for me.”
My sweet firefly. It was very much not her fault, but I had a feeling that she wouldn’t believe my words.
“Maya, these are some of the men who knew of your imprisonment and were not only okay with it, but crossed the country to do it again,” I said, trying to not let my temper take over.
“My phoenix is glad you hurt them,” she admitted, frowning. “She is furious that they not only tried to hurt you guys, but us as well.”
“And how do you feel?”
She suddenly turned into me, grasping my shirt as she looked up at me with panic. “I shouldn’t like it. After everything I’ve been through…” She hesitated, her voice catching as I saw the demons of Malcolm and her mother’s treatment flash through her gaze. “I really shouldn’t be okay with this…shouldn’t like it.”
There was a dark part of me that was thrilled with her admitting that she was okay with it. More than that, that she liked it. I tried to ignore that part of me, my cock hardening as I tilted her head back with my hand on her jaw to look over her gorgeous, tormented face.
It wasn’t like I didn’t understand where her distress came from. After all, Maya and I weren’t very different, both coming from a heavy amount of abuse. I had always hated that, unlike my twin’s, my dragon was so eager for violence and bloodlust. It was why I had contradicted that part of myself by putting on a veneer of relaxed calm, but that part of me was always present and right underneath the surface, waiting to strike. Waiting to rip out someone’s throat. After a time, I’d accepted it, because the truth was…we weren’t human.
We were something so much more, and I think that was going to be the most difficult part of what Maya had to accept about herself.
“Firefly,” I whispered softly, “you aren’t the same Maya that was held prisoner in Pastor Malcolm’s basement. You are the Maya that is heir to the entire Dreki realm. The Maya that has a fierce, dangerous creature inside of her that knows instinctively to defend itself when in danger. To seek retribution when you’ve been wronged or when others that you love have been. You have to accept that part of yourself, because it’s only going to grow. It’s not a bad or an evil thing—it’s one of the most natural things about being a shifter.”
“But they had lives,” she choked out. “They had family members, loved ones, maybe even children—”
I seared my lips to hers, and she let out a soft sound and melted into me, a small whine breaking from her throat as her desire wrapped around me and had my cock pressing against her soft stomach. Fucking hell. I really had no idea how long I was going to be able to go without fully claiming Maya with my dragon so close to the surface like this. I knew I needed space from her, to control myself, but with how distressed she was, everything told me that was exactly what I should not do.
“They hurt you. We would have killed them no matter what,” I admitted honestly as her eyes widened. “You can blame it on us, firefly. I know this is a lot to process, but even if we had tried to walk away before the violence started, the minute you were hurt by them, it was game over. They were going to burn, one way or another.”
I saw a flame light in Maya’s gaze as she nodded, her cheek resting against my bloodied chest as she relaxed completely against me. My brave little mate. I could feel her relief through our connection after talking about what was bothering her, but I noticed that my twin was looking at us with concern. I offered a small nod so he understood that the problem was fixed. I had no doubt it wasn’t forever, but for now she seemed better.
“Marco!” I called out, and he snapped his head over. “Any idea where they pulled us out of the portal at?” I seriously had no idea where we were right now, but unlike him, my sense of direction wasn’t the best unless I was flying. Our alpha’s gaze ran over Maya as he seemed to shield his emotions, probably worried about her reaction as well, and preparing for the worst.
He pointed down the coastline. “We are about thirty miles north of home.”
I saw Maya’s eyes run all the way over the ash covering him before she let out a slow exhale and offered him a hesitant smile, which he returned. I could practically feel the relief.
“Why all the way up here?” I asked, clarifying.
“Isolated. Easy to get rid of you guys and probably have a place nearby to contain me,” Maya answered immediately, frowning as if she wasn’t positive how she knew that.
I knew how, and it was fascinating to see Maya’s phoenix and heritage come out to play. Her true mother’s mates may have been terrifying, but in order to be a good leader and respected in the Dreki realm, you had to be able to stand on your own, and I had heard the rumor that Queen Cyra was a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield. There were moments when Maya’s thinking became extremely tactically focused, similar to a military leader, or when her phoenix took over and decided to engage in violence to defend those around her. I honestly couldn’t wait to see the leader she would become.
But for now, I found myself still wanting to shield her from all of it. Despite that not being realistic. I mean, clearly not, considering she was soaked in blood from my shirt. There was no hiding my actions.
“We should fly home,” I suggested. Maya nodded, looking exhausted.
“I think we should take the younger flight back,” Atlas suddenly said, but I knew he wasn’t worried about the boys, who looked unfazed by this and had been through worse. No, he was looking at Maya.
Marco seemed to consider the situation, then nodded. “Croy, Henry, and I will finish here and follow up after. Do not break out of formation while flying, and keep out of view. Ledger, you have Maya. Baby girl, make sure to keep Bella tucked against you once you’re up in the air so she doesn’t get cold.”
No one argued with him as I let go of my gorgeous mate and turned towards the cliff’s edge. Normally I loved shifting, but right now it just meant that I couldn’t hold my mate. Running off the ledge, I almost immediately shifted mid-air, and my dragon soared up, only to turn around, noticing my other flight members were shifting nearby. My dragon didn’t care about that though. His eyes were on our mate, who looked temporarily far happier, her eyes filled with wonder as I pulled up to the edge of the cliff. With Bella tucked into her shirt, she climbed on and easily positioned herself as if it was second nature to ride a dragon. Which wasn’t far from the truth, honestly.
I slowly pulled away from the cliff’s edge to warn of our departure, and then we were off.
Now that we were shifted, my dragon easily tracked how close we were to home. I soared up into the air, out of human sight and into the clouds, as we got into formation with Atlas leading us, my brother and I to either side of the smaller flight between us, and Sai following up behind. I could feel the hum of content and excitement through my bond with Maya, and it made me realize how much more often the two of us needed to fly.
It was obviously a luxury to be able to escape reality in the clouds, and not one we had right now, but once this was over…once Malcolm was taken, I would make sure we flew everywhere. It was a privilege that had often been taken away from me as a kid, so I planned to now enjoy it fully with my mate.
“Ledger?” Anani’s whisper in our darkroom had the emotions from that day beginning to boil up. I had done such a good job at keeping them locked down, but not anymore. The concern in my brother’s voice had me knowing that he was well aware of what had happened today…on our tenth birthday, nonetheless.
“I’m fine,” I insisted quietly, the bruising on my ribs and all along my shattered right arm making me know that I wasn’t going to be flying any time soon.
He wanted it that way. He wanted me trapped but also unhappy, my dragon roaring underneath the surface for retribution but not forcing a shift because of how much it would hurt both of us.
“What did he do?” Anani asked. “We were at our party all day, how did I miss him—”
“It was when he pulled me off to the side,” I whispered, not wanting to get into the details.
“How long did they say you wouldn’t be able to fly for?”
“About a month for there to be no pain, but I should heal sooner than that.” Tears were welling in my eyes, knowing that it meant a month of being home and not going to the nearby flight school. A month of dealing with my father and not having any escape.
So many kids I knew complained about school. I relished it. Relished the chance to escape my home.
“Once we are at the Academy, we won’t have to deal with this anymore,” my twin promised.
I just hoped he was right. I had a feeling my father wouldn’t give up his games that easily.
Of course,he hadn’t, but I was happy to say that period of my life was long over. We may have been in a difficult situation now, but it was nothing compared to the fear of a child being hurt by the person that was supposed to care for them. That was a true betrayal.
As we neared our Washington home, I realized that quite a bit of time had passed here on Earth. I knew we had told Maya there would be a difference in time between the realms, nearly thirty times as fast as on Earth, but already Washington looked different. The trees around our house were a gorgeous mix of brown, orange, and red, with the exception of the pines and the mist that surrounded the estate, leaving it with an almost eerie feel.
Or maybe that was just me imagining shit because last time we’d been here, Maya had been nearly taken by her father. Which reminded me, it was going to be essential to contact Alpha Creed and figure out just how Pastor Malcolm had escaped from his pack. A rumble left my throat as I landed in the back yard, wondering if Lorn had escaped as well. Fuck. He better fucking hope that he didn’t, because if I found him…
No, I couldn’t go there right now. I needed to chill out. I didn’t want to freak Maya out.
At least, not any more than I probably already had.
Maya slid off me as I quickly shifted, her eyes running over me before a scowl slipped onto her face, clearly disappointed that we were still in Dreki realm clothing that allowed for us to shift back without being naked. Something my gorgeous mate seemed constantly frustrated with. Honestly, she had no idea how fucking thrilled I was that she wanted to see me without clothes, especially since I would be more than happy any time to strip her and I both down.
Her frustration only lasted a minute, though, before she was looking around our back yard, her mouth opening in shock.
“What?” I asked, my voice coming out rougher than normal. Anani was walking over as Atlas and Sai showed the boys into the house, all of them looking exhausted. I had no idea where they were going to stay, but we would figure it out. I didn’t want them at the mercy of the fucking Dreki realm’s justice system. It was the same one that became aware of my father’s treatment when Marco got a restraining order against him, but continued to do nothing to enforce it.
“The trees!” she exclaimed, her eyes flashing with fire. “They are so pretty! When did they change?”
“We’ve been gone for about a month.” Anani smiled at her excitement as she blinked and looked around, a smile breaking onto her face.
“It’s gorgeous. They never looked like this in Louisiana! I have to paint it,” she insisted as Bella meowed in agreement.
“Let’s get you inside first and get you some food,” my brother suggested.
“What day is it even?” Maya asked curiously, practically bouncing on her toes as we walked towards the house.
“I don’t know, actually.” I ran a hand through my hair as I motioned for her to go through the door before me, my eyes on her ass before they flicked back up to take in our familiar home. Everything was as comfortable and cozy as we’d left it, and Maya seemed in a far better mood as she headed upstairs. I went to the kitchen to start some dinner, although I honestly had no idea what to make.
“I’m worried about her,” Anani admitted. “She hasn’t seen us like that, ever.”
“I think she will be fine,” I said quietly, trying to not consider the idea of our mate rejecting us because of our dragons’ protective natures.
No. It would be fine. She would be fine. I had to believe that.
“I hope so, because I have a feeling that we are going to have visitors once people receive word we are back in town. I don’t trust my dragon to keep his control.”
Anani grunted, nodding towards the television he’d just turned on, the channel turned to the news station. My eyes widened, realizing that it was a story about a missing woman… Maya. They thought she’d been kidnapped. Goddamnit.
I swore as I called for Atlas, my voice echoing through the house, knowing this was going to cause a ton of fucking problems.
“They camped out here for about fifteen days.” Atlas jogged down the steps, looking frustrated and already aware of our concern. “Fucking pests. I swear, the human media has always been insane, but this is something else. No doubt those fuckers from the FBI are going to be sniffing around again.”
“It does look bad,” Anani admitted begrudgingly. “What the hell are we going to tell them?”
“To fuck off,” Atlas bit out as I began boiling water, trying to consider how to handle this. A thought occurred to me, but it felt dangerous to give that much exposure to the bastard in question. Still, I put it out there.
“What if we told them she’d been kidnapped by Malcolm, who is now on the run, and that we managed to save her?” I asked quietly, causing both of them to look at me in surprise. “We may get a lead on where the hell the bastard is.”
My twin nodded, seeming to agree completely, and went back to watching the news.
“Let’s talk to Marco about that,” Atlas said. “It could work.”
I hoped it would, because we needed something to get the attention off Maya. Either way, I had a feeling our peaceful property wouldn’t remain that way for long. No doubt Atlas was going to want to increase security. I felt anger surge through me at people bothering—
“Ledger.” Atlas had a hand on my shoulder, snapping me out of my haze. The kitchen counter under my grasp had a hairline crack in it. I retracted my hand, trying to shake myself and the clear lack of self-control I was exhibiting.
“Go shower,” Atlas demanded.
Shit.I was still covered in blood.
I traveled upstairs, running a hand down my bloodied face, feeling both exhausted and exhilarated. We needed a private island to move to. It was the only possible solution.
Outside of killing everyone that bothered us, of course.