Chapter 21
TWENTY-ONE
REON
“You should leave,” I tell Maya, finally having had enough of her in my space. The tension and awkwardness of living with someone you don’t want is hard enough, but knowing the one woman I yearn for is not beside me, in my home, in my bed, is becoming unbearable.
She’s been avoiding me since I came home the other day after seeing my beautiful caterpillar. Seeing her only solidified that this has to end—no more fucking excuses, no more threats. I’m done.
“Sorry, what?” Her eyes appear glazed, and she shakes her head, a look of confusion washing over her features as if she’s adrift in uncertainty.
“Maya, it’s not working. You should leave.”
“I…” Her hand goes to her head, and she stands on shaky legs. I watch her, a hint of concern finally hitting me. She’s been lying on the couch for the last few days, hardly moving. “I don’t feel well.”
“Maya.” I reach for her and manage to catch her just before she falls.
“Maya, wake up.” She doesn’t respond, so I lift her and lay her back down on the couch before I call an ambulance.
I check that she’s still breathing and wait.
I don’t know what to do. I’m not a trained medical professional, so I have no idea what’s wrong with her.
Her phone starts ringing, and her eyes begin to flutter. I grab it and answer.
“Maya, finally, you answer,” Soren’s voice rings through the cell phone.
“What’s wrong with Maya?” I ask him.
“Reon, why are you answering her phone?”
“Your sister fainted. She’s finally waking up now. I caught her before she hit her head.”
“Did you call an ambulance?” he asks.
“Of course I did,” I tell him. “Care to tell me why Maya’s fainting?”
“Maybe it’s something you did, Reon. Have you thought about that?” I pull the cell away, shocked by his words.
I lower my voice to an eerily controlled tone. “What the fuck did you just say?”
“It’s my heart,” Maya says, her gaze fully on me now.
“What do you mean… it’s your heart?” I ignore Soren on the phone and focus on her.
“She has cardiac syncope,” Soren informs me.
“I faint,” Maya says. “Because of my heart.”
“Why the fuck would you not tell me?” I question them. Soren says something, and I hang up on him as I hear the ambulance. When I let the paramedics inside, they check her over while I stand near the door, watching.
“I’m going to go with them to get some tests done,” Maya says. “Do you want to come?”
I bite my bottom lip. Nodding, I grab my cell and pocket it as I reach for my keys.
“I’ll follow.” Maya’s hopeful expression falls, but she doesn’t say another word.
My cell rings several times, and I see Soren’s name each time.
I don’t answer, and that’s wrong of me. I know it is, but I’m fucking tired of playing by these rules.
I’ve done it my entire adult life, and I’m finally at my breaking point.
I’m sick of this fucking nightmare I can’t seem to escape.
Sure, it was my fault for wanting to be a part of the Forsaken Society, and yes, it has helped me make my company more successful than I could have ever achieved on my own. But am I fucking happy? That answer would be no.
But I stay because it also gives me the luxury to do what I love.
Hunt.
When I get to the hospital, I’m directed to Maya. Before I walk in, my cell rings again.
“What?” I growl.
“You have some fucking nerve,” Soren bellows into the phone, his voice echoing with rage. The sound of his heavy breathing punctuates his words, each exhale laden with tension. It’s as if he’s struggling to deal with the storm brewing within him.
“If you say so.”
“Where is she?” Soren demands, his tone tight with concern.
“Hospital.”
“Where are you?” Soren asks, urgency creeping into his voice.
“Hospital.” My words are clipped and cold.
“I’ll be there soon.” Soren hangs up on me, and I walk into the treatment area as a doctor walks out.
Maya’s gaze finds mine, and she smiles. “Don’t be mad. I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want you to look at me like that.”
“Your heart?”
“It’s fine. I haven’t had a spell for months.” She averts her gaze. “I have abnormal heart rhythms. It’s what causes it.”
“Maya…” I walk over to her. “This isn’t going to work. Fuck, it sucks that you’re here, and I have to tell you this like this, but you need to know. It’s not you I want.”
“I know, but can’t you try a little more?” Her eyes plead with me, searching for some sign of reassurance amidst the chaos that surrounds us.
I sit in the chair next to the bed and look her in the eye, feeling the weight of her desperation. “I’ve tried.” Fuck, I have tried.
“Have you, though?” she asks as the machines monitor her heart and beep in an uncontrolled rhythm. “It seems like you haven’t.”
“I have tried,” I insist. “But it’s not you I want,” I reiterate the words Maya does not want to hear.
She nods and wipes a tear from her eye. “It’s her, right?
That other woman.” Her lip pulls up into a sneer.
“She is trash. She won’t fit into this world, Reon.
Do you get that?” I don’t even flinch at her words.
I know she is trying to persuade me into seeing Lilith in a less than ideal light, but truth be told, Lilith could burn my fucking house down with me standing in it, and I would still see her as the most perfect fucking woman ever to grace this earth.
I stand as Soren storms in. He goes straight to Maya’s bedside and grabs her hand as he glares at me.
“We should talk,” I tell him.
“Yeah, we should.” He leans down and whispers something to his sister before motioning for me to follow him.
As we leave the treatment area, Soren shuts the door and paces in front of me.
“It’s taking everything in me right now not to kill you right here where you stand.
” He points to the floor angrily. “I could slice your neck open, cut your carotid artery, and you would be dead in minutes. No one could save you.” He shoots me a cruel grin.
“I don’t want your fucking sister, Soren. And you could try to kill me, but do you really think I would let you?” I raise a brow. “We both know you may be powerful, but your weakness is thinking that no one can match up to you.”
“I’ll kill her, then. Yeah, maybe I’ll do that,” he says, squaring his shoulders. “Since I can’t get you, I’ll go after her.”
“If you go after her, I’ll go after Maya. You want to play tit for tat”—straightening to my full height, I lift my chin and point to the room we just vacated—“then let’s fucking play.”
He cracks his neck. “Go and say goodbye before I change my mind and find her.” Soren snarls out the words.
Soren isn’t a man who scares me, but his power.
Well, that is intimidating. He may be lethal with his hands—we’ve all witnessed his fights, and we all know he likes smashing someone’s face in with his bare hands.
So if he wanted to go after Lilith, he could try to fucking kill her—but he would have to go through me first. And if he did, I would kill every-fucking-thing he loves.
The Forsaken be damned.
“And Reon?”
“What?” I say, turning.
“The Hunt is next week. You will be there.”
“I told you I would.” Soren’s lips form a thin line as I return to speak with Maya.
She eyes me as I approach. “You don’t have to tell me. I know,” she says, pouting.
“I’ll send your things to your brother’s,” I tell her as she wipes the tears from her face.
“You could have tried. We could have worked.”
“No.” I shake my head. “We couldn’t have. I was already lost in someone else,” I tell her before I walk away without looking back.