Chapter 4 #2
I wouldn’t be able to leave her alone as it was—there was an obsessive pull this woman held for me, and it wasn’t one that would disappear anytime soon. I had no doubt about that.
“Az?”
I loved that Maya had nicknamed me—it felt like a claiming mark.
“His name is Az?” Anani asked curiously.
We now stood at the bottom of the hill, and I looked down at the beautiful woman next to me.
She was watching me with interest, with a soft trust and affection, and I had to fight the urge to push her away.
Not because I wanted her to leave me behind, but because I knew it would be for the better.
I realized, after staring at her for a moment, that I’d never responded to her.
“We need to go up the mountain.” I nodded forward. Anani turned and walked ahead, but Maya didn’t move, her teeth biting down on her bottom lip.
“That isn’t why I stopped,” she said, opening up her soft, elegant hands. “One of your feathers came off.”
A choked sound nearly left my throat at the sight of her holding one of my black feathers in her golden hands, cupped together like it was precious to her.
The significance wasn’t one she understood. I hadn’t lost a feather since shedding my adolescent wings—it wasn’t a common occurrence. No, this had happened for Maya. Only for her.
Holy fuck.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have picked it up,” she said in a panic, thrusting it towards me. I hated that. I reached forward and wrapped my hand around hers, cradling it, not wanting the feather back.
“Please keep it,” I whispered, emotion clogging my throat.
She examined my face and nodded in understanding. “I’ll keep it safe,” she promised, tucking it against her chest. I tried to not think about my feathers against her bare skin, my cock hardening again.
It was a sensation I wasn’t used to, and I was fighting the urge to pin her down and fuck her into the ground, hard enough that her cries of my name echoed through the entire space again and again.
One of my feathers was in her possession…that was insane. The idea had my pulse beating hard and fast, pushing a heated electric feeling through my entire body.
“You guys coming?”
Oh, I wanted Maya to come alright.
I inhaled and followed Maya as she nearly floated towards her dragon mate, her determined attitude damn near intoxicating.
When we got to the top of the hill, though, I was confused, wondering why He wanted her to climb all the way up here instead of taking off from the ground—what an odd request. He being the stranger who’d appeared out of nowhere to talk to my mate. I didn’t like that shit at all.
“So we’re supposed to fly up?” She tilted her head back and I followed her gaze, all three of us going absolutely silent.
“What the fuck is that?”
Anani’s question was more than valid.
“That is the way out of here,” I murmured, the sky gathering into a portal right above us. The clouds swirled around a circle of stones, the silvery texture in the center warping like a ripple of water, like an upside-down pond. But with each wave, it looked like there were scenes being played out.
“Is that…”
Then I realized what I was seeing.
Absolute mayhem.
I would’ve recognized Ry’s compound in the French Alps anywhere—it was where I had spent so many goddamn years imprisoned—and it was under attack.
Dragons faced off against Ry, who had gone into his full dragon form, wiping out entire acres of forest with a singular breath of fire.
For a moment, flashes of my life in battle and the wars I’d participated in crawled across my vision, raising a bloodlust in me that I never expected after all this time.
Maya was standing next to me, nearly paralyzed as her eyes darted back and forth, watching the scene with horror.
“Maya?” I asked in concern.
“My mates.” Maya’s fingers went to her throat in anxiety, her eyes welling with tears. Anani reached out to comfort her, but then everything changed.
An explosion of gold, purple, and blue flames rose around Maya, whipping the air into a fury. I leaned back, searing heat flashing across my face. An avian cry erupted from her throat, and then she was airborne.
Anani immediately shifted, and my wings pushed me into the air, both of us following her flame of pure energy. I couldn’t stop the rush of adrenaline I felt from moving my wings like this, from feeling so completely liberated.
It felt fucking fantastic.
How long had I been earthbound? Since the shackles had been placed on me? Now I was free, and with that freedom came the realization that I was angry. I was fucking furious at Ry, not only for what I’d been put through, but the pain he had inflicted on so many others. I wanted him to suffer.
Luckily, I think Maya had that exact plan in mind.
When we neared the portal, finally catching up to her, I expected to find Maya in her phoenix form. And she was…sort of.
Maya’s hair was flashing with blue and purple licks of flame, and she had gorgeous feathers coming out of her back, her body covered in a scaled pattern that fit to her like a suit. Her eyes were lit with a dangerous light that was full of determination.
There was no doubt what inspired it.
Maya was going to be reborn for those she loved.