Chapter Twenty-Two
Wildfire,
From the first moment I set eyes on you, I lost my ability to think straight and the will to care that I had. Throughout our relationship, loving you has never been the hard part. I’ve done it easily, fiercely, without pause. Those emotions come naturally when it comes to you.
Being worthy of it does not.
You believe you’re the one who isn’t enough, Pay, but I promise you, I’ve never met anyone as pure-hearted and open. You give of yourself without agenda. It’s only right for you to expect the same in return.
Only I can’t give it.
I’ve spent years letting other people steer my choices, remaining silent when I should’ve spoken up. I told myself it was my sense of duty. Loyalty to the mother who sacrificed everything for her children. Yet the truth is simpler.
It was pure fear.
Fear of standing alone. Of disappointing the woman who raised me. Of becoming the man my father was when he walked away. So I stayed and took every bit of the shit she handed out.
Every single time I chose the easier path, you paid the price.
I can see that now. See how you felt small while carrying more than your share.
My expectations, left unchecked and unexamined, became another weight on your shoulders.
Then, I foolishly punished you for leaving instead of asking why you had run in the first place.
Our home should’ve been your shelter from a world that treated you poorly. It wasn’t, and I’m entirely to blame.
You deserve a partner who chooses you openly. Every day. Without apology. Without hesitation.
Under my mother’s spell, I was never him. I’m not sure I can ever be until I break her hold. I love you too much to keep asking you to bleed while I sort myself out. You don’t deserve to be trapped in a future built on hope alone.
So I am letting you go.
Not because you failed me or because loving you is a mistake. How could it be? You were the truest thing in my life, Payton Hawthorne. I am stepping aside because freedom is the one gift I never afforded you, and it is long overdue.
Live boldly, laugh often, and burn bright enough for both of us, okay?
You were never the problem, my darling Wildfire. You were my miracle. And you will ALWAYS be good enough. Hell, better than good—the best thing to grace another’s life.
Forever yours,
Lee
Her heart spasmed so sharply, aching so badly, she thought she was having heart failure. Drawing her next breath hurt. The paper drifted to the deck boards as she clutched her chest and struggled to inhale. And when the sobs came, it felt like her soul pouring out through her tears.
Dailey, like everyone before him, claimed she wasn’t the problem; he was. But once again, someone she loved more than life itself had chosen to walk away. Leaving her like yesterday’s trash by the side of the road, or in his case, stranded on a beach in Goddess-knew-what country.
In the entire time since meeting him, she’d never seen him as the villain. She hadn’t been angry at his choices because she saw his duty for what it was.
Now?
Yeah, now she was fucking pissed!
Thunder rumbled as charcoal storm clouds rolled in. Lightning popped with alarming frequency as she screamed from the depths of her soul.
Behind her, the window panes shattered, and the door slammed back on its hinges as the shingles rippled from the increasing wind speed. Around the property, trees bent, snapping under hurricane-force gusts. The heavens opened, releasing sheets of slashing rain.
“You’re a fucking coward, Dailey Cobb!” she hollered, stalking down the steps and into the driveway. “Hear me! You’re a fucking coward! And I hate you!”
The ground shook beneath her feet, and the earth split open, creating a wide-mouthed moat around the cabin.
Her hair, naturally wavy, grew in length, curling tighter, and her skin turned bioluminescent, giving off a soft blue hue of deep-water jellyfish.
“If you ever dare show your stupid face again, I will smite you!” she called out, and her threat echoed into the darkening space around her.
The air thickened, crackling with an energy not her own. Her anticipation hung in the air. She prayed he’d heard and was dumb enough to return so she could make good her promise.
But instead of him, her father weathered the raging storm to reach her.
In his eyes resided deep regret, despair, and oddly, pride.
“Payton. My little Sunseed.” The wind whipped his thick gray hair, as the rains plastered his clothes to his body. He moved with a grace not known to older men, with no signs of aging or pain. When he reached her, he simply stared, as if he expected her to be happy he’d shown up.
What she truly wanted was for him to sweep her into his embrace as he had when she was small.
When she believed love was the most essential thing in the world.
Growing up, there had never been any doubt she was a daddy’s girl.
And right then, she wished she could throw herself in his arms and sob her grief for the worst rejection of all.
But she wouldn’t.
She was done giving her power to others so they could carelessly toss it aside.
“What are you doing here?” she asked coldly.
“I came to tell you that you’re perfect, and any fault is not your own. To tell you I love you, as I should’ve done every day of your life.”
She scoffed. “Isn’t it too little, too late?”
His blue eyes, a mirror of hers, studied her face with undisguised affection. “I don’t believe so, no.”
“Let me take a stab at why you arrived at this particular moment,” she sneered.
“Your wild Titan hybrid daughter is losing her shit, ready to tear down the fucking world, and you—hero that you are—have taken it upon yourself to calm her down rather than allow her to risk the Gods’ wrath. How am I doing?”
“Partially true, yes.” He stepped closer. “I’ve also come to re-bind your abilities.”
His comment was a blow to the solar plexus. She and Elara had only started developing what they should’ve had all along, but were denied due to their parents’ fear of being hunted.
“You would steal my magic? Again?” Her disbelief made her hoarse.
“I have no choice, Sunseed. You’re about to cause untold damage, and the Gods will send their greatest warriors.”
“Let them,” she snarled. In her blind fury, she was ready to take everyone on single-handedly.
“You will not be put to death on my watch,” he said, his voice laced with steel.
“What does it matter?” she cried. “Tell me, Father, who will really care when I’m gone?”
“What a ridiculous question! I would. Your mother, Florence, and Elara all would. Your friends.”
She shook her head for every name mentioned. “Not you. Not mother. You’ll hardly notice. As for Elara and my friends, they’ll all be better off.”
“And Dailey?” Elara asked from behind her.
Payton spun to find her sister, mother, and grandmother at the base of the steps, tears streaming down their faces. But for the first time in her life, she was unmoved. Cold was creeping in, icing her heart over.
“He can go screw himself for all I care,” she said emotionlessly. “He no longer factors into my decisions.”
“Even if I said I made a mistake?” he asked from behind her.
To her ears, Dailey sounded regretful, but she didn’t give a rat’s ass. She was fed up. What had laying her heart on the line, time and time again, ever done for her?
She held out her hands, observing the bluish glow of her skin deepen. She tilted her chin up, closed her eyes, and reveled in nature’s full glory as it slapped her skin. Drawing from the electricity dancing along the air’s current, she held it within her grasp as she faced him.
“You didn’t make a mistake, Dailey Cobb. I did by choosing a weakling,” she spat right before hurling a bolt in his direction.
From nowhere, Hermes stepped into his path and accepted the brunt of the charge. He screamed his agony, bringing the gargoyles to the yard. An instant later, a dragon circled, blocking out the remaining light.
Payton geared up for a second strike, this time with the intent to obliterate her original target. As she raised her arms, Vorren plunged downward and plucked her from the ground like a hawk snatching a chicken. His talons became her cage as he soared upward with a mighty roar.