After Arlo’s kiss, I know it’s better he never finds out and I keep my distance from him. Arlo is sweet and a good man, but my heart is staying locked up after I leave this place. All I want is to be free.
That’s it.
Reign nods his head at me as I open his car door and climb inside, pulling it shut behind me. Sensing eyes on my back, I look out the window as I pull the seat belt on to see Maddox on the steps, and Cross is right behind him.
Watch the man who will stab you in the back.
My warning never leaves my mind as I keep my eyes on Maddox, and he takes a step forward. I shake my head, even as a part of me wants him to come closer.
But I make him pause. I make him stay in this castle, and I hate myself for it as I turn away, pushing down a sob that threatens to leave my lips as Reign takes off. Tears fall down my cheeks, my body mourning for the man we have to leave behind in the mission to be free.
I have to put Maddox and this island in the past.
I have to.
“You seem upset. Why?” Reign questions. “Has my brother hurt you?”
I almost laugh. No, it’s me that is going to hurt him, and he won’t see it coming. I’m going to hurt you as well. “Maddox is many things, but he isn’t a monster, and you shouldn’t expect the worst from him. You will never fix your fucked up relationship with your brother until you see that he is a good person who thinks everything he touches dies or turns to shit. He blames himself for your mother, for your father’s bitterness and anger, and for your hate of him.”
“I don’t hate him,” Reign spits out. “I never have done.”
“What made you walk away then?” I demand. “Can’t you see he needs you?”
Reign speeds up, zipping around the corners of the mountain. “He killed a woman I loved!”
Breathing out the shocked gasp that leaves my lips, I stare at him. “She was human, fragile, and a fight between my brother and me ended in her death.”
“Did he do it on purpose?” I ask.
“Does it matter?” Reign retorts. “I will always love my brother, but when I look at him now, I see the woman I love, dead on the floor.”
“Then you both will spend eternity sad and alone,” I reply, crossing my arms. “Personally, I think you both have lost a lot and only have each other left. Why you don’t work together and build a better world, I don’t know.”
“Humans forgive easily because their lives are short. Vampires have forever,” he replies. “And my brother is a monster. Wait and see what happens when he finds out about our deal.”
I don’t say another word for the rest of the journey back, not until we come around the corner and see Reign’s house.
And the six people in front of the door. Katy and Arlo are unconscious lumps by the side of the road, and my heart pounds as I take in the six people. Five of them are kids, maybe eleven or a little older, and they all stand behind an adult. The adult doesn’t look like a vamp or a witch or a siren. I don’t know how I know it, but I am certain this man is like the children.
He looks like the kids with his long fangs slipping out of his mouth, his glowing brown eyes and how he is dressed in a modern suit.
“Does he smell like the kids?” I ask Reign as he slams the brakes on the car and I jolt forward, my seat belt holding me in place.
“Yes, and I’ve never seen an adult one of them before,” Reign replies, and he looks at me, a grin on his lips. “Finally, one I can torture for answers. Stay in the damn car!”
“Torture?” I mutter as Reign gets out of the car, and using his vamp speed, he is right in front of the man in a second. The man says something that makes Reign tense and look back at me. Then the man attacks with magic.
I’ve seen siren magic, I’ve seen the witches a little bit, but this is like nothing else. Flames spread across the ground in a wave before stretching up into the sky and turning into a dragon shape before diving down straight towards Reign. He moves quickly, dodging the flames, and punches the man straight in the face. The flames jump and spin like they are alive, and I almost scream as the five kids walk into them and disappear. Reign and the man are nothing more than blurs thanks to vamp speed, but occasionally they crash into the glass house, and I see them. Blood leaves trails behind them, and I can’t do anything but watch.
I can’t fight a vamp or whatever these kids are. The kids reappear in more of the flames, one of them so close to Arlo, and without thinking, I push the door open and jump out of the car, running right towards them.
“Stop!” I scream at the kid in the flames. The kid looks towards me, and I come to a stop, digging my feet into the leaves. The little boy runs over, the flames staying with him the entire way, and stops near me.
“Come into the flames. You will be reborn as your true self like your brother and parents,” the boy says, offering me his hand. “They are waiting.”
“My brother? Austin?” I question, looking at his hand covered in flames. “How could you know that?”
The boy just offers me his hand one more time, and I shake my head, taking a step back. My brother is at university and waiting for me, not in flames or wherever the boy thinks I should go. “If you know my parents, then you should know they wouldn’t want me or Arlo hurt. So tell your friends to go.”
“As you wish. We came to invite you, and our keeper came to warn you,” the boy replies and turns around. The flame-covered children all look at him, and at the same time, they all disappear.
“For a vampire prince, you are too easy to beat!” I hear the man shout right before Reign is thrown over my head and into the far distance. As his body crashes down somewhere, I turn back to see the man walking right up to me.
Knowing running is pointless, I dig my hands into my pockets and walk to meet him in the middle of the driveway.
“Why did you refuse to come into the flames?”
“What are the flames?” I question.
He cocks his head to the side, his long blond hair moving with him. He is really pretty, too much for a man, and I struggle to see a single flaw. “You live a half-life.”
“The boy said he knew my parents and brother. Is that true?” I ask. The man doesn’t reply to me, stepping closer and breathing in a long and dramatic way. “I see why they hid you now. Your twin brother is not the one.”
“You’re not making any sense,” I reply.
“It is not time for you to come with us, Riona Dark, but it is time for your death,” he replies. I step back as he roughly grabs my throat, lifting me off my feet. I scream, the noise never leaving my lips, and I dig my nails into his hand. Nothing works, he is so strong against me, and I gasp for air.
All I think of is Maddox, how I want him here. How I want him to save me.
The man jolts suddenly, and I scream as he throws me into the air. The whistling air only lasts a second before I slam harshly onto the car roof, hearing a cracking noise in my chest. Pain shoots through me as I roll onto my back and touch the side of my chest where the pain is from. Hot, sticky blood drips down my left eye as I struggle to sit up as Katy jumps on the hood of the car and looks at me.
“You alright?” she asks with a frown. She lifts her wrist to her mouth, but I hold up my palm.