“Let’s try our best to piece this together,” Pele suggested, his eyes running over each of my mates.
“You don’t remember anything before the basement?” Cyra asked hesitantly.
“No.”
Her eyes filled with sadness as she squeezed my hand. “When you were around five, we were on a diplomatic trip in the Earth realm. Blue Phoenixes shift early—very early, in fact—and while you were just a fledgling, we went on a flight together. That was when you disappeared—”
“I was shot down,” I muttered in realization. “I thought it was a dream, but I am pretty sure that’s what happened.”
“Shot down?” Ignatius demanded, his face filled with panic that didn’t match his temper. From his expression alone I felt like the man was mad at me, but I was starting to realize that may just be his mannerisms.
“I believe so,” I whispered and looked back at Cyra, “but I had been in that basement as long as I can remember. I assumed any other memories were dreams. Also, until two days ago, I hadn’t been able to shift—”
“The coven most likely blocked her magic when they killed her the first time,” Croy explained. “It was also why you probably couldn’t locate her.”
“They fucking killed you?” Con hissed.
“Yes.” I shrank slightly, feeling less confident. Atlas’s hand found its way onto the back of my neck in a soothing way.
“Maya has been through a lot,” Henry said, his voice filled the space. “I don’t think anyone is in the correct mindset to hear her story, frankly.”
Realization seemed to fill the room as I blushed, knowing that they were probably figuring out that my time away had been anything but pleasant. I swallowed and tried to redirect the question. “So… I’m from here?”
“Yes, you are the True Heir, princess to the Dreki realm,” Cyra immediately answered. Her words still were stunning me, because the idea of me belonging to anything important, ever, seemed inconceivable.
“Because you’re the queen? And my mother?” I clarified, the lights starting to darken slightly on the edges as my neck broke out in a cool sweat.
“Maya—” Henry’s voice tilted in concern as he probably realized I was starting to feel sick again, my fever spiking. My phoenix was out of control and overwhelmed as Cyra said something, my brow dipping in confusion. Pain radiated from my abdomen as I leaned back against Ledger.
Everything started to spot black as the reality of their words hit me, the truth of what I had believed in so long forgotten. I hadn’t been just locked in a basement, I’d been ripped away from everything. A mom. Dads. An entire realm. A choked sound left my throat, and I felt fire lick my skin dangerously as my eyes fluttered shut. I heard commotion breaking out into the room, but when I slumped forward, the only thing I could smell was the familiar scent of my mom.
That was right before I blacked out.
The last thought that plagued my mind? Were there more like me?
12
Sai
This was hell. Absolute goddamn hell.
I was kneeling, face level with Maya, where she was passed out in the large bed of our dorm. I could hear everyone outside in the main room—her fathers, our flight, even Queen Cyra—discussing what was going on and details of Maya’s past. Nothing about the future and what this meant, which I was glad for, because nothing like that should ever be decided without my kitten. I was, however, glad that they were discussing Maya’s past away from her. No one, least of all Maya, needed to be reminded of the horrors of everything that she went through. She had done that enough.
None of that bothered me as much as the fact that Maya, after nearly an hour following the throne room incident, was passed out still. Her breathing was soft but a bit too fast for my liking, the royal physician’s explanation still ringing in my ears.
She needed to mark her mates.
I wasn’t disagreeing with her, but it did bother me that there was an unspoken time limit put on her now. It shouldn’t be a rushed and forced process like that. Maya deserved to take her time. After everything she had been through? The woman deserved all the time in the goddamn world.
My forehead dipped to rest on the bed as I let out a sound of frustration, not knowing how to handle this. Not only the concept of Maya’s health problems and the implication of rushing mating, which my dragon was a massive fan of, but everything that had happened today.
Maya had a family. Not only a family, but an entire realm at her feet if she wanted.
She didn’t need us anymore.
In order to stay with us, she would have to choose us. To go back to Earth with us. The possibility of her not doing that gutted me, and I was pretty sure I wasn’t the only one considering that could occur. I was thrilled Maya had more information about what had happened, but there was a part of me that wished we had never gone to the Dreki realm. A part of me wanted to throw her over my shoulder and jump back into a portal, ensuring they couldn’t keep her here.
What if she wants to stay?
I knew we would stay if she wanted to… if she wanted us, that is. Panic gripped my throat as I felt tension rolling through me. I inhaled sharply, wondering how I would ever fully deal with everything Maya had been through. I knew they were her demons to handle, that they shouldn’t have plagued me, but it was impossible for me to not feel the raw pain associated with everything she’d been through.
I loved Maya. I loved Maya, and the people that you loved were the ones that often caused you the most pain. Even if it was just through experiencing the pain they themselves were going through. It was impossible to not be affected by it. Not that it would ever scare me away or dissuade me from being around Maya, rather the opposite. In some ways, the pain I felt for her situation reassured me that this was real. That my emotions for her were rooted in something outside of just a mating bond. Not that I discounted that element, but I knew it was more than that. I was just praying to the Maker that Maya would continue to want me around so I could experience everything that was her. If she told me to go, that she didn’t want me, I would… well, I wouldn’t. But I would act as if I was leaving her alone.
I don’t think I had it in me to ever fully give Maya up.
I didn’t think she wanted me to either, which was why my doubt in all of this was so frustrating. Maya had never played games. She had never appeared to question us being mates, and her words of constant reassurance that she was staying around should have made me feel moderately better. But insecurity from my past rode me hard, one that told me that now that she had found something better, a family that had been looking for her, she would leave us. It sounded absurd… but at the same time, I had been so easily forgotten time and time again by my own family, so wasn’t it possible that she could forget about us so easily? About me?
We could offer Maya the world, but there were things that we couldn’t offer. One of them was this lost relationship that she had now found.
Letting out a tired groan, I shook my head and then looked up, examining the sunset landscape of the realm through the massive window. The Fire Lands were calm tonight, and despite the voices outside, the castle itself was in almost a lull, as if everything had come to a stop. Which I suppose it had. I didn’t expect that to last, of course… no, I had a feeling that the queen and her mates would be trying to find every way to convince Maya to stay by showing her everything the Dreki realm had to offer.