“I don’t know what to tell you to do,” I admitted softly, wishing I was better at this. Honestly though, I was the last person anyone should ask about family shit. Even now I felt hesitant about looking around the room. I didn’t want to meet the gaze of the people who had made my life hell growing up, and I had absolutely no doubt they were here. I also had no doubt they would see Maya as an opportunity to get close to the crown through us. Fucking assholes.
Maya offered me a small smile, squeezing my hand as food was placed down in front of us. I could hear a slight commotion behind us, and when I turned, I found one of the twins attempting to convince Eleven to sit by them.
“Am I imagining it or is there—”
“There is very much something going on,” I agreed and flashed her a smile. “What do you think it is?”
“Well, I thought she hated them at first,” Maya mused, tilting her head. “Now I think it’s more complicated than that. I still don’t know why though.”
“Maya, you should eat,” Atlas reminded her from her other side. “I don’t think you’ve eaten anything today besides brunch.”
“We ate there,” Henry offered, his smile he flashed at Maya making her turn bright red. I shook my head and slung an arm around the back of her chair, playing lightly with her hair as she leaned into me.
“I’ll eat,” she offered to Atlas.
My dragon relaxed, making me realize he was concerned as well. That was unsurprising, though. I had always felt a strong sense of protectiveness over Maya. I also have been in constant awe that a woman like her would pay any attention to me at all. I swallowed, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear as she offered me a soft smile.
Suddenly, a loud laugh that sent chills up my spine had my gaze darting down to the rest of the room before I could stop myself. Clearly, my father and his wife weren’t traveling, because I met the man’s gaze across the room. My stepmother sat next to him, engaging with others and acting as if she hadn’t married a monster. A rage began searing inside of me, furious that he was here. That he was looking at me and noticing Maya.
I felt my entire body go tense as he offered me a look that I had seen far too many times as a kid. The smile was fake, and the look in his eyes was threatening. My body pulsed momentarily in pain, reminding me just how bad it had gotten by the time that Marco pulled us away from all of it.
“Ledger?” I called out, walking into our Eldur Academy dorm, dropping my bag and looking around for my brother. Despite being part of the younger grouping of students at the academy at only fourteen, we were allowed to roam throughout the area on our own. I suppose they assumed if we were training to defend the realm, we could explore it. But usually he didn’t go places without me.
Looking around, confused, I jumped slightly, dread filling me as I instantly recognized the magic signature that filled the room. I turned immediately to face my father, his face filled with an anger I didn’t understand. How had he gotten here?
“Where is your brother?” he demanded.
“I don’t know,” I answered honestly, flinching back as he approached. His smile was deceptively nice as he grabbed my hair and spoke in a low, threatening tone.
“Maybe you can tell me why I have had an investigation opened up on me,” he hissed. “Why is anyone under the impression of what I fucking do to my children?”
“I don’t know.” I grunted in pain as he yanked my hair again and my hands came up to push him away from me. I should have expected the solid punch to my ribs, making me let out a small whimper as I heard something crack. His other hand wrapped around my throat as he slammed me against the bedroom wall, my vision going spotty. He was yelling something at me, but I couldn’t tell you what. All I could focus on was the spot over his shoulder where the sun was shining off a set of bottles I’d collected recently. They were shattered, of course, because he knew.
He knew I liked collecting things, and in true fashion, I wasn’t allowed to have anything. Not anything important or meaningful to me. I let out a raspy breath as he finally let go of me, my knees giving out as I curled in on myself and he slammed his foot into my side. The power of it had everything going dark as I promised I would finally ask for help from Marco. I couldn’t keep living like this. Living in fear.
I hadn’t needed to ask for help, though. Marco had been coming by our room to check on us after such a long day of training, to make sure we were adjusting, and had caught my father leaving after I’d passed out. I wasn’t positive what he’d done to my father, but we had quickly left for Earth following the incident, and my father had yet to reach out to us formally. In fact, this was my first time seeing him… and it was causing me to feel a range of emotions that were extremely overwhelming. I was actually damn near positive I was on the verge of a panic attack, but all I could do was stare back.
I wasn’t that little kid anymore, I knew that. I wasn’t the boy that got beat by his father regularly. Yet I felt that scared for just a moment, and despite the rage surging through me, I felt everything turn black on the edges for a moment. Inhaling sharply, oxygen flooded my system as I looked away, unable to admit to myself that he was really there. That he was sitting at a table mere feet away.
Sadness. Fear. Anger. All of them pulled from my subconscious. The memory of all the times he broke any of my collections of things I liked, just because he knew it hurt my dragon and I. Running my fingers along Maya’s hand, I began to play with her rings, staring down at them as I tried to compartmentalize my emotions. They were shiny enough to keep my attention, but I found more than anything I just enjoyed taking stuff of hers that she used often.
Something that was not considerate at all, but I couldn’t stop myself.
I just wanted to collect everything Maya touched because I truly felt like there was no way this was real. That she would want me. So if I had things that reminded me of our time together, then I would always at least have that.
I didn’t realize I was tense until I flinched when Maya’s hand brushed over my shoulder gently, jolting me from my thoughts. I looked down at her, realizing most of the meal had passed and my food was untouched, the feel of my father’s eyes still on me. Ledger was probably handling this far better than myself. He had always been stronger. Better at dealing with the trauma from our past.
“Anani, what’s going on?” Maya asked, her voice filled with concern.
I tried to answer honestly. “My father is here.”
What I saw flash through Maya’s eyes both made me realize how much I loved her and shocked me a bit. Actual anger—not frustration, but true, unfiltered fury—filled her gaze as she let out a sound that reminded me of a hiss through clenched teeth. I could feel her magic wrapping around me as she whipped her head to the side, looking over the crowd. I pulled her close to me, her hand resting on my chest as her heated skin turned hotter, her breathing faster than normal.
“It’s fine,” I promised her. “Really, peanut.”
“It’s not fine,” she argued, looking back at me, her eyes prickling with tears. “No one should have ever been allowed to hurt you.”
The conviction in her voice had me searing my lips with hers as thankfulness and adoration for this woman shocked my system. I cupped her jaw as she sighed into it, deepening it as I let out a low rumble. I didn’t realize someone was trying to reach us until I heard Marco’s voice.