Set In Flames (Morningstars Book 1) (28 page)

She stared at him because one French-rose-colored wall would be her concession in a fully masculine room. She would love to have dark furniture, something with metal probably, glass and nothing wooden, but her bed and the wall behind it would be just that borderline red Kaden had guessed and pecked her for. Besides that, her sheets probably really would have had warmer colors since all the purple almost seemed too cold. But then again, it fit her current mood.

“Surprised now, aren’t ya, Cupcake?” he asked with a smirk, reminding her so much of Jaden that her heart ached.

“I don’t think anything surprises me anymore,” she whispered, a faint smile that had stolen its way onto her lips vanishing again almost before it was seen.

He turned back to her, his eyes reflecting the sadness she wished she could feel in Jaden. “I know how I felt, which is why I can’t even start to imagine how you must feel. I wish I could say something to make you feel better, but I can’t. I tried to talk some sense into him, but he just…” Kaden trailed off, another time not ready to meet her eyes and dread coiled in her stomach.

“Did he…” He couldn’t have. Just the thought she had now made her want to throw up because pain overwhelmed her.

“Did he what, little star?” he asked, meeting her eyes again. His hair was slightly longer than Jaden’s, falling into his eyes at times, but still Maya could see so much of his twin in him that she was sure she could convince herself it was Jaden if she now kissed him. Why she even missed that bastard she didn’t know.

“He went out and slept with someone else, didn’t he?” she whispered, her voice almost breaking at every word. It wouldn’t be the first time that he’d do something like that and it would explain the guilt he felt. He couldn’t help being bonded to her and she was sure that some part of him still had a conscience when it came to her. It probably was something he didn’t like, but neither of them could change that fact, no matter how badly they wanted it. Not that she did, because even if he didn’t want her, she knew she belonged to him and that was better than knowing she belonged to a brother like Ryder. After all, Jaden never had tried to kill her.

Before she even realized it Kaden had pulled her back against him, squeezing her as if he tried to get every last bit of air out of her body. “Please, little star, don’t believe that. He didn’t move out of the house since you… I mean … trust me when I say that Jaden always has been complicated and duty is what gave him strength and a route to go. This changed everything he ever believed in,” he explained. She struggled against his embrace, pushing against his chest, but all the legends about newborn vampires and strength weren’t true. She wasn’t stronger than Kaden. If at all, nothing had changed from the very first time she had met Jaden.

“Of course you’d take his side,” she all but screamed, being ready to kick him out even though he was one of the few people she could see herself trusting.

“Cupcake, please. I’m not, I swear. I fought with him … hard. He allowed Colbin to take you away from us. You are like…” He swallowed hard. “You mean more to me than a sister could, Maya. I…” The emotions whirling in his eyes were clear in his voice and she stopped her struggling as she realized that he was right in the middle of that conflict. Jaden was his twin, his blood, and as much as Kaden wanted to be on her side, he was torn. Nothing could ever come before his brother.

She couldn’t even be mad at him because as much as he loved his brother, he definitely cared for her as well. They were at an impasse and the way he looked at her let her know that it was her choice. He’d leave if she asked him to, and he’d stay if that would be her wish. The problem was that she didn’t know if she wanted him out or not.

“Will he come?” Why had she even asked that? She already knew the answer and still tried to hurt herself with it? She obviously had a sadomasochistic side.

“He didn’t say anything like that,” Kaden admitted, curling his hands into fists. It made him angry and she liked that. It told her another thing though: Jaden wasn’t as well as she thought he was. Or maybe as he thought he’d be. How did she know? Kaden wouldn’t be so torn about the whole situation with Jaden if his twin would be fine, moving on as if nothing had ever happened.

“Is he hurting?” Holding her breath she waited for his answer.

It took him a long time to finds the words; at least if the following silence meant anything. “I don’t think he ever expected the bond to be what it is. Not that anyone can really imagine how the two of you feel,” Kaden told her, uncurling his fists while staring at his hands. He was contemplative, confused and no longer in control of his own emotions. There was just too much going on and she knew the feeling only too well. Numb was her way out, anger his.

“I wish everything would be different. I wish there would be just the faintest glow whenever I touch you. I wish there was just something that would tell me fate made a mistake, Kaden. I wish I could have been yours,” she said quietly, not knowing if Kaden would repeat those words to his brother, and even if, would Jaden care?

“Don’t say that, little star,” he pleaded, taking her hands. No matter how hard she stared at them, there was nothing. No purple glow, no more burning on her back. Then again, she had a full mating-tattoo already.

“Why do you keep calling me that?” she wanted to know, meeting his eyes. He smiled a one-sided smile, but it didn’t hold long.

“You made us all shine brighter while you were there. We did something good … at least most of us, in defying Colbin to meet with you. I just think little star fits you very well. I know there’ll be a day when you’ll shine again,” he explained, cupping her cheek. He was checking her face, searching for something but she had no idea what. “Jaden will make this right. I never thought he would have gone through with this, but underneath all his honor and duty I know what he feels for you, what you mean to him. He’ll come. He’ll make it right. I promise,” he insisted, his voice full of conviction. It was that conviction that brought tears to her eyes because his words would make her hope, and hope was a treacherous thing. Jaden had let her down each time she had thought they finally had something good. She couldn’t afford the luxury to hope because this time might be the final time for her to break.

Jaden took a deep breath. He hadn’t been back to the base since he had given Colbin free reign over Maya. His mate. His everything. Kaden had returned from her just a few minutes earlier, having passed him silently. His twin looked more distressed than ever and Jaden had felt the spikes in Maya’s emotions. Kaden had reached at least something and if he were lucky, maybe he’d find out one day what they had talked about. Now though he had more pressing matters.

He wanted Maya safe and for that he needed warriors. All of them, if they were still ready to fight by his side and not only hating him. He had contacted them and even though no one had answered, he sure hoped someone had shown.

Pushing open the door to what was the common room, he sighed in relief.

“You are not forgiven. We are curious,” Kaden said coldly, obviously having been named spokesman. Jaden had thought and hoped that telling him where Maya was would make Kaden soften towards him, but even after the emotional talk two days ago his twin was beyond pissed.

“I’m not after forgiveness. I need your weapons. Get out your throwing stars and the Katanas, the daggers and swords. I know there are things I didn’t tell you…” Lex snorted and Jaden couldn’t help but think that his friend was the last one who should be throwing around judgment.

“You have exactly ten seconds before I walk out of that door. Use the time wisely,” Devon announced, seething. Jaden couldn’t remember if the warriors had ever fought, but it sure made him feel even worse.

“We kill Destra and I’m getting my girl back. I need to prove to her that I am serious. I can’t go empty-handed and as much as I tried getting a meeting with the Circle of Seven, there was no chance. Apologizing is easier than asking for permission, right? So I’m going to win her back and then, once I live with her, I’ll talk to them. Or they’ll talk to me. Either way, Maya and I will be together if that is what she still wants.”

Silence spread and Jaden tensed, knowing that they could easily beat him to a pulp if they wanted it.

Lex moved first, slapping his back in a friendly gesture. “A man with a mission. Finally. What do we need to know?”

“We already know that Nox is her strong suit. He will not let anything happen to her. He’s only human though, which means he can be killed like one,” he started, but Red instantly held up a hand, interrupting him.

“He might look human, but besides the fact that he has magic, we don’t know what else he has up his sleeve. Unless we meet him and see him for ourselves, there’s no telling what he really can or can’t do,” he interjected and Jaden contemplated that for a moment.

“When Maya was captured he tortured her with visions. They must have been major illusions, so we surely are talking dark magic. I can’t recall the last time vampires had dealings with magic at all. I thought all magicians were dead,” he admitted thoughtfully, turning in surprise as the door behind him opened.

“It’s been more than five hundred years really, and even then we just had things to do with white magicians. They provided us with the means to protect our homes from invaders or anyone else who’s unwanted. Hey boys, good to see you all back here.” Colbin had entered, joining a group that was united in his anger at him. Not even Jaden liked him much, even though everything that caused him misery right now was his very own fault.

“We don’t need you here,” Kaden snapped and Jaden gave his twin a weak smile, but he didn’t even look at him.

“What makes you think that she even wants to take him back? I don’t think there really was a time when she liked Jaden much,” Colbin challenged and Jaden knew he was only trying to antagonize him, but sadly it was working.

“May stupidly fell in love with him. There was never a time when she didn’t like him,” Red said, taking Jaden’s side, much to his surprise. The nickname though bothered him a whole lot.

“May?” he asked, staring at the heartless one. So did everyone else.

“May said that most of the time her mother is pretty out of it. We are talking bat shit crazy,” Red went on, not even reacting to the interruption. “What we need is a blood bag and…”

“We are no’ gonna kill any person just to get to that bitch,” Devon ground out and Jaden almost had to grin and Red threw up his hands, obviously pissed.

“Is anyone even ready to save May or do you all just want to keep going on interrupting me without hearing my plan?” Red wanted to know and Jaden shook his head.

“I have a plan already. Destra wants Maya and she knows she won’t get to her, so she’ll try to draw her out of hiding. There isn’t much that could get Maya that far and Destra knows that. I wouldn’t be surprised if that magician bastard actually does most of the planning. He seems pretty level-headed,” Jaden explained, looking at all of them. “There’s probably right now only one thing they guess Maya would leave her safety for. If Destra and that dude did their research, they know…”

“Maya has a mate. They could be hoping to find you and lure her out,” Kaden finished, realization dawning on his twins face. “You’ll offer yourself up as bait? I cannot believe that,” he added and Jaden shrugged.

He’d tear his heart out if that were necessary to save Maya in any way.

“She doesn’t know what happened. We’ll go out there, kick Hellraise ass and she’ll come. I heard there was a spike in Hellraise activity because they know there’s a Queen. They want Maya’s blood,” Lex explained and Jaden spun around, knowing that he paled.

“They know they can’t have her blood. It’ll burn them. She’s an Origin. She’s my Origin,” he said and Lex nodded, his expression turning soft.

“I know, and so do they, but let’s face it, Jaden, bathing in Maya’s blood wouldn’t hurt them. They could still show off because they killed the Queen. There’s nothing better than taking the Queen when the race has just found hope,” he shrugged and Jaden took a few deep breaths.

“Won’t happen. It doesn’t matter. We’ll go out there and take as many crazy bastards as we can. And once we put a serious dent into that population, we’ll put a serious dent into the slave population of Destra and that magic bastard and then I’ll dent my mate in a good way,” Jaden announced and finally all warriors grinned.

“I like that you got out your big girl panties,” Devon teased and Jaden actually felt much lighter than he had in a while. Things were looking up.