Set In Flames (Morningstars Book 1) (31 page)

Destra and Nox retreated just before the first sunbeams came upon the earth. She had spent most of the night watching those warriors and even though she had to admit that one was more handsome than the other, she couldn’t help but feel smug. They were hotheaded and that would play into their plans well.

Additionally, being back in the city meant Destra had a house surrounding her again. It made her feel more human. The irony made her laugh and Nox pulled her close, grinding into her. He wanted her. All that blood and slaughter had been such a turn on.

Yeah, they had lost some of her best men, but that only made it more clear that the warriors knew what they were doing and that she needed to be careful the following night.

Her daughter was sitting high and mighty in that beautiful mansion of hers and it irked Destra. Soon though Maya wouldn’t find any pleasure in that anymore. Destra laughed happily, knowing that her revenge was close; so very, very close.

Maya had barely closed her eyes when she was ready to be out of bed again. The diaries had worked wonders on her mood and she realized that all of the former Queens had felt the way she did. Only a handful had known beforehand that they would be separated from their mates, but even those females had felt betrayed and hurt.

It didn’t change that this tradition sucked, but it made her feel better about herself. Especially since all Queens seemed to have developed a sense of happiness with the tasks at hand; namely ballroom dances and visits to other countries. Reading that Maya could almost see why a relationship wouldn’t have fully worked, but each time she reached a part of a diary where a Queen met her mate, she knew that nothing could seriously justify a separated couple.

Heartache came over and over again and even after a decade nothing had changed. Never had a Queen’s mate been a warrior, therefore blood exchange purely had happened whenever the Queen had reached a certain point of need for blood, but Maya had no doubt that they’d keep Jaden away from her as long as they could.

What scared her most was the way she started to understand his deep sense of duty and honor. All her ancestors had dealt with the Morningstar warriors and duty and honor often had been the only thing keeping those guys in line when tragedy struck. And that happened quite often.

Seeing that Jaden and Kaden had come from a Morningstar family, it really wasn’t any surprise that Jaden would choose his race over his mate. He simply didn’t know better than to obey his leader.

It didn’t lessen her heartache or make her forgive him quicker, but it still softened her towards him more than she thought possible after only a few short days. The fact that Kaden, too, had spoken in favor of Jaden made it even easier.

What spoke against forgiving Jaden was the fact that he hadn’t once tried to contact her, not even when he had been right in front of her doorstep.

There was another thing though she realized: She really knew nothing about Jaden besides the fact that he had a twin and put his race above everything else. In the end, Jaden had been right and all they felt for each other was because of the bond. Which, again, didn’t change that she loved him and probably had since the first time she had been close to him. This was mind-boggling and too much for her, so she pulled another diary close, ready to drown in a world that was hers, but somehow still totally different.

Destra walked up and down, knowing she was near the daughter she hated so much.

The moon had just risen over the city and in contrary to the day before, this time the night stayed clear. It was almost beautiful; the stars sparkling above them, but Destra didn’t give a damn. She couldn’t care less about the beauty of the night.

She wanted to push her hands onto her hips, but she was too scared of hurting herself.

“Where in the world are those stupid warriors? I don’t have all night and I really want to hurt someone,” she fussed, looking at the four Hellraise soldiers she had brought with her. They weren’t her first choice and by far not the best, but considering the fact that most of her good soldiers had fallen the night before, they were as good as they came.

“They’ll be here soon,” Nox mumbled soothingly, not coming close to her. Just like everyone else he stayed clear of her, not sure if they could catch something from the danger surrounding her now. In fact, if any of her foot soldiers were to touch her, they’d die a slow, agonizing death, which seemed almost impossible for vampires.

Nox sounded bored and Destra wished she could kiss him just so she’d have something to do. Waiting never had been her strong side and now it was even worse than usual.

A commotion down the street made her look up and straighten her spine. Fighting. Finally. The warriors were coming and she felt excitement tingle along her spine. There was no doubt that she’d find the right guy. She had just the plan, too.

There was no need for fighting; she’d just have to make sure that he, the Jaden guy, would touch her. It didn’t even matter where, just a tiny touch and there’d be no going back. The thought alone brought her ecstasy like nothing else.

”Dearest Creator, Nox, you are so fucking brilliant,” she exclaimed, almost clapping her hands before remembering that this maybe wasn’t such a good idea.

Nox turned, meeting her eyes with his obsidian ones. “Only for you, Mistress. Only for you,” he promised and she nodded, satisfied, then she started to walk.

After all, someone had to make sure that her daughter’s Morningstar warrior wouldn’t miss his appointment with torture.

Jaden had never met Destra before, but he still could instantly tell who she was. Hell, she could have been in a crowd of females and he still would have been able to pick her out.

“Holy shit,” Kaden mumbled next to him, obviously realizing the same Jaden was realizing: Destra and Maya looked so much alike that they easily could have been twins. Destra’s hair was shorter and her body leaner. The biggest difference were Destra’s glowing red eyes that seemed to illuminate the alley around them.

“She’s borderline insane,” Red whispered under his breath, but Jaden knew the signs. The brighter the red, the crazier the Hellraise.

“We meet at last,” she said, her voice deeper than Maya’s. He shook his head, not being able to believe that she had waited for them to meet.

“You will not get to Maya,” he snapped and those red eyes found him, making him realize that she hadn’t had any idea who she had been looking for. He cursed since that could have been an advantage for them that now was gone.

“So you are the reason she won’t ever be out of my hair. You turned that bitch, didn’t you? Was her blood good? But then again, I don’t care. She’s a thorn in my side,” Destra cursed and Jaden took a deep breath before speaking. She was trying to rally him, but he would try hard not to fall for that.

“I am absolutely certain she won’t be a problem for you much longer,” he assured. He had every intention to kill Destra hard and fast.

“True. You and her will still be together though,” a guy next to Destra said and Jaden recognized the magician that had taken Maya away. At the memory of this guy touching his precious Origin he almost exploded. The man didn’t even give off the normal vibe a human had. It was as if nothing was really living inside that ice-cold exterior.

“He has a beating heart, meaning we can kill him,” Lex hissed next to him.

“Nox,” Destra said, using a tone one usually used to call back dogs.

“Nox? Short for obnoxious, right?” Kaden snickered and Jaden felt himself smirk.

“Nox it off, Kade, he didn’t do anything to you,” Jaden reprimanded him and Kaden gave him a grin while the mage very obviously was seething.

“No wonder she fell for a cave man like you. She never was the brightest candle in the chandelier,” Destra mused, sobering Jaden in an instant.

“You have no idea how smart she is. She evaded you pretty long before I found her, so I’d say no matter how smart she is, it’s always a little bit more than you,” he taunted, feeling tense. Something wasn’t right. Destra’s fighters weren’t in attacking position. In fact, they more looked as if they stood around at a boring party.

“Something’s off,” Red whispered, confirming Jaden’s suspicion.

“But why, everything is perfect,” Destra exclaimed, starting to walk. Jaden noticed how her men practically jumped out of her way. This was so much bigger than respect or awe; they were outright scared of her. It was a trap, that much was obvious, but he had do admit he had no idea what was to come. An ambush maybe?

He looked at Red, pointing at their surroundings, but Red just shook his head. No one else was there. Or better no one but Maya was close. He felt her in his bones, closing his eyes for a moment to tap into her feelings. She was content, making him wonder what had caused her to stop hurting. Maybe she had…

“Stop and focus,” Lex snapped and he was right. They had more pressing matters to attend to.

“She’s here, I know. We all know. We can feel her blood calling out to us as if it would be the most delicious thing we’d ever try…” Destra turned away, closing her eyes and smacking her lips as if she really could taste Maya’s blood on her tongue. Jaden knew though that she wouldn’t ever get a sample of that raspberry awesomeness. “Whatever is protecting her won’t be there when she has to leave the new court. I’ll get her out of there before you get a chance to warn her…”

Jaden gritted his teeth. No matter what trap this was, he didn’t want to wait any longer. Destra needed to die.

He took a tentative step forward, waiting for shots or arrows, but nothing happened. Strange.

“She’ll be able to step outside whenever she wishes because you’ll be deader than dead,” he threatened and she laughed; a sound that reminded him so much of Maya it made his heart ache.

“That’s wishful thinking. How did she like that anyways, huh? Being left alone? Isn’t that what they do to those poor Queens? Take them away from everything they know and love? Make them think their mates never cared? But then again, most likely they didn’t, right?” Destra asked, delight in her voice.

“You damn…”

“Jaden, don’t let her provoke you. She’s guessing, nothing else,” Kaden warned, but Jaden didn’t care. She had struck a nerve there and her gleeful expression almost kicked him over the edge.

“She’ll probably always hate you. You still fuck others, don’t you?” she said, clearly wanting to antagonize him. And it worked. He knew she was just taking one wild guess after the other and yet … before he even had made a conscious decision his hands wrapped around the white, slender neck of his Origin’s mother. It was too easy and no one even bothered to step forward and protect her. In the back of his mind he knew that there was something terribly wrong, but he just couldn’t put a finger on it.

“Get back, Jaden! Whatever it is, doona touch her,” Devon shouted, but Jaden just couldn’t get himself to release her.

“It’s brilliant, isn’t it? Brutal, cruel and fucking brilliant,” she said for his ears only. A slow burn came from his hands, eating its way through his body until he felt on fire, blazing as if he had gone up in flames. This was bad, very bad. His knees were about to give in, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t get his hands to release Destra.

“Get away. Shit, Jaden, just step back! What is going on?” He could feel the warriors hovering around him, but no one dared to pull him away or even touch him.

“Moracai. It’s the one poison in the world that can kill a vampire,” Destra finally explained and the fire in Jaden’s veins was replaced by ice.

“No way,” Kaden protested, his voice full of agony. Finally Jaden’s hands agreed to let go of the wicked witch and he stumbled back, not much strength left in his body. Wherever they had touched Destra’s skin, his fingers were turning blue, showing where his almost immortal body had come into contact with its killer.

“Absolutely way. Nox helped me with the general set up. Getting you to drink something would be impossible. Getting you to touch me though was very easy,” Destra grinned.

“Moracai is barely found anymore. I don’t think she found enough to make a poison strong enough.” Destra cackled while Jaden looked at his twin’s hopeful expression.

“Trust me, there was enough,” he assured him, trying his hardest to stay on his own two feet. It wasn’t an easy task because his body was ready to drop and unconsciousness threatened to claim him.

“How are you not dying?” Lex asked directed at Destra and finally the magician stepped forward.