Set In Flames (Morningstars Book 1) (8 page)

“Was that necessary? Talking to her like that? Talking about her like that? Making her feel cheap?” he wanted to know but Jaden just ignored him. It took all his willpower to not just return and make Maya forget all he had said.

“What? Now you can’t even man up to what you did?” his twin challenged and Jaden snapped.

“Yes, it was. You don’t know anything, Kade!”

That stopped Kaden cold. “What? Why don’t you enlighten me?”

“I can do that, actually. Jaden’s girl, Jaden’s decision,” Ryder interrupted and Jaden could feel the anger pulsing off Kaden. As much as Jaden despised keeping his twin in the dark, he couldn’t change the fact that it was the best for everyone.

“I don’t think you have any right to talk about her at all. You want her dead, Ry,” Kaden fussed.

“No one will touch her, Kaden, and you know that. Can we please just focus on our hunt?” Jaden demanded, the double standard adding even more to the guilt because truth was, he couldn’t focus on the hunt, either.

He wanted to see Maya, just look at her to know she was okay. This whole Origin business already made him weak and this was only the beginning.

“… would never touch her!” Ryder screamed, making it painfully clear to Jaden that he had missed part of the conversation, but he couldn’t get himself to truly care.

“Cut it out! Both of you! My girl … Cupcake is my girl and neither of you has a right to tell me what to do and even less either of you has the right to act as if she matters to you. She’s only mine.” Admitted, he hadn’t acted that way, didn’t plan on ever acting on that thought; but it was the truth and they couldn’t deny that. Maya was haunting him and he hated it.

Ryder was seething and it took a moment to make Jaden realize that maybe telling her brother he had no right to care was not the smartest movement.

“You don’t even want her, Jay, so I don’t think…” Ryder shut up and just a second later Jaden knew why. He had caught a scent that shouldn’t be where it was: raspberry and vanilla. He knew it wasn’t her because, harsh as the truth always was, she was locked away safe and sound at the Morningstar base.

Kaden drew his daggers, pointing up to a roof. Ryder nodded to the right and then pointed Jaden to the left. 

Whoever carried Maya’s scent was behind the building they just had passed.

Jaden forced himself to go slow since he had no idea how many humans – or vamps – he’d be facing if he now rushed his actions. The smell of Maya though almost drove him crazy. He tried to notice other smells, get a rough count of how hard that fight would be, but his DNA didn’t allow for anything but her in his brain. Exactly what he had worried about: His Origin was a hindrance. He had to depend on visuals and it pissed him off.

Peaking around the corner he found two vampires.

“Bitch can’t be far away. Her scent is all over the place,” one of the two snarled, holding a bag in his hand as if it was everything that was connecting him to life itself.

“You think the crazy witch will really stop threatening us if we find her daughter?” the other one growled, his voice muffled by his fangs. Jaden wasn’t sure if it was anger triggering the canines or the hunting anticipation.

“Seems like an easy enough job. And I rather kill that vampire child than have the Morningstars prosecute me because I can’t keep my blood bags alive,” the first shrugged.

“She’s not a child, asshole,” Jaden announced while leaving his hiding place.

“And the Morningstars will prosecute you anyways,” Ryder went on.

“Prosecute? I’ll kill them,” Kaden exclaimed, dropping down from the roof behind the two, making the scumbags realize that they were caught.

“We didn’t touch her! We don’t even know where that bitch is hiding,” vampire number one called out.

Jaden saw a flash of metal, then the first guy dropped to his knees, one leg bleeding.

“Watch your mouth, my brother has a temper,” Jaden grinned, projecting a calm he didn’t really possess.

“Obviously,” one of the jackasses muttered and Ryder smiled darkly.

“Are we done with the talking yet? Maybe we can finally get to the part where we kick your asses from here to Texas.” Ryder pulled out his Katana from the sheath beneath his jacket. Even though it was strapped to his back, Jaden had never seen him being limited in movements by it. Now Ryder was gently swinging it back and forth so it was gleaming in the light of a streetlamp.

“Who sent you and what’s in the bag?” Jaden asked, watching with a picked up brow how the vampire Kaden had injured got up again.

Fast healing sucked.

“The woman who sent us is a crazy ass bitch. We are more afraid of her than we are of you,” the newly healed vampire announced.

“The worst you will do to us is kill us. She though…” The shudder that passed through the two said it all, intensifying the fear for Maya that ran through Jaden’s veins.

Those two in front of them weren’t Hellraise. They were just outcasts, the criminal dirt of the Morningstar society and yet they were afraid of a single female.

“Under what name is she passing nowadays?” Ryder asked casually. Jaden always forgot that his best friend knew Maya’s mother like no one else did. It was his mother, too, after all; and she was insane enough that her own son had left the moment he’d had the chance.

“Destra,” they were informed, the hatred for the person behind the name clear in the voice of the one sharing it.

“I don’t care what she calls herself, I…” Kaden started, but he got interrupted.

“You should. Destra comes from destruction, and she truly takes that to heart. She’ll destroy everything you believe in, everything you are; everything you love if you don’t please her. I can smell the child we are looking for all over your brother there. Destra is out to break that girl. She might hate a lot of people, but that bitch made the top of the list. I’m talking pain, despair and broken bones until she no longer remembers her own name. Take the worst you can imagine and multiply it by a hundred. Destra said that little whore would be the downfall of the Morningstar race. She’s crazy enough to have spoken to the devil. Trust me when I say she’ll be right.”

Jaden finally saw red, having beheaded the two before either Kaden or Ryder could stop him. The bodies turned to a puddle of blood and clothes.

The sun would take care of the one and Jaden wasn’t worried about the other.

He turned away, being ready to return to the base. He needed to see Maya. The urge was overwhelming. Something as small and precious as her could never be a race’s downfall, could she? He didn’t even want to imagine which position that would put him in.

Ryder grabbed his arm.

“Seriously, dude? That was not the plan! We wanted to find someone and have them spill their beans,” he fussed and Jaden shrugged.

“Now they spilled their guts instead. It’s a good deal, I’d say,” Kaden grinned.

“Stop that, Kade, you know he is right.” Jaden knew that he was changing his mind every second, but it didn’t matter. Things just weren’t as they used to be.

He picked up the discarded bag, finding a female sized sweater inside. It smelled like Maya.

“Wait, it’s not like I killed them, Jay!”

“No, I did,” he agreed. “We didn’t need to hear any more of the nonsense.”

Silence spread and he stopped walking, turning back to find out what the deal was.

“What?” he barked.

“Don’t you worry it could be true? I think that is actually why…”

“You can see the future now? Or is that an Oprah trick and you want me to share my feelings? I’ll turn her and she’ll be fine. We’ll be fine,” he promised, closing his eyes. He decided against a drive back with those two and for running instead. He needed air and time to cool down and sort through his thoughts.

“Jaden, it’s a scary possibility. We were up each other’s throats because of her just ten minutes back,” Kaden said softly, obviously treading carefully.

Jaden didn’t care. He needed to be by Maya’s side to remind himself that everything would be all right.

“She’s my mate and the moment you accept that is the moment we’ll have everlasting peace.”

He didn’t wait for more words, simply leaving the two. He couldn’t do anything but to follow the call of Maya’s closeness.

Reaching the base just a few minutes later he instantly went for Matt’s room.

“She’s not here, man. Colbin took her away and I haven’t seen her since,” the young warrior reported. Obviously he was expecting the worst after his admission; Matt subconsciously had taken on a fighting stance: shoulders squared, feet apart, hands pulled up in a pacifying gesture.

“Great, I’m sure she feels perfectly good with our imposing leader,” Jaden snarled.

“I wasn’t the one acting as if I wouldn’t care about her,” Matt gave back, but Jaden was already leaving. He couldn’t think of too many things Colbin would tell Maya, so he guessed she was back in her room.

Standing in front of her door he heard her tossing and turning in her sleep. She even whimpered. Obviously her dreams weren’t peaceful.

He didn’t think twice, opening the door and crossing the space between them in no time at all. Ever so softly, careful not to wake her, he touched her cheek, illuminating the room with the glow that marked them as a perfect match.

He smiled, realizing that there, in the loneliness of the bedroom; he was allowed to be just as emotional as their bond made him feel.

He was whole when she was close by, and he was happy when she cuddled into his touch against her cheek.

It bothered him that his levelheadedness had been absent during the earlier fight; it bothered him that she was already dominating his thoughts. He could tell that she meant too much to him too soon.

Just a few hours back he had wanted to get rid of her because duty was everything to him. Now though he worried that he wouldn’t be ready to let her go when the time came.

Deep down he already knew the truth, but his head decided that it was much easier lying to the heart than fighting the troubles this could cause.

Destra walked up and down in the manor’s huge hallway. Always following her like a faithful little dog was insanity; her closest ally and her worst enemy.

She knew that the minions she had sent out would neither succeed nor return; she even knew they were no longer breathing. It didn’t matter to her in the slightest.

No one mattered to her but Tymon, her true mate. He was as old as vampires came and Destra had wanted him from the very first moment on.

Insanity had been surrounding her already then, but whenever he was around, he kept it at bay. His love, his blood; everything about him calmed her down enough to keep her psychotic breaks to a minimum. That and of course Nox, the guy that had kept her from the destiny that usually befell every Hellraise. Bloodlust and craziness hadn’t killed her yet and Tymon, her beloved, never had found out what she was.

Nox kept her eyes from glowing the predestined red and Tymon kept the hunger at bay. There was nothing better to have than a magician and a true mate.

Of course, she had lied to Tymon about who her parents were, how many siblings she had; but that lie couldn’t come back to bite her. She had made sure of that. Her parents were the first to go, then their precious son, the true Morningstar vampire.

She touched the window after entering her bedroom and wondered, not for the first time, how Tymon would react if he’d know.

With a short shake of the head she dismissed that thought. Coming clean was not an option. He wouldn’t understand. No one could. She wasn’t exactly the best citizen out there,

The only thing that so far had come between them, and always would be coming between them, was the thing she should be calling her daughter.

In contrary to her mate she had never bonded with anyone else; not with her oldest son and certainly not with her youngest daughter. She had been a picture of perfection, that baby, and Tymon had loved her against all odds.

Even knowing what she’d turn into, he couldn’t do the right thing. One look into her purple eyes and Tymon had been in love with her for all that it was worth.

It always was the same with her, no matter who they met or how many times Destra had pointed out what monster that brat would turn into, no one had believed her. In the end though even Tymon couldn’t close his eyes to his daughter’s destiny anymore and had taken her away.

What bothered her most though was that she hadn’t been killed right away. Instead Tymon had placed her in a HRC – Hellraise Rehabilitation Camp.

Those were camps that watched the kids until they were finally killed – only after being truly lost. It made Destra mad that no one had the balls to just off those children when they hadn’t really lived. No, they needed to be caught by bloodlust before that happened.

Of course, that had been her luck, but it didn’t change that she despised those camps. If there’d be any real men her brat would be dead and Tymon would be long over her death.

“Dessy!”

All tension left her body and insanity moved into a dark corner the moment Tymon entered the house.

She moved back into the hallway, waiting for him there, smiling. The smile faltered though when she saw her mate.

He was tall, and appeared threatening with his broad shoulders and razor short grey hair, but the truth was that he was as gentle as they came.

It was almost ironic since she loved brutality and violence.

“Tymon, you look terrible,” she said gently, reaching out to brush her finger over his brow. His emerald eyes weren’t shining that night and even though she hated it, their daughter and him shared this one prominent feature: Their eyes could draw people in, make them feel special. There was something sweet and gentle in them.

“It’s been a very long night. Someone brought a picture into the office. If I wouldn’t know better, I’d say Maya was still alive,” he whispered and Destra could feel the hope and desperation in his voice as if they were her own feelings.

In contrary to normal blood bonds, theirs didn’t work right. Usually couples felt whatever the other one felt, no matter how many miles apart they were. That was, they felt everything but love. No one knew why that didn’t work, but it didn’t really matter because you spent your life proving how much you loved your mate. Maya though, that useless brat, deserved no emotions at all.

Tymon and her could only feel each other’s feelings when they looked at each other. Destra guessed it was because insanity and bloodlust still were dominant in her, her body focused solely on that; Tymon thought it was because Destra felt everyone else’s feelings once she touched them.

No matter what it was, it had helped Destra keep her secret.

“Ty, I can’t believe you really think that. Maya is our youngest and yet she’s nearing thirty. No matter what, by now she is either dead or insane,” Destra said, forcing a hesitant pause into her words, making it sound as if the thought broke her heart.

“The hair, the nose…”

“Did she have purple eyes?” Destra wanted to know. Her bitch of a daughter knew she was hunted, so she surely had been careful and no one would have caught her eyes on tape. Those purple eyes were her biggest tell-tale.

“I didn’t see them. It couldn’t have been her anyways. That woman was with a Morningstar warrior and those never spent any time with… Hellraise. At least not without killing them.” His sadness showed in the way he just passed her, not giving her the usual quick kiss.

Anger flared up in her in all shades of red. No matter what she did, no matter what she tried; her youngest came in the way.

One thing was sure though. She had to keep Ty and her daughter apart, or she’d most likely lose him forever.

Maya was the only one who’d be able to convince her beloved mate that her mother was a true monster. And Maya did have enough stories to tell about that.

Destra closed her eyes, thinking that a talk with Nox would maybe bring an idea as to how to find her daughter. Maya had to meet her Creator and there was no way around it. Especially not if Morningstar warriors suddenly were by her side. It could only mean that the little bitch was fully sane and as sweet as always.

Destra thought she couldn’t hate her daughter more, but there, that moment, she was proven wrong.

Watching Jaden interact with the rest of the people in the compound broke Maya’s heart. She had needed to see someone, had snuck out of her room and now was standing in the doorway of what she considered their hangout. There was a pool table, an air hockey table and even a game of table soccer could be played there.

She was locked up in the Morningstar base for about seven days now and Jaden hadn’t returned to her room or talked to her at all. Even if he met her in the hall, he didn’t even look at her.

“Don’t worry about him,” Kaden said, appearing suddenly next to her. She continued watching Jaden, needing to see that he wasn’t the ass he seemed to be.

“Maya, I am sorry, but I need you to…” She turned to Jaden’s twin, seeing uneasiness on his face.

“I should go back to my room and stay away from everyone, right?” she asked, seeing him wince.

“I can bring you books so you won’t be bored,” he offered and even though it was seldom, her temper snapped.

“So I won’t be bored?
Bored?
” Her high-pitched voice went crazy and she wasn’t as much in control as she wished she’d be. In contrary, she sounded hysterical.

“Keep it down, Cupcake.” Jaden was by her side in no time, obviously thinking about reaching out to touch her, but then he reconsidered. It hurt her just as much as everything he had or rather hadn’t done in the last days.

“Don’t you dare come and talk to me now! I have been…”

In order to stop her tirade he obviously decided that picking her up and cradling her against his chest was the best way to shut her up. He wore an unreadable expression and as much as she wanted to be mad at him, wanted to hate him, she couldn’t when she was so close to him. If at all it made her realize how lonely she felt.

“Colbin wants you to stay put right here and away from the warriors. Can you do that?” he asked, placing her back on her own two feet in the room the warriors had assigned to her.

Jaden fixated a point somewhere over her shoulder, not even now looking at her. She couldn’t help herself, starting to hit his chest in a rapid succession. Again he was shirtless under his jacket, having probably returned from a hunt just some minutes before.

Her anger made her stronger and more in control of her body than she had been in a long time.

“You all have no idea what you are doing to me, do you? Aren’t you supposed to be the good guys? I’d rather be out in the world and running for my life than being caught up here another hour!”

He grabbed her hands so suddenly that she gasped in surprise. “You are here for your own protection,” he growled, his voice rough, almost emotional.

She doubted his words, but decided against saying so. Instead she figured that she could try to get more info out of him, now that she had gotten him alone.

He was still holding her wrists and even though she was mad at him, the part that was his mate couldn’t help but enjoy the touch.

Thinking about everything he had told her that first night had brought up more questions that she wanted answered now.

“It’s always the firstborn that turns into a good vampire,” she started, seeing how he eyed the door, ready to run. She had no intention of letting him go though.

“True,” he replied, sighing and settling down on the side of her bed while she kept walking up and down. Sitting was not an option for her.

“Which one of you was first born? You or Kaden?” she wanted to know and he took a deep breath.

It made her feel as if he had settled for keeping her company for now because she didn’t give him another choice.

Mates were a burden
, his words came back to her.

“It’s different with twins. We are both from the same zygote. One egg that was supposed to be one person.  So technically Kaden and I both are the firstborn. Thank the Creator. I could never live with myself if Kaden would have gone off the deep end. In many ways we are one,” he explained, his voice gentle. At least Jaden could love someone.

“Aren’t you worried when you two are out fighting? He could die each and every night,” she went on and he nodded.

“Sometimes it’s terrifying to think I could lose him like that, but…”

“Doesn’t stop you from fighting, right?”

She could tell by his expression that he considered his words with more caution now, guessing she had an angle. He didn’t look though as if he knew what it was yet.

It made her smile because maybe, just maybe she’d get him where she’d want him.

“If I consider a mission more dangerous than the others I make sure to watch his back more closely. Or I ask for a replacement,” he admitted and she picked up a brow.

“So, you actually do get distracted?” He nodded slowly. Maya took it in with satisfaction.

She never had been one to beg, but she was one for bringing the truth out.

“I’d never be out fighting. I’d always be home safe, so why do you consider me a burden when it is your brother that keeps you distracted?”

Shit. Jaden hadn’t seen that coming. His beautiful mate was obviously much more perceptive than he had given her credit for. He couldn’t help the little stab of pride that went through him any more than he could suppress the need to hold her close; touch her.