TIED (A Fire Born Novel) (18 page)

Wars were won and lost between the Fomorians and the Tuatha Dé Danaan, and the animosity is still believed to be strong.

Of course, all of these belief systems are based on little more than ancient bits of supposed witnessed accounts and old texts. Most believe them to be nothing more than myth and legend. Research into these ancient races has proven little. Today, these ideas are nothing more than popular titles for video games and comic books.

Leaning back in my chair, I stared at the screen glowing brightly in the dark room. Site after site, page after page, all said the same thing. Myth and legend. Folklore. Bedtime stories. Wives tales. No proof.

I closed the laptop. Proof didn’t matter. I knew the Tuatha Dé Danaan were my people. How or why, I had no idea. Something inside me just said it felt right.

A blanket lay draped across the end of the bed. I threw it on the armchair, searched for a pillow in the closet, and settled down in a daze.

Max’s breathing remained ragged and drawn. Scooting the chair closer to the bed, I draped my arm over his, allowing his warmth to penetrate my body and the steady music to drown my thoughts, my confusion, and the overwhelming sense of loss I didn’t understand embedding itself in my heart.

••

A forest canopy soars high above my head; tree branches crisscross one another, forming a makeshift ceiling. Sunlight cascades through the branches, bathing my mother’s smiling face in a warm yellow light.

A little girl, no more than two years old, runs laughing through the trees.

I chase after her.
Cara.

My aunt stands in the sun watching us play and beckons to me with a smile and open arms. I run to her.

A crown adorns my mother’s mass of long golden hair. She watches me build sandcastles on the beach.

A boy crouches beside me, a toy shovel held in his hand.

Turrets rise high above the sea in the distance, a castle keeping protective watch over its shoreline. Its shining crystal gates catch the sun and sparkle down on us from the hilltop.

My mother takes my hand, and we walk through the forest. The rush of waterfalls cascades close by. Gardenias grow on their banks. Sweet perfume floods the air. I breathe it in.

Darkness falls.

My mother grips my hand in hers. Clawing branches reach for us as we run. Oak trees with faces leer as we race by. Tears cascade down my face.

A man runs beside us. “Go now, child. Go with your mother. It will be all right.” He gives me a sorrowful smile and turns away.

“Dad?”

“Go on, now. Be safe,” he says, before he fades into the trees.

“Don’t go!” I try to tug free from my mother’s grasp, but she pulls me back, away from him. “Wait!”

“Go, child.” Sadness weighs the whispered words.”Find MacKenzie. He will be looking for you. Don’t lose each other. He is your Tie to this world.”

An explosion engulfs the forest. My mother throws me to the ground. I turn back, but my father’s voice is gone, as is he, lost in the black ash of charred trees and underbrush.

We run through the darkness, tripping on tree roots. Burning heat licks at my heels. Tears trail down my face, and I spin. Falling. Through nothing, and everything. Trees whir by in a blur of green and black. Sounds fade to a steady buzz like crickets in my ears. My feet slam into the ground.

My mother stands over my bed, a cup in her hand. The same cup every night.

“I don’t want to drink that.” I turn my head away.

“You have to, Teine. It will make you have sweet dreams.”

Irish music plays softly in my room. My favorite songs. “Where is Max?” I ask, drinking from the cup.

“You don’t know anyone named Max.”

But … yes I do. He’s my friend. My best friend.

• • •

I sprang from my chair, staggering to my feet, my heart hammering, head spinning, nausea welling up again.

Squinting, I brought the dark room into focus.

Max.
Stroking his arm, I sank back down in the chair, entwining my fingers through his, caressing the back of his hand with my thumb and slowing my breaths.

Just a bad dream.

Beyond the bedroom windows, the sun’s orange light barely peeked above the ocean’s horizon.

It couldn’t have been later than five o’clock in the morning. Besides the soft music playing in the background, the early morning remained almost silent.

No dreams when the music played, but I did dream.

Like an old fashioned movie reel, the vision repeated in my mind. Scene by scene. All flying by in a flashed blur of muted color.

“You okay?” Max’s voice startled me, yanking my attention back into the still bedroom.

“Yeah, I just … I-I’m fine. You can go back to sleep. I’m sorry I woke you.”

He held his arms out. “Lay with me.”

A smile touched my lips as he pulled me down beside him, wrapping his arms around my body. My dream hovered close to the surface, important somehow, but Max’s steady breathing brushed along the back of my neck, causing shivers to run across my shoulders, and wiped the dream away in one swift motion.

I rolled over, facing him, watching his hair fall across his eyes as he dozed, his face framed by the warm radiance of the slowly rising sun. I rested my arm over his waist, my gaze settling on his neck, the bites shining scarlet against his golden skin. Lightly trailing my fingertips across them, I leaned closer, and kissed them one by one, hoping my touch would heal them, somehow. His breathing hitched, and I slowly pulled away.

His grey eyes glinted in the darkness, and as I rested my head back on the pillow, a sleepy smile touched his mouth.

“I didn’t mean to hurt you,” I whispered.

He shook his head slightly, his gaze never leaving mine. “You didn’t.”

Warmth permeated my body as he swept the loose strands of hair from my face, his touch sending tiny shocks across my skin, creating a low vibration between us. He caressed my jaw with his thumb and brushed his mouth against my lips, under my chin, down my neck.

I gasped when he rolled on top of me, his mouth trailing back to mine. A breeze blew against my face. My hands slid down his back, over his waist and under his shirt. The windows rattled in their frames, and with a swift push of his arms, Max forced himself off of me, and sat back on his knees with heavy breaths, face flushed.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean …” He sighed, dragging his hand through his hair.

I sat up. “Why are you apologizing?”

His gaze carried across my bare thighs, and he rubbed his eyes, glancing away. “I just … I don’t want you think that this … that I …” He inhaled a deep breath and stared up at the ceiling. “You mean everything to me, Lay. I don’t want anything from you. I just want … you.”

My face burned, heart thundering in my chest as I pushed up to my knees. “You have me.”

He glanced down. “I could’ve lost you last night.”

“But you didn’t.” I leaned into him and grazed the corner of his mouth with mine.

A moan escaped his throat as he returned the kiss, cradling my back, leaning me against the pillows. Shivers radiated up my spine at his touch, as his body lowered onto mine, his weight resting on his hands.

I pulled him closer, closing any space between us, my fingers trailing down his sides, slipping under the hem of his shirt. He cupped my jaw in his hand, kissing me harder.

Lamps rattled on the night tables. Rain lashed at the windows.

My breathing hitched, and a window exploded like a gunshot, showering us in shards of glass. Max dropped himself like a one-hundred-eighty pound weight on top of me, covering my body, my face, with his own.

“Dammit.” He grinned down at me. “We shattered a window. Are you cut?”

“We? What?”
What is he talking about, we?

“Are you cut?” He raised his eyebrows.

“No. Are you?”

“I’m fine.”

Benny burst through the doorway, droopy eyed and wobbly on her feet. Sam stood at her heels. Tristan landed with a thud on the bedroom balcony, as Justice came in through the busted window.

“What are you guys doing in here?” Benny glanced toward us, snapping out of her sleepy trance. “Well,” she said, catching her breath, her hand over her chest. “I guess that part of the Legend is true.” She shrugged and closed the door behind her with a snap.

Justice backed up on his tiptoes, avoiding stepping on any glass. “Yeah, man, sorry. We’re out. Just … pretend we were never here.” He walked outside on the balcony next to Tristan, both of them taking flight.

I glanced up at Max. “What part of the Legend is true?”

A slight grin touched his mouth. “Well … that’s something else we need to talk about.”

“Okay …”

He exhaled in a long, drawn out sigh. “You want to talk about this now? It’s like … what, five o’clock in the morning?”

“You weren’t concerned with the time a few minutes ago.” I smirked.

He groaned, picked me up off the bed and walked out in the hallway. Setting me on my feet, his gaze swept across his T-shirt. “You look good in my clothes.” He shook his head, glancing toward my bare legs again, and turned away. “Stay here.”

I stood in the hallway, waiting while he cleaned off the bed and the floor, and he picked me up again, carried me back to the bed, and sat down beside me.

“So … when you say the Legend, you mean, why things are being … blown apart?” He cringed. “Is that what you’re asking?”

“Yes.”

He cleared his throat.

“From the ashes of old,

They shall rise.

The last of the Ancients,

Foe and Ally.

The Legend lies in wait,

And bides its time.

Until at last the day comes,

For the children Born of Fire.”

“Okay …” I eyed him, smiling.

“The Fire Born were a race of Ancients, or ársa in Irish. Older even than the Celtic Gods. Legend said that one day the ársa would return from the ashes and reclaim the greatest power known to the gods, ending the war of the races and restoring peace to the Otherworlds. Supposedly, they had the power to destroy things—even each other, if they got too close. If they weren’t careful.” He eyed me. “I never gave that part any thought until the first time you kissed me.” He grinned. “The windows shook then, too.”

“I remember.” I gazed up at him.

“Most believe the Fire Born are a myth passed down through the generations. Most believe they never existed.”

“Right …” I found myself drowning in the hypnotic rhythm of his voice.

He held his hand out between us, a bracelet resting in his palm. “Do you remember this?” Three dark leather bands, one weaving across the other, created a winding rope of loops. No beginning, and no end.

I tentatively touched it, as though it would shock me, running my fingertips across the smooth supple leather, tears filling my eyes. “I remember.”

He wiped my cheek as the tears flowed. “I’ve been waiting to give it back to you.” He coiled the bracelet around my wrist. “It’s the symbol of the Fire Born. It means eternity.”

I nodded, unable to speak through the lump in my throat. “We wore these when we were little.” My voice caught. “I cried for weeks when I lost mine.” The memories came rushing at me. “My mother told me it was just some old piece of rope that frayed away and fell off.” I tried to catch my breath as I gazed up at his warm face. “But … how did you find it?”

He pushed his hand into his jeans pocket and pulled out another strip of leather. “They sort of found me.”

I let out a breath, my hand hovering over the second bracelet, identical to mine.

“Your father said I put yours on you, and—”

“I put yours on you, and together we forge the Tie.” The words left my mouth before I knew what I was saying. Blood drained from my face, dizziness overcoming my thoughts.

Max caressed my hand. “I’m glad you remember, Lay. I was afraid that maybe—” He shrugged.

I looked up at him. “I’ve never forgotten you.”

He blushed. “So …” He held out his left arm.

I picked up the worn bracelet, encircling it over his wrist, and he entwined our fingers, holding each other’s hand. Warmth bled through me, a slight breeze ruffling my hair, and Max leaned in, resting his forehead against mine before kissing me softly. “Now it’s official. Together again. Finally.”

Benny busted back into the bedroom. “We have an issue.” She grabbed my shoes off the floor and threw them at me. “You need to get downstairs.”

“What’s wrong?” Max asked.

Loud voices rose from somewhere in the house. Yelling.

Benny pointed at me. “Your mom is downstairs.”

My heart sank. “I thought you called her and explained, Ben!”

“I did.” She pointed at Max. “You, stay up here.” He opened his mouth, presumably to argue, but Benny held up a finger. “Trust me.” She opened the bedroom door and stopped, rolling her eyes. “Put some clothes on, Lay.”

17

Sam blocked the open doorway, facing the front yard.

“I will get louder!” My mother’s voice did exactly that as she peered around Sam’s shoulder. “Teine!” She rushed forward, pushing Sam aside, and knocking Benny out of the way to get to me. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine, Mom. What’re you doing here?”

Benny rubbed her eyes. “Ms. LaBelle, I told you there was no need to worry. We controlled the situation. Everyone is fine.” She glanced toward Sam who took up his position in the doorway again.

“Don’t look to Sam for rescue. Your boyfriend tried to keep me from coming into the house!” My mother glanced back toward Sam. “Shut the door, or do you wish to let all manner of the Underworld inside these walls?”

What did she just say?

“Mom?”

“Do you think I know not what has happened?” she asked, advancing further. “You believe I am oblivious to your rekindling?” She pursed her lips, pacing. “I will not stand by, pretending to be ignorant, while my daughter is being hunted. Where is MacKenzie?” She glanced around the room. “Is he safe?”

I stared at her, not comprehending the words coming from her mouth.

“Ms. LaBelle,” Benny said, in a tentative tone. “Sam has been protecting us. The boundaries are sound here. Nothing will get in, and Max is upstairs asleep.”