TIED (A Fire Born Novel) (24 page)

“Yes, and no,” my aunt said. “Your power is far greater than all those who walked before you. Your gifts breathe life into our world. One must always continue the life source here.”

“My mother.” I nodded, understanding.

“Until you were born, that was so. One light replaces another, but your power surpasses that of your mother. If the Fomore are able to destroy you, they destroy our world. They had hoped your father was the light bearer. They were wrong.”

My head dropped. No wonder my mother hid me. I turned to Max.

“You knew that’s why I’m being protected.”

He nodded.
“It was the reason. In the beginning.”

“All these lies. I’m being hunted by killers. Threatened. Expected to protect an entire race? Ludicrous. They made me believe I was losing my mind. For years!”

The pores on my arms twitched. Max pulled me into his grasp, running his hands down my arms, leaving a cooling sensation seeping into my skin. “Calm down, Lay.”

“Watch your temper, niece.”

I glared at my aunt, heat shooting through my limbs, too upset to speak. I wanted to leave, to disappear from the madness of the Otherworld.

“I am sorry if you wished for kinder words.” She raised her chin. “We are in crisis. Every day, we are steps closer to being destroyed. We are your people. This is your destiny. Anger will not erase the truth of who you are—or your purpose here.”

“My destiny? What destiny? I have no idea what I’m doing! I was shut out of this Realm. Hunted for reasons I’ve had no knowledge of. I owe nothing to you!” I yanked out of Max’s arms.

“Do you care nothing of our people? Your people?” My aunt whipped her robes around her body, thrusting her arms in the air. “Families and children? Are we so different than those who live and breathe on Earth? What of your cousin? What of Cara? Do you owe her nothing, as well?”

I clenched my fists, nails digging into skin. “I remembered nothing of this world until recently, and what I remember now seems to belong to someone else. I’ve been deceived for years.” My hands ached. “Lied to by everyone who meant anything to me. And now I am supposed to risk my life for you? This is not my fight!”

My aunt squared her shoulders and straightened her robes. “I understand you are upset, child. You have reason, but please know that you were raised away from this realm for your protection and nothing more. I have spoken to you through your dreams all your life. It was never my intention for you to be so unaware. These were your mother’s choices, not mine. You have had a home here since your birth.”

“So now, as payment for that protection, I’m supposed to fight for something I have nothing do to with? Protect myself from enemies I can’t even recognize? Everyone’s used me. For their own purpose. Their own gain. Raised me up like a fighting dog.”

“That is not so.” She turned to walk away. “Without you … we die.”

“You’re telling me I have to protect an entire race from destruction and bring peace to the realms. How? By killing Max? Is that the deal? Are you insane?” I screamed into the heavens, birds scuttling from treetops, and dropped my head, trying hard to rein in my anger.

My aunt stopped and bowed her head. “Your mother told you of the Legend?”

“She did. But not enough.”

She sighed and turned to face me. “Very well. It is your right to know. The Legend of the Fire Born is an ancient one, tied to an ancient belief. The last of the race, driven mad by the Raven residing inside her, placed a curse upon her death. It was believed that, one day, the Fire Born would rise again and reclaim the greatest power known to the gods, rekindling a millennia-old alignment of the worlds and ending the war among races.”

I glared at her. “I’ve heard that part.”

“You know the rhyme, then?”

I nodded. “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.”

Her mouth fell into a frown. “The Legend says a curse was placed upon the warring races, dooming them in order to punish the Kings and Queens for their hostile ways. The curse would awaken the Fire Born from the ashes of old and unleash the Raven. Children of the elementals, it was said. One infant child would hold the magic of fire, while the other would wield the power of wind.”

I glanced at Max. His mouth tightened into a straight line, and he reached for my hand, our bracelets touching.

The Queen’s gaze swept over our wrists, and she sighed. “Twin Souls, they say, of equal strength and power, whose love for each other, stronger than any, would be cursed to destroy one another, thereby restoring the peace. A terrible punishment. A terrible loss.” She let out a deep breath, her eyes closing. “You were supposed to meet only on the fateful day of battle, upon which time, each of you would recognize your soul in the other.” Her head bowed. “My great aunt’s way of avenging her love lost to battle.” She gave a forced smile. “You are the other’s sworn enemy.”

Enemy?

The punch of reality stole all my air.

Max stood at my side, rigid and pale, jaw clenched. I couldn’t even tell if he breathed. Our wet clothes dripped onto our feet, and time seemed to cease to exist.

I could set fire to the forest. I could run, fly away and never look back. Steal Max and leave forever. It’s an option.

“Teine, child, the anger you feel must be controlled. Many before you have been driven mad by the magic of fire. It will consume you, if you allow it, and the Raven will take over. You must control her, or she will bend you to her control.”

Max squeezed our entwined fingers, staring toward my aunt. “We’ll choose our own path from here.”

23

Two days left of the school year, and I resembled a zombie walking across campus. After searching the hallways, I’d made my way outside and spotted Devon’s truck parked but empty. Besides end-of-year finals, which I’d barely studied for, he was the only reason I’d come to school. No one would’ve missed me if it weren’t for testing. Since dance classes ended for the year after the Spring Show, Ms. Trudy wouldn’t have been looking for me either.

Benny marched toward me from across the lawn, and I plowed back through the front entrance, away from her questioning glare.

I noticed Devon immediately, standing alone in the hallway by the lockers, and stopped in front of him, breathless. “You’re breaking up with Dena.”

“What?” He rolled his eyes.

“Are you insane? What are you thinking dating
her
?” I needed to impress upon him the urgency of the situation
without
telling him his new girlfriend wasn’t Dena at all, but a demon from the Irish Underworld. Other students gave me a wide berth as they passed by.

“Damn, Layla.” Devon lowered his voice. “If I knew I could get a rise like this out of you, I’d have paid a little more attention to Dena when you and I were still dating.”

I ground my teeth.

“Kidding!” He laughed. “You know I’m kidding—well, sort of.” He grinned, clearly seeming much more smug about our breakup.

“I would stop while you’re ahead.” Benny worked her combination a few lockers down. “Layla’s been a bit …
fiery
as of late.”

“Shut up, Benny.”

“Don’t go directing your anger towards me, Lay.” She shoved some books in her backpack and shut her locker. “You coming, or are you going to stand here and blow a fuse?” She raised her eyebrow, blue eyes darkening.

“I’m coming.” Teeth still gritted, I left Devon and his gloating smile.

“Layla, you can’t lose it around normal people,” Benny said as she ducked through the door ahead of me. “You need to get some control.”

“I’m in control.” I stomped around a cluster of students standing on the steps.

Benny smiled at me over her shoulder. “Really?”

Sort of. No, not really.

I followed her across campus toward the parking lot, a combination of sulkiness, rage and jealousy embedding in my gut. “Are we going to talk about this?”

“Which part?” She didn’t stop or look back as she hoofed the grassy hill a few feet in front of me. “The fact that your anger has awakened the Raven, or that the Leanaan Sidhe almost killed Max? Or are you still jealous that Devon is dating someone else?”

I stopped walking. “You forgot the part about me protecting the Otherworld and being cursed to kill or be killed—or worse, Max and I will just kill each other, to end the war between races. A war I know almost nothing about. Not that it matters.”

She turned around. “He’s only dating her to get under your skin.”

“I don’t care. He’s dating a demon! An unhinged Vampyre demon!”

“Yeah, he is.”

“Why are you being so nonchalant? She will
kill
him.” My words stung, stabbing at my heart. “He can’t fight back!” I sank down into the grass, my weight suddenly becoming more than my legs could bear. “It’s my fault, too. I did this.” The reality of the situation fell over me like toppling bricks. “He will never be able to fight her. Max couldn’t.” My head dropped like a weight into my hands.

Benny exhaled and sat next to me.

“I did a bad thing, Ben. And now Devon’s in danger.”

“Don’t beat yourself up.” She patted me on the back. “You did the right thing, and sometimes it’s the hardest thing to do, but it isn’t bad. We’ll deal with all of this. And the Leanaan Sidhe, well … if we’re lucky she’ll just … disappear. No one has seen her.”

I glanced over. “If she just
disappears
—she could take the real Dena with her.”

Benny rose to her feet. “Not that I care or anything, but you hate Dena.”

“That doesn’t mean I want her dead.”

She shrugged and pulled me to my feet. “Fair enough. This should make you feel a little better then—”

“What?”

“Dena was seen wandering the beach near your mom’s house mumbling to herself. No one is supposed to know—but, she’s in the hospital.”

“The hospital? People are falling like flies because of me. Mr. Jones? That’s my fault, too, right?”

“
None
of this is your fault, Lay, stop. Mr. Jones was under the possession of the Leanaan Sidhe when you met with him about extra math help, yes, but he’s recovering now. And we know Dena’s safe.” She bent down and picked up my backpack off the ground. “It’ll be okay. Let’s get out of here.”

“Wait.” I stopped, my hand in mid-reach for my backpack. “I thought the boundary lines had been set around the school?” My eyes unfocused, and focused past her into the tree line.

“Well, yeah. They are.”

My head shook. “They aren’t.” I took off toward the trees.

“Where are you going?” She hurried up beside me.

“The oaks. Doesn’t it seem a little strange to anyone else that the Leanaan Sidhe got to Devon and Dena? And to Mr. Jones? She came through the forest. There’s a breach somewhere.”

“Lay, stop.” She reached for my arm, but I pulled it away and continued walking. “Stop!” She grabbed me again. “Maybe there is a breach. I don’t know, but we’re not going in there to find out. I’ll ask Sam to check it out.”

“We’re right here.” I pointed at the few extra yards it would take us to reach the tree line. “What are you afraid of?”

She raised her eyebrow and tilted her head to the side with a grin. “I’m not
afraid
of anything. It’s my job to keep you safe, and safe is what I plan to keep you. Sam will check it out.” She tugged on my elbow.

I relented. “Fine.”

Her eyes lit up as she glanced past me. “I thought your boyfriend had orders from Grandma Mac to recover from any lingering poison in bed?” She nodded toward the parking lot.

I swung around. Max’s car faced us, all the windows rolled down, his feet sticking out the driver’s side window. I threw my backpack over my shoulder. “I’ll call you later, Ben.”

“You need to take him back.” She crossed her arms.

He sat lounging in the driver’s seat, a playful smirk lifting the corner of his mouth as I walked closer.

“You’re supposed to be in bed.” I leaned in through the open window.

He grinned. “It’s not as much fun if you’re not beside me.”

My faced flushed, and I caught sight of Devon across the parking lot by his truck. His gloating smile from earlier vanished as his gaze pulled away from mine.

Max followed my gaze and sat upright. “Something you need to tell me?” He raised his eyebrows.

I sighed, unsure how to answer.

“
Is
there something you need to tell me?” His forehead creased, and he sounded both angry and nervous.

I grinned a little in spite of myself.
“Are you jealous?”

“Just answer the question, Lay.”

My smile widened. “You are, aren’t you?”

He shifted in his seat, eyeing me, clearly not seeing any of the humor.

I laughed and rolled my eyes. “You’re not serious?”

“Why wouldn’t I be? You dated him for a long time.” He crossed his arms over his chest.

I leaned in through the window again, holding his gaze, and gently kissed the corner of his mouth. “I want
you
,” I whispered. His eyes closed, a soft smile relaxing his face as I kissed the other side of his mouth. “Only
you
.” I lightly brushed my lips along his. “Just
you
.” A grin spread across my face as I watched him open his eyes. “Okay?”

He nodded, dreamily. “You make my knees weak,” he whispered, softly running his thumb across my bottom lip.

I opened the door and snuck inside, sitting on his lap and letting him kiss me. “I missed you today.”

“Good.” He glanced toward the other side of the parking lot, where Devon loaded his backpack into his truck. “I was starting to wonder …”

“Ha! I knew you were jealous.”

“You like that, don’t you?” He tickled me.

“A little.”

I repositioned my arms around his neck and inspected his face. “No offense, but you look kind of … green. Have you eaten anything?”