Total pages in book: 100
Estimated words: 114247 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 571(@200wpm)___ 457(@250wpm)___ 381(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 114247 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 571(@200wpm)___ 457(@250wpm)___ 381(@300wpm)
My fingers tensed at my side, then, drawing in a fortifying breath, I shyly reached out my hand, but at last minute pulled it back. Viking's head shot up. He stared at me, then his lip hooked up at the corner, giving me a whisper of a smile.
“I am staying with Flame.”
Viking released a long pent up breath.
“Maddie,” Mae cautiously offered, “No one expects you to stay. You have already helped Flame beyond all of our expectations.”
In an instant my back straightened and I got to my feet. I glimpsed Styx, silently watching me, his dark features tracking my every move. But I kept tight hold of my will.
“I am staying,” I emphasized.
Mae got to her feet. “Why, Maddie?”
I turned to my sister and said, “Because that is my Flame in there. And he needs me. No one else. Me.”
“Your Flame?” she whispered, and her head tilted to the side.
I felt a blush coat my cheeks and I shrugged. “That is how I regard Flame. As mine. From the moment I was able to touch him, and he touched me, I was claimed. I have been his this whole time.”
Dusting off my long skirt, giving my anxious hands something to do, I asked Mae, “Please can you bring us some food? Ingredients to make soup? And things to clean his cabin?”
Mae nodded numbly. Styx reached out and, wrapping an arm around her chest, pulled her flush against his. His lips moved to her ear. He whispered something only the two of them could hear. Mae’s eyes closed, but she sighed and nodded her head.
“I shall bring them down straight away Maddie,” Mae announced.
“Thank you.” Mae glanced to Ky, AK and Viking, then back to me. “Are you okay to stay here while I get what you have asked for?”
I nodded my head.
Mae and Styx quickly disappeared into the woods, leaving me alone with the three men. I stood, head down, playing with my hands, when Viking cleared his throat and spoke.
“You need to be direct when you speak to him.” Curious at that instruction, I raised my head, only to see Ky and AK join Viking.
AK glanced at Viking, then focused on me. “He doesn’t get subtlety. If you want something from him, ask him outright. Don’t hint at it, because he won’t understand. If you want to know what he’s thinking, ask him. He might not tell you, the brother doesn’t say much, but he just might. And he’s shy, real shy. He’ll struggle to be around you, to know how to act. But if you talk to him or look busy, it chills him out. And fuck, if he gets out of this shitstorm he’s in, and he cuts himself, don’t stare. He gets real self-conscious.”
“He doesn’t really show emotion either. If he’s happy, which honestly, I don’t think he’s ever been, or if he’s sad, his face won’t change. But you’ll know if he’s angry. He can’t seem to contain that shit. It eats him up when he’s angry. The flames… they burn more when he’s pissed,” Viking added.
I exhaled, not realizing that I had not breathed while they spoke to me. My hand lifted to press against my forehead.
Viking ducked down from his impressive height to catch my eye. “You get that, Madds?”
I nodded my head, trying desperately to remember everything that had been offered, when I tentatively asked, “Why… why is he like that?”
AK’s face tightened, a protective expression adorning his features. “Just the way he is, Maddie. Flame’s different. But it don’t make him any less fucking important.”
“Look, Madds. Flame just thinks different to you and me. Probably some condition he’s got, that he was born with. But he don’t know what that is, and honestly, even if I thought I knew what it could be, it’s none of my fucking business. He’s Flame. He’s my fucking brother, condition or not.”
If the situation had been different, I would have smiled at how much they seemed to care for Flame.
Silence fell on the three of us after that, Viking and AK moving to sit on chairs outside another cabin. Then my heart sank to my feet when I saw a third chair empty. In my mind’s eye I pictured the three best friends sitting out here at night, before Flame came to stand guard below my window.
My eyes sought out the wooden door to Flame’s cabin. I wondered if Flame knew how loved he was? I suspected strongly he did not. I imagined that whichever dark thoughts imprisoned him made it impossible for him to see.
“You holding up, Madds?”
Whipping my head to the side, Ky was leaning up against the cabin, foot on the wall, cigarette in hand. I nodded my head, and fixed my stare on the line of the trees, willing Mae to hurry up and return.
“You sure ‘bout that?” Ky pushed.
“Yes,” I whispered and watched as Ky’s eyes narrowed their focus on me. He took a drag of his cigarette, then exhaled a large puff of smoke. And watching him made me think of Lilah. Of their journey. Lilah was so damaged. I was damaged. So damaged that I knew I would be alone for the rest of my life. And I was content with that. Lilah had been too. Yet Ky won Lilah’s heart. As damaged as she was, even after she hurt herself, after she scarred her face, he wanted her above all others. And he secured her hand under God.
Ky did not move, his eyes stayed forward, but he asked, “Just ask it, Madds. Whatever’s on your fucking mind.”
Feeling heat infuse my face at being caught, I plucked up the courage to ask, “You love Lilah,” I said quietly.
Ky threw his cigarette to the ground, then turned to me, smiling his pretty smile. “That a question or a statement, sugar?”
“A question,” I replied.
Ky’s smile faded and he nodded his head. “She’s my fucking life, Madds. I love that bitch to death.”
“Even though she is damaged? Even after what happened to us—, to her, at The Order? It is not too much for you to cope with?”