Page 68 of Fated By Fire
“Met with M.S. again today. He’s insistent, but I don’t know if I can continue down this path. The weight of tradition presses heavily, but is it worth the cost?”
M.S. I used to think it was some boyfriend she was too shy to introduce me to—a secret romance she’d reveal when the time was right. But now, with everything Caleb’s told me, the initials take on a sinister clarity.
Malakai Steele.
“Dammit,” I whisper, anger knotting in my stomach. Had Caleb known? Was he aware that his clan’s elder had been manipulating my mother?
I turn the page.
“I had such a strange feeling of being watched today. Guess that’s what happens when you drink too much coffee. I’ll be popping out of my skin if I hit too much of that espresso.”
I’ve read the line so many times before and it always made me smile. Mom was so quirky. But now, it takes on a different flavor. Sinister. Because I suddenly realize that it’s very likely someonewaswatching her.
“Oh, Mom,” I whisper, my finger tracking along with the words I’m reading.
“I’m supposed to ‘honor the promises’ and ‘maintain the family traditions.’ But what about Elena? She’s mine. She’ll always be mine!”
My heart stutters. I hadn’t thought about this before, but did this entry mean something else? I just thought she’d written it as a single mother who was a bit clingy after breaking away from her family. I didn’t know much about them except that they’d had a falling out, and she’d left. But was it something else? What promises had been made? And why was she so adamant that I was hers? Was Mom worried about someone taking me? Someone like Malakai?
I scan the final entry, dated the very day she vanished.
“Confronted M today. He didn’t take it well. I have to make a choice. For her sake.”
A tear slips down my cheek, blurring the ink on the page. My mother’s last act was to protect me from them—from Malakai and the rest of the dragons. From Caleb’s people.
A surge of betrayal washes over me. Did Caleb know about this? Has he been keeping more secrets?
He said that Malakai was working alone, but how could that be the case when this thing with my family had been going on for so long? How could he not have known?
I shove the journal away, standing up so abruptly that the chair topples over backward. The sudden movement sends a jolt through me, and I pause, a strange sensation prickling at the edge of my awareness.
He’s coming.
I don’t know how I know, but I do. A tension fills the air, a warmth filling my chest that feels too much like joy for my liking. My heart accelerates, anger mingling with anticipation that annoys me even further.
Moments later, the cabin door swings open, and Caleb strides in. His eyes blaze with barely restrained fury, his jaw set in a hard line.
“Elena,” he says. There’s an edge to his voice that makes my hackles rise.
“Caleb.” I cross my arms over my chest, meeting his gaze head-on. “Didn’t expect you back so soon.”
“I’ll bet you didn’t.” His words are clipped, each one like a shard of ice. “Care to explain this?” He tosses his phone onto the table between us.
I glance down at the screen to see Mara’s face, animated and intense, as she delves into her latest conspiracy theory: dragons among us, shadows in the corporate world, all tied back to Craven Industries.
My stomach drops.
Fuck. Shit. Fuck!
Dammit, Mara!
“I can explain,” I say, still determined to cling to my own righteous rage. My words are hollow because I can’t explain at all. I made a mistake in telling Mara.
“Please do,” he says, sarcasm dripping from each syllable. “Because your friend just broadcasted to the world everything we’ve been trying to keep hidden.”
I bristle at his accusatory tone. “She’s not just ‘my friend.’ She’s important to me, and I needed to let her know I was okay.”
“And maybe give her the inside scoop on a secret we’ve kept for centuries?” He spits the words.
