Set In Flames (Morningstars Book 1) (5 page)

“Hold on, buddy. I meant I want to ship her off to Hawaii, knowing she’s safe and bored there, not that she needs to lie with the worms.”

Ryder had the decency to look truly sorry. “Not gonna happen, dude,” he whispered, knocking on the big double doors that marked the entry to their leader’s private quarters.

“Enter,” Colbin commanded from inside, making the doors open just with a thought.

Lara stood at his side, looking pale and yet truly happy, while Colbin looked as grave as they came.

“How is she?”

“Resting,” Jaden said with a curt nod and Colbin acknowledged his words with a deep breath.

“We need to kill her as soon as we can,” Ryder said, his voice breaking. Jaden went ice cold at his words, wanting to rip him apart even though he was his best friend. He knew Ryder was a good fighter and a deadly enemy, but he never had thought his best friend would kill innocents like Maya.

“For what reason? You haven’t even met her yet! I mean, I don’t wanna be responsible for her, but I sure as hell won’t allow anyone to kill her just because she was unfortunate enough to run into me,” Jaden forced out, trying hard not to growl. He wanted to shake his best friend until he made sense again.

Colbin looked at them as if he couldn’t decide what to say first. Finally he focused on Ryder.

“Killing her won’t go onto anyone’s account. She’ll die soon anyways if…”

“What?”

Even though Ryder had suggested her death just mere seconds ago he paled visibly at Colbin’s words.

“How?”

Wasn’t that the question Jaden was supposed to ask? He was bonded to her, not Ryder. And he still didn’t want her dead, no matter what.

“She’ll die if she’s not turned. Her body shows all the signs, right? I never bothered with the specifics of that whole changing business, but she said something about her vision changing and her hearing being influenced, too, and then…” Jaden shook his head. “Colbin, how does this Origin business work?”

“It’s a slow death. She’s changing and needs blood if she’s a normal vamp. As an Origin she needs her partner’s blood or her body simply will give in. Hunger pangs that nothing can ease; thirst that won’t go away and she’ll feel ice cold no matter how hot it is. It’s not pretty,” Ryder explained before Colbin even had taken a breath.

“You saw it before,” Lara whispered and Jaden saw how his best friend nodded gravely. He noticed, too, how Ryder made fists at his side just to keep himself from shaking.

“I saw both versions … vampire and Origin. I saw vampire dying because she didn’t get blood and an Origin because the guy she belonged to refused to give her his blood. They knew there wouldn’t be off-spring and they didn’t…” He looked like a ghost and Jaden wondered what he was missing here.

If anyone knew Ryder’s story, it was Colbin, but even their leader seemed shocked into silence.

“That vamp, if you were there, why didn’t you help her?” Jaden heard the anger in Lara’s voice, could see it in the tight lines of her beautiful face.

Ryder turned away, but not too soon for Jaden to notice the haunted look in his eyes.

“She was my sister. She didn’t want to turn into what our mom was. She didn’t want to become a monster, so I didn’t help her. I just stayed by her side so she knew she wasn’t alone,” Ryder whispered, but Jaden knew that only his supernatural hearing had made him pick the words up at all.

“A Hellraise with two kids. That must be close to a wonder,” Lara remarked and Jaden knew that Hellraise barely had enough control to conceive one child, let alone more.

“Five. I had four siblings,” Ryder admitted, drawing a gasp from the rest of the little group.

“Impossible,” Jaden mumbled when no one else did.

“I wish. My mother is pretty sane for an insane person and my father is devoted to her. After I joined the Order I went and tried to kill her, but…” Ryder didn’t even need to finish. Jaden couldn’t imagine going out to kill his parents, no matter what they had done.

“You’ve been with us for more than fifty years and you never mentioned any siblings. I assume they are all dead?” Colbin asked, his tone deep with authority. He wouldn’t be happy about a warrior knowingly leaving monsters to roam even if they were his family.

In the case of Ryder not being able to kill them, at least the Order should have kept an eye on them to prevent the worst.

“I thought so. I met their last child about ten years ago for the last time. Before that she was so little, so innocent, so sweet … I just couldn’t do anything and I knew no one else would be able to, either. Ten years ago I tried again and … she didn’t know who I was or what she was. A Morningstar family had taken her in when she had been about three or so. She thought she was human. Still did when I met her again. I couldn’t do it, so I sent someone else. Obviously he couldn’t do it, either,” Ryder explained, his look apologetic and yet heartbroken. Jaden could see he was mourning the sister he never had spent much time with.

“We get it, it’s not so easy to kill someone even if you know what they’ll do,” Jaden snapped, feeling more agitated by the minute. “Look, Ry, I’m sorry, I truly am, but we came here because we had more pressing matters at hand. If what you said in the beginning is true, then I need to … we need to do something for Maya.” He was the only one who could turn her, he realized.

“Tell me, Jaden, Maya and you, is there something we need to know?” Colbin asked, his tone implying that he already knew. Ryder vibrated with anger next to Jaden and it made him nervous.

“You two don’t get it,” his best friend growled, but Jaden decided to ignore him.

“You know, so don’t try that bullshit on me. What do I do?” Jaden felt desperate suddenly, hoping he didn’t sound like it. “I mean, what do we do? We can’t let her die here, can we?”

“No one is turning her, dammit! Maya is my sister! If we turn her, we doom her!”

Never in his life had Jaden felt as if he needed to sit down, but now a chair appeared to be the best thing on earth.

“Matt was supposed to do her in before she did things she might come to regret, but she was the sweetest girl and … no matter what though, we can’t turn her! If you still do it, I’m gonna kill her myself.” Tears of anger were in Ryder’s eyes, but Jaden could tell that he was serious. He would do whatever was necessary.

And so would Jaden.

“You won’t touch her, Ryder,” Jaden said, the low threat coming out loud and clear nonetheless.

“You don’t get it, Jay,” Ryder pleaded, but Jaden only wanted to strangle him.

“Shut it, both of you! Jaden, would you be ready to fulfill the bond? To turn her?”

Ryder turned to him, his eyes pleading. “Don’t, Jay. I’m begging you,” he whispered and Jaden never had seen his best friend like that. It broke his heart and still, his mind was set.

“She’ll survive and she won’t go insane! Don’t you see? A child that is not first born, but still an Origin? Not yet insane even though she’s nearing the thirty years?” Lara’s voice was intense as she squeezed herself in between the males and all their testosterone.

“Dearest Creator, she’s…” Ryder gasped.

Jaden still missed out on what he needed to know unless… “She’s the Queen?” It was impossible, so unreal that he could just shake his head.

“If you commit to it, she won’t be much of a responsibility for you at all. The Queen is turned and then moves away into a different mansion, opening her house to all Origins who need it; for example the widowed ones and the mistreated; the ones with kids. She’ll provide a safe haven for whoever needs it. You just would have to drop by there every now and then for the blood exchange. You wouldn’t even have to worry about her because she’ll always be protected.” Still Colbin sounded worried. Did he fear Jaden would turn him down? Or did he worry his conclusion wasn’t right after all?

“If she becomes my mate she’ll be out of my hair? That doesn’t sound logical,” Jaden fussed, still feeling how a certain peace came over him. He wasn’t ready for a mate and a baby that might come with it, but for some reason it sounded nice to be bound to her. No one else would ever bother him about finding someone again and he’d be finally truly free.

“The Queen never has a family of her own and you won’t be responsible for protecting her, so yes, she’s out of your hair,” Colbin explained and Lara took his arm.

“A new generation of Morningstars. This is truly a day to celebrate,” she all but sobbed. Women just were too damn emotional.

“She won’t die,” Ryder whispered, then he spun on his heels, being out of the room in no time. Jaden couldn’t help but envy him for being as far away from this conversation as possible.

“Are you sure it’s the right decision to not turn her right away?” Lara asked after Jaden had left. They had agreed on keeping Maya’s status a secret for now in a talk that made it more than clear where Jaden’s heart was.

“It’s better if she trusts someone other than Jaden first. You, for example. Turning her now would send the wrong signals. As if we wouldn’t care for her as a person, just for her as our new Queen,” Colbin explained. “I can see on your face that you like her. I could see it on Ryder’s face that she mattered. I think whatever you and Jaden told her was enough for one day anyways. No need to put any pressure on her now.”

Lara nodded slowly. “She’ll be a better Queen if she works with the Order instead of against it,” she agreed.

“I feel better knowing she’ll accept whoever we promise to be by her side to protect her. Turning her now would make her carry a grudge against all of us and I can’t put Jaden with her. Plus, you heard him. He doesn’t want her,” Colbin went on, but Lara could tell that he didn’t believe his own words. The young warrior had no idea yet what it meant to have a true mate.

“You never wanted an Origin. You never thought you could be fine with one, either. You told me you’d fuck me so we could get over it and…”

“I know, I was there,” he growled while Lara only grinned, feeling good that she had made the big bad warrior feel chagrin.

“Difference between him and me is that I never had to let you go once you were mine,” Colbin said, turning to look at her. He looked tired, exhausted, as if he had already fought the battle they both new still lay ahead of them.

“In the light of his and her heart I think this is the absolutely wrong way because he’ll just fall all the harder in love with her if we keep her around, but I can’t think of him and her first. I need to think of our race, and for that I need to keep her around. Additionally this needs planning and strategizing… Where will she go? We should have the new court here somewhere so she is close by. Until she leaves we’ll try to keep him away from her by keeping him busy with fighting and the rest of the warriors…”

Lara knew what he was aiming at. If she stayed around here, spending a lot of time with them all, they’d fall under her spell. There was just something about Maya that made people trust her fully. They’d all have a hard time letting her go.

“We’ll just hope that once the time comes to say goodbye Jaden won’t be fully broken,” Colbin finished and Lara hated both, the thought about a broken Jaden and the cold, calculating tone Colbin had used to say that sentence.

It made for good leadership and sucky interpersonal relationships. Not with her, but with others, she knew that. He loved all of his warriors, cared for them, but still a few years back they had lost one fighter exactly because of this cold leader attitude.

Lucas, the lost one, had met an Origin some five years back while the warriors had been on a mission up north. No matter what Colbin had said, there simply was no talking to Lucas and so, instead of protesting, Colbin had let him be an example. Lara had never met that Origin, but Colbin had allowed Lucas to bring her back after a rather long discussion. All warriors had met her, knowing she’d die eventually. Only a few had been there for her last breath.

Even though it hadn’t been Colbin’s fault that she had died, they still blamed him. Lucas had left the Order and a few others had considered following him, wondering how Colbin could have been so cruel as to let them get attached. No one had brought another Origin in though. That was until Jaden had walked in with Maya.

“Thinking of Lucas again?” Colbin asked, obviously feeling her regret through their bond.

“We could lose another warrior and I think that could be bad for the moral of the Order. Especially since Kaden wouldn’t stay if Jaden leaves and Ryder… She’s his sister! This could seriously backfire. Almost everyone in this game is being kept out of the loop,” Lara remarked, just then paying attention to the feelings that poured from Colbin into her. Pain and worry were the dominant ones.