Bonds

Chapter Six

~Maya’s POV~

Natalia’s voice, muffled through the phone, jolted me out of a daze. “You really think he did it?” Her words felt like sandpaper against my raw nerves.

I let out a sigh, “I don’t know,” the confession scraping my throat, “But think of it, Natalia. If I were to bomb a place, why would I leave evidence that it was me on the bomb?”

“Exactly!” Natalia’s sharp tone crackled through the receiver. “My thoughts exactly. But still, he’s the only one with a motive to stop the wedding. Maybe he realized what he lost.”

I shook my head, the gesture echoing the hollowness inside me, “I looked into his eyes. The Alex that loved me… I didn’t see that man anymore. There was anger, yes, but also a stranger, someone consumed by something I couldn’t understand.”

A beat of silence hung between us, thick with unspoken doubts. “So maybe it was his way of making good on that threat. Maybe this was his way of showing Everton that he means to really go to war with your father.”

“And my father, of course, couldn’t help but blame me,” I muttered, bitterness lacing my voice.

“When are you going to stand up—?” Shebegan, her question hanging in the air.

“No, Natalia, please don’t,” I interrupted, my voice laced with a plea. “I did that once, and it ended with my heart in pieces. That fire…” I choked back a sob, the memory a barbed wire twisting in my gut. “It’s gone.”

“Amaya…” Her voice was laced with concern, reaching across the miles to wrap around me in a virtual hug.

I clutched the phone tighter, “It’s gone,” I repeated.

Silence followed as I stared at myself in the mirror. A stranger stared back, her eyes dull with pain, her lips drawn in a tight line of resignation.

darling. It’s about the embers. They’re still there, glowing

only reply, a single word that hung heavy in the air between us. Natalia, bless her bluntness, knew me too well

still knee-deep in damage control after the explosion. Daniel, of course, is already planning a redo of the wedding since I, apparently, need to finish my

crackling with disapproval. I knew she wanted to cuss out my

and debris of today and paint the town red? Forget Daniel’s mini-wedding

my lips. “It’s past ten. I

doll to be shelved at his will. I know it’s easier to just comply, to shrink into the shadow he casts, but damn it, Maya, that’s not you. I miss the girl who could stare down a rogue wolf and laugh in his face. I miss the firebrand who started a rebellion in college because a professor misquoted Nietzsche. I miss the you that wouldn’t back down from anything, the you that punched Nathan in the nose and demanded he told me he loved

to the

we going?” I whispered, wiping the tears that threatened to spill

opened,” she chirped, her excitement infectious. “Big Shot, it’s called, and rumor has it they have a dance floor that hypnotizes and cocktails that sing opera.

what about Nathan and Ivy?”

for some girl time anyway, and you need a night to forget the bomb, the broken vows, the

address, you wear something that sets your inner warrior goddess on fire, and meet me by the back gate in ten minutes. We’re painting the town ruby red,

rubble of the day. The Natalia Rant, as she affectionately called it, had a way of doing that, of stripping away the

on a breath of newfound defiance.

voice already halfway out

Lots

it done,” she declared, her mischievous laughter echoing down the hallway. “Tonight, my friend, we dance like there’s no

away the shadows of fear and resignation. The girl who punched Nathan in the face and defied her father wasn’t dead, she was simply hibernating. And tonight,

back gate, the cool night air a welcome slap against my burning cheeks. My heart hammered in my chest, a wild hummingbird trapped in a cage of nerves and

long enough, Rapunzel,” she teased, her voice a

the collar of my leather

my flimsy excuse. “The alpha throwing another tantrum?” she asked, her tone laced

tasted bitter on my tongue. “Just needed

smile soft and understanding. “I get it,” she said, “It’s been a hell of a day. But tonight,

balm to my bruised spirit. I let out a shaky laugh,

she declared, a mischievous glint in her eyes. “Now, about that