Reborn Into Flames Read online

  Contents

  Description

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Epilogue

  M. Sinclair

  The Grim Sisters

  Following me:

  Copyright

  Copyright © M. Sinclair, 2019. All rights reserved.

  No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law. This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events, or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are products of the author’s imagination and used fictitiously.

  Warnings: Please be advised that the book contains darker themes such as child abuse, PTSD, swearing, and violence. Additionally, sexual themes are suitable for mature audiences +18.

  The Union of Love & Madness

  Description

  I have spent my entire life in the basement of my father’s church. My sadistic mother and god-fearing father believe I have the devil inside of me because I heal after their abuse. I’d accepted long ago I would die in the very place I’d been born without ever feeling the sun on my skin. Then one day, my mother took me from my father’s religious cult in the wake of his death. Nearly a week later, and after countless hours with her boyfriend Jed’s creepy remarks, I find myself in Washington State. I had only ever interacted with my parents and now Jed, so you can imagine my surprise when I ran smack dab into possibly the most handsome man in the world. He’s not alone though, there are intriguing and handsome men popping up everywhere in my life.

  Except I shouldn’t be focusing on that. I should be preparing for my mother’s cruel hits. Preparing to run the minute I turn 18. Preparing to hide from Jed’s leering comments and uncomfortable stares. One interaction with this man and I feel like my entire life has been altered.

  Five days until I turn 18. Five days until my mother realizes what happens when you keep a bird cooped up for too long, only to open its cage. Five days until I am out of here.

  My problem? Everything inside of me tells me that those intriguing men are mine… and they seem to think the same.

  This is a slow/medium burn fantasy RH that features a naive but strong MFC with a troubled past and a secret about what she really is. Come meet Maya and her protective and possessive dragon shifters! This book will be part of the Reborn series.

  Warnings: Please be advised that the book contains darker themes such as child abuse, PTSD, swearing, and violence. Additionally, sexual themes are suitable for mature audiences +18. This book will end on a slight cliffhanger.

  Prologue

  Marco

  We pulled into town and the faint scent of the shoreline assaulted my nose through the open window of the car. It brought a small smile to my face. Home. Not the home I’d been born in. Not the family I’d been born into. No, this was my home. A home that my flight and I had chosen for ourselves. Washington State. We lived in a small town that wasn’t known for anything except the massive lighthouse it featured. It was why we loved it. After everything we've been through, we craved the peace and serenity it had to offer.

  “Want anything from inside?” I asked Atlas. He grunted with a shake of his head before he closed his eyes once more. Our drive from Los Angeles had exhausted both of us and the reason for being there had left us both ready to sleep for the next week. I parked my BMW at the pump before standing up to go inside. My dress pants were wrinkled and my hair laid in a million different directions. What I needed right now? To get home and take a long fucking shower before passing out.

  Did I need to emphasize anymore how much I needed sleep right now?

  Instinctually, I categorized the one other car, a black rusted-out Ford, parked in front of the gas station shop. There was a larger woman inside in the passenger seat, but the windows were tinted, so I couldn't get a good look at her. Something about the car made me feel off. I put it from my thoughts as I entered the shop and crossed the broken tiled floor to pay for my tank of gas. Outside, the gloomy sky thundered as it began to spit out heavy rain.

  I turned toward the bathroom and made my way down the aisle, only to be run over by a young boy. I grunted as the small frame collided with my chest and swayed on their feet. A hiss of pain came from the figure as I steadied them with a solid grip on their small arms.

  “Sorry,” the soft voice murmured quietly.

  “No problem…” I stopped talking as my eyes widened. My hands tightened on the small frame as her hood came down. The person I’d thought a boy was, in fact, a young woman. My dragon hissed in recognition as a pair of soft brown eyes, speckled with gold, stared back at me.

  I immediately picked up the scent of sea salt, ashes, and roses on her golden skin. It was obvious she wasn’t human, but I couldn’t for the life of me recognize her scent. Instead, I categorized every element of her soft, wavy chocolate hair that shimmered with gold streaks and fell to her waist once released from her hood. She had the tiniest button nose and thick dark lashes that fluttered nervously. It was possible that she was the most feminine woman I’d ever met. She was just so damn beautiful. Like a rose or something equally as beautiful.

  Then I noticed the way her soft pink mouth twisted in pain. I loosened my tightening grip on her thin shoulders. Why was she so thin? Did she need food? We could get her food. Also, a jacket. This wasn’t heavy enough for how cold it was.

  Fuck. My dragon was in a protective overdrive. This was bad.

  “I need to go,” she muttered, her voice raspy.

  Was she sick? Why was no one taking care of her? If she wanted, I could take care of her. As in, she could come home with me to our flight house. Now. She would have literally anything she ever wanted. And I was going to lose my mind if I didn’t learn this woman’s name.

  “Maya,” a voice growled from behind her, “leave this man alone.”

  The woman shrunk down into herself, like a wilted flower. Her eyes took on a dull shine as a massive man, nearly matching Atlas’ 6’5” height, appeared over her shoulder. He looked like a mean son of a bitch, but completely human. Those black eyes took note of my hands on Maya and a yellow-toothed sneer took over his face.

  “Get in line buddy, she’s a fucking tease,” he chuckled, grabbing her hood in a taunting manner before pulling her toward the door.

  I yanked her back to me, not caring about the obvious show of supernatural strength, wanting her against my chest. Safe there. My instincts were begging me to hide this woman from him. Maya. What a beautiful name. A worried whimper came from her throat as the man in front of us grew red in the face.

  “It’s fine,” she mumbled softly before stepping out from behind my back.

  Why was she resigned to his obvious disrespect? I didn’t think this man was her father, but who was he then? Was this the person put in charge of watching her? I slipped a thin business card into her jogger pockets and realized she was even thinner than I’d assumed. God. I wanted to help her, but the look in her eyes told me it wasn’t the time. No matter. I had her scent. I would find her.

  “Come on little bitch, back to the
car,” the man snarled before herding her out the door. She looked back only once before offering me a barely-there smile. I felt my heart thump with deep low strums. My dragon roared aggressively in my head. He didn’t care what she wanted or what the man wanted. He wanted her back here.

  I didn’t disagree.

  “Who the hell was that?” Atlas’ low baritone voice asked from the door. His eyes were filled with gold and the realization she had affected both of us had my mind working overtime.

  The black truck squealed out of the gas station. I could see her faint outline from the back as the man in the front opened his mouth in what I assumed were screams. It didn’t matter though, I would find her. I would help her.

  “That is,” I sighed as the distance grew and my heart squeezed uncomfortably, “our mate.”

  Chapter 1

  Maya

  I laughed at my father’s death.

  That must mean my mother’s right. I do have the devil inside of me. It didn’t stop the unadulterated joy from slipping out. Of course, that was mixed with a sigh of disappointment because only the world could be so cruel. After all the years of torture I’d endured, he’d gotten a peaceful death in his sleep.

  So I laughed. I never saw the body, but she’d told me in a rather dismissive tone while stating we were leaving. It was funny in sort of a sick sad way. Of course, the beating I’d received from my mother had been terrible, but that would have happened whether or not Pastor Malcolm had passed this previous May. She hadn’t done it for any special occasion. She had handcrafted the oddball shape of abuse and ingenuousness that could be labeled ‘Maya.’

  Despite my very short time in real society, I had found a truth that seemed to hold true. Some people did not fit in. We were just different. The difference in how we viewed the world through our smudged, broken lenses, made us stand out and not in a good way.

  These individuals did not belong in high school. Yet, here I was for the first time ever in my life. 5 days before my eighteenth birthday. I’d survived 17 years and 11 months of my life. On September 2nd, my new life would start. My new life away from her.

  It seemed I’d be doing it here in Washington as well. My mother decided to move us across the country from my father’s religious cult, to move in with Jed. I hated Jed. I really had no idea what I would do in 5 days, but I would rather be homeless than to live with my mother and Jed. After around a week of driving across the country, I had already grown tired of his antics and uncomfortable remarks. Plus, my mother grew angrier each and every time he focused on me. When I’d left our trailer this morning to walk to school, she’d berated me with a belt until I had been left terribly bruised. Luckily, she hadn’t broken skin. My new school uniform wouldn’t have covered the blood.

  I really did not belong here.

  Yet, my sneakered feet still crossed the perfectly paved parking lot. You would have thought that my mother would be hesitant to let me wander the world by myself, but as she mentioned, it hadn’t been her idea to keep me in the basement. She hadn’t wanted me at all. No, the basement was all my father’s idea. So why she kept me around now, I had no idea.

  I shook the thoughts from my head.

  The school was extravagant, to say the least. Then again, I had been homeschooled from the basement of my church. I had been so thankful Pastor Malcolm had read to me from scripture. I mean, what else would have distracted me from the beatings and pain. My eyes narrowed on the dark gothic stone and arched doorways. Every inch of the pavement crawled with expensive cars and beautifully pressed uniforms. I had no idea how my mother and Jed were sending me here. I lived in a trailer. My uniform didn’t fit in compared to the other students. The clothing item sure as hell wasn’t pressed. Honestly, the soft wrinkled material felt better on my bruised body.

  I suddenly felt smaller than I ever had in my entire life. I stood around five and a half feet tall and was underfed. Malnourished. I wish I could have admitted to some trendy diet. Ha. I supposed if you counted ‘fasting to rid the devil from your body’ as a diet, I had been on one. No. The truth was far more depressing. I looked over the dark gray plaid skirt that hung off my hip bones and worn black hoodie that I hoped to get away with. Underneath, I had a white polo that had arrived in the mail with my complete uniform. It was the nicest piece of clothing I had ever owned. However, it showed off far too many bruises for my liking. I may not know a lot, but I did know bruises usually weren’t viewed as a good thing. I curled my toes up inside my worn shoe. It was cold here, far colder than Louisiana had been.

  I whimpered as my backpack hit against a part of my back that was bruised. This morning had been relatively easy in comparison to most. It still hurt though. Unfortunately, since she hadn’t broken skin, my helpful healing ability hadn’t kicked in. Bruises didn’t count apparently.

  The devil rights your body because of the sin inside you.

  The sin inside you.

  I hadn’t placed much thought into my healing ability, ever. Nor had I asked anyone about it. I had only ever interacted with Pastor Malcolm, my mother, and now Jed. They wouldn’t tell me what they knew. Besides, I was far too busy surviving. I just knew that if blood was shed, my body would heal itself overnight. It was why my mother now tried to not spill blood. Instead, she bruised my body until it was unrecognizable in the mirror.

  My thoughts strayed to the gas station yesterday. If that social interaction was anything to base the future from, I was nervous. I had never interacted with someone close to my age, so it had been a moment of revelation to me. And what a moment it had been. Like, holy cow.

  His name was Marco, I think. His card was in my backpack. I didn’t plan on calling him, didn’t have a way to, but it made me feel safe to have him near me. Even in paper form. That was how Marco had made me feel. Safe.

  It was clear he was a man of power. The way he stood, and how he dressed, it was obvious he was powerful and demanding. He had been tall, much taller than me, and dressed in expensive clothes. He would have fit in much better here than myself. I could still feel the way his warm hands had curled against my bruised arms. The action had bathed me in heat and security. I had lost all ability to articulate around him.

  Did all men smell like vanilla and fresh snow? I knew those scents well. When Pastor Malcolm had left the basement window open, I could often smell the season change and scents from the church’s kitchen above. I let my mind drift to the sharp clean cut of his tanned jaw and the way his dark hair seemed to lay in a styled mess. It was his pale green eyes though, like mint leaves, that brought me to be so distracted that I hit a solid chest.

  Damn it. Second time. Second freakin’ time. This time I wasn’t as thrilled with who I had ran into. No, he reminded me of Jed. The guy looked down at me with a big grin that showed off far too large of teeth. “What do we have here?”

  I heard his friends laugh, but my focus was on the predator in front of me. I felt my nails curl into my hoodie sleeves as I swallowed my fear. A wave of nausea rolled through me as panic set in. What the hell was I doing here? This was why I didn’t belong around normal people. Hell, I didn’t know the first thing outside of the basement I had grown up in. If it hadn’t been for Pastor Malcolm’s lessons and my mother’s swearing, I would have been a freak. I mean I was a freak now, just slightly less of one.

  “Sorry,” I whispered through a raspy voice. Fuck. My voice wasn’t used to being used. On top of that, after years of being forced to swallow acidic kitchen supplies, it may have been permanently damaged. The damage was the only part of me that didn’t heal, no matter how much I bled.

  “Don’t worry babe, you can make it up to me,” he leered with evident amusement.

  “Or you can fuck off Lorn,” a voice snarled behind me. I didn’t recognize the voice, but my heart pitter-pattered at the dangerous sound. That familiar sense of safety crawled up my throat and caused me to open my mouth in surprise.

  “This your girl or something?” Lorn, I assumed, snickered.

>   A warm bonfire scent invaded my nose as a large hand pressed into my lower back for support. I was surprised to find myself leaning back into it despite the pain. I looked up into a pair of deep indigo eyes that burned like embers in a fireplace. I noticed he wore a hoodie like me. Maybe we could be friends. I wouldn’t mind a friend this tall or big. My brain and heart seemed to have frozen time to allow me to look at this handsome man. My new friend was so ridiculously good-looking. Something in the center of my chest was begging me to vie for his attention, but it didn’t seem like we needed to. He was already paying attention.

  “Yep,” he answered smoothly. I wasn’t positive what ‘your girl’ meant, but if it meant being friends, I was totally in. The more I looked at him, the more I liked him.

  He had stark white skin that shone against black messy curls and dark brows. The ends of his curled hair were dipped in bright orange. It accented his feline face and full gentle lips. Those lips that looked nearly out of place on his masculine features. Overall, the effect was stunning.

  This town had two good looking men, which was a record. Then again, my social experiences consisted of three people.

  I stood corrected as another figure appeared on my other side. A small sound tumbled out as I looked at two matching people. Twins. My heart began to work overtime, the feeling of safety expanded and allowed for something more. It made my face flush as I resisted the urge to bounce on my toes with excitement. I felt hyper and manic. What the heck was going on with me? The back of my neck felt cool and my body hot with chills. Something inside of me fluttered around dangerously back and forth, back and forth.

  “Alright Ledger,” Lorn scoffed before leaving. I couldn’t look away from the matching people though. My eyes trailed from their lean lethal bodies and categorized the small differences.

  “He’s such an asshole,” the second one growled. I jumped just enough that his eyes snapped down to me and softened. The effect was beautiful.