Ch.15 Derailed

Chapter 15

Maya patiently waited at the stop of the stairs as Heyder materialized in the foyer. His piercing eyes were dark and angry as he climbed the steps to where his mate stood.

"This is so childish," he said. "You're wasting my time."

"Glad to see I mean so much to you," Maya rolled her eyes as she began to lead him towards the family room. "Behave yourself."

Heyder's jaw flexed as he groaned. He was growing more and more irritated with Maya's silly actions by the second. She had never been so stubborn before. It was almost as if she was hellbent on doing everything he asked her not to do. Was it a family trait?

"I promise I'll give you your papers before you leave," Maya said over her shoulder. She paused outside of the closed doors and turned to look at the man behind her. Anxiously, she fixed his black t-shirt and pushed his hair out of his face.

"They've seen my good looks already," Heyder said, not very amused.

"Always put your best feet forward," Maya said as she turned back to the door and pushed it open.

Inside, Exton and Gemma waited for the new couple by the sofa. Rye and Xavier sat across from them and Mavi and Owen pitched by the window, a little bit away. Heyder's eyes scanned over them as he walked in with a dark frown. He spotted Sofia standing behind Gemma and shot her an angry glare.

"Mom, dad," Maya took a deep breath. "You already know Heyder."

Exton had his eyes locked on the jinn. He slowly rose from his seat and buttoned his blazer's button. Maya held her breath as her father walked up to her and held his hand out for Heyder.

Please, Maya begged Heyder through their mind-link. For me.

Heyder reached out and shook Exton's hand. Maya let go of the breath she was holding and told herself to think positive. Heyder wasn't crazy. He knew this was important.

"And to think I almost married your sister," Heyder said.

Oh no, Maya wanted to scream as she witnessed the flicker of anger behind her father's green eyes.

"Hello Heyder," Gemma quickly stepped in before her husband could respond to the jinn. "It's nice to see you again."

"Is it?" Heyder chuckled. "Because I'm sure as hell not happy to see your face."

Maya wanted to smack him. She dug her nails into his palm and begged him to stop through their link.

Stop this, please. She said.

You wanted us to meet. Heyder reminded her.

"I know we've had our differences," Xavier cleared his throat as he stood up slowly. Maya and Heyder turned to look at the man as he extended his hand to the jinn. "But we must remember the common ground that unites us all."

"Which is?" Heyder raised a brow as he shook Xavier's hand.

Xavier frowned. "Maya. Her happiness is all of our end goal."

"Right," Heyder said as he stepped away. "So why don't we cut this short? You let me keep her happy and not waste my time. I'm a busy man."

"You're talking as if you plan to take her away," Exton said.

"I thought that was pretty obvious," Heyder looked over his shoulder. "You really think I will let her stay here with her around?"

Everyone followed Heyder's finger in confusion as he pointed out Gemma. Maya looked at her mate in confusion as her mother's face paled slightly.

"Matter of face, why should I let her stay here with any of you?" Heyder looked around at all the people in the room.

Maya's heart began to hammer as she watched the shields behind her family's eyes start to rise up. She reached out for Heyder's arm and pulled at him.

"What are you saying?" She whispered looking at her parents and the grandparents.

"Should I do the honors, Gemma?" Heyder raised a brow. "Should I tell her what you have been doing?"

"She's been acting under my orders," Mavi spoke up from the window.

"What order's?" Maya frowned as she noticed Heyder's eyes flicker to her aunt. "What's going on?"

"There is nothing to know," Gemma said with her head held high. "This doesn't concern her."

"It doesn't?" Heyder chuckled. "She's your heir. I think she should really know what you've been up to."

"What are you talking about?" Maya raised her voice. "Somebody start explaining."

Gemma's blue eyes narrowed to little lits as she shot daggers at Heyder. Maya's eyes bounced back and forth between her mate and her mother as she felt the tension in the air itch at her skin.

"Mom..." Maya's voice shook.

Gemma took a deep breath as she turned to face her daughter, "Baby.....when....when you were trapped in the past because of the fey books, we.....we used Heyder's magic to pull you out."

"What..." Maya felt a chill come over her body as her ears started to ring. "You said.... You used old magic to pull me out."

"She didn't lie," Heyder snickered. "My magic is old."

Gemma took a deep breath as she looked away from Heyder and tried to distract herself from having to look at Maya.

"Don't just stop there," Heyder pushed. "Go on."

"Heyder, this is re-" Sofia tried to speak up but Heyder shut her up.

"If I were you I really wouldn't be talking right now," he said, shooting her a death glare.

"What else did you do?" Maya took a step closer to her mother. "Tell me."

Gemma held her breath as she reluctantly looked at her daughter, "Maya, you know how small the covenant is. After the wars, there are barely any witches left. I want to leave you a much stronger covenant than the one I inherited."

"What did you do?" Maya spoke each word slowly.

"You used my magic to super power new witches in the covenant," Heyder spilled when Gemma hesitated. "With the permission of the dear Queen of course."

"No," Maya shook her head in disbelief. "That can't be true."

"Why do you think she got such a fancy lab?" Heyder asked. "What do you think happens in that lab?"

"Mom," Maya spoke to her mother as her mate dropped one bomb after another behind her. "Tell me all this isn't true."

Gemma frowned, "We needed to save our race, Maya. We were dying out."

"So you used Heyder?" Maya shrieked as she shook off her mother's hands from her arm. "That's so wrong. He had no say in anything that happened."

"No one hurt him," Exton stepped in to defend his wife.

"You all knew," Maya's head began to spin. She turned to look at each and every single one of her family members before she locked her eyes with her grandfather. "How did you allow this?"

"You will understand when you have to sit on the throne," Xavier said with his poker face on.

Maya couldn't believe what she was hearing. Suddenly, her family, people she had spent years loving, felt like strangers. Her mind and heart started to panic as she wondered what else they were keeping from her.

"Maya," Exton tried to reach out for his daughter, but she shook him away.

"This is what he does, Maya," Mavi spoke from near the window as she glared at Heyder. "He tears people apart. He spills poison between people and then sits back to see everything burn to hell."

"I think....I think we should leave," Maya said, turning to Heyder.

"No, Maya," Gemma tried to stop her but she flinched away.

"Baby," Exton cupped his daughter's face and turned her to look at him. "Your mom did this all for you. She wants the best for you."

"Still doesn't make it right," Maya felt the tears burning her eyes finally spill out. She took her father's hands off her face and turned to rush out of the room. Exton started after her before he looked over at Heyder.

"What the hell is your problem?" He asked. "She didn't need to find out like that."

"Maybe you shouldn't keep secrets from your children," Heyder shrugged. He turned to leave the room but paused as he met shoulder to shoulder with Exton.

"By the way," he lowered his voice a smidge. "She calls me daddy too."

Xavier leaped forward and pulled Exton back as he tried to take a swing at the jinn. Heyder chuckled as he started to shimmer around the edges before disappearing into the air.

When he rematerialized, he was standing in the living room of his house with Maya sitting on the sofa with her knees pulled to her chest. She looked up with tears in her eyes as her mate appeared out of thin air.

"Your papers are on the table," she sniffed.

Heyder followed her eyes to the coffee table and found the stack of research. He let out a sigh as he ran his hand through his hair.

"Maya, you shouldn't -"

"I shouldn't be here?" Maya asked. "Where the fuck am I suppose to go then? You just burned my bridge to my family."

"Excuse me?" Heyder blinked in confusion. "What did I do?"

"What did you do?" Maya gave a harsh laugh. "I just wanted you to meet my parents, tell them you would keep me happy and then leave. But no! You turned everything upside down."

"You're mad because I told the truth?" Heyder asked with anger.

"No!" Maya yelled. "I'm mad because.....nothing makes sense anymore. This is not how I saw this going. None of this is supposed to happen. No curse, no family history, no crazy brother. It's just supposed to be you and I."

"Sorry to ruin your plans, snowflake," Heyder snickered.

"You're not sorry," Maya shook her head. "You don't care about anything that just happened."

"How would you know?"

"Because if it did then you wouldn't have been so cruel about it!" Maya jumped up from the sofa. "You dropped a bomb over my head. A bomb I didn't even see coming. Why would you do that?"

"What the hell is your problem?" Heyder asked. "What, you wanted to sit around a trust circle and have someone slowly reveal your family's dark secrets to you to spare your delicate emotions?"

"Yes!" Maya hollered. "Yes, I would have appreciated it if my mate cared about my feelings and thought about how his actions would affect me before he opened his mouth. You don't give two shits about what I'm feeling right now. It's like you don't care about me at all. That's not what loved ones do to one another."

"Well that's maybe because I'm not in love with you!" Heyder threw his arms up. "I don't even know you. We have only spent about a solid 24 hours together. Not even."

Maya felt as if she was smacked in the face. Ice water would have been less painful compared to the chill that ran down her back. She stood staring with Heyder with wide eyes as her mind switched on and off like a light bulb.

Maya had been dreaming about Heyder for the past ten years. She was in love with him.....she had been the one planning out their life together.

As Maya stood dumbstruck in front of the jinn, Heyder's eyes softened. He groaned as he saw the unshed tears in her eyes and her smartmouth speechless.

"Maya," Heyder took a step forward.

"I..... Should I....Can I," Maya looked around the room as she shook her head and pulled herself together. "Can I stay tonight? I will leave in the morning. I can't focus enough to summon a portal right now. Unless you want to summon me a portal."

"No," Heyder said with a frown.

"No, I can't stay or no, you won't summon me a portal?"

"No, I won't summon you a portal," Heyder sighed. "You can stay upstairs."

"Thank you," Maya gave a small nod.

"We need to talk," Heyder said as Maya started to turn towards the stairs. "I didn't mean what I said about not loving you."

"It wasn't a lie," Maya said as she turned to face him. "Jinns can't lie."

"Let me explain,"

"There isn't much to explain," Maya laughed. "It's honestly my fault. I've kind of been obsessed with you for the past ten years. I didn't realize when I started to plan out everything in my head. I couldn't wait to meet you and now that you're here...."

"Nothing is going according to plan," Heyder finished for her.

"No," Maya shook her head.

"I ruined it even before it began," Heyder sighed.

"I think we should start over," Maya took a deep breath. "But maybe in a day or two. I need to get my head in order. I need to talk to my mom and family about everything."

"Okay," Heyder nodded. "I'm sorry you had to find out that way."

"No you're not," Maya said. "You're sorry I got my feelings hurt but you're not sorry about revealing everything in the manner that you did."

Heyder didn't say anything. He stood in the middle of the living room as Maya climbed up the stairs. She felt as if she carried the ocean in her heart and the skies on her shoulder. Her body felt drained and tired as she randomly opened a door and stepped inside. After locking the door behind her she walked over to the window seat and sank down like a rock thrown into the water.

Maya's head was a mess and her heart was a battlefield. She didn't even know where to start to try and make sense of everything that had just happened. It was hard to believe just two days ago she was laughing and joking around with Ella and Maksim as they made plans to get her mate released. How had everything gone so south so quickly?

Maya often made fun of Adeline for being so neat and organized. But in reality, Maya was the control freak. She needed to have a plan in her head for everything. She liked to be in control and be prepared. For years she had been planning her life with Heyder and ran over multiple scenarios in her head of all the moments in their life.

But as she sat by the cold window, she felt completely lost. The road maps in her mind she had spent years designing were gone with the wind. She had no idea what would happen between her and Heyder. It was heartbreaking for Maya to acknowledge that Heyder wasn't head over heels for her. They were both strangers to one another but Maya had fallen in love with the idea of him in her head.

Ada, Maya opened her link to her sister. Are you up?

A few seconds passed by with no answer. Maya frowned as she leaned back against the cold glass and sniffled.

Ada, Maya tried again.

Hey, Adeline said slowly with her link laced with sleep. What's up?

Did I wake you?

Yes, but that's okay. What's up?

Heyder and I had a fight.

Oh no, Adeline's tone was worried and concerned. What happened? Are you okay?

Can I come stay with you for a few days?

Of course! Adeline said. Do you want to come now?

No, I'll come in the morning. Go back to sleep.

Do you want to talk?

Not really.

I'm here if you do want to talk. Do you want me to call mom or dad?

No! Maya said too quickly. I....I'll speak to them myself.

Okay, Adeline replied. Let me know when you are coming.

Maya said her farewells and shut off her link. She heard Heyder moving around in the room down the hall as she lowered herself on the window seat. The cold air sneaking in through the sides of the window made Maya's fingers and toes freeze as she stared off at the ceiling. Her insides felt completely hollow and empty as she wondered what she was going to do.

If she left tomorrow, would Heyder even come looking for her? Or would he be too busy searching for the ophiotaurus? Should she stay and help him?

Too many questions and possibilities ran over and in Maya's mind. She pushed herself up from the window and stood to walk over to the bed. But before she could take another step, from the corner of her eyes, she caught a movement in the darkness outside. Thinking it was Mirza, Maya leaned forward to get a better look.

The night was pitch black outside as the only source of light came from the house. Maya opened her window and stuck her head out into the snow storm.

"Hello!" She hollered over the howling wind. "Anybody there?"

"What are you doing?" Heyder asked from the doorway.

Maya jumped back into the room and shook the snow out of her hair.

"I saw somebody outside," she said.

"Who?"

"I don't know," Maya shrugged. "But there's someone out there."

"Probably a moose," Heyder said as he put down the blanket he was holding on the bed.

"No, look!" Maya said as she pointed to the figure on the snow. "What is that?"

Heyder walked over to the window and looked at the dark figure standing outside in the shadows. His brows furrowed in concern as he turned slowly and started to head downstairs. Maya followed him.

"Stay inside. I'll go check," He said.

"Do you have a spare jacket?"

"Do you not understand the words coming out of my mouth?"

"Mirza would have kicked your ass if it wasn't for me earlier," Maya reminded him.

Heyder rolled his eyes as he moved towards the door. Maya stayed glued to his side as he pulled the door open and stepped out into the stormy night. They both tried to peer into the darkness as Heyder took off his sweatshirt and gave it to Maya.

"Who's there?" He called out over the loud wind.

Suddenly, the sound of crunching snow came blowing in the wind. Heyder put out one arm and tried to push Maya behind him, but she moved his arm away and took the spot right next to him.

As they stood on the front porch, the crunching of snow grew closer and closer. A tall slender fighter started to emerge from the darkness and into the light that fell upon the snow from the house. As the person stepped into the light, both Maya and Heyder gasped.

"Fiza..." Heyder said breathlessly. He took a small step forward as the young girl in front of them looked up in confusion. She had a thin coat wrapped around her body as she tried to hold herself upright in the wind.

"Fiza!" Heyder yelled over the storm. Before Maya could stop him and tell him to check if it were a trick, the jinn was running through the snow.

"Heyder!" Maya called after him but he didn't stop. He ran through the fresh white piles of snow and pulled the frightened girl into his arms.

"How are you here?" He asked, checking her face.

"Who....who are you?" Fiza's frozen lips moved.

"It's me," Heyder said. "Emir."

"Emir?" Fiza began to sway in the cold. "Emir....how ...how did I get here?"

Heyder caught her in his arms as she was about to topple over. He lifted her up and rushed her over to the house.

"How is she here?" Maya asked as she watched Heyder run into the house with her.

"Maya, grab me the blankets from upstairs. She needs to warm up."

Maya hesitated for a brief second before she ran up the stairs and grabbed the blankets from her room. She ran back down and found Heyder kneeling beside Fiza as she laid on the sofa by the fireplace.

"You look different," Fiza said as she lifted her hand to touch Heyder's face. "You're eyes..."

"I'll explain everything," Heyder said as he placed a kiss on the inside of her palm.

The small action caused a hot burning feeling to ignite in Maya's chest. She reminded herself Fiza was her as she took a step forward and covered the girl with the blanket.

"Who are you?" Fiza looked up at Maya in alarm.

"It's okay, it's okay," Heyder spoke to her in a soft and gentle tone. "I'll explain everything. You need to focus on getting warmed up now."

"You look like me," Fiza observed. "Emir, why does she look like me?"

Heyder's eyes flickered up to Maya.

She's overwhelmed, he mind- linked her. Maybe you should go upstairs. We can all talk in the morning.

She's showing signs of hypothermia, Maya said remembering what Ella had gone through. She needs to heat up slowly.

I'll do it, Heyder said.

Maybe I should, Maya offered. I can share my body heat with her.

Out of the two of us, who is made out of fire?

Maya frowned as Heyder turned his eyes back to Fiza on the sofa.

"I'm taking you upstairs, okay love?" He said to the girl. Fiza nodded her head.

Heyder, we don't even know what is happening here, Maya protested. How is she here? Who sent her? This could be a trick!

Not right now, Maya, Heyder said as he picked Fiza up into his arms and moved towards the stairs. This is my Fiza. I know it. I would be able to tell if this was a trick.

Are you sure? Maya asked from the bottom of the stair. I have a bad feeling about this.

Don't worry, go to sleep, Heyder said. We'll talk in the morning.

Maya was left speechless at the bottom of the steps as Heyder closed his mind-link and then the sound of the door closing upstairs flew down to her ears.

What will this twist mean now?