Ch.52 Clare Bear

Chapter 52

Maya felt Heyder's warmth wash over her body like a blanket on a cold morning. His arms wrapped around her tightly as he pulled her closer and helped her sit up. His brown eyes had lost their red glow but now they were filled with worry as he scanned Maya's face.

"Please tell me you're okay," Heyder whispered as he lowered his mouth to Maya's ear.

Maya nodded her head. She gripped the hem of his shirt and lowered her head upon his chest. Lifting her thick lashes, she looked up at Clare.

"Come here," Heyder said to the girl.

Clare didn't move. She remained rooted to the ground, cradling her broken wrist to her chest as her wide gray eyes watched Maya.

"Clare," Heyder called the girl. "Come here."

Clare quietly shook her head. The corner of her eyes began to water and her lip began to tremble. Heyder frowned as he stared at the strange child. Her dark hair stuck out in every direction. He was sure the queen would not be pleased with the princess.

As the jinn sat staring at Clare, wondering why she wasn't moving, Maya slowly lifted her head off his chest. He tried to pull her back, but she placed a hand over his heart and shook her head. Very slowly, she turned to look at her cousin.

"Clare...." Maya held up her hand. "Come here."

"No," Clare bit down on her bottom lip and shook her head once more.

"I know you're scared," Maya said gently. "But, baby that's me. That's not what you're really feeling."

"You're scared of me," Clare said, her eyes dropped to her lap and her voice became a whisper. "I feel it."

"Clare," Maya tried to push away from Heyder. "Just please come here. Let me look at your hand."

Clare didn't move. She looked up and wiped the tear away from her face and began to look around.

"Heyder," Maya turned to the jinn for assistance.

"Clare, Maya wants you near her," Heyder said. "Yes, she's scared. She's scared because this is the first time you are letting her sense you. But that doesn't mean she doesn't love you anymore."

"He's right," Maya said. "Come here. Please."

Clare's restless eyes came to a stop on Maya's face. She held her gaze for a second before rushing up and running into the girl's arms. Maya immediately wrapped her in her embrace as Heyder took her broken wrist into his hand.

"I don't want you to be scared of me," Clare began to sob, her voice muffled by Maya's shirt.

"Fear is the unknown," Maya said as she stroked the girl's soft dark hair. "Help me understand what is going on and I won't be so afraid anymore."

"I can't," Clare pulled away slightly. She wanted to move away but Heyder held her hand firmly as he healed her broken wrist.

"There you go," he said after a short pause as he sat her hand back on her lap. "Good as new. Sorry about that."

"Let's go home," Maya looked at the jinn.

"No!" Clare said in alarm. "I can't have you talk about this in front of my parents."

As she spoke, her hand began to move toward Maya's head. Heyder frowned as his hand snapped up and stopped Clare before she could touch Maya.

"I'm not going to let you erase her memory," he said.

"Excuse me......what?" Maya's eyes widened. She turned to look at Clare with her mouth hanging. "Clare....."

"You need support, Clare," Heyder said. "You need to talk to people. I don't qualify. My advice will either fuck you up or get you killed. You need to show your family who you are."

"Of all people, you picked Heyder for advice?" Maya asked, stunned. "No offense."

"The less they know the safer they will be," Clare wiped away the tears on her face.

"But I know now and you need to explain to me what I know," Maya said. "My brain is too fried to think up anything."

Clare looked from Maya to Heyder. The jinn nodded his head and the look in his eyes told Clare all she needed to know. He wasn't going to let her touch Maya.

As night began to fall in the forest and the crickets began to sing their song, Clare let out a loud sigh and shrugged.

"Can we stay here for a few?" She asked. "I don't want to go home yet."

Maya turned to look at Heyder, "Would that be okay? Or will they send more?"

"I don't want to settle down here right away, but I think we have a while before Zubair sends anyone to collect the remains."

"We can talk inside," Maya nodded.

Heyder jumped to his feet and carefully helped Maya sit up. Beside them, Clare rose to her feet and began to move toward the house.

"How long have you known about her?" Maya asked as they watched the girl vanish into the house.

"Since the day you broke me out of my jar," Heyder confessed.

"Is she.....is she the one that needs the ophiotaurus?"

"Yeah," Heyder nodded.

"So Clare can break our curse?" Maya's heart sped up.

"Actually...." Heyder scratched the stubble along his sharp jawline. He looked over his shoulder to where the whip laid. As he was healing Maya, he had summoned a white cloth over Mirza's head. In the darkness, Heyder could see the faint outline of his brother's head under the cloth a few yards away. He turned to Maya and took her right hand.

"Let me see something," he said.

Maya watched him as he began to trace the triangular mark on her wrist. He repeated the process of tracing all the lines several times before Maya felt the mark heat up and began to glow a shimmering blue. The light reminded her of Heyder's flames. She looked up at him as his brows furrowed in concentration.

After several seconds, as the blue light illuminated their faces, Maya witnessed a smile form on Heyder's face. His eyes lit up as he gave a short breathless laugh almost as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"What?" Maya looked into the light.

"Do you see any dark light?" Heyder moved her wrist closer.

"No," Maya frowned.

"It's gone," Heyder said.

"Are you sure?" Maya pulled her wrist closer and examined her glowing mark.

"Yes," Heyder said, pulling his sleeve back and showing her his own glowing mark. "Three lines, for my three brothers and their curses on me. The dark light from the curse always blocked the light. I never had all three lines of the triangle glow before. Mirza's curse was always present. But look at it now....."

Maya looked down at the triangle on her wrist. Her heart jumped and leaped. She could feel Heyder's excitement from where he stood.

"Is it gone.....forever?" Maya asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Mimzy and Paws thought they had gotten rid of their curse the first time around too," as she spoke, Maya's heart began to hurt and look for a place to hide. "But it came back.....stronger. He almost killed her."

Heyder frowned. He took a step closer to Maya and laced his fingers with her. Leaning in he placed a kiss upon her forehead and inhaled her scent. Maya shivered slightly as she let him hold her.

"Jinn curses don't come back," Heyder said quietly. "But I understand your paranoia. I'll keep checking....."

"I'm scared to get excited," Maya sighed.

"Don't worry," Heyder kissed her once more.

As the two stood around holding each other in the darkness, Clare's voice startled them from inside the house.

"Maya!" She called.

"Coming," Maya called back. Heyder used his thumb to wipe away the tears on her face before he took her hand and walked into the house.

Clare stood around the empty dining room as the couple entered. Heyder snapped his fingers as a large dinner table ready to sit twelve appeared in the middle of the room.

"Still not big enough to fit your whole family," he said under his breath as he pulled out a chair for Maya. "Clare, you okay? Do you need anything?"

"No," Clare shook her as she took the seat across from them.

"What about you?" Heyder looked at Maya. "Anything to eat? You need a pillow or a shower?"

"I'm okay," Maya let out a heavy breath. "Just drained from all that."

Heyder followed her eyes out the back door, "I can take care of that."

Maya let out an involuntary whimper as she felt Heyder's hand land on her back as he began to heal her. Her heart shrank with the memories of him dropping to the floor just a few minutes ago. She had half a mind to push his hand away and tell him to save his energy, but she knew she needed it for Heyden.

"Better?" Heyder pulled Maya's chair between his legs as he gazed at her.

Maya nodded her head, "Yeah.....But don't do it for too long."

"Don't worry,"

"Heyder," Maya frowned.

"Clare is literally sitting right in front of us," Heyder laughed. "I'm not going anywhere."

"I still don't know what I did to you," Clare said. "For all I know you could explode any second now."

"The idea would have thrilled me a few months ago," Heyder looked at Maya. "But now it's terrifying."

"Clare," Maya looked at the little girl.

"Don't worry, he won't actually explode......." Clare clarified. "I don't see it. All I know as of now is he has my energy in him. He's filtering it and turning it into a more suitable energy source for you and the baby."

"Clare.....what are you?" Maya leaned forward and looked into the girl's eyes. "I sense you and it's like I'm meeting you for the first time."

"I'm.....me," Clare said quietly. "I'm Clare.....Daughter of Owen and Mavi."

"But the energy running through you," Maya shook her head. "I don't think I've ever known anything like it. How long have you been like this?"

"For as long as I can remember," Clare said quietly.

"I'm gonna need some more," Maya said. "Help me understand."

With hesitation Clare looked at Heyder. He gave her a small nod and urged her to continue. Maya's eyes moved between them as she heard Clare clear her throat and sighed.

"Maya....." she began slowly. "I......I'm a child that was never supposed to be."

"What do you mean?" Maya frowned.

"My fate was never written...... I wasn't supposed to be born."

"Because Owen had given up his mate bond," Maya said quietly.

"It goes even beyond that," Clare picked at her fingernails. "Even before our grandparents."

"My head is starting to spin," Maya looked at Heyder.

"There was a prophecy......a very very very long time ago....." Clare said slowly. "When all the planets and stars aligned a child would be born without a fate. Someone had figured out that it would be our family. So they cursed our great grandfather."

"Paws father?" Maya gasped. "I thought.....he lost his mind."

"He was cursed," Clare said. "He was supposed to kill Paws. But the universe stopped it from happening."

"You mean the faiths," Maya said.

"No, not the faiths. They have nothing to do with me," Clare shook her head. "Whatever cosmic power is out there, it wanted me to be born....despite all odds. Mimzy was cursed, she was supposed to die, but she didn't either. She was supposed to give birth to Eggs but instead she gave birth to my mother. My mother was kissed by the blade of faith, she has a dragon instead of a wolf. My father had given up his mate, but my parents ended up having me. For centuries someone had tried to sway the course of history to prevent my birth. But it never worked.....somehow I feel through the cracks and here I am."

As Clare finished the whole house seemed to hold its breath. Maya's mind ran in circles as she tried to make sense of what Clare was telling her.

"So you mean to tell me everyone in our family.....going all the way back to Paws's dad had been cursed because someone had been trying to stop you from being born?"

"Yes," Clare nodded.

"Who?"

"I don't know!" Clare shrugged.

"Why haven't you told anyone!" Maya hit the table. "Damn it, Clare. If someone is going to this length to stop you then we need to know who they are. We need to prepare."

"Prepare for an enemy we know nothing about, yeah that sounds extremely easy," Clare rolled her eyes.

"What do they want?" Maya wondered aloud. "You're powers......oh god. It's all starting to make sense now. You were the child that was never supposed to be."

"I just said that," Clare looked at Heyder as Maya spoke to herself.

"You have wolf blood in you and dragon blood," Maya said as if everything was piecing together in her head.

"And witch," Clare pointed out.

"Right, Owen's birth mother," Maya was stunned. "You're a trifecta...."

"Just like Heyden will be," Clare said.

Maya's hand moved over to her belly. Her eyes dropped before lifting up to Clare once more.

"What does all this mean, Clare?"

Clare took a deep breath. She let her shoulder drop as she looked into Maya's blue eyes.

"There's a way coming, Maya," she said, with a deep frown. "And somehow I'm supposed to stop it.....but someone doesn't want me to."

What are your thoughts on Clare now.....