Ch.21 Potential

Chapter 21

Heyder stepped out of the portal and immediately felt his wife's presence in the room. Maya had a way of doing that to him. Ever since he had marked her at their wedding, Heyder always knew where she was with his whole heart and whatever was left of his soul.

Pushing down the aching pain that gripped his heart, Heyder slowly turned as the portal closed. He knew Maya could feel him too, but she did not look up from her phone.

"Hey," Exton nodded towards Heyder as he walked up to the conference table.

"Hey," Heyder said quietly as he pulled out a chair and took a seat.

The jinn's brown eyes darted towards his wife without his permission. He took notice of the way her brows furrowed and the skin on her forehead creased. Hayden pained to lean forward and kiss her to ease that beating heart.

"We're just waiting on Ali," Exton cleared his throat.

Heyder nodded, "He said he should be here in a few minutes."

"Okay," Exton nodded.

The room fell silent. No one said a word as the minute hand slowly moved from one number to another. Heyder rubbed the back of his neck, fighting with his eyes to stop looking at Maya because every time he looked at her, it was as if the pain was renewed. It came back stronger.

A few times, Heyder leaned forward as if he couldn't stop himself. Maya would stiffen and grow still, holding her breath for the jinn to say something. Heyder didn't know what to say. Exton watched them from the corner of his eyes until Heyder finally decided to speak.

"Did you go to Zuri's birthday party?" He asked.

Maya slowly closed her phone and looked up. Her eyes were lost and filled with a hollowness that shook Heyder's bones.

"Yes," she said.

Heyder nodded, "Good."

"She missed you," Maya continued. "She asked me where you were."

"What did you tell her?"

Maya shrugged, "I didn't say anything. It was her birthday. I didn't want to tell her that her paba didn't think it was important enough to show up."

Heyder felt parts of his heart shrivel up.

"She's only three," Maya continued, her eyes heating up. "She wouldn't understand how selfish you a-"

"That's not what happened," Heyder said, his voice low and his shoulders slouching.

"It's not?" Maya arched her brow. "So you didn't skip your granddaughter's birthday party? I didn't see you there?"

"I went to go see her," Heyder said. "I just left early."

"Why?" Maya questioned. "Let me guess, you couldn't tolerate the people at the party? Or were they annoying you with their normal lif-"

"I left because I thought you would have a better time if I wasn't there."

Maya couldn't help the bitter laugh that bubbled out of her.

"Oh aren't you such an amazing husband," Maya mocked. "So worried about my fuckin' feelings. Liar."

"I can't lie, sweet baby," Heyder frowned, feeling Maya's words chip away at his stone cold heart.

"But you manipulate."

"Never with you."

"That's not h-"

"I'm going to step out for a few minutes," Exton declared, growing very uncomfortable.

"No," Maya said, her eyes snapping up to her father. "I'll go."

"No, don't," Heyder protested. "I mean.....we need to talk about Birdie."

"Heyder is right," Exton rose from his seat. "I'll go get us all some coffee."

"Dad," Maya sighed but the man did not listen.

The pair was made to sit at the table across from one another as Exton walked out, letting the door close softly behind him. Maya narrowed her eyes and glared at the jinn, hating the way he stared at his wedding ring and avoided looking at her eyes.

"Maya," Heyder started after a long pause.

Maya held her breath from the way his voice sounded so broken. She suddenly remembered all the words she had thrown at him and watched how much damage it had caused. But with those memories also came the images of Heyder's rage filled eyes that glared at her as he threw the blame of their daughter's disappearance on her shoulders.

"What?" Maya snapped.

Heyder looked up, his brown eyes filled with lament and age, "Come home."

"I have no home with you anymore," Maya said bitterly, feeling her own heart flinch. "You burned it down. Because that's what you always do."

"No, no," Heyder shook his head and rose from his seat.

Before Maya could back away, the jinn was in front of her. He got on one knee in front of her and placed his hands on her armrests, stopping her from getting up. Heyder took in a shaking breath as he leaned a bit closer towards his wife.

"Please come home," he begged. "I fucked up. I fucked all this up again and I am so sorry."

"You can't keep fucking up and then begging me to come back," Maya said. "We're not kids anymore. We have grandkids now!"

"I know, I know," Heyder took her hand in between his. "I'm going to be better."

The warmth from the jinn's hands spread all over Maya's cold body instantly. She felt her heart leap into her throat as her eyes suddenly teared.

"You won't," Maya said, surprised by how broken her voice suddenly sounded. It was heavy with emotions and tears she refused to cry. "You're never going to change. It's been years and you're always the same."

"Don't say that," Heyder frowned. "I have changed."

"You're always looking for things or ways to screw up something good," Maya couldn't help the tears that rolled down her eyes. "Why? Why can't you just accept that good things can happen to you? Why are you always so damn suspicious? Why are you always holding your breath for shit to hit the fan? Why can't you see that by doing that, you're inviting negativity?"

"I've done a lot of horrible things before you came into my life," Heyder said. "That's no secret. I'm just....I just know all my bad karma will catch up to me."

"So you panic and push away everything and everyone?" Maya asked. "Including me?"

Heyder didn't have an answer. Because Maya was right. Even after so many years together, he was still holding his breath for the day he would wake up and she would truly be gone from his life, throwing everything back into that constant state of darkness.

"Baby," Heyder raised his hand to her face. "Come home please."

"No," Maya shook her head, sobbing.

"I'm begging you," Heyder said breathlessly. "Please don't leave me."

"Then stop pushing me away!" Maya tried to push his hand away, but Heyder wouldn't budge. "You promised me when we got married that you would never hurt me ever again and you broke that promise."

"I did," Heyder nodded. "I'm so sorry."

"Sorry doesn't take away the things you've said to me," Maya paused. "Or the things I've said to you."

"I don't care about what you said to me."

Maya looked up and rolled her eyes.

"Hear me out," Heyder held her face in between his. "As far as I'm concerned, you didn't say anything that's not true."

"But it was wrong for me to say that because I knew how you felt about it," Maya explained. "I was....I was mad and I wanted to hurt you-"

"Like I hurt you with my words."

"And that's exactly why I can't come back!" Maya finally gathered up enough strength to push away and stand up from her chair. Heyder followed her up and tried to reach for her hand once more. "No. Stop."

"Maya, please," Heyder pleaded.

"Heyder," Maya turned away. "I can't be this person with you anymore. This person digs her claws into people's insecurities and gets satisfaction from watching them get hurt."

"But you're not like that," Heyder said. "I am."

"And you're turning me into you."

"What can I do?" Heyder asked, walking around to face her. "What can we do to make this better. Please, tell me and I am ready to do it. I just want to fix this and I want you to come home."

Maya shook her head.

"Please, Maya," Heyder begged. "I can't....it's fucking impossible to breath without you. I can't even step foot into our home because it feels like the walls are going to bury me alive with their silence. Please, Maya....just come home....I'll move to a guest bedroom or something. I'll give you your space....just come home."

"Heyder," Maya took a small step back. "Stop...just give me a second to breathe!"

Heyder let go of Maya's hand and took a small step back. He watched her, his breathing labored as if he just ran a marathon. His eyes were soft and broken, like a child who was in trouble. Maya instantly regretted looking up at him as she began to sink back into her chair.

"Ma-" Heyder tried to speak.

"No," Maya held up her hand. "Stop."

Heyder shut his mouth. He stood still as a rock and let the minutes pass by as Maya pondered over the idea of going back home in her head. He could almost see the wheels turning in her head. After some time, when she finally looked back up, Heyder held his breath.

"I need space," Maya said. "I can't forget about what happened over night."

Heyder nodded.

"I'll come home," Maya continued. "But you're moving to the guest bedroom on the second floor."

"I can do that," Heyder agreed at once.

__________________

"What is this place?" Birdie asked as her horse followed Wren's into the courtyard of an old house on the other side of town.

"A pit stop for the night," Wren said as he jumped off, his booths hitting the cobble stone floor. "It used to belong to my maternal grandfather."

"Who lives here now?" Birdie asked, getting off the horse.

"No one."

"Won't that raise suspicion with the neighbors?" Birdie wondered. "An abandoned home suddenly has signs of life?"

"We're laying low," Wren said. "Not really throwing a party. As long as we stay away from the windows and don't light a fire, we should be fine."

"It's stupid," Birdie muttered. "This is a half baked plan."

"Do you have a better idea?" Wren arched his brow. "If so, please do share. I'm all ears."

"You don't have to be so snarky."

"Neither do you."

"I wasn't-"

"Yes, you were," Wren chuckled. "Now, let's get inside before we're spotted."

Narrowing her eyes, Birdie grabbed her bag and followed the fey inside. They stuck to the shadows and moved between the columns, feeling their way to the door with their hands on the wall. Once they arrived at the locked entrance, Wren pulled out a skeleton key and quickly made his way inside.

"What's the plan now?" Birdie asked as soon as the door closed behind her. "What do we do or where do we go from here?"

"Take a deep breath."

"What?"

"Take a deep breath," Wren said once more. "One step at a time."

"I need to see the bigger picture," Birdie argued. "You do have a plan, right?"

"Yes...."

"That does not sound so convincing."

"It's a plan I came up with as we both murdered my rapist cousin," Wren explained. "There are some plot holes."

"You have no idea what you are doing," Birdie stared at the fey with wide eyes.

"I have some ideas."

"That's not good enough!"

"Shhhh!" Wren rushed forward and pulled Birdie away from the door.

"That's not good enough," Birdie said once more, her voice a harsh whisper.

"That's why we are here," Wren said. "We're going to hatch a plan and then go forward."

"Let go of me," Birdie snatched her arm back and stepped away from the fey.

"Can you try to be moderately quiet?" Wren asked.

"Can you try to be moderately decent and humane?"

"What have I done?" Wren looked baffled.

"You could take these off," Birdie held up her hands and let the brass cuffs shimmer in the bright moonlight seeping in through the window.

"I haven't really had a second to breathe, you know," Wren scuffed as he headed towards the windows and began to draw the heavy black out curtains.

"Just take them off," Birdie complained, rubbing her wrist, hoping to ease the pain on her skin.

The sooner the cuffs came off, the sooner she could contact her grandmother. Now that she was no longer confined to the walls of Xaiba, maybe Ira would be able to come find her, Birdie thought.

As Wren cut off the moonlight and drenched the room in darkness, Birdie gathered her hair and pushed it up into a bun on top of her head. The strands were knotted from the wind running through it from their night escape. But Birdie could care less about the state of her hair at that moment.

"Alright," Wren said, lighting a small fire in the fireplace to provide some light in the room. "Come here."

Birdie walked around the lavish velvet and gold furniture to where the fey stood in front of the fire. She held up her wrists and took in a deep breath. Her eyes watched Wren as he slowly observed the brass, turning them all around.

"Shit," he muttered under his breath.

"What?" Birdie asked.

"Brass cuffs usually have a hidden lock and pin."

"What is that?"

"The cuffs are enchanted with a spell that allows them to open only when a fey blood is detected on the needle," Wren explained. "By the way, you're not supposed to know that."

"But you opened them before without even touching me," Birdie pointed out.

"That's because those were the old cuffs," Wren used his thumb to scratch the skin above his brow. "These are the new ones Darian enforced."

"So just put some blood on it," Birdie shrugged.

"The blood has to go on the needle's end," Wren shook his head.

"Where is the needle?"

"I don't know," Wren turned the cuffs once more. "I've never really dealt with the new cuffs."

"How do we take them off?"

"I don't know."

"What?" Birdie groaned. "It can't be that hard. Keep trying! Hit it or something. Just take them off."

"What do you mean hit it?" Wren huffed. "These are brass cuffs laced with magic. Not children."

"We're looking for a needle, right?" Birdie asked. "There must be a button or something that will release it. Keep looking."

"I am!"

Birdie bit back the groan that rose to her lips once more. She let the fey twist and turn her wrist along with the brass cuffs as her heart rate spiked. She was restless to get them off. Birdie didn't even want to think about what would happen if she had to wear them for a day longer and not be able to communicate with Ira.

"How do you not know how to take these off?" She asked, watching Wren impatiently. "You're the bloody prince."

"They just came up with these," Wren glared. "I'm pretty sure you and the other two jinns in the palace are the only ones wearing it."

"Oh fuckin' fantastic."

"I have to say, the engineering on these are spectacular."

"Wren!" Birdie snatched her wrists back.

"I'm only admiring my people's work," Wren laughed. "They're so good it's a pain in my ass now."

"Just take them off."

"I'm trying."

"Try harder."

"Can you stop talking so I can think?"

"Wow, you think?"

"Fine," Wren took a step back. "You take them off yourself."

"I would if I could."

"You sure run your mouth a lot for someone who can't do shit."

"Oh fuckin' die in a ditch, you pasty ass tinkerbell!" Birdie snapped. "I'll have you know that I can do a whole lot if I didn't have these on, okay! My mother did not raise me to be useless with my magic."

"So your mother is a jinn?"

"No, my baba is," Birdie corrected the fey. "But that's not the point right now."

"How did your mother teach you magic if your father is the jinn?" Wren arched his brow. "Is she a fey?"

"She's a witch with a fey spirit."

"That's not possible."

"Yes, it is, genius."

"Fey spirits do not inhabit other beings."

"How would you know?" Birdie asked. "You don't even have any witches here on Pangea?"

"It's just.....unheard of," Wren shook his head. "Fey magic is superior to all. There's no way it would meddle with anything else beneath it."

"You did not just say that," Birdie's voice was icy.

"It's the truth," Wren shrugged. "There is a reason why we are at the top of the food chains. Notice how there are no temples at Xaiba? It's because we can compete with even the gods. We do not need to bow to anyone."

"Wow, okay. How does your crown fit with your head so swollen and so far up your ass?" Birdie laughed. "You haven't even scratched the surface of what is possible in terms of power. On Earth, you would be crushed."

"I highly doubt that," Wren smirked.

"I have met the gods," Birdie said. "Yes, they are dicks. But you are not above them."

"So you're religious," Wren smiled. "Interesting."

"What? No," Birdie snorted. "Not in that sense. I mean I know gods exist because I occasionally have dinner with them but I don't worship them."

"You dine with gods?"

"Yes."

Wren's eyes slowly scanned Birdie's face, "You're royalty, aren't you?"

"What gave it away?" Birdie rolled her eyes and folded her arms over her chest.

"Royal blood lines are chosen by divine powers," Wren explained. "The gods will only reveal themselves to royal blood."

"Is that how it works here?" Birdie asked. "So there is a Zeus here? And Ares!"

Wren's brows furrowed, "What are those names?"

"What goes do you have here?" Birdie asked. "Who do you worship?"

"I told you," Wren sighed. "We do not worship anyone."

"But there is a higher power, right? Who are they?"

"No higher power, just us."

"But you have a concept of gods so who are they and what are their names?"

"We don't know," Wren shrugged. "No one really cares about them. Why even bother to remember the names?"

Birdie suddenly felt her heart grip with fear and recognition. She knew all about this. Clare and Ares had explained it to her.

They feys had erased their gods out of existence.

Without any prayers or offerings the divine deities faded away into nothing. Pangea was left to the mercy of the unpredictable moods of the chaos created by the universe. A series of events all clashing and mingling into a never ending butterfly effect.

"What?" Wren asked, arching his brow when Birdie stood staring at him with her eyes unreadable.

"N-nothing," Birdie shook her head. "Just take these off please."

As the girl held up her wrists, Wren stepped forward once more. He was curious about how quiet she had suddenly grown as he began to examine the cuffs once more.

"So..." he said when Birdie made no sound. "You're part witch?"

Birdie nodded slowly.

"Is it true what they say in the stories?" Wren looked up. "That Witches are soulless? Stick skinny with white hair and paper skin?"

"There are some who sell their souls to dark magic," Birdie said. "Only they are like that. The rest.....you wouldn't even be able to tell if you did not look at their eyes."

"Why the eyes?"

"The eyes are the window to the soul," Birdie said. "When you look at a witch's eyes, you will see smoke floating around. It's their soul."

"You don't have it."

"I'm only a little witch," Birdie looked down at her cuffs to see if maybe she could find a way to open them. "My grandma and my mother....they are the real ones."

"They're powerful?"

"My grandmother is the witch Supreme," Birdie looked up. "My mother is next in line."

Wren arched his brow as if he was skeptical.

"You don't believe me?" Birdie asked.

"Your magic isn't....."

"Isn't what?" Birdie dared him to continue.

"It's....average"

Birdie rolled her eyes and tried to pull her wrist away.

"You have potential," Wren held on, not letting her move an inch.

Would you forgive Heyder?

Sorry for the delay. I have a lot happing in my life right now yet nothing at all.