Page 25 of Fated by Fire (Dragonblood Dynasty #1)

Chapter 25

E lena

I flip through the worn pages of my mother’s journal, inhaling the scent of aged paper and faded ink. The fire crackles softly in the hearth, casting shadows across the cabin walls. I’ve read these entries a thousand times, but tonight, they feel different—charged with a meaning that had eluded me until now.

My fingers trace over her handwriting, as familiar as my own. I stop at an entry dated just a few weeks before she disappeared.

“Met with M.S. again today. He’s insistent, but I don’t know if I can continue down this path. The weight of tradition presses heavily, but is it worth the cost?”

M.S. I used to think it was some boyfriend she was too shy to introduce me to—a secret romance she’d reveal when the time was right. But now, with everything Caleb’s told me, the initials take on a sinister clarity.

Malakai Steele.

“Dammit,” I whisper, anger knotting in my stomach. Had Caleb known? Was he aware that his clan’s elder had been manipulating my mother?

I turn the page.

“I had such a strange feeling of being watched today. Guess that’s what happens when you drink too much coffee. I’ll be popping out of my skin if I hit too much of that espresso.”

I’ve read the line so many times before and it always made me smile. Mom was so quirky. But now, it takes on a different flavor. Sinister. Because I suddenly realize that it’s very likely someone was watching her.

“Oh, Mom,” I whisper, my finger tracking along with the words I’m reading.

“I’m supposed to ‘honor the promises’ and ‘maintain the family traditions.’ But what about Elena? She’s mine. She’ll always be mine!”

My heart stutters. I hadn’t thought about this before, but did this entry mean something else? I just thought she’d written it as a single mother who was a bit clingy after breaking away from her family. I didn’t know much about them except that they’d had a falling out, and she’d left. But was it something else? What promises had been made? And why was she so adamant that I was hers? Was Mom worried about someone taking me? Someone like Malakai?

I scan the final entry, dated the very day she vanished.

“Confronted M today. He didn’t take it well. I have to make a choice. For her sake.”

A tear slips down my cheek, blurring the ink on the page. My mother’s last act was to protect me from them—from Malakai and the rest of the dragons. From Caleb’s people.

A surge of betrayal washes over me. Did Caleb know about this? Has he been keeping more secrets?

He said that Malakai was working alone, but how could that be the case when this thing with my family had been going on for so long? How could he not have known?

I shove the journal away, standing up so abruptly that the chair topples over backward. The sudden movement sends a jolt through me, and I pause, a strange sensation prickling at the edge of my awareness.

He’s coming.

I don’t know how I know, but I do. A tension fills the air, a warmth filling my chest that feels too much like joy for my liking. My heart accelerates, anger mingling with anticipation that annoys me even further.

Moments later, the cabin door swings open, and Caleb strides in. His eyes blaze with barely restrained fury, his jaw set in a hard line.

“Elena,” he says. There’s an edge to his voice that makes my hackles rise.

“Caleb.” I cross my arms over my chest, meeting his gaze head-on. “Didn’t expect you back so soon.”

“I’ll bet you didn’t.” His words are clipped, each one like a shard of ice. “Care to explain this?” He tosses his phone onto the table between us.

I glance down at the screen to see Mara’s face, animated and intense, as she delves into her latest conspiracy theory: dragons among us, shadows in the corporate world, all tied back to Craven Industries.

My stomach drops.

Fuck. Shit. Fuck!

Dammit, Mara!

“I can explain,” I say, still determined to cling to my own righteous rage. My words are hollow because I can’t explain at all. I made a mistake in telling Mara.

“Please do,” he says, sarcasm dripping from each syllable. “Because your friend just broadcasted to the world everything we’ve been trying to keep hidden.”

I bristle at his accusatory tone. “She’s not just ‘my friend.’ She’s important to me, and I needed to let her know I was okay.”

“And maybe give her the inside scoop on a secret we’ve kept for centuries?” He spits the words.

“Well, maybe if you and your clan hadn’t been manipulating my family for generations, we wouldn’t be in this mess.”

His eyes narrow. “What are you talking about?”

I snatch up the journal from the table and thrust it toward him. “This. My mother’s journal. Turns out Malakai was meeting with her before she disappeared. Pressuring her. She was terrified, Caleb! Did you know about this?”

He falters for a moment, genuine confusion flickering across his face. “I had no idea.”

“How convenient,” I snap. “First, you keep me in the dark about who—what—you really are. Then I find out your people have been hunting mine. Using us. And now you’re angry because Mara exposed the truth?”

His fury reignites, eyes flashing. “That video puts us all in danger. My clan. My family. Do you have any idea what could happen if humans decide to hunt us again?”

I throw my hands up. “Oh, so it’s fine when your kind hunts mine, but the moment the tables might turn, you play the victim?”

“It’s not the same, and you know it.”

“I don’t know anything anymore!” I shout, the words echoing in the small space. “Except that my mother is gone because of you. Because of your clan’s secrets and lies.”

He takes a step closer, tension radiating off him in waves. “Don’t you dare put that on me!”

“Why not? It’s the truth. You said that Malakai just went rogue. But he’s been pulling this shit for years. How could you not have known that? Been involved with that?”

“I have no idea,” he snaps. “Do you think I’m happy to admit it?”

“No,” I snap back. “Which is why I don’t believe you.”

“You’re trying to derail this conversation with this bullshit.” His jaw tightens. “Your friend just endangered my entire species!” His voice reverberates, a growl underlying his words. “Do you understand that?”

“And your family used mine!” I snap back. “Used my mother, and now they’re after me.”

We stand there, both breathing hard, the air between us thick with accusation and hurt. The connection I felt before—the strange, compelling pull—is still there, but now it feels like it’s tearing me apart. Every angry word, every glare cuts deeper because of it.

A sharp pain bursts in my chest, and I know he feels it, too. His expression falters, a flash of something vulnerable breaking through the anger.

“This bond,” he says quietly. “It’s making this worse.”

“Bond?” I narrow my eyes on him. “You mean this freakish connection I have with you?”

He nods. He doesn’t look pleased. “Yes. That.”

I swallow hard. “I feel it, too. But it doesn’t change anything.”

He closes his eyes briefly, as if steeling himself. “Maybe… maybe this was a mistake.”

I flinch, surprised by how hard the words hit. “What do you mean?”

“This,” he gestures between us. “Us. It’s compromised everything. I can’t protect my clan if I can’t think straight.”

I stare at him, numbness spreading through me. Then anger takes hold again. “I don’t know what ‘us’ you’re talking about. We fucked a couple of times. Big deal.”

His expression shutters. “If that’s what you’d call it, then sure. There’s no us.”

“So off you go, then.” I wave a hand. “Go take care of your clan. Protect them from big, bad Mara’s TikTok reels.”

His expression darkens further. “It’s not that simple. This isn’t a joke, Elena.”

“Seems pretty simple from where I’m standing,” I say bitterly. “But fine. I’m done being your prisoner, anyway.”

I turn on my heel, grabbing my duffel bag from the floor and stuffing the journal inside. My hands shake, but I force myself to move, to act.

“Elena, wait.” He reaches out, his hand closing around my arm. The contact sends a jolt through me, that increasingly familiar feeling flaring to life. Shaking it off, I wrench myself free.

“Don’t,” I warn, my voice cold. “You don’t get to tell me what to do.”

“Where will you go? It’s not safe—”

“I’ll take my chances.” I sling the bag over my shoulder and head for the door.

He blocks my path, frustration flickering in his eyes. “Please. At least let me help you.”

I shake my head. “I can’t trust you. Not anymore.” I give a humorless laugh. “What am I saying? I never could. You warned me yourself.”

The hurt in his expression almost makes me hesitate, but I harden my resolve. Pushing past him, I fling the door open and step out into the crisp night air.

Behind me, Caleb doesn’t follow. He just stands there in the doorway, a solitary figure against the warm glow of the cabin’s interior.

“Elena! Goddammit!” he calls out one last time, his voice carrying a note of finality.

I pause but don’t turn around. “Goodbye, Caleb.”

Without another word, I stride to my Jeep, each step fueled by anger and a painful sense of betrayal. The cool air wraps around me, the scent of pine and earth filling my lungs.

I sink into the driver’s seat, firing up the engine and gunning it as I reverse at speed, then swing onto the small road that leads away from the cabin. Gravel flies as I accelerate away.

For a minute or two, I navigate through the darkness. Part of me knows this is reckless—that heading out alone makes me an easy target. But I’ll take my chances. I can’t stay there, trapped by his choices and suffocated by some bizarre connection I never asked for in the first place. I feel it, though. I feel it like a living thing as I put more and more miles between us.

“You’ll get over it,” I mutter into the silence of the dark vehicle. “It barely meant anything, anyway.” I press my foot down harder, feeling the car leap forward.

I don’t know where I’m going. Just away.