Born of Fire
Chapter Fifteen

Maximus insists on driving my car as we approach it. He holds out his hand for the keys and I laugh at him as I hand them over. I’m just curious to see him fit his hulking frame in my tiny car. I jump into the passenger seat dumping my bag on the seat behind me. I have a split second of panic as I realize I just handed over my life to a daemon willingly. Then I shake my head as I try to suppress the smile threatening my lips at the sight of the Vulcan like god bent over my steering wheel.

He turns to look at me as his eyebrow crooks up at me. “Is this funny to you?” He asks deadpan and I lose my composure as I laugh and nod at him. I watch him get frustrated as he tries to move the seat back further. I lean over him and reach between his legs slowly until my fingers replace the lever of custom seat I had installed to slide all the way back.

He goes flying and I fall against his chest at the sudden movement before I pull myself back quickly into my seat. “Thank you.” He chokes out. I look at him surprised.

“You’re welcome.” As we drive I watch him smile wickedly as he guns it through the streets of San Francisco like he’s Steve McQueen in ‘Bullitt’. “What’s under the hood of this thing?” He asks curiously impressed as we take a corner at about forty miles an hour. I laugh at the lit up expression in his eyes and tsk shaking my head in faux disappointment.

“Doesn’t matter how old they get; boys will always be boys.” I admonish disapprovingly.

“I was never a boy.” He admits out loud them seems to think better of it. He goes silent for a moment but I can tell he’s still enjoying driving like a maniac. I start to tell him about the custom features of the car and the twin turbos on the engine that belongs in an Aston Martin. He looks impressed. “Yeah, I’m sure my cousin added a few other stolen car parts to this car. Still it has gotten me out of some pretty tight spaces over the years.”

“It handles really well.” He adds keeping the conversation going. I laugh at him as he pulls up into my driveway despite me not giving him directions to my house.

“I like to take it off road sometimes.” I explain vaguely. Then something occurs to me and I look at him annoyed. “Have you been following me?” He nods completely unashamed and I swat his arm hard. “You dick!” I exclaim. “I thought I was going out of my mind thinking a shadow was following me home at night.”

He looks guilty for a moment. “I needed to make sure you were safe.” Is all he says in his defense. I groan still annoyed and push my door open and storm up my stairs as I search for my keys and stop when an arm shoots over my shoulder holding the keys for me. I snatch them off him still annoyed. I open the door and fling it open as I storm in. I drop my bag and my keys in their usual spot as I walk into the kitchen to get a beer.

I notice Max isn’t behind me and I walk back to see him waiting outside an open door. “What are you a vampire? Do you need an invitation to come in the house?” I ask bitterly.

“I was trying to be a gentleman. I’ve read that it is impolite to enter a lady’s dwellings without her permission.” He answers dead serious like he just read a social etiquette book from the eighteen hundreds. I gesture into the house.

“You can come in Max. I’m not that much of a lady.” I tease him and it’s lost on him. I start to wonder how long he’s been around if that’s really how he thinks men act.

“I’ve been around since the dawn of creation.” He explains stepping over the threshold and closing the door behind him. Holy crap he can read my mind. I slap my hand over my mouth to stop the string of curse words about to fly out of my mouth. Oh my God some of the thoughts I’ve had around him. I think as I hide my face from him.

I feel him stand in front of me as he gently pulls my hands from my crimson tinged face. He smiles a wicked smile at me. “I don’t do it unless I have to. Usually when I’m protecting you during your shows. I reach into your mind to detect any possible threats I might miss.” He explains gently. I look at him doubtfully.

“Really?” I challenge. He smiles a full smile at me.

“Maybe one or two other times, but I generally don’t like to hear people’s thoughts so I turn it off. Something about your mind though is very intriguing.”

“Yeah I don’t think I would like to know what people are thinking all the time. I mean just being around Nina would probably give me nightmares.” I say offhandedly and I’m met with a deep boisterous laugh. Max stops laughing and shakes his head as if trying to shake a scary image from his mind. “Serves you right, invading people’s private thoughts like that.” I scold him knowingly.

He smiles sheepishly at me. “I wasn’t trying to listen to her, I was trying to listen to you. That night we were all out in the break area in the side alley. You looked so peaceful. A peace I hadn’t known for so long, I just wanted to see what you saw. But Nina’s very loud and graphic thoughts overpowered yours.” He explains shaking his head again. I laugh lightly at him.

“Do you want a drink?” I ask him politely. He nods and smiles at me. His real smile is brilliant and he doesn’t use it enough. I leave him in the living room as I head back to the kitchen to grab another beer. Then I think better of it. “Will this be a beer conversation or will we need something stronger?” I call out to him jokingly.

“Stronger would be better.” He responds evenly and I gulp audibly as I grab the bourbon and a couple of glasses with ice. I walk back into the living room and Max looks very contemplative. I put the glasses down on the coffee table and let the liquid slip over the ice slowly. Then I hand one to him and I clink it with my own. “Cheers.” I tell him warily. He looks so concerned.

“I’m guessing that there are a lot of things you can’t tell me, right?” I ask knowingly. He nods as he swallows his drink and I top him off.

“I’m not sure where to even begin. I don’t know how much you can handle or if it will change your opinion of me. The last thing I want is to scare you McKenna.” He explains looking torn. I swallow the contents of my glass and refill it.

“Would you like me to go first?” I ask helpfully. He looks at me curiously. I laugh at his expression. “I’ll confess my sins, then you can confess yours.” I offer. He smiles gratefully at me and nods. I begin by explaining what I was so upset about earlier tonight. I tell him about my dad and the condition he’s been in most of my life. Then I told him a bit about myself before I decided to give him the cliff notes version of my one great sin.

“I was thirteen when I committed the one act that damned me for eternity. Even now knowing what I know I wouldn’t change my action. I can’t repent because I wouldn’t mean it.” I explain seriously and he nods as his eyes fill with concern.

“Thirteen? You were a child. How have you not gone mad knowing that your soul is destined for hell?” His concern-filled voice almost breaks me and I want to tell him everything, but somethings are best left unsaid. Words have more power than people know, they have the power to send one’s delicate grasp on reality into oblivion.

“I just focus on living. I’ll worry about hell when I get there. It’s not like I’ve given up or anything. I’ve tried to look for loopholes but when Lucifer himself tells you that your soul is claimed its kind of hard to argue.”

“So it’s true about Lucifer claiming you for himself. I was hoping that was just a bluff to distract Kane.” He sighs ruefully. I shake my head.

“He appeared the night it happened. I’m not sure how much of it was real and how much of it was in my head.” I breathe out terrified of this part of my confession. Any sane guy would run for the hills if he knew that the Prince of Darkness himself had claimed me. “My bedroom filled with flames and I could hardly breathe because the air was so hot. I wanted to vomit because of the smell invading my senses but the heat had dried up all liquid in my body and I felt like I was shriveling up from the heat.”

He takes my hand in his comfortingly as I continue. “He appeared just as a dark shape against a wall of flames, but his eyes were blood red and looked right into my soul. He spoke so harshly that I wanted to cringe away from his voice. He told me to get used to my surroundings because that’s where my soul was headed for the life I took.”

“He then went on to say that he liked the taste of my soul and his tongue whipped out like a snake’s and I felt it against my chest. I cursed him and told him to go fuck himself. Then I grabbed his slimy tongue pinching it hard before flinging it away from me. He laughed at my defiance like it was a game we were playing. Then he mentioned a few of the colorful ways he planned to break me down. Then I laughed at him and told him there was nothing he could do to me that was worse than what had already been done to me in my life.”

I began to tear up at the memory. “Then he just smiled at me like I just came on to him. Apparently Lucifer is turned on by challenges. I knew right there and then that it was all real. He saw the realization dawn on my face and leaned close to whisper his final threat in my ear. Have a good life Daarnya, because your eternity belongs to me.”

I feel Max’s arms pull me closer to him on the couch as I try to calm my breathing back down at the memory. “He called you Daarnya?” He asked curiously leaning back away from me. I’m surprised that is his question. I shrug.

“It’s my name. I only go by McKenna because I hate the way he used to say my name.” I admit before closing down my thoughts. I’m not quick enough. The look on Max’s face turns from looking sick to one of pure fury and righteousness. “Don’t go in there again.” I tell him seriously and he looks at me shocked by the outburst.

“That day in the club when I frightened you. I knew someone had hurt you, badly. I had no idea McKenna I’m so sorry.” Max reaches out and I jump off the couch and walk away from him to stand by the window with my back to him. I feel the anger radiating around the room.

“What are you sorry for? The fact that my father who was my hero was replaced by a villain of the vilest nature. Or the fact that my mother didn’t believe me? Every time I tried to tell her over five years she just accused me of attention seeking and told me to stop dressing like a hussy.” I wrap my arms tightly around myself as I look out the window and I can feel the streams of tears burning their way down my cheeks.