The Daughter of Time (Ace of Queens #6)

Ch.5 What's your name?

Chapter 5

The shift in the air was immediate. Maya felt the wet ground disappear from beneath her within seconds as she transported from the dark marsh to a brightly lit room. The sounds of ocean waves crashing against the rocks reached her ears instead of the crickets and summer bugs.

Maya's whole body trembled as she pushed herself and sat up. She was rocking with sobs as her blue eyes scanned her surroundings. She sat on the floor of a magnificent room. Large columns lined the sides as it led out to an open balcony overlooking the ocean at night. Inside, there were handcrafted wooden furnitures and pottery. The large canopy bed was adorned with golden and cream pillows as the white canopy blew in the ocean breeze.

Maya had appeared in the middle of the room. She sat on the floor looking around, wondering where she had appeared now. She was too shocked and stunned from seeing Willow to do anything. Even the thought of moving frightened her. She just wanted to go home.

Suddenly, the large double doors to the room opened with a bang. Maya jumped as a very familiar figure walked in. She scurried to her feet as he walked towards her. For a minute, Maya's heart leaped up.

Can he see me? She wondered.

But as the man walked right past her, she knew he didn't know she was in the room. Maya wasn't sure who he was. Or more like which version. The man before her was like a great combination of Nick, Emir and Roy. whatever his name was not, it didn't matter. What mattered was that Maya could spot him anywhere and know who he was. She would never forget those eyes.

Maya's eyes followed her mate as he tossed aside the roll of paper he was holding. It hit the side of the table and bounced off. Both Maya and her mate stared at it for a few seconds. She wondered if he would pick it up, but when he sighed and collapsed on his bed, she knew he wasn't in the mood. Maya observed him from where she stood. Through the sheer white curtains of the canopy, her eyes trailed his movements as he took off the shirt he had been wearing as he tossed it aside too.

Within a few seconds, the young witch found herself standing in the darkness as her mate turned out the lights and buried his face in the pillows for the night. The silver moonlight poured into the room from the balcony along with a cool breeze which made Maya's bones shiver. With soft steps, she walked out into the open air and darted her eyes to the skies.

A lonely tear ran down Maya's eyes when she realized there was just one moon in the sky. She didn't know why, but the thought of seeing the three moons again terrified her.

For a long time, Maya stood in the night air. She didn't know what to do with herself as her mate, who was completely unaware of her, slept in the room as she hung in limbo between time. With a heavy sigh, she walked over to the edge of the balcony. The dark ocean stretching out to infinity was like a vast desert. And ironically, in the dark, Maya spotted ginormous sand dunes by the shore. The steep clips of the sand led directly into the unforgiving water below.

Slowly, as Maya stood by the railing, the temperature began to drop. Goosebumps began to rise on her skin as she rubbed her hands up and down her arms to heat herself up. A fear, darker than night itself, began to make itself at home in her heart. What if she never returned home?

Maya shook her head. That wasn't possible. Her mother would never allow that. She would figure out a way to pull her out.

Suddenly, as Maya stood chewing on her bottom lip worrying about her return, a large hand gripped her ankle through the railings of the balcony. A chilling scream came out of her mouth as she was pulled forward over the railing.

Maya felt her body be pulled off the solid ground and hurled forward. Some unknown force in front of her pulled her at with frightening aggression. Once her whole body was over the railing, it disappeared leaving her to the mercy of gravity. Maya screamed once more as she felt her body start to drop in the air. She knew there was no saving her as her arms flared and the dark waters from below opened it's embrace for her.