Dying in Flames by M. Sinclair

7

Maya

“What should I be for Halloween?”I asked, watching a cold, almost sleet-like moisture hit the windshield as we drove down the highway at a fast speed. My gaze was moving all around, but Marco had both hands on the wheel, looking a bit tense at the sudden change of weather, and Ledger kept checking my seatbelt. It was really sweet, and I resisted telling them that I was far more worried about them than myself.

Luckily, the large truck we were in seemed extremely safe and secure, so I felt like I was able to relax just a bit. I hoped my question would allow them to refocus a bit as well, but I had a feeling it would take more than that to get Marco’s mind off the road conditions.

“Do you have any ideas so far?” Marco asked, seemingly distracted as he took an exit.

“A kitten,” I immediately answered, causing Ledger to chuckle. “What?”

“Sai would love that,” he pointed out, smirking. “I actually think you would be an adorable kitten.”

Well, that just confirmed that was the direction I should take with the costume.

We pulled up to a massive store labeled ‘Party City’ that was lit up with the word ‘Halloween’ in bright orange in the window, showing through the storm. Marco parked as close to the front as possible, the parking lot mostly empty. The storm felt so random and unnatural, it had me wondering if they thought it was odd as well.

“Go check.” Marco looked at Ledger, who was already hopping out from the back. I watched him jog through the rain into the store, and when I went to look back at my mate, I found him already in my space, his hand wrapping around my waist as he nuzzled my neck.

“Marco,” I said breathlessly as he nipped my neck.

“I need more alone time with you,” he grumbled.

“You can have alone time with me whenever you want,” I answered honestly, tilting my jaw up. “You know I always want to be with you.”

“When this bullshit is all over, I am stealing you away for a few days and we can go wherever the hell you want. I just want you to myself so I can explore every inch of you and appreciate that you’re here with me and still mine. That no one can take you away from us.” His voice was warm and fierce, causing my body to light up as his thumb ran over the ring on my finger once again.

Turning towards him, I leaned forward and nipped his bottom lip. He let out a growl and slid a hand to the back of my neck, meeting my lips, fully and demanding.

Man, he was a good kisser.

A knock on the window had me pulling away as Ledger stared at both of us with a freakin’ pout, absolutely soaked to the bone. I opened the door and he slid in easily, shaking off his wet hair. I giggled and climbed into Marco’s lap to avoid it, my blood dragon mate casting me a smirk.

“Anything?” Marco asked.

“Three groups, two families, and one that was further back in the store. Someone has magic for sure, but it didn’t seem threatening, just nature-based.” He shrugged.

Marco exhaled. “That sounds like witch magic.”

I looked up at the sky and let my own magic out. I did feel magic, but like Ledger said, it didn’t feel threatening. Nor did it feel like Pastor Malcolm’s type of witch magic. “Let’s just keep an eye out, but I really think we are good.”

I could see the protest in Marco’s gaze, but something in my own expression had him nodding sharply and turning off the car.

With that, we made our way across the parking lot, a smile on my face while running with my mates despite my hair getting soaked by the rain. I let out a giggle at the near pout on Marco’s face as he tried to pull me into a hug to get the water on me, making me squeak and throw myself against Ledger, who picked me up and carried me towards a row of costumes.

Holy cow. There were so many, and I found myself a bit overwhelmed at first, until I looked across the store and saw an entire section of far better options. Not only were they prettier, but they were the exact type of thing that would make my mates get all growly.

My lips tilted up, thinking about Croy’s words… Did I love teasing them? I think I did, and I really had a feeling that this would do it.

“Oh, be right back!” I called and slipped down an aisle before they could respond, Marco calling after me. I had a feeling they weren’t too worried because they didn’t chase right after me, but I also knew they wouldn’t stay away for long, which meant I had a very short window of opportunity to do what I planned to.

I looked back in their direction when turning a corner, and a squeak came from my throat as I slammed right into another body, a pair of hands shooting out to grab my biceps. My eyes widened, realizing I’d crashed into another woman.

She let out a laugh, stepping back almost immediately. “I am so sorry.” She winced.

Why was she apologizing? She really had no need to.

“Oh, you’re fine.” I waved my hand, a bit taken aback by how gorgeous she was. I mean, she was objectively beautiful, but more than that, this woman was like the lightning bolts outside. Instead of being a part of her, her magic seemed to radiate all around her. She was fascinating to look at, and I didn’t really know what exactly to make of her at first.

First of all, she was dressed in an oversized jacket like myself, but unlike me, her hair was so freakin’ cool. It was dark blue at the top and faded into a silver and then to bright blue on the ends. It was a bit wild-looking and laid around her shoulders, her dark brows only further showing off her intense eyes that were lighting-white in the center and navy on the edges, almost appearing reflective. They made me a bit uncomfortable, but she seemed so friendly that the feeling quickly faded.

More than anything, though, there was an edge to the energy around her that had my phoenix greeting it in a friendly manner, seemingly happy to interact with her magic. In a quick second, I realized I wanted to be this girl’s friend, and even though we were exact opposites, like the sun and moon, I don’t think it mattered.

“Maya!” Marco called out in the distance, making me suddenly laugh as I tugged her hand to follow me. We went down a few more aisles, and I found myself hoping she was like Jordan and didn’t mind me being so friendly out the gate.

When we came to a stop, I explained my reason for running, because she appeared so confused. “Sorry, trying to give someone the slip so I could find something for them as a surprise.” Specifically, a sexy Halloween costume. My mission, though, was being sidetracked by my attempt at friendship.

“A guy?” she asked.

“My mate.” I sighed happily before asking, “Do you have a mate? I have quite a few.” Maybe it was more common than I assumed.

“Sorta,” she admitted, her eyes jumping with amusement. “They are mages though.”

“Mine are dragons.” I then added, “They get very worked up when they can’t see me.”

And I loved it.

“Wait, like dragon shifters?” Her brows rose in surprise.

“Yep.” I nodded enthusiastically. “What are you? Also, did you dye your hair like that? I would love to color my hair like that. But I would probably do pink again. I don’t think blue would look as good on me.” I was very sad that my pink had faded; I needed to redo it. I had also seen purple, which I thought would look pretty. Once we stopped being so busy, I promised myself that was exactly what I would do.

“I’m a demi-goddess,” she stated, causing my mouth to drop open.

Was she for real? That was so freakin’ cool.

Suddenly, a large figure turning the corner of the aisle up ahead had me smiling. “Oh! They found me. Well, it was wonderful to meet you. What’s your name?”

“Nova.” Ooo, that was a pretty name.

“Maya.” I put out my hand as she met it and thunder cracked outside. Now that was cool. I wasn’t positive, but I had a feeling that she was responsible for this weird storm outside. It was just a feeling, though—it was completely possible that I was incorrect.

“Firefly.” Ledger sounded stressed as he approached me, followed by Marco.

“Please don’t run off like that, Maya. That scares the shit out of me.” Marco rounded Nova as I smiled up at them to assure them that I was perfectly fine. I didn’t mind teasing them, but I also didn’t want them worrying too much.

“I didn’t run off,” I pointed out, despite having done exactly that. “This is my friend Nova.”

They glanced at Nova for only a moment before looking back at me. When someone else joined us, a sound came from Marco’s chest that was dangerous and caused my breath to hitch in excitement.

Wait. What was going on with him? I didn’t like the idea of him upset at all.

My gaze moved to a very large man behind Nova, his dark wavy hair and silver eyes complementing her own, the two of them appearing almost like a matching pair. I had to assume this man was one of her mates, because the way that he was staring at her with so much possessiveness was a bit jarring. Mostly because I don’t think she noticed it at all.

Was now the time to bring up to her how cool I thought it was that we both had multiple mates?Probably not.

The man met Marco’s gaze and held it for a minute, some weird moment passing between the two of them that I didn’t understand, before my mate relaxed slightly.

“Maya,” Nova drew my attention back happily, “can I give you my number? I would love to hang out, but I have three more psychos roaming around this store, and well, you know…”

“You mean because they get all growly? Do yours do that also, or is that a dragon thing?” I wasn’t exactly positive what ‘psycho’ meant to her, but I had a feeling it was along those lines.

Handing her my cell phone, she typed in a number before giving it back while muttering, “I think that’s just a crazy dude thing.”

“That means both of you are crazy,” I offered, amused, while looking down at my phone, Ledger’s dragon releasing a noise that had my toes curling. That was before another energy signature joined us.

My head snapped up to focus on a rather intimidating man, his emerald green hair standing out against his completely black outfit and olive skin. His dark eyes barely focused on me before narrowing on Marco and then Ledger…who he smiled at? The tension almost immediately broke.

“Ledger?” He broke into a big smile. “What’s up, man?”

“Fox? Hey man,” Ledger replied with a grin, meeting his hand. “I would have come over and said hi if I’d known you guys were here. Is Cass around?”

“Nah.” Fox shook his head. “He’s home. We were just taking Nova shopping for a Halloween party we are holding tomorrow.”

“Oh?” My new friend arched her brow with a level of sassiness I wish I had naturally. “Are we holding the party now? If I remember correctly, you didn’t want to hold one.”

“Can we hold a Halloween party?” I asked, looking at Marco and Ledger, smiling slightly.

I knew that we were already going to one, but the idea of having a ton of people in our house had Marco offering me a heated look. He knew I was purposefully pushing his buttons, but I mentally promised to give him a kiss later to make up for it.

I couldn’t let my friend think I wasn’t cool and didn’t have plans for our own party.

“Sure.” Marco slowly smiled. “With our family.”

“Marco…” I offered him a scowl. We clearly needed a code word so that he would play along next time.

“Alright,” Ledger clearly tried to redirect. “Let’s head out, shall we?”

I moved from Marco’s arms and hugged Nova, tightly, clearly surprising her, but she did hug me back. “It was so great to meet you. I will use my cell phone to call you. It does that, right Ledger?”

I really needed to get a better hang of it. I seriously had only picked up calls, never called someone myself… That was a bit embarrassing to admit. She was going to think I was weird, probably.

Ledger offered me a soft smile. “Sure does, firefly.”

“I’ll do that then.” I nodded.

I waved goodbye to Nova and the two intense men with her as I hummed happily between Marco and Ledger while walking towards the door. I could tell they were on edge, I just wasn’t exactly sure why.

“Why are we leaving before costumes?” I asked quietly.

“Some of the local witch coven were seen around here a few minutes ago.” Marco’s jaw clenched. “It is more than likely that they are working with Malcolm.”

I frowned, shaking my head. “Well, that’s okay, we can figure something else—”

“I called in a favor. We have a costume person coming to the house tomorrow morning,” Marco offered, smiling. Ledger intertwined our fingers, and I squeezed them back.

Honestly, I didn’t mind their idea at all, because now it gave me all night to think about what to do.