17. Marco
Marco
The mixture of pure terror and fury had a mind-numbing, time-stopping effect.
The basement door of the rental house Jed owned flew towards the man, knocking him into the wall and skewering him as wood pushed through his chest. His cry fell on deaf ears, though, because the room around us shook as my magic exploded out.
Maya.
The feral woman continued to hit her, and I tossed her to the side with ease, hearing bones crunch as the others, I hoped, went to take care of them. I dropped to my knees and felt terror slice through me.
No.
No.
No.
Absolutely fucking not.
My chest constricted, my dragon pushing at my skin as I tried to undo her wrists.
Her delicate golden face was pressed to the side, her back was shredded to pieces, and there was bruising on her throat.
I snapped the leg restraints and lifted her into my arms, cradling her as I dropped to my knees.
She wasn’t breathing. Her face was a tinge of blue, and her blood soaked my dress shirt.
“Maya, honey,” I whispered, knowing it was useless but not caring.
My heart began to slow, and I realized that there was an ever-growing fracture in my chest, a cavern where my heart used to be, the space completely void without her.
Void and breaking. Shattering at the very real fact that Maya was…
Dead.
For the first time in my life, tears pricked my eyes, and not even the sounds of the two pieces of shit dying behind me made me feel better. Instead, I buried my head in her neck and quietly asked her to wake up.
Again.
And again.
After a few moments, or maybe hours, I realized the room had filled with an icy silence. My breathing was rough as I pulled back, and I didn’t need to look around to feel the absolute heartbreak that filled the room. No one knew what to do.
My eyes closed, a single tear dropping from my chin, and my dragon let out a low, pained sound.
The sound of sizzling as my tear met her skin had my eyes snapping open.
Maya’s neck was turned, but where my tear had slid down, her skin began to shimmer in a scaly pattern.
I could feel the others shift closer, but I couldn’t bear to look up at them.
My eyes widened as a fine fissure, almost like lava, cracked the center of her chest, the awful noise filling the room.
Henry’s hand on my shoulder had me laying her down on the ground, and right in time, because from that center crack, her entire form lit up.
I mean truly became a blaze of open gasoline flames that wrapped around her body and turned her skin into a charred ash. I cringed as her body shook, feeling it had to be a hallucination.
“She’s being reborn,” Henry said in awe.
I looked back and watched as the inferno soared with color, shades of red, yellow, and orange hitting the ceiling and spreading around the room, burning everything but us.
My eyes refused to stray from her, but the flames grew so thick I couldn’t see her for a moment, making me rethink the tiny bit of hope I had.
Then the flames retreated, and my eyes widened at the unconscious form of our mate.
I leaned forward, resting my jacket across her and cupping her jaw. Her pulse was strong and vibrant, the smile on her face serene. She looked completely untouched.
“She’s alive,” I choked out.
“She’s a fucking pheonix,” Henry added, his voice completely blank.
That was true, but I didn’t care about that right now. I leaned forward and picked her up gently, her little brow furrowing before those stunning chocolate brown eyes littered with gold flecks opened and pinned me with a wide-eyed expression.
“Marco?” she whispered, her voice clear as a bell. I wasn’t positive what had caused the raspy nature of it before, but that was gone. Completely.
“Maya,” I murmured.
She sat up and looked down at her body, then met everyone’s gaze, looking absolutely in shock. Tears welled up in her eyes. “Oh my god. I’m alive.”
Thank the fucking Maker.
The midmorning light filtered through the family room as I leaned back, trying to detox from whatever the fuck that had been this morning. She had barely been out of my sight for a fucking hour or two, and she’d died.
Actually died.
I’d immediately called the contractors to come install a better security system after we had a shifter doctor come by to make sure she was okay.
After everything that had happened, I felt like I needed a fucking nap.
I had to be thankful for small blessings, though, because while Maya had been tired, she seemed far better than I’d expected.
I also hated to admit how I loved the way she clung to me a bit more than even before.
Atlas had been afraid to touch her afterwards because he’d essentially killed both Jed and her mother with his bare hands.
Normally, he would’ve had qualms with killing a woman, especially a human, but that hadn’t been a problem in this particular situation.
Sai had been all too pleased to help remove all evidence with the twins, who had once again woven themselves around Maya upstairs, leaving just Henry and me in the living room, drinking coffee and attempting to function.
I’d already called the school to notify them of their absence today.
“So she’s a phoenix,” I noted.
Henry’s eyes flashed over to her easel, which still sat in the living room displaying a firebird of sorts spiraling upwards. “Yes, I think that’s fairly obvious now, but convincing her and trying to get her to shift is going to be a different story.”
“I’m just glad we got her out of there and that they’re dead,” I murmured.
Henry’s eyes flashed dangerously. “They deserved far more pain than that.”
This was one of the reasons Henry was my chosen beta.
He was smart, sure, but he also knew when to act like a leader and when it wasn’t necessary.
He also had a vicious mean streak he kept hidden, unlike Anani and Atlas.
The two of them had no issue showcasing it.
I tried to keep more level-headed, but right now I could easily imagine killing a few dozen people.
Or just Jed and her mother, again and again.
“We need to give her time to rest this weekend,” he commented.
I nodded. “We could head down to Los Angeles.”
His lip twitched. “Wanting to take her around the Dragon Council now that she has your mark?”
I shrugged nonchalantly. “I think my fellow council men and women would do well to meet her.”
But yes. That was exactly what it was fucking about. I wanted to show her off to everyone. Take her to every single red carpet event for humans and shifters alike, just so everyone knew whose mate she was. I didn’t want or need any fucking confusion.
Henry hummed and nodded. “I’ll arrange for the jet. When do you want to leave?”
“This afternoon,” I stated, “once she wakes up. And if she sleeps too long, she can sleep on the plane ride and wake up there.”
He offered a two-finger salute and headed upstairs, leaving me to lean back into the leather couch and examine my blood-soaked shirt.
I needed a fucking shower. Standing up, I unbuttoned my shirt and walked into my bedroom.
It was neat and organized, though severely lacking a beautiful little phoenix.
I stayed in the shower for nearly an hour, my head pressed against the tile wall, stuck between being terrified of what had happened earlier, thankful she was alive, and turned on from the memory of her coming on my fingers last night.
Fucking shit. I knew she didn’t know a lot about sex besides the basics, but the woman had a natural sensuality and beauty that I couldn’t resist. I muttered a curse as I started to get hard—I had to shut that shit down.
I was far too exhausted right now as it was.
I dried off my hair and pulled on a pair of shorts before walking back into my room, my lips pressing together in a smile.
My room looked exactly the same, except for the little ball of soft skin and dark hair curled up in the center of it.
She really did remind me of a kitten. Maybe I’d get her one as a late birthday present.
Her face was peaceful, and it was hard to reconcile the image of her this morning with now.
I shook my head and slid into bed behind her, wrapping my arms tightly around her form.
With an inhale and exhale, she relaxed into me completely.
I couldn’t imagine a feeling that could top Maya in my arms.