Chapter 9
Ledger
“What do you mean you lost her?” I demanded my temper flaring, which was unusual on its own course. I was a relaxed guy. Really. Most of the time. Okay to be fair, not always.
“I mean,” Anani bit out, “that it was between class periods and she went to go use the washroom and never came back out.”
“Did you check the bathroom?” I raised a brow.
My brother leveled me with a look and said, “you must think I’m the dumbest motherfucker around.”
Henry whistled at the end of the long hall and both of us looked over, as he nodded towards the pavilion doors. We jogged down the way and the cold air smacked into our faces as my eyes widened.
Do you ever see anything that truly shocks you?
My twin and I weren’t strangers to violence, none of us were. Before we’d broken away from our families, we’d been trained in the military within the realm we came from. I was around fourteen when Marco had finally decided to move our flight out of the Dreki realm. Ever since then, we’d made the rocky transition from being a group of shifters to acting like normal high school students.
A difficult feat.
I had gotten used to my life though, the lack of violence and excitement. So when I’d seen Lorn teasing a tiny little thing with dark hair, everything inside of me had washed with anger. Very unlike me. It wasn’t until her gold eyes met mine that I’d realized we were mates. A true shock to the system.
But not nearly as bad as this.
“Why aren’t we interrupting this?” I hissed out.
Henry shook his head, “we can’t. I’m not sure how she did it, but the entire circle around the two of them is blocked off.”
I could see the golden ring of magic and I looked around to see only a few shifters outside watching in shock as Becky cornered Maya against the tree. Except Maya didn’t seem upset. No, her gaze was dark and something about what Becky was saying had the opposite effect of scaring her. Our little mate was no doubt naive, but there was a strength underneath all of that golden skin and I couldn’t wait until she had her feet on solid ground. I could just fucking tell she’d be unstoppable.
“What is happening?” Anani demanded.
“Becky cornered her and then Maya threw up the shield around them. She’s not scared, but very defensive. I can’t hear what they are saying,” Henry said softly.
I stepped closer and placed my hand against the smooth almost sparkling dome shape. I assumed humans couldn’t see it, but none of them approached, so maybe there was some property to this I wasn’t understanding. Then again, I had no idea what she freakin’ is, so maybe I’m just making shit up. Maya’s eyes met mine for a moment and I went to warn her as Becky slapped her. It caused my little mate to hit her head against the back of the tree. Rage filtered through my system.
I think I expected a lot to happen.
What I didn’t expect to happen? A look of fury to cross her face that was so unlike Maya, it had me actually stilling because I felt as though there was a predator in the area that even my dragon was unsure of. Maya, without pretense, stepped into her space and spoke what looked to be harsh words. Becky flinched and stepped back, but Maya simply stepped forward, her eyes darkening. When Becky turned to run, she hit right into the barrier, shattering it, and releasing a piercing, almost bird-like sound that had our little mate smiling.
Then the most unexpected thing yet happened. Becky’s hair went up in flames.
Holy shit. Maya stood there watching as the human was able to douse her hair with water. She was only able to save maybe a few inches lower than her jaw. Her friends were so focused on helping her, they didn’t catch the incredulous look the shifters were offering her. Maya watched nearly amused before she sighed and turned back to us, all three of us with our mouths open.
“Firefly?” I asked quietly.
She offered me a soft smile, “hey you.”
“What was that?” Anani demanded.
She twisted her lips. “She threatened to cut my hair off if I didn’t stay away from you, so I told her she wasn’t your friend. I was. She got even more mad and we went back and forth a bit. At first, I was scared but then when she slapped me, I got this odd feeling right at the center of my chest and I got angry. I am not sure how her hair burnt off, but I’m not complaining. That’s horrible of me, right?”
My smile grew more and more as she talked because it was very clear that Maya was very much a shifter. The possessive, protective, and aggressive qualities were small, but very much there. Henry stepped forward and he pressed a hand to her forehead frowning before meeting our gaze with actual shock. “I think I may know what she is.”
The doors opened and our principal stepped out, a very upset Becky Ash following after. Guess we would have to wait to find out. Maya froze, the bravado from earlier slipping slightly and I realized that it may have been a bit of a size thing. Becky was close in height to Maya, but the principle was a lot larger. It made me wonder how long people larger than her had been hurting her. I wrapped a possessive arm around her center.
“Maya, is it?” The principal asked, his mustache a dirty blonde like his murky eyes.
“It is,” she whispered.