He couldn’t be.
“Honey,” he whispered gently, “I’m right here, Maya. I need you to open your eyes. Please.”
“He tried to kill you,” I lamented in a gasp as I sobbed into Marco’s shirt and he soothed my hair. I knew rationally he wasn’t dead. I wasn’t stupid. Yet, even his vanilla pine scent couldn’t completely calm me down. I needed more. I needed to open my damn eyes. They stung slightly as I did but a pair of clear mint green eyes met mine in a commanding soft way.
“I’m right here,” he whispered, “who tried to kill me, Maya?”
“Jed,” I shivered and placed my head down feeling nearly sick to my stomach.
Right then, a pounding on my door had me pressing further into him. “Little bitch, you better be asleep. I don’t want to hear any of your fucking crying.”
He was drunk and I covered the rumble that came from Marco’s mouth as I tried to be as quiet as possible. I shivered against his frame as the wind from outside the wind cascaded against my heated, tear filled face.
“Maya!” He pounded on the door again, “answer me, you fucking bitch.”
Hadn’t he just said I better be asleep?
“Jed!” My mother’s raspy voice called out, “come here baby.”
I was trembling and shaking, my skin ice cold as his footsteps led away. I looked at Marco and the fury in his gaze had me panicked. He spoke softly and determined, “you are done living here.”
He didn’t even know the half of it. I nodded and put my head against his large chest, relaxing into the man I’d grown to trust so much. His dragon made a soft compelling noise that had me relaxing as I closed my eyes.
I was so thankful the gun had been a dream.
A larger reality hit me in the chest though, the reason I hadn’t wanted to get close. I didn’t want them getting hurt. Didn’t want them put in the line of fire. My shoulder blades hurt like they wanted to move and my body was flushed with heat. I could feel a change coming, but I had no fucking idea what it was.
My eyes fluttered shut on the thought that I probably needed to find a way to distance myself from the boys. Something that felt damn near impossible.
∞∞∞
I was starting to understand the complaints others offered about school. My mind was a foggy mess since the night before and as I sat in my afternoon classes, post lunch, I began to let my mind wander. I began to consider the implications of my birthday on Saturday.
I knew that the boys wanted me to stay. But I wasn’t naive enough to think they’d be around forever. Eventually I would need to fend for myself. I was glad I had that job because I could at least create a small savings, not that I knew how to open a bank account or if I even could considering my lack of a Social Security number, something I found to be rather important.
The boys sat behind me and when I turned to the twins, both of them looked up, Henry was taking enough notes, no doubt for the both of us. I searched their faces and smiled, noticing their lack of a textbook. “You didn’t really have this class with me, did you?”
Anani flashed a smile, “we do now.”
“Why?” I whispered softly.
Ledger tossed out the damn phrase everyone had been using, “because you’re our mate.”
Tonight I was going to get some damn answers about what that entailed in the long run. If it meant what I thought it did, I was worried. When the bell rang, I stood up and walked to the front, dropping off the in class assignment we’d done and offering my teacher a smile.
“How are you adjusting Maya?” She asked, her voice soft and understanding. Ms. Gabriel was actually one of the more understanding and friendly teachers.
“Okay,” I smiled, “better than I expected.”
Wasn’t that the truth.
“You ready?” Henry asked as I wished her goodbye and stepped into the hallway. The air was chilled and I could feel eyes on me, making me feel self conscious despite being dressed perfectly fine. Better than fine, my pleated skirt was fresh and my shoes shiny. I looked flippin’ great.
People stared and talked as we walked by, Henry frowning as a chill of dread crawled up my spine. I froze as I saw Becky Ash standing ahead surrounded by a bunch of photographs on the floor and a massive poster like collage on what I could assume was my locker from the distance.
Why did I feel like this day was about to get far worse?
“Henry,” Anani stated, “we need to get her…”