Page 86 of Memories Like Fangs
“Well, it’s a thousand times yes! Ohmigods, when are you going ring shopping? Can we come? When are you going to do it? I have so many questions!” Simone said gleefully.
I laughed again. It felt like ages since I had laughed so much and meant it. It felt so freeing. “I don’t know when I’m going to propose. But, I actually kind of have the rings already. Everett gave them to me?—”
“When was this?! How long have you known about this without telling me?!” Teddy hit Everett’s arm hard enough to make him cry out.
Everett nursed the spot that Teddy had slapped. “Ouch, babe! She just asked metoday! It was while you were in the shower.”
I recounted what Everett told me about the rings and showed them to Teddy, Maisie, and Simone. By the time I was done, Maisie’s eyes twinkled with delight, Teddy was a little teary with one hand over his heart and the other pulling his mate in close out of affection, and Simone was a blubbering mess.
“Th-that… is s-so… b-beautiful!” Simone sobbed. Maisie used her purple magic to pull a paper towel from the roll and hand it to her.
As she sniffled and blew her nose, Teddy said, “That is so fucking sweet. I’m so proud of you, Eevee. Byrd is going to love it!”
“I hope so. But I do need to ask you for something else. Teddy, you can help with this, too.” I waited for them to all look at me expectantly before I continued. “I want to see my family jeweler today to get everything started. Since she’s going to be out and about with you all, I know she will be safe. I don’t feel comfortable leaving her with anyone else after everything that has happened. Can you distract her a ton today?”
“Of course, your one-percent-ass family has their ownjeweler. Y’all havewaytoo much money,” Maisie teased, but shewas smiling. “We got you. Do you know what you are going to get the ring made into?”
I shook my head. “Not quite yet?—”
Simone perked up even more than she already was. “Do you need ideas? We have access to all of her boards!”
“Don’t you mean ‘board’?”
Simone scoffed, already pulling her phone out. Her fingers flew across the touchscreen in a blur faster than most supernaturals were even capable of. “Uh,no. Byrd and I haveboardsfor our rings: one for the style of band we like, one for our favorite stones, one for the kind of wedding band, and one for our favorites in general. I will send you what she loved for an oval cut!”
My phone buzzed a beat or two later with a number of images of various oval-cut ring designs. Everett shook his head, mumbling about how much his niece and her friends scared him, while Teddy giggled.
They continued to talk about the plans for today, but my head was swimming with ideas. Already distant from the conversation, I snuck away toward Byrd’s bedroom, where I entered and cracked the door closed behind me.
My whole body thrummed with electricity, unlike little I had felt before. I knew we had our bond, but this felt more tangible. I had grown up reading about fated mates, but we learned about it from the point of view of how much harder it was to take out a target because of it. Attacking one meant you had to deal with the wrath of at least one more, turning what could have been a quick scrap into a fucking war if you didn’t play your cards right. Being supernatural creatures, hunters were able to have fated mates, too, but it was uncommon and often frowned upon if it wasn’t with another hunter. Fated mates were just another magical spell, and those could be broken, or whatever delusion the hunting community chose to believe. So, fated mates alwaysseemed too much like a fairytale to me, something that belonged more in a book than real life.
But, when Byrd came along, I realized there was little more that I wanted than to be bound to her in every way possible.
I never seriously thought about marriage before, never gave it more than a passing consideration. It wasn’t like I had any good role models for positive relationships growing up. Every union I knew of was either for some kind of advantage or just “for the sake of the children.” My parents only married to grow our influence as a hunting family, and they stayed together because they thought it was better for me, until my mother figured out it was far from it. My Aunt CK and Uncle Harry were in an arranged marriage for my Uncle Harry’s family to gain more power, since he was a buffoon and it was the best he would ever be able to do. Even the relationship I had with Zaria wasn’t my own choice and ended up being toxic as fuck. I never thought about marrying her. But now, I couldn’t imagine not being Byrd’s in every single way.
I was ready for forever with my girl.
I traded my sweats for jeans and put a plaid button-down on over my Texas shirt. I grabbed my cross-body wallet bag and put the velvet boxes in there. After I put on my socks and sneakers, I stood and approached the bed. I gave Dinah and Clarkson quick pets, which they both ignored as they continued their slumber. Then, I leaned down and gave Byrd a quick peck on her lips. As her purring briefly turned into an appreciative hum, a smile blossomed on her face.
“Can I have just a few more minutes?” She asked without opening her eyes.
“Of course, sleep as long as you want,mi tesoro,” I said, affectionately caressing her cheek. “I’m going to run a quick errand with the cousins, and I’ll be back, okay? If I’m not backbefore you leave for Everett’s thing, I will definitely be here by dinner.”
“Okay, I love you, pumpkin,” Byrd said, her last few syllables shifting into her purring as she fell back to sleep.
“I love you back, sweets,” I said, giving her another kiss before I left the room. I gave the others an update on Byrd’s sleepy condition and that I would be back before dinner with the cousins in tow. They wished me luck and to call them if I needed help, but I was already coming up with a vision in my head of the perfect ring for the girl of my dreams. I couldn’t wait to ask her to be my girl forevermore.
Planting Seeds
BYRD
Yesterday was the perfect reset that I needed.
From the moment I opened my eyes, it felt like I was wrapped in a security blanket, comforted, safe, and right where I needed to be. I stretched, having gotten to sleep late and uninterrupted in my own bed, buried under my many, many blankets and my two furbabies. There were no nightmares or blood magic or panic or the endless static of survival constantly buzzing through my head. It was just sleep, and that alone was worth calling it perfect.
The Winter Market had felt like walking through an enchanted snow globe that had just been shaken to stir the snow. There was so much magic in the air as the chunky snowflakes tasted like cider when they hit your tongue, and the icy asphalt never allowed anyone to slip or skid on it. Signs made of glossy ice hung from the colorful stalls lining the street as vendors of all kinds, species, races, genders, shapes, and sizes tried to lure onlookers from the crowd into their packed stalls that were magicked to be even larger than should be possible within. Laughing as they played, children darted between the tents, some with fangs glinting in the sun, some with tails trailing behind them like streamers, some flying unsteadily on wingsbehind their friends. It was like stepping into a supernatural Hallmark Christmas movie. The whole place teemed with enough leftover holiday cheer to make it feel like it was still Christmas—maybe like every day was just that.
It wasn’t long before we lost Teddy to a tent packed with herbs and drying flowers that pulsed faintly with their own soft glowing aura. He waved us off to keep going without him and that he would meet us back at the car. Laughing, the rest of us—Everett, Simone, Maisie, and I—made our way to the Feather and Forge, the magical traveling jeweler I adored. The inside of her tent was magicked to resemble a crystal cavern with pedestals of various rings, bracelets, earrings, and more on display. Despite the illusion, I felt my dragon purr in admiration, my eyes trying to take in as many of the stunning gems around me as I could.
