Page 10 of Flame it Up

Mazie waved a hand at the chaos that surrounded them. “Look at this mess. The tents, the decorations, it’s all gone to hell. It’s going to take ages to get this all fixed up.”

“Oh, my dear!” Gerri exclaimed. “I have a backup crew on it already. Don’t worry about a thing.”

“Really?” Mazie asked, confused.

“Really,” Gerri said, squeezing Mazie’s shoulders one last time. “The only thing that matters is that you’re all right.”

“I might be better than all right,” Mazie said softly. She was watching the direction that Pyrus had disappeared, hoping she could conjure him by thought. “What about everyone else?” Mazie asked suddenly. “Where are my friends? I need to check to see if they’re okay.”

“Of course, honey. Let’s go,” Gerri said, steering Mazie toward a nearby truck. There were a couple of Mazie’s friends sitting around the back of it, gulping from bottles of water and sneezing from the smoke.

“Is everyone okay?” Mazie asked. Nods went around the circle, with most of them having enough mild smoke inhalation to stop them from talking.

“That was wild,” one of the younger girls said. “Never seen anything like it. Just pow! A dragon appears, breathing fire just like in a story! Knocking over trucks and scattering villains. What a day.”

“Yeah,” Mazie agreed. “What a day.”

She backed away from the group, relieved that no one had gotten hurt. She was still a little in shock, not just from the events that had taken place but from her reaction to the man himself.

Pyrus.

“Gerri, who was that guy?” Mazie asked. She was gazing into the distance, watching the troublemakers as they were being cuffed and thrown into the security vehicles.

“That was Pyrus Bloodmoon. He’s a very rich entrepreneur. Supports a great many charities with me. He’s one of the nicest guys I’ve ever met, underneath his tough shell, that is … and he is also your true mate.”

Mazie did a double-take, looking back at Gerri. “What do you mean by that?”

Gerri shrugged. “With shifters, there is always a fated match. Pyrus has been alone for a very long time … centuries, in fact. When he meets his fated mate, it will complete his heart, and he will never desire another ever again.”

Mazie felt excitement and fear building in her stomach. She wanted to get closer to Pyrus, definitely. But this was all a bit heavy.

“I see,” Mazie answered, even though she wasn’t absolutely sure what it all meant. Suddenly, a bunch of clues added up in Mazie’s mind. “Oh, this is because of that matchmaker thing, isn’t it? I’ve heard a lot about that recently. You do some kind of meetup service.”

Gerri smiled, shaking her head. “It’s not just a hookup deal, Mazie. I have a one-hundred-percent success rate with making matches. I specialize in finding mates for shifters, and so far, I’ve never been wrong.”

“But … you only just met me a few times.”

Gerri nodded eagerly. “I know. The moment I saw you, I got a sense of the kind of man you needed in your life. That’s how these things work. I always tend to meet people at just the right time to bring them together.”

“So … what happens next?” Mazie felt incredibly confused. She wanted to see Pyrus so badly that it was literally causing her pain. At the same time, she was floored by the news that they were “fated mates.” She certainly hadn’t been looking for a serious, permanent relationship when she got out of bed this morning.

“You’ll have to start getting to know each other,” Gerri said, her eyes dancing with amusement. “Let him court you. See if you get along. Even if it's ‘fated,’ it doesn’t mean it’s set in stone. Both of you have to choose each other, as well.”

Mazie felt like there was more to be said, but Gerri did not elaborate.If we are fated but refuse each other, what happens after that?“I don’t know,” Mazie muttered. “This is kind of a big deal, you know?”

“Yes,” Gerri said, taking Mazie’s hand and giving it a friendly squeeze. “I really do understand. Sometimes, I don’t drop all the news at once, but I feel like you and Pyrus already connected. Did you?”

Mazie smiled, remembering the way their eyes had locked and the way the light pressure of his hand seemed to bind them together with a gravity that was almost planetary.

He’s a fiery, blazing sun, and I’m an asteroid getting pulled in until I melt.

“We did,” Mazie said. “I felt something.”

“Good,” Gerri said, squeezing her hand again. “All I want is to see the two of you happy.”

Mazie nodded, wondering how she had gotten lucky enough to have Gerri taking such good care of her. “I wasn’t looking for a relationship,” Mazie said. She still wasn’t. It didn’t matter how badly she wanted to see Pyrus again. She wasn’t ready to upend her entire life to fit him into it.

Does he know about the mate thing? What sort of expectations does he have?

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