Page 24 of Flame it Up

“But she did,” Heidi protested. “I heard it.”

“So did I,” Pris said, backing her up.

Pyrus shook his head again. “You do know she’s in the Peace Corps? She travels around the world, doing charity, sleeping in tents, and volunteering to save the world. She’s not into luxury, and everything you’re saying just isn’t in her character.”

“Pyrus,” Pris said, her tone low. “I think you’re not being fully objective here. If you would just …”

“Pris,” he said firmly, cutting her off. “Mazie is myfated mate. It doesn’t matter if she’s come to rob me blind. Everything that is mine is hers.”

He enjoyed the silence and the shocked looks of the girls. He didn’t like to think they were playing him by talking smack about his date, but there didn’t seem to be another explanation.

“What?” Heidi cried, her voice almost a shriek.

Priscilla gasped and grabbed his arm. “No way. How do you know? Are you sure?”

Pyrus nodded, regarding Pris with complete confidence.

Heidi grabbed his other arm. “But what if you’re wrong? You could be, you know?”

Pyrus met her cool green eyes with an even gaze. “If you’d met your mate, you’d know how ridiculous that statement really is,” Pyrus said. “When you see them for the first time, you know.”

He watched their faces fall as they took in the news. Then Pyrus dropped his next bomb. “Besides,” he said, casually, as he took another sip of his drink, “it’s a Gerri Wilder match.”

“What the fuck?” Heidi snapped. “Seriously?”

“I can’t even right now,” Pris cried. “When did this happen?”

“Only a few days ago,” Pyrus said. “Gerri contacted me and contrived for me to meet my match. Don’t worry, girls, I’m sure your time will come.”

For a moment, Pris and Heidi just stared at each other. Pris looked crushingly disappointed, and Heidi was so shocked that she was staring into the distance, looking at nothing.

“There goes one of the world’s most eligible bachelors,” Pris said, shaking her head. “It’s a day of tragedy for us. Come on, Heidi,” Pris said. “Let’s go shake it on the dance floor for a bit.”

“Uh-huh,” Heidi muttered. “I’m still processing the shock. This is the worst news I’ve had in a long time.”

Pyrus was suddenly struck by the idea that maybe the girls were the reason for Mazie suddenly feeling unwell. They’d been circling her like predators around a bleeding rabbit when he’d gotten back to her.

The things Pris and Heidi had told him made utterly no sense. Mazie was not like that, and he knew it. Now they were upset that he was no longer single … in fact, he was now mated for life. He regarded their hard expressions and icy voices in a whole new light.

Where is my mate? I have to find her.

He dropped cash on the bar, turned abruptly, and walked away. He was a bit rude by snapping at them, but by his standards, so were they. Pyrus cut through the crowd, heading for the stairwell that would take him below deck.

He tracked her scent very easily in the confined space. He knew that some cabins would be occupied, and he certainly didn’t want to bust in on the wrong person. When he reached the door that had Mazie’s scent practically seeping through the wood, he heard the soft sound of someone crying inside.

He wanted to tear the door off its hinges and charge in there, but he knew that Mazie didn’t need that right now. She needed reassurance and comfort, not his unbridled rage.

His dragon was fuming so hard that smoke almost came out of his nose. Things were very simple for the primitive dragon mind.Take her, protect her. Claim possession of a remote mountain peak, keep the princess there and defend her from all hurt and enemies.

Pyrus shook his head, fighting the urge to do just that. He raised a hand and knocked on the door.

“Who is it?” Mazie’s voice was soft and dragged down by tears.

“It’s me,” he said softly. “Mazie, please let me in.”

“It’s open,” she sniffed.

Pyrus came into the room, shutting the door behind him. Mazie sat on the edge of the bed, wiping her face while trying to hide her tears. He sat beside her and wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

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