Maya stalked closer to him, her hand raised and a finger pointing at him. “She has come too far to be used as a pawn in some stupid ploy to gain a footing in our kingdom.”
“What are you even talking about?”
Maya blinked at the sincerity in his voice. Lowering her hand, she asked, “You don’t know who she is or who her family is?”
The storm dragon shook his head. “All I know is a few fleeting minutes of time we have spent together, and they were some of the most enjoyable moments of my life.” A goofy expression spread across his face. “She doesn’t realize just how amazing she is. I want to know why.”
Maya sat down near him on the bed. Bringing one of her feet up under the opposite leg, she sighed as she said, “It’s her lousy, piece-of-shit family.”
For a second he was shocked. Then he smiled and shook his head. “Another fluffing powerful shifter, and all I feel is physical attraction. What a waste,” he muttered.
Maya swatted his upper arm and frowned, “What is that supposed to mean?”
“I can onlywishI could curse here. Or manipulate time. Butnooooo, I’m forced to follow all of the rules that make me feel like a plebeian.”
“Like a …” Maya closed her eyes and couldn’t help but laugh at the absurdity. “Yeah, well, it comes at a high price, buddy, so—”
“Cosmo.”
“What?”
“My name is Cosmo, Maya. And I would really appreciate it if you took the time to actually remember, and moreimportantly, use it. And not just when you want to upbraid me or Apollo.”
“It’s an arbitrary string of sounds assigned to you by your parents.”
He smirked, “So, Blipborp, names don’t matter, huh?”
The confusion completely derailed the conversation as Maya looked at him. “What does Blipborp mean?”
“It’s a random string of sounds I’m assigning to you. Because names don’t matter.”
With a heavy sigh, Maya said, “Fine, Cosmo, I will make an effort to remember your name. But so help me, if you do anything to hurt Naomi—”
“Never intentionally. But you do realize that you hurt her all the time.”
“That’s different,” Maya said defiantly, since she knew that what she could do paled in comparison to what a male could do to her business partner.
“Only because you want to think that. Seriously,” he frowned at Maya, “if Naomi accepts me, you will be made to feel my wrath when you hurt her.”
For the first time since arriving, Maya couldn’t help but smirk, “And if you break her heart, your little kingdom will find itself in a much worse state.”
Any trace of humor left him. “Are you seriously threatening an entire kingdom? Do you realize that could start a war if I were to tell anyone else?”
“To protect my business partner from any more abuse? Absolutely, I am threatening your kingdom. I don’t care who you tell. She’s worth it.”
For the first time, Cosmo seemed at a loss for words. “So … you actually care about her?”
“Of course I do.” Maya rose and walked over to the window. “Her family is horrible, and they absolutely stifle her.Their performative generosity in adopting her has earned them a higher position. Behind it, though, they have never treated her like family. And yet she is thankful for them. I’ve been trying to extract her for years, but their hold is incredibly strong.”
Cosmo came and stood next to her, but there was no amusement in his expression as he looked out the window. “Perhaps you don’t help your case by putting her down.”
“I know I don’t. But I was not raised like Sasha or Naomi. Placating people and understanding their motives was never something I was expected to comprehend. I know I’m not the right person to help her, but there’s never been anyone else.”
The pair fell into a companionable silence as they looked out the window.
“So what is your story, Maya?” Cosmo asked, his voice soft.
“Boring and unimportant. The past is where it belongs.”
