Marked by Shadows: MM Paranormal Romance Mystery (A Simply Crafty Paranormal Mystery Book 2)

by Lissa Kasey

  “Hey, breathe,” he said. “It’s okay. No one is going to make you put that on. I’m here.”

  Freya and MaryAnn appeared, both in costume, but neither wearing the ones they’d designed last night. No, these were fully polished feminized versions of their Mario and Luigi outfits with super short shorts and T-shirts that revealed more of their breasts than they hid. These were the type of costumes that made them famous, the crafting, the detail, and the sex. That too, made me even madder. We’d all busted our asses to make costumes in a few hours, that they insisted we wear in public and not have time to polish, while they came out looking like rock stars in stuff that had obviously taken weeks to complete. Were they trying to make us look like amateurs? It wasn’t going to hurt my business since cosplay wasn’t my venue anymore, but the rest of the group still had real attention focused on them for their design. Yet there was no warning? No note that they would be showing up in full gear and the rest of us would be Johnny-on-the-spot? Oh, except me. For some reason I’d be in a pro costume too, half naked, and relegated to the role of the fem boy again.

  I don’t think I’d ever really related to the comment ‘I saw red’ before. But I’d also never been so angry. Anger was easier than sobbing hysterically or running away. And I was fucking pissed.

  “Where is my costume,” I demanded of Freya.

  Her smile faded and she frowned. “Right there on the rack with the rest of them.”

  “My costume. Not that doll clothes crap you made me. I didn’t make that. What kind of insanity makes you think that I am going to wear that in public? This convention isn’t even cosplay related. There are more old people here than those under forty and you think I’m going to dress like that? I thought this event was to display the fabric sold by these people, not put on a sex show.”

  “She made your costume from Haut Apparel fabric,” MaryAnn defended.

  “She made it. Not me. Where is the costume I made?”

  “We thought you’d have a great rerelease debut with the outfit Freya made,” MaryAnn said.

  “I’ve already made it clear I have no intention of returning as an influencer. And the fact that you two show up wearing these super polished costumes while everyone else wears things they scraped together in a couple of hours, what the fuck are you trying to do? Damage everyone’s reputation?”

  “That’s not the intent at all,” Freya said. “The company just wanted to show some pictures of their stuff. We’ve been working with their line for a while. Having the variety will show people how versatile their fabric is, for pros and for those in a hurry.”

  “Except my costume. Mine wasn’t good enough to be in public?” And that made me even angrier. I’d worked hard on that, finished seams with perfect top stitch and created a realistic costume that could have been judged top of the line. My only gripe had been some of the fabrics, which had been thinner than I’d have liked, and the drape hadn’t lain right. Had I more time I would have chosen other fabrics, but that was part of the process. The idea that they decided my hard work wasn’t good enough? I wanted to break something.

  “Your costume was great,” Freya said. “We just thought this would create more buzz. You’ll look absolutely stunning in it. I’m sure Alex will agree.” She looked at him for some sort of approval.

  “I have no intention of ever wearing the costume you made me. I’m not that person anymore. And I’m really beginning to think my place isn’t in this group now. I’m not a sex doll, and Alex doesn’t want me to be either. I’m sorry if that’s all you ever want to be, but you don’t get to force me into that role.”

  Freya looked like I’d slapped her. She sucked in a deep breath, turned and stalked away.

  “Freya worked really hard on that,” MaryAnn said. “She wanted it to be perfect for you.”

  “Maybe she should have picked something that better fits my personality now instead of who I was five years ago? Proves how little any of you know me or obviously care to know me. I’m done with all of this.” I was so mad I wanted to chase after her and demand my costume back. I had worked hard on that. But in reality, it didn’t matter. It was just some fabric. I could make another if I wanted. Instead, I left the dressing area and went in search of the manager of the booth, planning to explain the mishap and offer repayment for the donated sewing machine if they were upset about me not appearing in their event today. And I would not be appearing. In fact, this whole convention was over for me.

  I hadn’t realized Alex had followed me until he touched my back lightly, as I was explaining to the guy in charge what had happened. “We can pay for the machine,” I added at the end. “Since we donated it to the non-profit. It would be unfair to ask for it back.”

  It would hurt. I would never have spent eight grand on an embroidery machine. Neither Alex nor I would ever use it. I vaguely wondered what finances I could move around to free up enough cash for that. We’d both been spending a little recklessly.

  “It’s fine,” the manager said. “We’ll use the non-profit as promo. I would have liked to see the outfits you created. Do you have pictures you can send?”

  I didn’t. And that made me angrier. Something else Freya had taken.

  “Not yet. But we can take a few over the next few days. Once we get Micah’s costume back,” Alex said. “Can we email them to you? We feel really bad. I know that machine was expensive. We have some other prizes too. Freya said you guys donated most of it. I can return the computer and software.”

  “We only donated the sewing machine and some fabric,” the manager corrected him. “Anything else was donated by the group. And helping the non-profit will be good press. We’ve already talked to the co-founder quite a bit today and are donating more fabric and a few more simplistic machines.”

  “There’s Chad,” Alex said, waving to Chad as he was entering the booth area, obviously looking for the changing booths. He headed our way.

  I didn’t realize how upset I really was until Alex hugged me, and Chad was walking away toward the dressing area. I had completely missed their conversation, too tuned into all the noise in my head. The manager was back to chatting with customers and directing people. Alex steered me out of the booth and toward the exit.

  “If we return our machine we could pay back half of the cost of that machine,” I whispered. “I’m so sorry. I know how much you want that machine.”

  “A quarter of it, and no. We won’t be returning our machine. Chad is trading the fancy one in for a few smaller ones. So the company will do another giveaway for it. Make a big to-do about the non-profit and get good press. We don’t need to do anything,” Alex said. He led me out of the convention to the area to wait for the bus and I realized his hands were full with our purchases and his garment bag.

  “Sorry. Let me help with some of that.”

  “I’m fine. It’s just stuff. All in bags.”

  “We’ll have to give back the computer.”

  “How about you not worry about that right now?” Alex said. The bus arrived, and I picked up two bags despite his protests. We rode the entire way back to the car lot in silence. The noise in my head deafening. I stared out the window, working hard to count my breathing, and keep from dissolving. Wasn’t I better than this? Wasn’t two years long enough to heal? Perhaps it wasn’t all related to my disappearance at all. It was me being broken again.

  We made our way to the car and loaded up the back. I stared at the driver’s seat, knowing I should take it, but not at all in a clear head space to do so. Dammit.

  Alex hugged me hard, pressing my face into his shoulder and squeezing me until it was difficult to breathe. “We’re fine. I promise. Fuck, I can almost see the noise in your head. I hate seeing your eyes so dark. Lost.”

  “I thought she was my friend,” I whispered. And that was the bombshell. Despite keeping her at a distance, I had believed Freya was a friend. Even confided stuff to her I rarely shared with anyone. No, she wasn’t as close as Alex or Sky, but I’d trusted her
, looked up to her.

  “Even friends make mistakes. Let’s go get a late lunch. You think your favorite Asian place is open? That was pretty good.”

  “Not hungry,” I muttered.

  “You haven’t eaten anything today.”

  “Fruit,” I said.

  “Two strawberries is not enough to sustain anyone.” He led me to the passenger seat of the car.

  “I should drive,” I said.

  “No,” Alex said, getting in on the driver’s side. “Not until you’ve eaten and had some rest.” He steered us out of the lot, and commanded Siri to set a route for the Asian place. “At least have some miso soup. You love miso soup,” he said as he drove.

  “It’s very stereotypical Japanese,” I grumbled.

  “And you’re half Japanese, so why does it matter?”

  “It was never enough you know, not in Japan or China. It’s why I didn’t stay. People saw my eyes, my light hair, they made judgments. It’s not much different here really. Only here they judge the shape of my eyes and face. Gay men judge me for being too pretty. Everyone says I’m too young to be a business owner or to know so much history. It’s a losing battle wherever I go.”

  “What are you battling for?” Alex asked.

  “Acceptance.” Someone to love me for being me. Whether it was my odd mixed heritage, my nerdy interest in crafts and sewing, or my endlessly noisy brain, I wanted to be loved. That was when the dam burst. Anger washing away with tears and the realization that the small world I’d built up around myself was so fragile and mostly an illusion.

  Alex leaned over to pull me into a hug. I hadn’t realized until then that we were stopped in the lot of the Asian place which had been much closer to the convention center than I had remembered. He held me while I sobbed, the weight of my past heavy on my shoulders. I was the odd guy out. Had been even before I’d been taken by who knew what. Now I could see creepy things and couldn’t hold a relationship together.

  “I love you,” Alex said. “No matter how much you hate yourself right this minute. Know that I love you, accept you for who you are, adore all your quirks, and look forward to learning more about you every day.”

  “I thought I had it together,” I said quietly into the wet shoulder of his shirt. “But it goes back further than my disappearance. There’s a lot more than that.”

  “Yeah,” Alex agreed, not sounding surprised.

  I sighed. “You see me better than I see myself and I wonder how you don’t hate me for that.”

  “You’ve been hiding from the world a long time. Existing without really living,” Alex agreed. “But wasn’t it you who told me you wanted to move forward? Learn to live again? That’s the whole reason you still decided to come to this, even when I was gone, right?”

  It had been. I’d thought getting back with the group would thaw that part of me I’d put on ice. The part that cared too much about everything. Only it wasn’t the group that thawed me, it was Alex.

  “You can’t storm into my life, take over, and vanish again,” I said, balling the front of his shirt up in my fists. “I won’t survive. I barely survived…” when it took him.

  “I’m not going anywhere,” he promised. “I’m into you, remember?”

  “But we didn’t get to choose,” I whispered. “It just took you.” And once something had taken me too. That hadn’t been a choice either.

  “So we stick together as best we can. We can’t see the future. There could be an atomic bomb dropped on us tomorrow. Best we live in each day, right?” Alex asked.

  I let out a long sigh. “I really don’t want food.” Mostly I wanted to wrap myself in him and forget everything else in that moment.

  “Is that your head or your stomach talking?”

  “Both.” My stomach churned with anxiety. Food wasn’t going to sit well, and I’d rather not be tempted to throw it up and ease the pain. I also didn’t want to go back to the B&B. Funny how memories could turn so quickly from good to bad.

  Alex was looking at something on his phone. “I’m going to call around to find us a different hotel.”

  “We could just go home,” I whispered, feeling about ten years old right then and needing my space, my cat, and my boyfriend.

  “By the time we pack up and get back in the car it would be really late. I think we should stay somewhere else for the night and head home tomorrow. After the whole finding random people in the road thing…” Death… the word went unspoken. “I’d rather us not drive at night.” He looked at the clock. It was almost four. Where had the time gone? By the time we made it back to the B&B it would be after five and then we’d have to pack up our stuff. Could I even hope to get my costume back?

  Alex clicked call on his phone and spoke a moment later. “Yeah, I’m wondering if you have any rooms available for the night?” He paused to listen. “Two adults. One bed is fine.” He listened for a moment. “No, that’s great. We just have to grab our stuff. Can I make a reservation and be there in a couple of hours?” He dug out his credit card and gave them the information. “Thank you!”

  When he hung up, he stared at me. “Place we’re going is outside the city, but I didn’t want to try anything close to the convention center. If they had anything open it would cost a fortune.” He turned on the car. “Let’s go get our stuff.”

  He started to back out, but glared at the back up cam, and the hanging garment bag. He reached back and took it off the hook, dropping it on the middle seat and giving him a full 360-degree view through all the windows. It was then that I realized maybe Alex had wanted to be seen in his costume. He’d worked hard on it. It was actually his first in over a decade at least. And I’d deprived him of that. I was such a selfish jerk.

  “I’m sorry,” I blurted.

  “For what?” He asked as he steered us back out onto the road.

  “Taking you away from the cosplay thing. Your costume was good. It should have been seen. People would have loved you.”

  “Micah, babe, I’m here for you. This costume thing, this fabric thing, it’s only fun because you’re here. Would I do any of this without you? Not a chance. I hate crowds on the best of days. Show off something I made? No. Too long out of the game of wanting to be the center of attention. If life as a soldier taught me anything, it was that standing out got you the wrong sorts of attention. Would I have done the show? Sure, but only because you wanted me to. Because your eyes lit up with the idea of making something and showing it off. So don’t tell me you don’t like cosplay anymore. You love dressing up, creating characters, and being seen.”

  “Not half naked,” I grumbled. Even my newer stuff, which was sort of pin-up sexy, was more about the curve of a hip or butt than showing skin.

  “No, and you don’t need to be half naked to be sexy. Hell, I wore that ice king thing you did for me, more covered up than I could recall being outside of a uniform, and felt sexy as hell.”

  “You were sexy as hell,” I said recalling him in that chair, half hard, and outlined in stretchy leather-like fabric. “Fuck, you’re so hot.”

  He laughed, and it was a sexy sound. “So let’s go get our stuff, settle into the hotel and have a night in, yeah? Away from the group? All to ourselves?”

  And didn’t that sound like the most incredible idea I’d ever heard?

  Chapter 26

  The trip back to the B&B was uneventful. No one was there. We loaded up the car in silence. Triple checking every nook and cranny for stuff. I didn’t want to leave anything behind. Alex was texting someone off and on. I suspected he was letting Lukas know we would be on our way home tomorrow.

  Fitting everything in the car was a bit of a jigsaw puzzle. We had gone a little nuts with the fabric. But we got everything squeezed in and still had enough room to see all the way through the car.

  “We should drop the computer off at the main house,” I said. Grace would probably be there working on dinner. There were lights on inside. I wondered about the ghost cat. Had it been a sign of bad
things to come? Perhaps responding to Freya’s moods? Maybe Freya was the killer. Though I couldn’t imagine why. Her fame surpassed everyone in the group, and it sounded like she had plans to branch out into more than an influencer roll. Was she eliminating competition?

  “Freya says to keep it. Says I won it fair and square. She said she used part of the group registration fees to pay the prizes so everything was covered,” Alex told me. He held up his phone. “I wanted to make sure she knew we were leaving.”

  “I don’t want to talk to her,” I said, anger not really faded at all. “Can you ask her where my costume is? I’d really like it back.”

  He nodded, texted and waited a minute. “She says she doesn’t know where it is, but will find out.”

  I let out a long sigh.

  “Let me run in and check the craft room for it,” Alex said.

  “You don’t have to.”

  He patted my knee and got out of the car. “I’ll just be a minute.”

  I got into the passenger seat and put my seat belt on while I waited for him. He raced up to the front door and opened it. Instead of letting my mind stir up more rage with overthinking, I opened my phone and browsed Pinterest, saving costume and quilt ideas I liked. Alex returned a few minutes later empty handed.

  “It wasn’t there. Grace said she hasn’t seen it,” he said a bit breathlessly. “Sorry.”

  “It’s fine. It’s just a costume. I can make more.”

  “But you worked hard on it,” Alex said. “Unfair of them to keep it.”

  “The least of our worries right now. I should probably drive,” I said again, feeling bad for letting him drive without a license.

  “Let’s worry about that tomorrow, yeah?” He started the car and drove us toward the directions on his phone. The hotel was less than ten minutes from the B&B, a tiny thing in a short row of retail type places. There were only two floors, and Alex darted inside the main entry to grab our key while I waited.

  He returned and handed me the little envelope. “Normally, I would have requested the second floor,” he said. “But the guy told me which window we are on the first, and I can park right in front of it. That way if anyone messes with the car, I’ll hear it.”