Chapter 24

Twenty-Four

After they all finished eating and cleaning the kitchen, the girls fell into a heavier discussion. Remy was the first person to start talking about how much she didn’t like any of the Four, regardless of Beckett bringing her here so she could be healed. Apparently, Remy drilled Beckett about what happened when she noticed that Kaida was unconscious. Beckett did not protest in any way at Remy yelling at him, which Kaida was surprised at.

From how it was explained, the four of them agreed that they wouldn’t push Kaida too far during the first session. Beckett advocated for this due to Kaida not having any type of battle training or magic to help her in any way. However, the other three made no such promise. Beckett explained that he did not use as much power as the others, and he was the first one that ran to her when she became unconscious.

As the girls explained everything, Kaida’s memory of the training slowly returned. By the end of the story, she could remember just about everything. The only thing she couldn’t recall was right before she lost consciousness. When they told her that she collapsed after the combined attack, Kaida only remembered the pain from the vines and being hit with the sand.

Remy ranted for a few minutes at how much she hated the boys. While the Lycan raged on, she swore every other word. Kaida had to stifle a laugh because it reminded her of something her dad would say.

Someone who swears every other word is putting a curse on the person they are talking about. That’s why they are called curse words!

There was a knock at the door that drew everyone’s attention. Remy growled as she moved her way over to it. Judging by her reaction, Kaida suspected the person on the other side was one of the four. When the door opened, and Kaida saw a leather jacket, long brown hair, and Beckett’s smiling face, she knew her assumption was correct. Her stomach did a flip-flop at the sight of him, and she had an urge to run to him so she could bury her face into his neck. A tugging in her chest made the urge amplify. Kaida made her way over to the door and stood behind Remy.

“What do you want, scale boy?”

Beckett smirked at her, “I need to borrow Kaida for a bit.”

“She just started healing completely from the last time you had her. No.”

Kaida giggled at Remy’s fierce protectiveness. She put a hand on Remy’s shoulder to get her attention.

“I’m good, Rem. It’s okay.”

“No, it’s not. You don’t need to be training again when you just healed this morning. Your dragon isn’t going to emerge if you’re dead.”

“Do you think I’d let my mate die, Lycan?”

Remy growled, “You almost let her die last time. So excuse me if I am not confident in your ability to keep her safe.

The room’s temperature dropped like a winter storm was on the horizon. Kaida felt the presence of Adrien and Azulia at her back. Their magic brushed her skin. Usually, their magic felt like a gentle touch, like someone caring for her would do to comfort her. This time, the magic felt like static against her skin, charged and ready to attack at any moment.

“Guys, I’m fine! Let’s not kill each other over me when I AM FINE! Go at each other’s throats when I’m dead. That makes much more sense than this.”

Beckett kept his eyes on Kaida. They twinkled in pride as Kaida pushed her way past Remy to step outside. Remy didn’t stop her like Kaida thought she would. Instead, Remy decided to get one more thing into the conversation.

“If she is brought back here while she is clinging to this world ever again, and it’s by the hands of you or your stupid brothers, nothing will stop us from putting all four of your dragons’ heads on our walls.”

Remy closed the door on them, giving Kaida a wink beforehand. Beckett glanced down at her; his eyebrow cocked to question what that was all about.

“They’re protective of me; what can I say?”

“Wouldn’t expect it from them.”

It was Kaida’s turn to cock her eyebrow at him, “what do you mean?”

“They usually keep to themselves. I don’t think I ever noticed them with someone other than that group in the last few weeks. They don’t let random people into their sanctum, either. I’m surprised they let you.”

Kaida had trouble believing Beckett’s judgment. Not once did the girls ever come off that way to her. Is he trying to sway me from being around the girls? That doesn’t feel like his style… Kaida ignored the comment entirely instead of digging deeper into its meeting.

“What do you need to borrow me for? Or was Remy right, and it’s another session?”

“She was right. It’s time for another session.”

“What would have happened if I was still healing?”

Kaida noticed Beckett give her a questioning look, “Then we wouldn’t have had a session today.”

“They wouldn’t have made me still train?”

“No,” Beckett growled, “I wouldn’t have let them force you to train when you still needed to heal.” Beckett blinked a few times. “How did you heal so fast anyway?”

“We suspect my dragon had something to do with it.”

“Suspect? You mean you aren’t sure?”

“It’s either that or all of their potions and spells.”

Kaida wasn’t sure why, but she did not want to tell the truth to Beckett. While they were talking, she noticed she didn’t feel his emotions or anything like she normally did around him. Beckett felt closed off from her, making her not want to trust him. After all, his friends hated her and almost killed her.

“Let’s get this session over with. Hopefully, I won’t almost die this time.” Kaida laid it on as thick as she could.

There was a flash of guilt across his face. He didn’t say a word. Instead, he gave a small nod, took her by the hand, and started walking toward the beach. Kaida didn’t put up any resistance. She thought about how she wanted this session to go. If she wanted her dragon to emerge fully, she was going to need to know how to access everything to it.

Once they were at the edge, Beckett brought out his wings. Kaida noticed they weren’t very large like other dragons she had seen. Their scales were a gorgeous sapphire blue on top and a lighter ocean blue underneath. They flapped a few times as Kaida wrapped her arms around Beckett’s neck, and then he bent his knees slightly to scoop up her body. Kaida loved the way his arms felt around her. She was surrounded by his scent, and her eyes nearly went into the back of her head as the smell of the wind blowing off the water filled her nose. It was definitely a scent she didn’t think would cause her to bury her face into the crook of a male’s neck, but here she was… doing just that. Beckett let out a throaty chuckle as his wings flapped, and they were thrust into the air.

It took only a minute for them to get to the island. Kaida was too consumed with how much she loved Beckett’s scent to notice anything else. When he lowered her down onto the sand, Kaida turned to see Blaze, Arlo, and Esen staring at them. Kaida felt a growl bubble into her throat, but no sound came out. Blaze looked as though he would love to set her on fire, Arlo looked longingly at them for only a moment before shifting into an annoyed look, and Esen’s gaze was narrow as if he was jealous before looking away at the water. Beckett left her side and walked over to the other three. Blaze smirked as he did, almost like he thought this meant that Beckett was on their side and not hers.

I guess my assumptions were correct. He is closed off because he is more with them.

“Sup, Ground Bound. Ready to fight?” Blaze jabbed at her.

The growl bubbling in her throat returned, but this time it let loose. The sound reverberated inside her chest and was louder than a wave crashing onto the beach. All four of them raised their eyebrows in surprise.

“Oh yeah, I’m ready to fight,” Kaida said back to them.

Kaida felt more confident this time around. Knowing that her dragon had emerged just enough to heal her and now growled at her opponents gave her the boost she needed. Maybe she could unlock her even more to get her magic to work.

Instantly, the boys jumped into starting the session. Blaze threw a ball of fire directly at her chest. Kaida turned to the side to avoid it, but Arlo shook the ground. She was knocked off balance and landed on her back. Kaida rolled to get herself onto her hands and knees. A gust of wind knocked her off balance, making her shoulder land hard on the sand. She felt the grains dig into her skin before she rolled onto her back. The attacks stopped, and she was able to catch her breath.

It would be great if you could come out and show these boys what we are made of! She screamed internally, hopeful that her dragon could hear her.

Kaida got herself back onto her feet. Blaze shook his head as he chuckled. She already knew he was mocking her, and knowing that made her pissed off enough to will her magic to form into her fists. She closed her eyes and visualized purple arcs of light, like she had seen in her dreams, dancing around her hands. Something inside of her snapped. She felt something break inside of her, making her hiss in pain. A surge of warmth and power flooded through her body. When the warmth reached her hands, Kaida felt prickling as if her hands were going to sleep. She opened her eyes and gasped at the sight before her.

Her hands were illuminated in a purple hue and arcs of purple light were coming out of her palms.

She slowly lifted her head as her lip curled into a smirk. Kaida locked eyes with Blaze, and she almost laughed at the look he was giving her. There was no way this dragon ever expected to see what was staring back at him. It was fear in his eyes because Blaze didn’t know how this was possible.

There has never been a purple Storm Dragon. It just wasn’t the color that they came in. Kaida wasn’t a Storm Dragon at all. She was something else entirely.

And we are about to find out.

Kaida pushed her hands outward with her palms pointed toward the Fearsome Four. A beam of purple light shot out of her hands with arcs of light swirling around it. All four of them jumped out of the way and landed on the sand.

Blaze jumped into action and started throwing balls of fire at her. Kaida bent her arm and put it out in front of her. She imagined a wall of her magic in front of it like a force field to stop the flames from reaching her. Sparks of purple light erupted around her arm and then quickly burst outward to create what she imagined. When the flames exploded around the field of light, Kaida practically cackled.

But she celebrated too quickly.

Blaze and Esen joined forces. Esen created a vortex of wind around her as Blaze turned the air into fire. Kaida had no idea how to block this attack as the vortex came closing in toward her. She threw her arms outward and tried to imagine a force field around her entirely, but nothing came to her aid. Kaida dropped to her knees as smoke filled the small area she had left and choked as it filled her lungs. She became dizzy and dropped to her knees.

A wall of water dropped from the sky, nullifying the attack just as Kaida almost lost consciousness again. She gasped for air as the smoke dissipated, and Beckett rushed to her side. Kaida blinked until her eyes could focus on what was going on around her and noticed there was a wall of ice around them.

“You okay?” Beckett asked her as he grabbed her face into his hands and looked her over.

She felt his concern for her well-being flood through her as if it was her own. Kaida sunk into his hands, relieved that he opened the bond back up. His strength filled their bond next, giving her the extra momentum to shake off the last of the attack from her.

“Yeah, I’m good. Just need another minute to catch my breath.”

“You did phenomenally. I have no idea what dragon you are, but she is fucking powerful. The blast from your hands alone would have maimed or killed them.”

“Good. They deserve it.”

Beckett chuckled as he pressed her into his chest and wrapped his arms around her. “I’m just glad you are okay, and I stepped in at the right time.”

Yeah, me too.