37. Kadia

While walking into the house with adjoined hands, Kaida felt like she was on cloud nine. But it was quickly upheaved when Enzo’s eyes were on their hands, and his expression was as if he wanted to hurl. She watched him take a breath and look away. Enzo tried to smile, but it didn’t reach further than a few millimeters. Kaida dropped Arlo’s hand and took a step toward Enzo. When he stepped back and put up his hands, she knew he didn’t want to talk about it. Instead, he walked upstairs and toward the room that Arlo made for him last night.

"Ugh, I thought he was okay with this."

"Can’t blame the guy. He expected that he would have you to himself forever, which was kind of ripped away from him right after seeing you again."

"We talked this out, though. I thought he was getting past it."

"We talked literally yesterday. Give him time. Twelve to fifteen hours is not enough to overcome the fact that he has to share his mate."

Kaida sighed. "I guess so. I hoped this would be easy since I have so much going on."

Arlo put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her in close. "This is nowhere near the level of the other things happening right now. He will come around. Give him time to get used to this. He went from living in a castle, knowing he had you to himself if you chose to forgive him. Now, he lives with four other guys on an island he knows nothing about and has to share his mate with all four of those guys, assuming Blaze gets his head out of his ass. It’s a lot to take in, if you ask me."

Kaida leaned into him and sighed again. "How are you so level-headed all the time?"

Arlo kissed her forehead. "Because my personality is dominated by Terrain magic. If I can’t be grounded, then I’m working with the wrong element."

Arlo let her go and looked through the house. He said no one else was home yet and asked if she wanted to eat something. That sounded like a plan because they came home to shower instead of going downtown. She walked upstairs, and Enzo was standing outside of his room. Kaida paused momentarily to see if he wanted to talk about it.

"I assume you completed the bond with him, too?"

Kaida nodded. "It felt like the right time. It wasn’t planned."

Enzo looked down at the floor. "You have forgiven me, right? We will get there, too, someday?"

Kaida took another step toward him. This time, he didn’t move. She continued to walk down the hallway until she was in front of him. "Of course. I don’t understand why you would think we wouldn’t get there."

Enzo sighed heavily, threading his fingers through his hair. "I don’t know. I thought things would go back to how it was before you came here. Don’t ask me why. I kind of thought that the bond would be fixed, and then things would kind of just...go away, and we could start right back where we were."

"That’s a lot to ask of me after you broke my heart, Enzo."

"I know. Trust me, I do. Yesterday, when you kissed me, it really felt like it could have just snapped back to before that party. Then seeing you with him...I can smell your arousal. I can see that mark on your neck. It just didn’t feel like it did yesterday anymore. That hurt more than I thought it would."

Kaida put her hands on his chest and pressed her forehead on his chin. She felt his arms go around her, and she relaxed against him.

"I won’t apologize for completing a bond with a mate. That is how it is supposed to work. I hope that you can understand that and not think less of me."

Enzo tightened his hug. "I don’t think less of you. That is how it’s supposed to go."

"Okay, then I hope you can accept things will be this way. I can’t change the fact that I have multiple mates. Having their bonds uncompleted makes me itchy inside, if that makes sense."

Enzo chuckled. "Yeah. That’s how I felt before that party. I wanted that itch scratched so damn bad but couldn’t."

"So, you aren’t mad anymore?"

Enzo didn’t respond. Kaida lifted her head so she could look at him. Enzo was looking at the wall; his jaw would clench and then relax.

"I wouldn’t say I was mad. More like hurt that I don’t have that closeness with you anymore. It was incredible to feel that way when I did. Seeing you be like that for someone else isn’t exactly easy."

"I know. I wish I could make it easier. But I feel like we need to get to know each other again before we can return to how things used to be."

Enzo nodded and sighed. "I hate that you’re right, but you are. I’m sorry for making you feel like that. It isn’t your fault. I know that things are different now, and you can’t help how you feel. I at least get to be a part of it."

Kaida leaned her head back on his chest. This time, she pressed her ear against him, and the sound of his heartbeat brought a sense of calm over her.

"I promise that we will get some time together. Things are just crazy right now."

"Fair enough."

"I need a shower. I think Arlo is downstairs cooking some food if you want to join us. It might be good for you to get to know him."

Enzo hugged her tighter, and she heard him breathe in her scent. "Yeah, you’re right. I should. I’ll go downstairs. You should take your shower."

Enzo let her go but kept a hand on the small of her back as they walked down the hall together. Enzo dropped his hand and continued down the stairs when she got to Beckett’s door. He didn’t look back, which Kaida thought could be good or bad. Without feeling Beckett and Arlo’s flame inside her soul, she would have let that get the better of her.

As the hot water hit her skin, Kaida leaned on the wall while the water cascaded down onto her. Kaida thought about how much happened yesterday. First, Blaze was still causing problems, yet sat aside as Enzo was being told of her bonds. She hated that she had a bond with him, but it remained tightly closed as it did from the moment her dragon emerged. Blaze stayed put and listened but didn’t say a word. It didn’t even feel like he had any emotions as things unfolded. After she left, Kaida wasn’t sure what Blaze did. He didn’t follow the rest of the guys to Adrien’s house.

What does he do with his time?

I often feel him close by. I’m unsure what he is doing, but he is never far.

I think Beckett mentioned that he is just patrolling a lot, so he doesn’t have to be around here.

He will come around someday.

I don’t even know what his problem is with me. I didn’t do anything to him outside of existing.

Who knows? He isn’t exactly someone who seems open to the idea of talking about it, either.

Kaida pushed aside her thoughts and started to cleanse her body. She noticed that Beckett had put a new scented liquid soap on her side of the caddy that was underneath the shower head. It was a mixture of pear, amber, and jasmine. She opened it up and took a whiff. It was heavenly. Kaida used that on her body and used her standard mint shampoo and conditioner in her hair. As her fingers ran through her hair, she found a piece of bark that she wasn’t aware of tangled in her strands.

I hope Enzo didn’t notice that.

Why not? It shows you are willing to explore unusual places while getting physical.

It’s embarrassing to have a piece of bark in your hair!

Only if you let it embarrass you.

Kaida ignored her dragon and continued with her cleansing. After she got out, she chose a new outfit. This time, it was a black shirt with straps off the shoulders and a black pair of pants, and she chose to wear a pair of purple flats. The thought of blow-drying her hair and styling it sounded exhausting, so she skipped that step and walked downstairs.

The absence of smells from the kitchen meant that the food was not done. She could hear Arlo and Enzo’s voices, which did not sound hostile. Kaida thought about going into the kitchen to join in but thought it would be best to allow for the two of them to get to know each other instead.

When stepping outside, the warm breeze of the sun-filled afternoon greeted her. Kaida took a deep breath and stepped into the sun’s rays. The warmth of the sun’s beams had Kaida finding a spot on the ground and lying down. She felt her skin heating up and closed her eyes as she relaxed.

Well...tried.

How is Enzo’s father able to control dragons? Like...able to take away their free will and make choices for them kind of control? I didn’t even know that was possible.

It’s a rare ability. It allows someone to keep dragons in line.

It is also a way to cause someone to do something they don’t want to do. If Enzo’s father really wanted to, he could have made Enzo kill me that night.

He didn’t, and I don’t know if that ability could override a mate bond. That’s probably why he didn’t have you killed in the first place.

Well, isn’t that a pleasant thought? The only reason I am alive is because I have a bond with the king’s son. Fantastic.

It could be worse. The others could also have that ability and rule the island that way.

What if he chooses to have the entire population of dragons wage a war against us? We would be so screwed. There aren’t enough dragons here to even fight against their army.

Some people cannot fall victim to that ability. One is a mated pairing to cause harm to the other. The other is if the person is more powerful than they are.

But he was able to control Enzo. I have felt both of their powers. I really think Enzo could beat his father, so how could he control Enzo?

Enzo is his blood. He shares enough with Enzo that he can gain that control.

Because Enzo is his son, he can take control of him?

Precisely.

Kaida growled and closed her eyes again. The grass was cool against her skin and soft enough to feel like a bed. The sun shined so bright that she could only see yellow inside her eyelids. She felt her shoulders relax, and her breathing became even.

Until the yellow disappeared, and she only saw gray.

Kaida opened her eyes and thought she would see the sun tucked behind a cloud. Instead, she found the sky changing colors before her eyes. Instead of a vibrant blue, it shifted into a dark purple and eventually black. Kaida knew it was not time for the sun to set and could see it trying to shine behind the blackness of the sky. It was a dark red but was slowly fading away.

She pushed herself to a seated position and stared up at the sky. Her skin began to itch. She looked down to see the area around her body starting to shimmer. Her dragon pushed herself forward, and Kaida could feel the calling shift as if it were screaming in her ears. The intensity of the itching grew, and Kaida could feel the urge to shift. She fought hard against it, knowing that this was not normal. Her dragon became unruly inside of her, roaring and scratching at the base of her skull, screaming to be let out. The itching turned into burning. The more she ignored it, the more intense it became.

Kaida screamed.