15. Jaiyana

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

JAIYANA

T he Alliance got us settled into a hotel room, no questions asked. The sound of the buzzing streets of Temple Bar, Dublin’s downtown, drifted through the open windows, letting in a bit of early evening light. The bare but functional room was more than a stranded shifter could hope for, though less than I’d ideally like to show my dragons.

Even knowing their stories continue without you?

Especially knowing that. This adventure is like our last party. We might as well live it up. No strings attached, right?

My inner voice just shook its imaginary head.

I leaned further into Rehan, who sat propped up against the headboard, still trembling slightly from his ordeal with the Ley Lines, and pressed the room’s phone to my ear. My confused but confident accountant gave me a quick rundown.

No one had contacted him or tried to breach my assets, which told me Scalehive really thought I was Betty. Whoever did this knew my accountant would follow up with a very well-funded supernatural investigation, so they left my stuff alone. My accountant reminded me he would’ve known I was missing if we had a check-in system in place. Which I assured him we’d create despite both of us knowing it would never happen. Finally, he promised me cash and a working bank card would be available first thing tomorrow morning. My gaze slid to Lux, huddled under the blankets of the second bed as if the Irish summer was zero degrees out.

I mean, he is a lizard, and seventy degrees is cold for the tropics.

We would need IDs and apparently warmer clothing.

Unless we don’t need IDs. If I had my magic, we could literally get out of anything and wouldn’t need to rely on human transportation.

I snapped my fingers, making them spark with Lux’s power. We had privacy and time in this hotel room. I just needed to get through to Og. I rubbed my cheek against Rehan’s shoulder, and he moved his arm, pulling me into his muscly embrace.

He gets it. He gets you. You’re gonna miss this so much.

“Is there anything else I can do for you, Jaiyana?” my accountant’s too-smooth voice asked, making me drop the phone I’d forgotten I still held.

I retrieved the phone and steeled my heart. “Send a large donation to The Alliance and make sure I buy your next suit.”

“Very well,” my accountant responded. “I’ll be at hand if you find your situation changing.”

I didn’t bother with pleasantries; just hung up the phone. The shower turned off in the room behind me. The propped-open adjoining door easily let sound travel. Ogden slid into my view, wearing a massive sweater over jeans, which were a little too short for him. I didn’t think I would, but I badly missed the low ‘v’ hinting at his chest muscles and inked skin.

Between my melancholy and the sudden lack of hot, mostly naked men, I struggled to get in the mood for what we finally had time to do.

There's no reason to get in the mood. You can’t have an orgy now.

What? Why?

Have you felt eyes on you, seen a demon, or even had a feeling of lost memories since you left the island?

…I have not.

Shit.

I jerked, startling Rehan, who pulled me close, scanning the room for danger.

“It’s fine.” I wiggled free and ran my fingers through my wet hair. A few drips ran down my Guinness flannel to drip onto a pair of cream leggings. The room came with essential clothing outfitting us like tourists who lost their luggage. Honestly, it was close enough and a great cover story.

However, what I’d realized was not great. Not great at all. I took another breath. For the last six weeks, give or take a few days, all I’d done was try and get four dragon shifters to fuck me at the same time. And now they couldn’t.

Instead of dealing with what I knew would not go over well, I squeezed Rehan’s knee and focused on his newest experience. “I know it brought back childhood fears, but the mental strength it takes to exit a portal early is incredible.” I traced the seam of his jeans inside his thigh. “The silver ball must have been Newgrange itself, and you literally harnessed the raw energy of the planet. With a bit of training, you could travel the Ley Lines without needing a portal.”

Rehan reached down, putting his hand over mine to stop it. “Like you can?”

I inclined my head. “Yeah. Only my first time wasn’t an accident. I knew where I wanted to go and bent magic to my will.”

“How old were you?” Rehan rubbed his thumb across mine.

“Sixteen, I think.” I shrugged. “Young and hot-headed still.”

Tyson stepped into the room, shirtless, with his arms crossed over his damp pecs. He took one look at Rehan and me, alone on the bed, and stepped forward. “Iguana. Share.”

“Iguanas aren’t even fish,” Rehan stated, not moving from his spot, taking up most of the bed. To my surprise, Tyson flipped on the TV. A documentary followed an iguana swimming through the ocean next to a cruise ship.

Rehan laughed and pushed himself to a seated position, pulling me between his legs while making room for Tyson to not have me between his. Tyson scowled but boxed me into his rival while Og sat down and stole a layer of Lux’s blankets.

“We need to talk,” Og said.

“We do.” I wiggled out from between Rehan and Tyson and found my own space, leaning next to the flickering TV.

“How do we get back to the island?” Og asked.

“Hell, why are you in such a hurry?” Tyson countered.

Og took a deep breath. “Because of the bodies at Scalehive.”

I held up a hand. “Let’s start there. Bodies, five of them, and one broken computer. No sign of demons. I sent a message to Oliviarose before got pulled into the portal. With any luck, she’s already got people on it.” I swallowed. “But I believe, with certainty, one of those five invited a mage onto the island, who then doubled crossed them.”

“Invited them onto the island to get you here, er, there,” Tyson added.

I held up my hand again. “Mostly likely to either keep me from the Ley Lines or to bring me to my ‘mates.’ Maybe both.” I made little air quotes as I said the word.

Og shook his head. Despite his nonchalance, Rehan’s face pinched while Tyson nodded and pointed at himself.

Lux smiled. “You freed me in more ways than one. I’m where I want to be, regardless of the labels we put on it.”

My heart warmed. It must have shown on my face because Lux’s gaze sparkled. Next to him, Og, still sharing the air dragon's pile of blankets, turned to study his face. My spidey senses tingled, once again telling me something had gone down between the two. Tyson boinking Tia hurt, but I understood it. Fighting against the inevitable was something Tyson and I had in common. When I first arrived on the dragon’s island, instead of bowing to their hunt, I’d dragged it out until physical exhaustion took me down.

I cleared my throat, moments from asking the pair, before shutting down. It wasn’t my business. We weren’t a unit. I might call them mates, but this was temporary. I had to stop forgetting.

“Look.” I pulled my attention away from Lux and Og. “Beyond all the weird unnatural shit dragon shifters are doing, which I can’t do anything about.” I wrinkled my nose. “As I see it, we have two problems. First, the mystery man who watched me on your island and who claimed to have ‘gifted me dragons.’ Second, the entity who put demons in the Ley Lines, who I’m guessing is ‘our mistake’ that the first guy wants me to ‘fix.’” I crossed my arms over my chest. “Then there’s still my missing memories. I’m a badass bitch. Missing memories are not good. Especially along with demons.”

I clasped my hands together so my mates didn’t see them tremble. Someone erased my memories and cursed me. It was a violation. It left me with no control. I’d even been voiceless. If I’d met anyone with less than good intentions before my mates, I could still be trapped in an awful situation. Fear and anxiety twisted in my stomach, and I forced myself to breathe. As long as I kept moving forward and kept trying to fix it, I could stay strong.

I was the only thing I had.

“We need to understand why I was on the island and, ideally, who cursed me,” I said slowly. “It makes no sense that someone would trap me on an island filled with my allies but without my magic. None. There are jails and subdimensions, and even spells that will trap a god in an object. If this demonist, as I’m calling him, is ‘our mistake’ and my ex gifted me dragons to ‘fix’ it, then my ex wouldn’t have taken my magic to destroy said demonist.”

“Your ex?” Tyson interrupted.

I blinked a few times, not realizing I’d used the term, before nodding. “It fits, doesn’t it?”

Tyson growled.

“He called you his obsession, Jay,” Og said quietly.

“It’s why it fits.” I balled my fists, and my stomach sank— our mistake.

“I need to get my memories back. I must know what is going on and how to fix this.” I chewed my bottom lip, trying to phrase the next bit correctly. “I don’t know if it was my ex or the demonist who cursed me…but on purpose or not, the curse is hiding me.” I rubbed my neck. “My ex isn’t watching me anymore. I’ve not felt eyes on me or had a sense of lost memories once. No one knows, not even Oliviarose, where we exited that portal, and without magic, no one can find me. I can’t lose that advantage.”

There was a moment of almost painful silence, where I purposely did not look at Tyson.

The fire prince suddenly tensed as he put two and two together. He stood slowly, his hair flickering with his fire. “All you’ve asked for since getting your voice back is for all of our dicks, at once.” He slowly paced, not looking at me. “While these other feckers have come up with excuses, I’ve been mentally preparing and stood behind your every request…and now you’re backing out?”

I ducked my head. “You’re all hot as shit. I’m not turning you down.”

“Hot as shit.” Og rose from the bed, looking like a vengeful blanket monster. “Do you actually think stroking our egos after deciding all on your own what we do next as a group softens the blow?”

“No. I was just…” I trailed off. That’s precisely what I’d tried to do.

“Do you think the only reason we want to sleep with you is because you’re hot as shit?” Og asked.

I held out my hands. “I don’t think I’m hot as shit.”

It was the wrong thing to say. Og’s horns sprouted on his head, stabbing into the ceiling.

Good thinking on that Alliance donation.

I took an unsteady breath and looked at Rehan for support.

The massive dragon crossed his arms over his chest. “It’s not about what you said. I agree with your logic. However, you’re making decisions without us again. Steering our future away from you.”

Tyson suddenly let out a roar, which shook the walls. He flexed his chest and pointed at me. “I. Don’t. Want. To. Share.”

I blinked, almost unable to understand the toddler words coming out of his mouth. He turned, punched a hole in the door frame, and stormed off with a t-shirt swinging from his back pocket. A moment later, the door to the hall opened and slammed shut.

Maybe increase the donation?

“Lux, go with him,” Rehan jerked his chin.

Lux bolted up from his nest of blankets and barreled out the door, hot on Tyson’s tail.

Rehan stood and slid to my front, trapping me between himself and the TV, now flickering with the blue sky of the tropics. A flock of birds soared across the screen. The colors shifted across Rehan’s angry, dragon-slit gaze.

Shit.

Yeah. Shit.