28. Rehan

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

REHAN

T he man standing in front of me wasn’t human, or at least hadn’t been for a long time. Like his demons, cracks of silver-blue power leaked through his skin. Long robes made of strips of shimmery pastels flowed down his body like water. He laughed. The resounding booms shook his body, though not his hair, which sat like a plastic doll, perfectly slicked back.

My mate stood opposite him. I couldn’t help but compare them. Both immortals and powerful, beyond my understanding, they were nothing alike. Jay’s long black hair was a mess in its ponytail, and her dark clothing clung to her dirty skin. She didn’t glow with power, and I couldn’t picture her taking on such an ostentatious mantle. Deserved or not.

Jay told Lux she was a dragon because time gave everyone scales, whether they wanted them or not. I know I shouldn’t have been listening to their conversation, but with my dragon senses on high alert, I couldn’t block them out.

Jay’s armor was born of lifetimes of empathy. I wasn’t sure she even realized it. She could have been this man, surrounded by demons and golems of his own creation, focused on only himself. Instead, she surrounded herself with supernaturals and was hellbent on helping us whether we wanted it or not.

My heart swelled with pride, and determination gripped my soul. I had to make sure Jay understood how amazing she was.

“A promise made, even in bad faith, is still a promise.” The man smiled, his gaze flicking to Caoimhe. “I see you brought back my newest lamb.”

Next to me, Tyson swung his head around the room as if looking for an actual lamb.

I let out a frustrated puff of air. “He’s talking about Caoimhe.”

“You will never have her,” Caoimhe promised weakly as she protectively curled in on her middle.

Tyson looked between Caoimhe and Jay. This time, I shared his confusion.

“A promise made. A deal sealed.” The man’s eyes took on a feral glow, feeding off Caoimhe’s fear.

Jay waved her hands, drawing our attention back to her. “Caoimhe can’t be more than a month along, assuming she got pregnant at the social.”

My breath caught in my throat. No one was talking about Jay. Caoimhe had a bun in the oven. I looked at Tyson, who’d turned to the side to study Caoimhe, hopefully drawing the same conclusion while Lux and Og both shifted from foot to foot uncomfortably.

Jay took another step forward, another step away from us.

I didn’t like it.

“She still belongs to me,” the man’s smile grew wider. “A half-fire dragon, half-fire nymph. My daughter will level cities. Though,” he tapped his chin. “It will still only have a fraction of the potential your inevitable spawn will give, Jaiyana.”

“She will never be your daughter,” Caoimhe spat as Tenzin pushed her behind him.

My vision tunneled in on Marduk as pieces of information clicked. Caoimhe’s unborn child belonged to this man, who could only be Marduk. My mate made the same deal. A memory of Jay off-handedly mentioning this exact scenario as if it were just another fact of her life came to me.

I tried to muster Jay’s confidence and nonchalance. But good or bad, I’d spent my entire life surrounded by family. My grandad always had a moment for me. My dad, helpful or not, had drifted around our territory, ready for the next party. My moms, even my dragon moms, were my teachers. Everything that made me a functional adult I owed to them. Probably everything that made me dysfunctional as well. The point being: family was my world.

What drove Jay to make that deal? What kind of a monster stole people's families?

“You gave away your firstborn?” Tyson stepped toward Jay; his fiery gaze full of accusation. At. My. Jay. My mate, my soul mate who made herself miserable so others could be happy.

I didn’t remember turning to Tyson, but I felt my balled fist impact his scaled face. The fire dragon soared backward. The blood and guts from two different fights still covering him flew off, dripping onto us and the floor. Before he could hit the wall of demons surrounding us, he managed to hook the ground with a foot. His tail burst out of his backside, stabilizing him.

“Wrong person to be mad at,” I growled. “I trust Jay. He’s the monster who offered the deal.”

To my surprise, Tyson ducked his head and slinked back to us.

I focused on Jay just as she smoothed her face back to its usual confident mask. But I hadn’t missed the shock, pride, and almost painful hope written into her features. It made me want to punch Tyson again and anyone who dared to make her feel like less of a person.

Jay took a deep breath. “I gave away my uterus first.” She smiled slyly. “And Marduk didn’t think to check.”

Marduk’s face twisted. Genuine hatred I’d rarely witnessed sparked in his eyes before he controlled himself.

“Though,” Jay made a flippant gesture. “He is a monster who offers bad deals to the desperate. You can’t get much lower than that, really.”

Power swelled around Marduk. The silver on his head and threaded around his body pulsed unhappily. He closed his eyes and stretched his neck to one side. “The fire nymph wasn’t as duplicitous.” He opened his eyes, and dark joy spilled onto his face. He grinned like he knew something the rest of us didn’t. “I have new deals up my sleeve for any who ask. It was time I evolved.”

Jay and Marduk met each other’s gaze. Years of history swirled around them, and suddenly, I was sitting around my family's table again, watching decisions get made instead of being a part of them.

I took the same two steps Jay did, making sure our shoulders touched so she physically felt my support. “Caoimhe is Tenzin’s mate. She’s one of us, just like Jay is.”

My mate’s chest rose with confidence. She reached for my hand and twined our fingers together. The power swirling around Marduk stilled.

“Jaiyana belongs to no one but power.” Marduk's gaze flashed to each of us. “Look at what she’s gathered. Four elemental dragons. You could topple human governments and change the very foundations of this world.” He laughed, throwing his head back. “Jaiyana, my pet, you are just like me.”

Jay’s fingers stiffened in mine. Despite not seeing her face, I sensed her overthinking and worrying as the curse linking us together was spat in her face. I kept our fingers linked, silently showing her how wrong she was.

“You’re not here to save the child, are you?” Marduk asked.

Jay pulled her fingers away from mine. “I’m not.”

A moan of pain ripped out of Caoimhe, and Jay flinched. I wanted to capture her hand again, but she was in the middle of a verbal knife fight, and I didn’t want to take away any of her advantages.

“But,” Jay continued. “Unless you’ve changed your bargains, I need Caoimhe now.”

“So, you can find a way to hide the child from me?” Marduk growled. “Do you think me naive?”

Jay crossed her arms over her chest and winced as it pulled on her side.

Marduk’s calculating gaze lingered on the burned flesh, the occasional spider web still drifting from where it melted onto her. “You’re experiencing a degree of mortality.”

Jay shrugged.

Marduk licked his bottom lip again. “With mortality comes fertility for many supernaturals. I could put the baby in you. Your firstborn would be with its father.”

Jay was in my arms before Marduk even finished his sentence. Tyson and Ogden stepped in front of us while Lux came up on Jay’s other side.

Every demon and the two golems’ took a single step forward in unison. The ground shook, and a howl rose from depths I hadn’t even realized were below us. This was Marduk’s domain. We had no idea how many forces he had down here. Even if all six of us shifted into dragons, our bodies would squash together in the limited space like crushed marshmallows. If we were lucky, the cave would collapse and kill us. If we weren’t, we’d suffocate slowly.

“Mortality didn’t regrow my uterus, Marduk,” Jay stated, not even trying to push through us.

My heart raced. Jay never wanted to stay behind us.

“Even if it did, I’d rather die than carry your parasites.” Jay sighed dramatically. “Why am I here Marduk? Your golem in London looked like a child put it together. Of all the places in the world, why bring Caoimhe under the exact location I just happened to be searching for a key to my curse? What could you possibly want from me after all this time?”

Caoimhe’s whimpers behind us eased. Lux, Og, and I made eye contact while Tyson scowled at the ground.

“You found me,” Marduk answered. “This is my doorstep. Once again, I find you standing on it just as dirty and desperate.”

Jay laughed. “If you look up desperate and dirty in the dictionary, it’s literally a picture of me. You’ll need a different tactic to get under my skin.”

I pictured Jay’s mud-caked body at the end of the hunt. The way her eyes burned with need for me. Desperate and dirty. Jay was the only person I knew who could turn her flaws into studded armor of gold and gems.

The two immortals bit their lips shut, unwilling to be the first to give up information.

This wasn’t getting us anywhere.

“Your demons and the demons growing in the Lay Lines are not the same.” I pointed a clawed finger at Marduk. “You have no control over the ones growing in the Ley Lines.”

“Furthermore.” Ogden gestured to Marduk’s demons. “Why use demons and golems, which I assume you made, if you collect firstborn children to create your personal army?”

Marduk's face pinched before he let out a frustrated grunt. “I despise this.”

“Yeah, not more than I do,” Jay mumbled before continuing with more confidence. “I might be on your doorstep, but you needed me here. Why?”

Power swirled around Marduk, and he brought his palms together. Sheer force pushed against me. Like Noah parting the sea, the four of us began to slide before digging our claws into the cave floor. Despite his power, we stayed strong, leaving only the smallest inch for Marduk to see our mate through.

“You owe me a child, Jaiyana.” Marduk slashed his hand through the air. “But you are young.” He smiled tightly. “I’m all but a god with eternity at my fingertips.” His smile fell. “As long as earth, and the magic on it, thrives.”

Jay took a deep breath, her tightly coiled muscles slightly relaxing. I took it as a good sign but didn’t let my guard down.

Marduk gestured to Ogden. “You, my clever friend, are not wrong. I should have an army of children. Instead, I have five, whom I keep far from my dealings Under London.” He looked at Jay again. “You were called.”

Tyson gave me a confused look, and I mouthed, ‘to the Ley Line.’ His eyes lit up with understanding.

Jay nodded. “Over a month ago, and then I was set up.”

‘Our island,’ I mouthed.

Tyson scowled at me. ‘I know.’

“My youngest child is fifteen,” Marduk stated. “I have five women, not including you, who’ve taken my deal.” He grimaced, and Jay shrugged. “Until Caoimhe, none conceived.”

I looked at Tyson, trying to figure out how to simplify that.

Fire filled his eyes. “Fertility problems aren’t only on our island.”

“A problem on your island,” Marduk repeated. His gaze flicked to Lux and his metal appendages before he scowled so deeply it aged his face centuries. “I do despise being the good guy.”

Jay snorted and relaxed. “I’m surprised you didn’t catch fire just saying the word ‘good.’”

Silver-blue magic swirled around Marduk. The demons stepped back, breaking into smaller groups and marching back down the tunnel and into the opened double doors at Marduk’s back.

“Your current mortality is too convenient.” Marduk turned his back to us. “I can’t capitalize on it and trust the world will still be here. The demons in the Ley Lines are not mine, and children worth making bargains for have gotten rarer and rarer over the years.” He took a step forward. “Without the Ley Lines, this world, me included, is doomed.” He took another step. “Follow, now, before I change my mind. Malta awaits.”

I cocked my head to the side. I wasn’t as bright as Og or as sensitive to situations as Lux, but my memory was solid. The last time any of us had even said the word Malta was back in Ireland.

“M…” Tyson started to say.

“Why Malta?” Jay cut him off.

Marduk sighed. “Because it’s where I want Caoimhe to spend her pregnancy. Don’t make this complicated, Jaiyana.”

Jay dropped back, forcing Caoimhe into our protective circle. Tears streamed down the nymph's face while Tenzin looked at Jay with murder in his eyes.

“Then to Malta, we shall travel,” Jay said too readily, her focus still on Marduk. “Though, if there’s anything else you’d like to tell me, best spill it now as our goals are briefly aligned.”

Marduk paused again but didn’t look back. “You must fix your own mistakes.”

A shiver ran down Jay, vibrating all of us. Her ex had said something similar.

“Caoimhe’s sealed the fate of her firstborn.” Marduk began walking again. “But I do look forward to whatever trickery you have up your sleeve.” He snapped, and the two golems closed in at our backside. “The child’s life is fated to my service. But. Toying with you until you realize that will be the best prize of all, Jaiyana. By fixing the Ley Lines, you extend the game I intend to win.”