29. Jaiyana

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

JAIYANA

M arduk knew I was revisiting the places I stole Gorm’s Casket from to reclaim my memories. He had to. Why else take me exactly where I wanted to go? He probably knew who cursed me in the first place and who put the demons in the Ley Lines. But he hadn’t given me more information, which told me two things. First, whatever entity put demons in the Ley Lines was stronger than a two-thousand-year-old demon mage and his armies.

Gorm. I’d released a bloodthirsty god on the world, then forgotten.

Did I mention you’re an asshole?

Second, if Marduk gave me the answers, it might change my actions. So, whatever path I currently walked was the one Marduk thought would fix the Ley Lines.

So now we’re trusting a baby-stealing demon-mage?

In his own self-preservation. Yes.

I stepped through Marduk’s portal with Lux still supporting my weight. Although I got a nice shot of adrenaline while talking to my old nemesis, the moment it wore off, my mortality rushed back.

We were a very somber group who gathered in a wine cellar, which wasn’t much warmer than the caves. Only the silver-blue of Marduk’s portal lit the arched white stone ceilings. The smell of oak and aging wine grounded me until Tyson stepped through alone and last, filling the tight space with the scent of orc and spider guts.

The portal closed, and artificial lights sprang to life. Footfalls came from the room’s only exit. All of us tensed, ready for a fight. Instead, an older gentleman with dark skin and white hair burst into the room. The wide sleeves of his dark purple shirt fell to his elbow as he thrust his thin arms into the air. Something vaguely Arabic with a French influence tumbled out of his mouth while a spark of orange shot from his back into the wall behind him.

“Do you speak English?” Lux asked, releasing me to step to our front and put his hands out peacefully.

“Yes,” the man said. “My English is okay.”

“It’s better than my, um, whatever you were speaking,” Lux said.

The man relaxed a little. “Maltese.”

“Really?” Tyson laughed. “Did you just make that up?”

Ogden elbowed him. “At least we know Marduk sent us to the right place.”

The man grew tense before falling to his knees, babbling and bowing to us. I sighed, the tension draining out of me. Of course, Marduk sent us to one of his worshipers.

Lux got my attention and gestured to his scales. I assumed he asked if it was okay to drop them, and I nodded before swiveling to Tyson. “Not you.”

Og placed a hand on my elbow, and his healing energy seeped into me.

Tyson narrowed his eyes.

“All the crap on your scales will end up on the floor of this guy’s wine cellar.” I gestured to the concrete under our feet. “Have some respect.”

“Some respect?” Caoimhe scoffed. The fire nymph shook from fatigue, fear, anger, probably all of it.

I couldn’t look at her. I’d just spent more time defending this wine cellar’s floor than her unborn child. But, right now, there was nothing I could do about it. I could still save the floor from… I turned to Tyson, “How are you the only one covered in spider and orc entrails?”

Tyson smirked.

I turned back to the man, but Lux already knelt at his side, speaking to him in hushed tones. Another minute ticked by. My wounds ached less thanks to Og, but my energy drained. Finally, the man smiled. He touched his head to Lux’s hands and stood.

“If you make a reserve, two bottles of that as well,” Lux added, smiling encouragingly.

The man lit up with joy and repeatedly bowed at the waist. “Welcome to Malta. I am Cikku.” He spread his hands. “My humble winery, blessed by the gods themselves and run by true masters.” His skin went from burnt Carmel to completely translucent, with a network of cloudy white veins running through his human form.

I placed my hand on my heart and bowed. “It’s an honor to be at the home of a phantom, so obviously in love with his craft.”

Cikku’s corporal body returned. “When Babylon fell, the great god Marduk moved us here. Here, we cultivate his grapes.” He walked to a stack of barrels two high, opposite the portal, and brushed his fingers against the logo burnt into the side. A lion lay on its back, eating what appeared to be a bunch of grapes. Instead of having a lion head, Marduk’s took its place.

Caoimhe stiffened and looked like she wanted to throw up.

“She’s pregnant,” I said to Cikku. “It’s normal. She won’t be drinking anyways.”

Cikku nodded solemnly, like not drinking was a death sentence.

“We can still try the wine, right?” Lux asked.

“I mean, he already made it.” I shrugged. “Everyone still listens to Mahler’s symphonies, and he was a Nazi. Can art be truly good or evil?”

Six pairs of eyes turned to me with varying degrees of horror while Cikku looked taken aback. It took me a moment to realize I’d called the phantom a Nazi. I patted my chest. “Marduk and I have a long history. He can be a vengeful god.” Cikku nodded. “My point was, your wine will speak for itself, regardless of Marduk’s influence, and I’m excited to try it.”

The man brightened again, leading us to a set of stairs which ended at his villa.

After being shown to a series of bright rooms with open windows and terracotta accents, I claimed one for myself and passed the fuck out.

Late afternoon found me healed, clean, and draped in a layered blouse of yellows, lounging on a sunny patio with a view of the vineyards and the sea as a sparkling backdrop. My dragons were still inside, and hopefully, they were napping better than I had. I assumed Caoimhe and Tenzin did the same.

On the other side of the patio, Cikku and his wife gave a wine tasting for a group of sunburned tourists. After a lovely presentation, I took a sip of crisp, acidic white wine with the group. Though unlike them, I sat alone and had no one to clink glasses with.

Fuck me, it’s actually delicious wine.

“I can’t believe you're drinking that!” Caoimhe said, sliding into the seat next to me in a simple white t-shirt and too-big shorts.

I rolled the stem of my glass between my fingers. There were so many ways to respond to Caoimhe’s anger: sympathy, remorse, or my own biting comment. But at the end of the day, she’d made her own choices. Just like I had, and she needed to deal with them.

I didn’t look away from the legs racing down the sides of the wine glass. “Wine is simple. It just exists. It’s not the wine's fault you made a deal with a devil.” I looked up from my glass, daring Caoimhe to argue with me.

Caoimhe squeezed her eyes shut before picking up my glass and taking the tiniest sip. “Are you going to say anything?” She asked.

I shrugged. “If a tiny sip of wine before your fetus is even the size of a bean will mess it up, then it’s gonna have a hard life.” I took my wine back. “If you’re looking for judgment, do some crack.”

Caoimhe blinked. “In the last week, I’ve found out I was pregnant, escaped an island only to end up in a prison. Escaped that only to wind up in a spider’s nest and escaped that to end up here.” She gestured around her. “A beachside winery that might still be a prison.”

I sipped my drink. “You’re doing pretty well, all things considered.”

We lapsed into silence.

“You really aren’t going to try and save my child, are you?” Caoimhe said. “I heard Rehan telling Tyson and Ogden it was priorities… getting out came first.” She swallowed. “But it wasn’t, was it.”

I took a deep breath. “You are both right.” I reached forward and put my hand over hers. “Magic has rules, you know this, and words have meaning. Marduk wasn’t wrong when he said a promise was a promise.” I squeezed her hand. “I still owe him my firstborn nine hundred years later. Even if I could give back the power we bargained for, if my child comes into this world, magic will collect it, one way or another. It’s one of the many reasons I will never have a child.”

Tears filled Caoimhe’s eyes, and I reached forward, hugging her to my chest. The outburst was short, and after only a few sobs, she pulled back and wiped her face. “I don’t know what I was thinking.”

I smiled at her. “That you wanted a family, to have kids, damn the consequences.”

She smiled back. “What did you trade for?”

“I’d bet anything; it was power,” Og pulled out a chair, Lux on his heels, and another bottle of wine in his hands.

The two shared an awkward glance before sitting on either side of me as if they needed to pretend I was still their focus. I’d been too subtle with Lux.

“It was power, right Jay?” Og pressed, reminding me he’d asked a question.

“Yea. It was power.” I grinned. “A big hit. And information long irrelevant at this point. But, like I said, I’d already given up my uterus. Kids aren’t what I need to feel fulfilled.”

So, then, what is, Jay?

Dragon dick.

Except you’re pushing that away too.

Og cleared his throat, looking expectantly at me to share my thoughts. I blushed so hard I swear I felt my skin burn and peel off.

“Hot out here, isn’t it?” I finished my wine, before pressing the cool glass to my cheeks.

Og rolled his eyes.

“Now, I’ll be blunt,” I rushed on, keeping control of the conversation. “I think I possibly released a god, but I don’t remember why or how. And I need to know.” I pointed at the sky. “There are demons in our Ley Lines. They’re not doing anything now, but they did, and they will.”

Caoimhe swallowed. “I got called to a Ley Line once. A group of human wiccans made a pentagram in the Ley Line outside my house and diverted a bit of magic. My sister and I had to destroy their pentagram a few times until they put it somewhere else.”

I shared a laugh with her. “So, you understand.”

Caoimhe nodded. “It was small, but yeah, I do.”

“I need to know how you got on the island,” I tapped the table. “The details of how you got off the island and what your exact deal with Marduk was.”

Lux refilled my glass, and Caoimhe began her story.

The nymph and her family lived in a small, primarily supernatural town which only saw ten babies in the last fifteen years. Her sister fell in love with a wolf shifter, and both her sister and the baby died in childbirth. It destroyed Caoimhe’s world. Desperate for answers, she spiraled down the rabbit hole, which was the internet, where she found other supers having fertility problems and the fixes they’d come up with. Some thought mixing races and powers was slowly killing off the supernatural community. Caoimhe’s experience with her sister supported that theory. So, she sought out another who used elemental fire. Which is how she stumbled upon the applications to become a dragon’s wife, and it became her obsession. Only she had magic, which was against Scalehive’s policy.

The deal with Marduk was in three parts. One, make her appear human so she could participate in the trials. Two, get her and her new dragon mate off the island and to her hometown so they could have a family. Three, financially set them up so they would want for nothing.

“But you didn’t specify a timeline in step two, correct,” I asked. “Or a dollar amount in step three?”

Caoimhe's eyes shimmered, and she looked down at the table. “The way he worded it…I thought he would be my child’s godfather or he’d have her on the weekends. I feel so dumb admitting that. But he made it sound like he just wanted to help me. My sister was my world when she died.” Tears streamed down her face. “I don’t know. I thought if I did something, it would fix the hole she left in my life.”

I stood and pulled Caoimhe’s chair away from the table so I could wrap her in a fierce hug. Tears dotted the corners of my eyes. “It’s okay to hurt. Pain makes all of us do stupid shit. Marduk’s a tricky bastard. I have no doubt he twisted his words and made you feel safe. No one’s judging you.”

While I let Caoimhe cry, a freshly showered Rehan quietly joined us, sitting next to Lux to enjoy the view. My guys talked amongst themselves to give us the appearance of privacy.

The nymph slowly composed herself and rested a hand on her stomach. “What’s going to happen to my baby?”

I walked back to my seat, jerking my head toward Cikku, Marduk’s eyes and ears. “Exactly what’s meant to happen. Eight months is a long time. Now.” I sat. “You filled out the dragon’s application, and thanks to Marduk, you appeared human and came to the island like any other, right?”

Caoimhe nodded.

“How did you leave the island?” I asked again.

“Doctor Raba,” Caoimhe said.

I clenched my fists. I knew that ass hat had something to do with all of this.

“Marduk gave me a bag of gold and some,” Caoimhe made a few circles with her hands. “Well, I didn’t really look hard at it, but it looked like a kit for a science lab and told me to say it was a gift from Brad.”

“Brad?” Og looked at me.

The name meant nothing to me, and I shrugged.

Caoimhe continued. “Doctor Raba took all of it from me and sent us to a boat with one of King Ryker’s creepy henchmen. I wasn’t on the island long, but they always felt wrong to me. I peeked under this one's cowl, and she literally had no eyes.”

“How could she see then?” Og asked.

I shared a look with Lux, who tapped a single metal finger against the colorful table.

Caoimhe shrugged. “I don’t know. I just got the one peek before she shut the door of the shipping container.”

I hadn’t seen an orphan over sixteen at the air temple, and at the time, it hadn’t occurred to me to ask where they went after the orphanage. The fire king had a small army of cowled dragons who used ‘technology’ to harness all the elements, even raw magic… except they didn’t use technology at all. They were the grown orphans. They had to be. Doctor Raba’s kindness clicked into place. He was grooming them for the fire king’s army. Now that I thought about it, I was pretty sure I listened to him recruiting one of the kids when I’d lounged under his table.

Lux clenched his jaw, and his face flushed with anger as if he drew the same conclusions.

All of this had begun at least thirty years before I arrived on the island or released Gorm. This couldn’t be a coincidence. Everything was connected, and I needed my memories back to figure out how.

I gestured for Caoimhe to continue.

“It took half a day to get to Portugal by boat. Where Marduk himself used a portal to join us in our shipping container.” Caoimhe squeezed her eyes tight, and shook. “I talked Tenzin into walking through his portal. I trusted the wrong person.”

Caoimhe clenched her little fist. “The first thing Marduk did was separate us.”

“It’s not your fault,” Tenzin said, slipping into the seat next to his mate. He brushed fresh tears off her face. “I love you, and we will get through this.”

Tyson, walking on Tenzin’s heels, sat next to Rehan at the far end of the table. He clenched his fist, not making eye contact with me.

His first reaction when he figured out I’d given up my firstborn was to blame me, and it hurt… a lot. But I also got it. Marduk dangled the carrot, and I swallowed it. Of all my mates, Tyson wanted kids the most. He couldn’t help how he felt any more than I could. It didn’t make what he did right, but it meant there was a bridge over the chasm dividing us, if he could bring himself to take the first step.

The wine-tasting group clinked glasses again, and the chattering picked up. A few women noticed the dragon shifters, all in human forms, dressed in cargo shorts and various t-shirts from the gift shop which stretched over their muscled builds.

I put my arm around Lux and Ogden, suddenly glad I didn’t have magic so I couldn’t unnaturally stretch my arms to reach all four. That would be weird. Og gave me a grin, and I stuck my tongue out at him.

“Caoimhe came to the island like any other human woman thanks to Marduk,” Og explained to Tyson. “She escaped by boat, under your dad’s nose, with the help of Doctor Raba using the code word: Brad. Does that mean anything to you?”

“Brad?” Tyson studied his wine glass as if his fire magic could turn it into scotch. “Nope. Sounds like a douche bag though.”

I sighed. “It really does.”

“What’s your story, Jay?” Caoimhe asked.

I gave a brief summary, leaving out my emotional baggage and focusing on getting my memories and magic back so I could hopefully fix the Ley Line. The stupid thing that started this mess.

“When you get your magic back, are you more powerful than Marduk?” Caoimhe asked with a hint of desperation.

I studied her, expecting this question. “Maybe. Our magic is very different. I was not born powerful. I fought, stole, and worked for every drop flowing through my veins. Marduk was a powerful mage before he dove into the world of deals and built his empire. He’s over three thousand years old and has an army at his fingertips. Any fight between us would be a world-shattering showdown. There’s a reason we’ve left each other alone.” I patted her shoulder. “Neither of us is stronger than a binding promise.” Tears sprang to her eyes. “But when my powers are back, I will help you, whatever that looks like. You have my word. My promise.”

The air sizzled with magic, and thunder clapped in the distance despite the clear blue sky. The wine tasters at our back let out awkward laughs, all checking their weather apps and swatting at their shirts as if bugs had suddenly brushed their skin.

Caoimhe lifted her chin. “I’m sorry I doubted you. What can I do to help you get your powers back?”

I grinned. “Our goal hasn’t changed. I’m missing memories. The footage from London didn’t show me anything new. We need to figure out who my ex is, who the guy in the videos is, and where the pieces of Gorm’s casket ended up. And, why I did any of this, ideally.”

“What museum did you hit here?” Tyson scratched the stubble on his chin.

“Superintendent Kelly said it was a private collector, but that’s all the info he had.” I turned to Lux. “Did Cikku have a place for us to hole up?”

Lux blinked. “Here. You were sent here by his god. He would give you his winery if you asked for it.”

“We aren’t staying here.” Caoimhe hit the table with her fist.

I reached forward and covered her hand with mine. “I think you should.”

Her eyes widened.

“Marduk’s powerful, and the world is about to get very, very messy,” I explained. “Good or evil, you essentially have a demi-god desperate to keep you alive, at least for another eight months. Use his goodwill. Befriend Cikku. He’s older than me. Babylon fell over twenty-five hundred years ago. Phantoms don’t have mortal bodies. They are ghosts, so focused on one love in life that they forget to die and spend eternity doing it. Maybe you will learn something about Marduk that helps you.”

“How does that help you get your magic back?” Caoimhe asked.

I leaned back. “That doesn’t, but I have another way you can help me.”

Caoimhe blinked her wide eyes at me. She looked so sweet and innocent. It was perfect.

“What’s the best way to get information?” I asked.

Caoimhe blinked again. “Google it?”

I wrinkled my nose. “Right, internet generation.” I suddenly felt ancient. “I was leaning toward talking to people.” I looked at everyone. “We’re going to split up.”

Og leaned forward as if he couldn’t believe what I just said while Rehan crossed his arms over his chest.

I put a hand up. “We don’t know anything. Crossing into Under London fried our electronics again.” I pointed at myself. “I doubt I walked into a random dude’s basement and found it. It was probably a collector with a lot of cash and security. I can’t be seen until we understand the situation. Caoimhe’s young and beautiful. People will feel comfortable chatting with her. It’s just being social at the local watering hole.”

Tenzin growled. “I don’t like it.”

Based on the scowls on my mate's faces, they didn’t either.

“Caoimhe doesn’t have to go alone,” I held my hands out. “But, I mean, you’ll get a lot more info as a slightly intoxicated single at the bar… and the sooner we know, the sooner I don’t need your help anymore.”

Scales rippled across Tenzin’s face, but Caoimhe nodded at me. “I can do that. It’s just talking to people, right? I don’t actually have to drink?”

I nodded to both questions while Tenzin shook his head.

Unless she talks to the wrong people.

That’s why we’ll have two dragons with her.

Because your mates and bars have worked out so well.

We didn’t get kicked out of the Guinness Factory.

Pushing aside my doubts, I stood. “I’ll give you two some privacy. Talk, communicate, you are a unit now, and then decide.”

“Really?” Og stood as well, his chair scrapping across the lovely tile patio. “Really, that’s your advice? Do you want to give someone else that advice?”

I bit my bottom lip and shuffled away from Tenzin and Caoimhe so they could be alone, my guys following after me. “Lux is the one who said we should stay here.”

Lux stumbled. “I said it’s an option… and then you made it a fact.”

You did, Jay. Shut up before you make this worse.

But she didn’t shut up. Not even a little.

“Look. Caoimhe’s the best option…”

“Lux,” Rehan interrupted me. “Lux just showed us how good he is with people. He even makes me question my sexuality. We can leave Caoimhe out of this.”

Lux blushed, ducked, and nodded all at the same time. It would have been adorable if Tyson hadn’t piled onto me as well.

“It’s possible, with some research, we won’t even need to talk to anyone,” Tyson added.

“Love, we agreed to be a team, at least for now.” Rehan put his large hand on my bare shoulder and squeezed, making my skin tingle. “We would be stronger together, and we have a moment to breathe. Train us.”

My heart raced.

You fucking love training, Jay. Four elemental dragons working as a unit. They could be unstoppable, and you could make it happen.

‘You’re just like me, Jaiyana. Four elemental dragons are pure power.’ Marduk’s words came back to me.

I pulled my shoulder away from Rehan.

Marduk wasn’t wrong. These dragons who I so casually called my dragons were magic I could harness. They were a hit of power I craved, not to make the world a better place but because I loved to feel powerful. I wanted to sink my teeth into them, teach them everything I knew, and turn them into something better than themselves.

And then let them go.

That’s your pattern.

It’s the way it has to be.

I’m doing it different this time. I’m not starting the cycle.

I closed my eyes and cracked my neck before banishing the thoughts. Og and Lux needed time together, and I needed to focus on reclaiming my memories.

“I’ll double-check with Cikku to confirm he can house us,” I said instead, not meeting any of their eyes. “You guys rest. We need two dragons, not Tenzin obviously, watching Caoimhe in the evenings once we settle on locations.”

“And what will you be doing?” Og asked, still standing in my path.

I put a hand on his bicep and gently pushed him closer to Lux. “Malta has four temples dedicated to fertility. As we just learned, it’s not just your island struggling with fertility but the supernatural world. I’ll see if any of the temples have records.”

“What about not being seen?” Rehan asked.

“The sites are like Newgrange in Ireland. Tourist attractions.” I met his gaze. “No one will notice another magicless tourist wandering ruins on her own.”

“That’s how this is going to work?” Og stood scarily still. “No discussion, not even a thought to what we want?”

“Exactly.” I flicked my gaze between Lux and Ogden. “You need to find happiness without me getting in the way.”