37. Jaiyana

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

JAIYANA

T o search the giant fort, we divided it into three quadrants, leaving Tyson free to scour the computer systems for anything Gorm's Casket related and the name Bradly Cooper. Lux pulled me to his side, and I followed him like an excited puppy. The second room we explored turned out to be a small library with dusty books clearly never even opened by Drukpa. A sly grin curled Lux's lips before he pinned me to the nearest shelf. My back pressed against his chest, exactly mimicking our first evening together. This time, no layers of priestess white came between us.

"I was glad you couldn't see my face," Lux admitted. "It took all my self-control not to kiss your neck as I inhaled the scent of you."

"Even though I kicked your ass at your own game?" I fingered the binding of a book.

Lux snorted. "Because you kicked my ass at my own game."

I twisted to face him. His arms still trapped me against the bookcase. He looked at me as if nothing else in the world mattered. Regret pinched not just my heart but my very being. I’d known this shifter for less than a week before I decided avoidance was the best path. I hadn’t taken a single moment for us. "I'm sorry."

Lux shook his head. "You don't need to be. I get it." He swallowed. "Og's a warlock. His magic and love of it define him. Rehan's a leader. His unwavering belief and drive to make the world a better place define him. Tyson," Lux quirked his lips. "Tyson doesn't let anything define him. Power and action supercharge his brain, which I honestly believe is half fire."

I chuckled, not willing to even argue semantics.

"I would honestly kill to have a fraction of his confidence." Lux took a deep breath. "But I don't know what defines me… and I think you don't know what defines you either."

My reflection in Lux's gaze wavered as my eyes misted over. I didn't. So far, I failed to recreate the brief moment I experienced with my magic during the fight with Drukpa. My gut twisted. The curse needed something from me, something more than just banging dragons.

Lux pulled me into his chest, and I wrapped my arms around him. The possibility of a curse never mattered to my air dragon. He wanted to be happy… and when I simplified everything, so did I.

Too bad nothing's simple.

Shut it, brain.

"I can't take you on an actual date." Lux loosened his arms and let them fall to my hips. "Even if I could, I googled date conversation topics, and I don't have much to say. Everything's on my bucket list. I don't have a typical workday to discuss. My childhood definitely isn't something fun to bring up…"

I kissed Lux's cheek. "Relax. A spontaneous date searching the fortress of a crime lord's family sounds amazing."

"A date needs something special." He bit the inside of his cheek and huffed.

Before I contradicted him, Lux straightened and grinned. "I've got it. I'll be right back." He put a hand on each of my shoulders. "Don't move."

I raised an eyebrow and made a show of planting my feet. He gave me a final squeeze before rushing out of the room.

We’d technically been in the fort for a little over sixteen hours. Although Og had slept for most of that while the rest of us did some essential exploration to secure our location. After a solid, more normal, eightish hours rest, I gave my not-slumbering dragons a crash course in teamwork.

"You've all seen me combine elements, right?" I asked.

We stood in the debris-strewn center of the room where Drukpa almost handed us our asses.

"Your globe at the elemental meeting." Lux pointed out. "And the unnaturally warm air current which took us to Dublin."

I nodded. "I've combined during our fights, too, but it might have been a bit chaotic for anyone to observe."

Tyson puffed out his chest. "Fire is the strongest. Why would I taint it with another element?"

Rehan let out an unhappy grunt and pulled out his ponytail.

Lux rolled his eyes. "Says the dragon who couldn't figure out how to flank a spider and then lost control of the resulting fire."

Tyson snarled. "That fire was literally fueled by miles of webbing!"

"And oxygen." I cut into their argument. "Fire needs air to burn." I pointed at Tyson. "You contained it, and if Lux thought of it, he could have snuffed it out."

Lux and Tyson narrowed their eyes at each other before dropping their gazes to the floor.

"I thought our training would be more physical," Rehan said, mid-putting his ponytail back up. "Like what I was doing with Lux."

I shook my head. "It takes hundreds of hours of practice in physical combat to create flawless teamwork. Maybe in the future, but right now, communication and elemental understanding is the first step."

I stared at Rehan, ready for him to argue with me. Instead, a broad smile filled his face. "I can't argue with your logic, love. Especially when you explain it to us."

I bounced slightly on the balls of my feet, and we’d begun.

Waiting for Lux to return, I once again bounced excitedly on the balls of my feet. Certain elements worked together better than others. I’d paired Tyson and Lux: fire and air. While Og worked on his sleeping beauty technique, I’d used his earth magic to train with Rehan's water. Pretty soon, fire tornados ripped through the already destroyed room while pits of thick clay held opponents in place. Once Og and Rehan started training for real, I was a hundred percent sure they could make a badass golem even Marduk would be jealous of.

"Jay?" Lux's voice snapped me out of memory lane.

I grinned. "The four of you will be so badass."

Lux handed me two champagne flutes. "The five of us." He popped the cork on a bottle of bubbly, and I sighed happily at the sound. "Now, it's a date."

For the next hour, we explored rooms and proved Lux's concern about date topics unnecessary. It turned out the air prince knew a lot more about wine than he thought. His memories of pruning vines and working the air dragon's vineyard, far away from his dad, were crisp and full of joy. His optimism refreshed my cynical soul.

In addition, in almost every room we explored we discovered a hidden cache, which Lux clearly loved puzzling out how to open. A few of them required magic, but a lot of them were as simple as finding the hidden button and pressing it.

I had a good collection of enchanted items by the time Og excitedly tugged on our mate bond.

"Think he found the vault?" I asked.

Lux's eyes lit up. "Will it be another puzzle to open, like these little ones?"

I guided us toward Og. "Nope. It's gonna have a crazy lock on it. The one lock to rule them all." I grinned.

"And in the darkness bind them," Lux finished the Lord of the Rings quote.

We both laughed and hurried toward Og. A few hallways later, a downward-sloping staircase brought us to a massive vault door. Dark, smooth metal stood out against the stone walls. A large silver wheel sat in the middle with a keypad off to the right.

"This has to be the entrance to the room on the video." Og didn't turn around from his studying of the keypad. "Do you think you can fry the electronics, Lux?"

"No." I grabbed Lux’s hands before he could try anything. "It might trigger a fail-safe. Or, at least, if I designed it, it would. Let's gather the troops and see what we can do."

After a few attempts to open the door correctly, Tyson ended up melting through the locks and hinges, and Rehan barreled it down with brute strength. The heavy square fell backward with a boom, shaking the room’s foundations. The lights pulsed red while a wailing siren made me cover my ears. I waited for the same gas to fill the room as was in the video, but nothing happened. Drukpa must not have reset the system.

“The fail-safe doesn’t matter anymore, right?” Lux asked.

I nodded.

The air dragon rubbed his hands together, and the wind picked up. Static filled the air before a streak of lightning arched from his palms and into the electronics next to the door. The sound cut off, and the lights flickered a final time before going dark. Tyson called little fireballs to his fingers and sent them flying into the room.

The vault was bigger than it appeared in the video. Moody firelight reflected off piles of gold. Safes lined the wall we hadn’t been able to see with different currencies marking the fronts. The sheer number of magical artifacts made the air thrum with power. My heart danced with excitement.

“I’m taking all of this,” I stated.

“Yeah, you are,” Og purred.

I bit back a smile.

Lux wrapped an arm around my shoulder. “Just smile, baby. We love your smile.”

I snorted, but the beautiful air dragon forced me to meet his gaze.

“You’re not worried about me taking everything?” I asked.

Rehan filled my other side, pressing me further into Lux. “No.”

“Who knows who will get it if you don’t take it.” Og grinned. “You’ll either hoard it or make sure it gets into the hands of people who need it. For reasons unknown, I’m drawn to the former.”

Og grew his horns and flashed me a sharp, toothy dragon smile that would terrify anyone sane.

I grinned back. “The start of my own collection? Piles of shiny gold and gems for my dragon lovers to perch upon?”

I didn’t know you could hear men’s dicks spring to life, but the sound of four lightsabers buzzed into existence.

“Not just to perch on.” Tyson limp-stalked forward as much as he could with his dragon leg still a few inches larger than his human.

Somehow, despite his weird shuffle and the spiky tail dragging behind him, Tyson managed to exude sex on a plate. A sharp, hot spike of lust squeezed my abdomen.

Og and Tyson boxed in my front and back, leaving me surrounded by muscle-bound men. My heart raced.

I really, really like this part.

My inner voice drooled in response.

Rehan put a single finger under my chin. “Not lovers, mates.”

My four dragons surged forward. Tyson turned my head before Rehan could kiss me and captured my lips. My body became a withering ball of sensation as they explored and caressed. Rehan suckled at the base of my neck, and I leaned into the sensation.

Tyson released my lips. “She loves that, more of that.”

Before he could capture them again, Lux cupped my cheek and drew me forward. Unlike Tyson, his kiss was soft and filled with questioning need.

I turned and pressed myself into him, taking control of our kiss with the same fiery passion Tyson showed me. Last time, Lux and Tyson used me. This time would be different. Gold and gems tinkled together. Tyson’s firelight flickered. I didn’t know which dragon used which element, but a cascade of gold and gems fell, making a thick layer on the floor.

Og dropped to his knees and lifted my shirt. He kissed just above my shorts, sending little butterflies across my skin, as he undid the button. My shorts dropped, leaving me in my practical black undergarments. Instead of kissing me again, he turned his head and did the same to Lux. The air dragon’s boxers fell to the floor, exposing his hard cock, which was just as elegant as the body it attached to.

Lux put two fingers under my chin and captured my gaze. “Og and I only want to be together with you.” A Cheshire grin split his lip. “Don’t make me teach you another lesson.”

A shiver of need rolled down my spine before heat licked my shoulders. Tyson jerked my now flaming shirt off my body and put it out. Before I could respond, Rehan’s lips sank into my neck while Og cupped my sex, pressing his thumb against my clit. Lux’s eyes rolled back, and I looked down to see Og’s mouth around his dick while the warlock fingered me. After two more sucks, he pulled down my underpants and switched, lapping my clit while pumping Lux.

I let out a soft, needy mewl only to have it swallowed by Rehan’s mouth. The hulk of a shifter pressed himself to my backside, and his bare erection stabbed into my lower back.

Tyson growled before cutting my bra at the front and burying his face in my breasts, sucking and nibbling flesh and nipples like he didn’t know what he wanted most. My body sang, tensing and moving with my mates. I didn’t think, I didn’t worry, I just experienced.

After a few more nips, Tyson pushed me away from Og. He and Rehan lay me down on the bed of gold and gems. A layer of Lux’s cool air magic protected my back from its rough surface.

The four dragons took me in. Their gazes sparkled with the riches. Despite everything, they were still dragons. Beasts who hoarded whatever they considered valuable. The outline of a person interrupted the sparkling wealth in their eyes. Me. They valued me.

Before I could overthink it, Og and Lux each took one of my hands while Rehan put one finger on my forehead, baiting Tyson.

If the fire prince noticed, he didn’t show it. He dragged his hot lips up my body, flicking and nipping my sensitive skin until he settled between my legs. Rehan brushed his finger down my face to touch the sensitive part of my neck his lips found earlier. Lux and Og each kissed my palms before sucking my ring finger into their mouths.

In one powerful thrust, Tyson filled me, and my entire focus became my fire dragon. I wrapped my thighs around his waist and squeezed. A few coins and a ruby spilled onto my chest. Tyson groaned, speeding up his thrusts.

My world became waves of pleasure as, one by one, my dragons slid into me. It wasn’t anything fancy. We didn’t change positions or experiment. They each took me at their own pace. I memorized every noise and sculpted this moment, sprawled out on what could be the start of our hoard, into my memory.

I would have laughed, but their movements put me in overload. I moaned and rode the waves of ecstasy. Small bursts of release crashed as each exploded inside me until, finally, Og’s knot swelled against my clit. My entire body bowed as pure orgasmic heat washed across me and blanked my thoughts. I screamed. My blood thumped in my ears, and my passage fluttered around Og’s girth as his knot locked us together.

“Feck me,” Tyson whispered, his eyes glued to Og’s knot.

I took another deep breath as my scattered brains slowly returned. “I just did.”

Lux snorted while Og gripped my hips and settled me firmer against his knot. Lux lay on his back and rested his head on my chest. To my surprise, Rehan did the same.

I raised an eyebrow at Tyson. Conflict wavered in his eyes. He didn’t join our cuddle party, but he squeezed my hand, reassuring me he wasn’t going anywhere.

The wind magic protecting my backside slowly eased, as did Og’s knot. I sank into the rough bed of gold and gems.

“You’re more precious than all of this, Jay,” Og said.

Lux and Rehan turned their heads and kissed the side of my breasts.

It was too much love, too much emotion. I snorted.

Rehan and Lux flipped onto their hands and knees, and Tyson crawled forward to loom over my head. All four of them pressed me further into the pile of gold.

“Make as many jokes as you want. But you are,” Rehan stated.

“You think we’re power, and you’re evil for wanting us. Well, what does that make us?” Og asked.

I blinked up at them.

“You’re apparently so wealthy your accountant laughed when Rehan worried you were broke.” Lux smirked. “We’re gold diggers at this point.”

Everyone but Tyson chuckled. The loaded fire prince scowled and scratched his chin as if trying to calculate if he could still be on top.

Og’s knot eased, and with it, another layer of emotional guards holding me back. Og pulled out of me with a satisfied groan.

“You’re right.” No longer distracted, the coins stabbed into my bare backside. “I’ve been so worried about entrapping you. I didn’t realize you set the trap for me.” I sat up, feeling a gem still stuck in my ass cheek. “I’ll call Bentley and have a prenup drawn up. I can’t have you take me for all I’m worth in our eventual divorce.”

“Bentley?” Lux asked. “Like the car?”

“Divorce?” Tyson asked.

Og’s ears perked up like an excited puppy. “We’re getting married?”

Rehan smiled and brushed gems and gold off my backside.

“Bentley is my accountant.” I reached for my shirt, only to find it nothing but tattered cinders.

Tyson smirked.

“Bentley was an old English name before it was a car… and my accountant was born before the car was invented.” I sighed. “We’re not getting married. I don’t think that’s even legal between five people, but we are a team. Even if it started as a curse, Rehan’s right. I’m acting as blind as the Dragon Council. We’re good together. All of us.”

My guys beamed at me. I could tell they wanted to sweep me up for hugs and kisses but knew they also knew I wouldn’t process that well, so they held back. They understood me, maybe better than I understood myself.

I waited for the little voice in my head to say something snarky, but it didn’t.

These were my dragons. My mates. This was no longer something I could fight but a fact. Excitement bloomed, making me wiggle happily.

“And I meant what I said,” I patted my heart. “Even if this goes to shit, we are going to train and be together. Whatever definition we want to put on it. You are my mates, and Drukpa was a fucking embarrassment.” The sweat from our activities began to cool on my skin, sending a chill down my back despite the hot weather. “Now help me up. We need to finish our search for signs of Bradly and figure out how to ship all this to a safe location.”

No one fought me.

Although I sent my mates into the four corners of the fortress looking for clues, after getting dressed, I booked it to a computer and opened up the DPT website tracking demons in the Ley Lines. There was no change. Next, I checked my third eye. With a thought, the lids peeled back, and the magical world appeared as clear and crisp as it had ever been.

I laced my fingers together and pulled my hands to my chest. That had been it, although I hadn’t realized it at the time, that was me banging four dragons from four different elements at the same time; well, in the same session, if we needed to get technical. If my curse was sex-based, it should be lifted.

I called on my magic.

Unlike my eye, nothing came. Not even a tingle.

I shut my eyes and took a deep breath. I’d already guessed, but the curse had nothing to do with sex. My only whiff of power was during the fight… when I thought I’d lost everything and admitted I needed to stop lying to myself.

I thought back on the baby steps I’d taken after The Hunt.

My third eye didn’t open when I kissed Tyson because I’d been pretending to be Betty.

It did open when I kissed Rehan, not because he marked me but because I’d been vulnerable and accepted his comfort.

Nothing happened when I blew Og. But after we spent the day together, working side by side, I’d asked for his mark. I’d opened up, knowing I needed something, and accepted his help.

And Lux. Everything about meeting Lux had been so crazy I hadn’t checked anything consistently. But his power and my eye both grew stronger before we even kissed because I’d trusted my girlfriend.

And the biggest step, after we left the island, my fear of losing Tyson to Pixie Dust, made me raw. It wasn’t the sex; it was admitting I didn’t want to lose any of them.

All of this was about me facing myself.

A strange thought wormed into my brain. Could I have cursed myself?

I tapped the table in front of the computer a few times. If I had, this Bradly Cooper helped me. I was sure of it. Though my realization didn’t explain the pods of demons in our Ley Lines or the old man who set all this up.

No. If I’d learned nothing else, I needed my memories back yesterday.

As night approached, we helped ourselves to more of Drukpa’s food. My accountant had a discrete transport company using a portal in the morning to clear out Drukpa’s treasury. I was back to focusing on my memories. I flicked my new earrings: lapis lazuli crystals set in silver and clear quartz. Gawdy as fuck, but a great find considering my situation.

“So,” I tapped the little timeline I’d taped onto the wall of the living room.

Like the rest of the house, this room had a masculine feel. Dark leather sofas and chunky tables were evenly spaced between mostly empty floor-to-ceiling bookcases.

I sat on a chair near the wall while Og and Rehan sat on an oversized couch. Tyson rubbed his now normal-sized but still scaly limb from his spot perched on a stool.

“Jay?” Rehan asked.

I focused. “So, timeline. Right. Past me has all three pieces of the casket now, so what do I do, and where do I go?” I ran my finger along the string, connecting the last five months of my life. “This is the date I woke up on the island. It’s also the same date the still-forming demons appeared in the Ley Lines, according to the DPT. And one day before that is the last day Bradly made a purchase using my account.”

“It’s all connected,” Tyson pointed out.

I nodded, doing my best not to make it sarcastic. Tyson was showing he was listening, even if he repeated the obvious.

“The next movement in the pods wasn’t until after the old man showed up and told you he gifted you dragons and you needed to fix your mistake,” Rehan added.

I moved us along the timeline and tapped a picture of Gorm’s Casket. “The mistake being releasing a God, mostly likely.”

“But said God, who we assume created the demons, hasn’t done anything since,” Og added. “Oliviarose says the island’s quiet.”

I chewed my lower lip. “That actually makes me more worried. It’s like he’s recharging, or he needs something more to follow through with his plan.”

“When did the old man make the portal at Scalehive?” Lux asked.

I moved my finger. “He finished the day before I came to the island.”

“I feel like that would be cutting it really close for magic that complex,” Og added.

I nodded. “Yeah, almost like he didn’t know that was the plan until the last minute.” I scribbled down ‘portal’ on a piece of paper and taped it to the correct location on the string.

All of us looked at the computer we’d hauled in here from the security room. The DPT’s map glowed on the screen, unchanged.

“What are we missing?” Rehan asked.

“My memories,” I stated bitterly. “I need them back. Even if we go back to the island right now, we won’t know what we’re looking for.”

“You felt some of your power during the fight with Drukpa,” Og confirmed.

I nodded. “It didn’t stick around. And it has nothing to do with sex. I need to figure out how to love myself or something.”

Lux put his hand over his eyes. “We’re doomed.”

I rolled my eyes, and Tyson barked out a laugh.

“None of your memories came back with it?” Og confirmed.

I clenched my fists. “None.”

Tyson stood and tested his leg. “I think the only answer here is more sex.”

I raised an eyebrow.

“We didn’t cum together as a team,” Tyson let the word ‘cum’ roll with his double meaning. “It wasn’t sex with all of us. We took turns.” He looked toward Og. “It wasn’t a fair test, right?”

Og blinked as if struggling to understand the logic coming out of Tyson. I bit my lips together. The fire prince wasn’t wrong. I had the same thought.

“Sit down, Ember,” Rehan stated.

Tyson smirked. “Ember still sounds cool as hell, Halibut.”

Rehan grunted unhappily, and I held up a hand. “Actually, Tyson’s not wrong. Sex might not be the answer, but working together to have a group orgasm might trigger something.”

If we were in therapy, I bet we’d be getting a gold star.

So, brain therapist, where’s my gold star?

I stuck in on your clit for Og to find.

I clenched my thighs together.

“What happened to… if you get your magic back, you’re no longer hidden from the world and lose your all-important advantage?’” Tyson asked.

I tapped the wall. “We’re running out of options. At this point, if we can’t figure out what’s going on, we’ll need whoever is searching for me to find me and either start a fight or tell us what the fuck we’re supposed to be doing.”

Rehan grunted while Lux chuckled.

“I think we’re running out of time, and it’s worth the risk.” I toyed with my earrings again. “I found these in Drukpa’s collection. The stone itself is meant to help the wearer speak their truth. The runes carved into it aren’t quite right for memory recovery. They’re more about protection, but it’s a boost in the right direction.”

“I mean, we can’t leave until Bentley’s guys get here in the morning, and it’s not like Drukpa filled his fort with games to play.” Lux blew me a kiss. ‘I’m in.”

Tyson scowled but threw in his cards with the rest of them.

I grinned. “So, what room do we defile first?”