44. Tyson

CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

TYSON

I was vaguely aware of the world around me as thoughts, I refused to believe were mine, bounced around my head. Gorm was inside my head. He could take control of my body. On some visceral level, I howled with rage. I’d watched myself, unable to stop, as I shot at the people I loved most in the world. And that’s what they were—even the fecking water dragon.

I clung to my new truths. My mates needed me. I wasn’t an extra son. I wasn’t a failure. My feelings weren’t wrong. My empathy wasn’t a weakness but a strength. I used it to make Wiggles scream in ecstasy, ease Og’s guilt, and permanently irritate the Cuddle Fish.

Kill your competition. Destroy them. Drag Jay to your lair and make her yours and yours alone. A booming male voice repeated, over and over, on a loop from hell.

At one point, I wanted to do all those things.

But not anymore.

Gorm tested the ties on my arms and legs for the thousandth time. I let him and focused on locking my dragon strength deep inside me. With my eyes shut and my senses locked down, I existed with only a vague awareness that my mates traveled with my body locked in Rehan’s claws.

“I can take us through a Ley Line,” Rehan’s voice drifted to me.

“There‘s only one, off the coast, and he’ll have a trap in place…” Wiggles trailed off. “We can’t talk here. Gorm is in his mind; he can’t hear or see what Tyson does, but he reads his thoughts. If Tyson knows something, Gorm does.”

“Wouldn’t that mean he now knows we’d avoid the Ley Lines…so we can use it?” Og asked.

I snorted. The earth warlock could overthink anything.

My mates looked at me. Wiggles smiled and cupped my cheek. “Keep fighting. You’re the most arrogant and stubborn being in existence. Tyson, a fire dragon born of fire with a heart of pure dominance.”

I preened, and my dragon puffed out his chest. “I know.”

The words slipped out of my mouth, and Wiggles beamed at me. Just as fast, the voice surged forward. She’s yours. Dragons don’t share. Kill the false mates.

“But not Jaiy,” the three words slipped out of my mouth. They weren’t mine or Gorms… Brad?

I didn’t have time to wonder. Gorm used my surprise to unlock a hint of my dragon strength. The zip-ties on my arms melted with my flame. My body sat up without my permission. Lux, with his cheeks still sunken in and big bags under his eyes, hadn’t moved from my side, and I decked him.

Rehan and Ogden were on me in a heartbeat, wrestling me back to the ground. Although my body fought, I thanked them over and over. This time, evenly spaced leather belts held my arms to my side. They even squeezed the top of my thighs together, and I lay on the floor like a literal log.

Fight. This is unbecoming. Wiggles will see you like this. Everyone will see you like this.

Gorm’s words filled my mind. Remembering Wiggles warning, I closed my eyes and blocked out the world. I must have slept. At some point, Wiggles slipped headphones over my ears, playing my favorite video game tracks. Even when I opened my eyes, only darkness filled my vision.

Although Gorm’s hold on me didn’t lessen, his words in my head ceased as if his attention was elsewhere. Fear raced down my back, and I did what I did best: channeled it into rage.

When I got out of this box, god was on the menu.