5. Jaiyana

CHAPTER FIVE

JAIYANA

I woke only a few hours later, tucked between two hot, naked dragon shifters. Warmth filled my chest and made me want to snuggle deeper into them. A spot of bright orange from the sunrise outlined the storm shutters before melting into day. Light plinking sounds cut through the dense air still filling the room from Og’s spellwork, reminding me of our precarious situation.

This was the opposite of what I wanted. Except it wasn’t.

And therein lies the problem. Literally.

Og pulled me closer while Tyson stretched out on my other side, scowling at the ceiling.

The ceiling. “Shit.” I craned my neck again, looking for the faint blink. My odd movements drew the attention of Og and Tyson, who copied me. After a few moments, Tyson swore and stood. Still deliciously buck naked, he shifted part of his claws and ripped a vent off the wall, pulling out a tiny camera wired into the blackness beyond.

“Do you think Lux installed it?” Og asked hopefully.

I patted the much too-optimistic warlock on the chest. “Yup, that’s why it was still working even though I got angry and broke Lux’s smart home system yesterday.”

“That’s a relief,” Og responded.

I pushed up and looked the warlock in the eye. “Lux didn’t hide a secret camera in his bedroom. That was his controlling asshole father. I’d bet my stomach on it.”

Og blushed, and I nipped the tip of his nose before remembering I wasn’t supposed to do any of that.

Tools, I mean, some people nip their tools on the nose.

Crazy people.

Between coffee, food, and showers, we located five more of the little hidden cameras, though those wouldn’t have gotten quite the same show. With their broken husks piled on a pool table, we found ourselves standing, pacing, and sitting in Lux’s middle floor – the bit with a bar.

Because that’s the critical bit--you’ve got a problem.

I just made an unintentional porno. Maybe I deserve a drink.

That’s technically a sex offense. It’s a crime. You’ve been violated, Jay: you and your mates.

My stomach churned uneasily, but I pushed past the sensation. What was done was done. We needed to move forward.

Despite my self-judgment, I didn’t have a drink in my hands. I forced myself to breathe, balling up my emotions to focus on what was important.

A portrait of Lux, sitting with the Air King and a few dragons I didn’t know, hung slightly askew on the wall. The artist captured Lux’s beauty, including the sad smile he wore as he gazed not at the painter but at something only he saw.

Lux had rightfully run from this castle, only to return to save me. Because I’d been injured and unable to speak, the kindest and most patient dragon shifter I’d ever known was back in the clutches of his abuser.

Over my dead body would I leave this castle without him.

Another faint plink cut through Og’s spell. The Air King, maybe all the dragons, were hellbent on extracting me from this tower. Tyson and Ogden’s existence inside it was probably the only reason they hadn’t continued to try and bring the entire thing down on my head.

I took a deep breath and slid to Tyson, sitting on the sofa. “Still no sign of Lux, right? His dad’s got to have him locked away. Og saw him getting dragged off.” I poked Tyson in the chest. “I know it’s a leap in logic, but he’d at least put a meme in the group chat. He doesn’t go all stoic and quiet like you and Rehan.”

“I’m nothing like the Narwal,” Tyson stated.

I sighed while Ogden bit his lips shut, keeping perfectly still from where he leaned against the bar.

The muscles on Tyson’s chest bulged as the meathead of a fire dragon tried to inflict his will upon me with only his physical presence. “I want you out of fecking air territory. Lux can rescue himself.”

I need a drink if this argument continues.

You were literally just judging me for being near the bar!

Times change. It’s five o’clock somewhere.

I poked Tyson in the chest again, but this time, I rested my palm above his heart and straddled his ridiculously trim waist. He was playing games with me. His sudden want to share me with Og had come out of nowhere, and I didn’t believe his act for a second. I hardened my heart. He was a piece on my game board. If leaning into his new strategy is what I needed to do to bend him to my will, I would—no strings attached.

The fire prince’s pulse raced under my palm. I leaned forward and caught his earlobe between my lips, and sucked. “Help me, help him, please?”

Tension in the air tightened before rushing out with Tyson’s deflating chest. He growled unhappily, caving to my will.

Maybe you did put a spell on them.

Fuck me.

Tyson wrapped his arms around me. “We need to prove to my sire, all of fire, that I’m making my own decisions. Once my element believes in you, the other elements will fall into line. We rule this island.”

Ogden groaned.

I pulled back from Tyson and gestured to the little pile of cameras. “Someone watched you drink my orgasm until it shocked you unconscious. I don’t think we can recover from that.”

Tyson's dick twitched against my stomach, and he somehow scowled and smirked at the same time. Before growling. “Feck.”

Og snorted.

I unwrapped myself from Tyson.

“Rehan’s already made contact with us.” I gestured to Ogden’s phone, where our group chat was slowly turning into a novel. “Once I have the four of you together, we should be able to end this curse. Should.” I met each of their gazes. “Our little three-some didn’t give me even a hint of my magic back. My theory might be wrong, but it’s all I’ve got.” I clenched my fist. “But, with my magic back, no king or dragon can keep me on this island. Sheild or not.”

I expected Tyson to question my pronouncement.

Instead, he crossed his arms over his chest. “Do we really need the Water Dingo?”

Of course, he’s focused on the competition.

Take it. He’s not arguing.

“Rehan’s our only link to anything outside the room,” I explained. “We can’t not use the tools we have.”

Tyson eyed me. “Tools?”

I grinned and batted my eyes. “Yes, tools, all four of you. Not mates.”

Og and Tyson shared a look, and my grin turned into a suspicious line. “Last night was unique. It was not my agreement to enter your weird brother-husband thing.”

“Aye, Feck me,” Tyson squeezed his eyes shut and scrubbed his ears.

“My bad,” Og held his hand up, though a guilty grin pulled at the corners of his mouth.

I wiggled expectantly, the word brother-husband waiting on the tip of my tongue if Tyson decided to push back again.

As if knowing it, Tyson glared and drew out his phone like it was a sword. “You dictate to the Foaming Sea Slug, I’ll write.”

I rolled my eyes. “Don’t be too big a dick.”

Tyson’s eye twitched. “I think the biggest dick has been established.”

“Hey!” Og said, clearly unsure if he should be offended or puff out his chest.

I sighed.

Og pushed off the bar and started pacing. “Just to recap. Rehan’s with his family, and he knows you’re with us. Every person at the EM got an email from me with your account of how you got here. Including your writing in draconic at Tyson’s condo, the supply list you asked Rehan for, and pictures of our questions and answers from my lab.”

I wrinkled my nose.

Information is power, and Og just gave a lot of it to everyone.

Does anyone still speak draconic?

Tyson pushed his phone under my nose with Rehan’s final text sitting in the center.

Rehan: Mate or not, Jay needs my help. And I want to help her.

My heart pinched. Despite everything, Rehan was sticking by me. They all were. I’d bet money Lux would as well when we found him.

This is what real friends do.

No, not real. Cursed. This is what people who’ve lost their free will do.

My inner voice snorted, actually snorted at me.

Because life is about only acting for personal gain? That’s why you stepped away from the supernatural world instead of trying to rule it.

Do you know how much work world domination is?

Thankfully, the theme song from the nineties cartoon ‘Pinky and the Brain’ kicked off, obliterating my inner argument. I blinked at my hand, my fingers still curled like I was holding a phone, but the phone was missing.

“I wrote: We’re rescuing Parakeet. Any ideas?” Tyson glanced up from his texting.

I scratched my elbow, trying to cover for my space out. Parakeet must be Lux, and lacking a plan, Tyson texted Rehan asking for one. I stood, taking control of the situation instead of trying to figure out if I missed more than that. “We need to find Lux,” I stated the obvious.

Both their phones plinked, and I peeked over Og’s shoulder.

Rehan: Lux is somewhere in the castle.

Rehan: The EM is back in session.

Rehan: Tukaqu’s keeping everyone accountable.

Ogden: How’s he doing that?

Rehan: I think he’s just talking in everyone’s heads constantly until they give him the information he needs.

I chuckled. “It’s what old people do. Once you live long enough, you realize everything is just a matter of time and persistence.”

“I liked it better when you couldn’t talk,” Tyson grumbled.

I grinned and wiggled my eyebrows at him. Both their phones plinked, stealing their attention. I blinked twice. Shit. Magic and technology. We had both at our disposal. I stumbled up the dimly lit spiral stairs leading to the top floor. My gaze landed on a set of cubbies at chest height.

Tyson and Og’s footsteps followed me.

“The Water Worm thinks he can get us a computer,” Tyson explained as we walked. “The schematics for the castle have to be somewhere. It will help us find Lux. I’m not the best hacker, but I’ll give it a shot.”

I opened the doors of the cubbies, not acknowledging Tyson, and dusty metal glinted. “Jackpot.”

“Wiggles,” Tyson demanded. “Did you hear me?”

“I did,” I said. “And all of that’s good, but we need more. Could I get some light?” A ball of fire bloomed to life at Tyson’s fingers. I pulled one of Lux’s prosthetic arms out and blew a layer of dust off the bit that his stump slid into. Very worn metal met my gaze. “Hey, Og. Do you know how to cast a scrying spell?”

“A what?” Tyson asked.

“If you can get us a map.” I grinned. “Og can put a dot on it that says ‘princess trapped in tower here.’”

Tyson raised an eyebrow.

“I’ve never cast a scrying spell.” Ogden shifted his feet back and forth. “We don’t have any princesses among us, so why would we need that?”

“Ouch,” I put my hand over my heart as if wounded. “I thought I was your princess. You sure got over the mate thing quick.”

Og’s jaw dropped while Tyson belted out a laugh. “Maybe I’m glad you can talk.”

Og and I both glared at Tyson before Og’s entire posture fell. “That’s not funny.”

I quirked my lips, refusing to feel guilty. “I was calling Lux our princess, as he’s by far the fairest in the land. He’s even delicate – at least compared to you three – after living as a priestess for a year. An evil dragon king currently imprisons him. It’s the perfect role reversal. Let me have this.”

Og let out an unhappy grunt. “You’re my everything, Jay. I won’t let you forget it.”

I booped Og on the nose. “And, for now, I’ll accept it as truth.”

Og clenched his fists in frustration, and I grinned like the word-twisting little shit I was.

“It doesn’t matter how beautiful he is,” Tyson broke our stare down. “He’s got some extra equipment I don’t like.”

“You’re such as asshole!” Og shot past me to get in Tyson’s face. “His prosthetics are better than your sorry limbs.”

“I was talking about his pecker.” A shit-eating grin filled Tyson’s face. “No need to pick on the disabled.”

Og turned red in the face, and I slid between the two. “Save it.” I gave Og a gentle nudge toward the stairs. “Let’s go find something reflective. I’m teaching you a new spell.”

Og perked up, his excitement to learn new magic overrode his anger at Tyson. He trotted down the stairs, reminding me so much of a puppy it hurt. I physically could not have found four different extremes in personality if I tried.

I turned to Tyson. “There’s a fine line between endearing asshole and piece of shit. Find it and walk it. Og’s a good dog-er dragon. Don’t fuck him up like your dad did to you.”

Fire lit in Tyson’s eyes before it banked. He tore his gaze away from me. “He knows I was just messing with him.”

“If you say so.”

Tyson’s phone plinked in his hand, and we both looked down.

Lumpsucker: Flamboyant Cuttle Fish? Are you just googling weird names of fish to insult me?

Lumpsucker: I’m not sure if I’m disturbed or impressed.

Tyson pushed his screen into my face as if it proved something. Instead of blessing him with a pearl of fortune cookie wisdom about everyone being unique, I clamped my mouth shut. The less my dragons worked together, the more fractured we’d stay and the easier our inevitable separation would be.

Dick move, Jay. Who’s not walking the line between asshole and piece of shit now?