8. Ogden

CHAPTER EIGHT

OGDEN

I locked my wings in place, gliding on the gale of wind propelling me forward. Only the force of a hurricane could ground a dragon and every instinct I had told me I was in such a storm. But I wasn’t. This was all Jay, using Lux’s power.

My spirit soared. Our mate was incredible.

A familiar large round object, too similar to the one we pulled out of our shield, slammed into my side and bounced off. The wind dropped from under my wings, and the sounds of clashing scales and roaring dragons replaced the whistle of air. Another large round object fell unnaturally fast through the air. Just below me, fluorescent-green fissures cracked through its hard shell, and one of the creatures, which Jay called demons, burst forth. It joined countless others swarming the castle. Each skeletal monster was covered in flaps of dark charred skin, rotting flesh, and pure magic.

A tall tower appeared to have melted down the middle, like pouring boiling water on ice. It took me too long to recognize Lux’s home. Shifted dragons and partially shifted humanoids fought a sea of demons. Air, fire, wind, and water surged, lighting up the night.

“Drop me on the roof,” Jay yelled.

Tyson’s dragon eyes grew wide, and he shook his head.

Three demons jumped from the edges of Lux’s tower into the hollow middle just as Rehan’s powerful dragon head emerged. He lunged, snapping one of them in half.

A stream of gooey green launched out of the second creature, and Rehan threw his body to the side, narrowly avoiding the liquid projectile. Like a cat circling its favorite spot, Rehan spun, turning his spiked tail and claws into a vicious ball of death.

We couldn’t let Jay go down there.

I locked my gaze on Tyson, sensing the same determination in his eyes. The fire prince flicked his gaze to my claws before tossing Jay into the air. She screamed, and I lunged forward, catching her with my free foot.

While Tyson dove into battle, I moved us higher, wishing I could use my rune magic in dragon form. Jay thrashed and beat against my grip, trying to free herself. Heat flared from one of my scales. I looked down in disbelief as she used Tyson’s fire magic to try and get free. The pinprick of pain up my leg wouldn’t be enough. I held on tighter, bringing both feet to my chest so she’d be next to the still-unconscious Lux. My plan to distract her worked, and she stilled.

Tyson breathed a stream of flame, incinerating two demons clinging to the back of a floundering air dragon. The fire prince didn’t stop to see if the air dragon was okay; he b-lined it for Rehan. I grinned, exposing every one of my sharp dragon teeth.

“Fuck, Lux.” Jay beat on my scales again. “Og, I can fight. I’m a fucking powerhouse, put me in!”

There was not a chance in hell I was doing that. For all my mate’s logic, she rarely put herself first. But I would. I pulled her tighter into my chest.

Tyson hit the precarious side of Lux’s tower and blew a stream of fire into the center. Rehan’s cramped dragon body, covered in missing scales and demon gore, reflected in the glowing red. Tyson snapped his maw into Lux’s tower before swiping down like a cat.

Dragons poured out of the castle, both as scaled humans and full-sized dragons. A gaggle of kids, who I’m sure had been told to keep put, took flight, aiming for a single demon. In a matter of minutes, the tide shifted, and the demons became few and far between. Rehan roared, his scaled body climbing out of the destroyed tower to release a stream of blue flame into the brightening nigh sky.

Dragons took to the air. Some patrolled for remaining enemies while others tended to wounded or looked for friends. I scanned the sky, but no more demons burst out of large circular objects.

Jay went silent in my claws. Resigned anger radiated off her body.

The head of my council, the closest the earth dragons had to a leader, landed on the edge of Lux’s platform. Oliviarose’s little brown dragon shifted into her human form, though smartly, she remained covered in scales. Her long, wavy brown hair ran down her back. The twins who’d helped me trick Tyson into crossing into earth territory shifted out of their dragon forms as well and stood at her flank. Across from her, Rehan’s ancient grandfather arrived, followed by Ryker the Fire King, with two of his guards standing on either side of him. They raised their hands, and balls of flickering light rose into the air, bathing the destroyed tower in reds and oranges to fully display the damage.

Rehan and Tyson shifted into their human forms. The water heir motioned for me to join them. Slowly, I circled closer, trying to watch everywhere at once.

Lux’s tower had taken the brunt of the damage. The rest of the castle appeared untouched. I seethed. First, we found the air prince broken, and now, the only bit of his home he considered safe was gone.

King Leberecht abused his own son, probably for his entire life. And Lux wasn’t just any kid. He was a dragon prince who existed in the public eye. I’d grown up with rumors about the broken air prince. He was our example of what not to do—judged because his father made the wrong choice. But Lux wasn’t an object. He was a dragon shifter who had no control over his birth. As a race, we looked the other way and never once followed up on a single piece of information. I couldn’t turn a blind eye any longer.

As if my thoughts called him, the Air King landed and pulled his wings into his human body. The powers that ruled our island stood around Lux’s acid-eaten tower above a pile of bodies, demons, and dragons.

Dragons. Dead. My eyes watered with tears I couldn’t shed here.

Instead of sitting or standing behind their parents, Rehan and Tyson carved out a section of the tower between earth and water. I dove for them and dropped my charges. Both dragons subtly attempted to pull Jay to their side. Jay pushed them both away and clenched her fists. I shrank into my human body and after a quick check on Lux, who was still unconscious, I fingered the runes on my legs, preparing for speed if we needed a quick exit.

I didn’t know how this would end, but Jay would not be stripped from our side a second time.

The first light of pre-dawn made the stars fade and turned the world into a murky gray.

“The battle is over. Return to your rooms and your elements, now,” King Leberecht boomed, fanning his arms out. His white robes billowed dramatically in the constant light breeze. He hadn’t shifted to fight. He probably hadn’t fought at all. “We will take possession of the human who called monsters to help her escape and see she’s destroyed.”

“Jay didn’t have anything to do with this!” I hissed, stepping closer to her.

“Those were demons,” Rehan’s grandfather spoke up. “They came out of our very shield! One woman cannot possibly control them. You’re being a blind fool, Leberecht!”

“She’s not a mere human!” The Air King pointed at Jay. “She declared it herself.”

“And you refused to believe it,” Oliviarose said calmly. Her gaze burned into King Ryker before moving to King Leberecht. “You can’t have it both ways.”

Jay knelt and adjusted Lux so he lay more comfortably, subtly drawing every eye to the Air King’s son lying unconscious at our feet. Jay was so good.

“Is that your son?” Oliviarose asked, her gaze honing back in on the Air King.

“Yes. He would still be safe and conscious if it wasn’t for the human.” King Leberecht’s white robs billowed. He puffed out his chest as if his words were absolute truth. “Seize the human, now.”

Jay lifted one of Lux’s limp arms. The chain, still hanging off it, dragged on the stone of the tower.

“No.” She gently crossed his arm over his body before standing. “There’s not a chance in hell you’re ever getting ahold of Lux again, Leberecht.”

The air between Jay and the Air King snapped and sizzled with magic. A promise made with enough intention drew the magic of the world. King Leberecht knew it.

His face paled.

Jay clenched a fist in front of herself. “Respectfully, your highnesses, fuck you. Fuck all of you.” She gestured around the landing. “There was a goddamn oubliette in this castle intended to cage dragon shifters. Would I find the same in the rest of your palaces? You’ve isolated yourself from the world and then, worse, isolated yourself from each other. Then, to take it one step further, you’ve even isolated your dragons, revolving your existence around your human side.” She held up a hand. “I shouldn’t judge, but look at what you’ve created?” She gestured to Lux. “Magic should be able to fix anything.” Jay sliced her hand through the air. “It’s fucking magic! Instead, I found Lux, one of my mates, almost dead, in chains, and shunned by the world who should have embraced him for what he can do instead of destroying him for what he can’t.”

The wind whipped around us, echoing Jay’s anger.

“You could have put those on him!” The Air King yelled, his eyes wide.

“She couldn’t have,” King Ryker responded.

I raised my eyebrow at his unexpected support. The Fire King appeared to have aged ten years overnight. His usually perfectly styled dark red hair lay in a thick mat on his head, and deep bags ran under his eyes. Unlike the Air King, the Fire King only wore his scales, several eaten through by fluorescent-green acid.

“We have her every movement on video.” King Ryker clenched his fist. “You showed me your surveillance. I took your word that Lux was safe… I didn’t give it a second thought.”

Jay shook her head before putting one hand on her hip. “Something’s wrong with the world, and the mightiest shifters in existence would rather lock up and diddle their sons than open their fucking eyes.”

King Leberecht sneered. “I would not touch something so broken.”

A heavy silence filled the air.

I glanced at Lux, grateful he was still unconscious. I was sure he’d grown up hearing worse. Rude comments about my dick ran through my head. I’d changed the way I lived because of others’ judgment, and my cock was something I could hide. Nothing like Lux’s handicap. My little girl and her insecurities came next. She was already going through the same thing, and nothing I did or said could fix it. The problem was built into the fabric of our society.

Somewhere in our isolation, we’d lost touch with what it meant to be dragon shifters. And with nothing on the island but other dragons, we’d turned on each other.

I looked around the landing, seeing the weight of Lux’s chains settle on the shoulders of every elemental. Even King Leberecht’s guards backed away from him.

The first colors of sunrise kissed the skyline.

Jay let out a frustrated scream.

“Fucking demons! Malevolent spirits given bodies by magic and emotions which twist the very nature of good and evil.” She shook her fists. “If you won’t see beyond yourselves, then kick me off this fucking island. We know nothing. Is this an isolated event? Was the world just attacked? Are the Ley Lines intact? I don’t know. You don’t know. Stop fucking around and fix it.”

She squatted down and wiggled her arms under Lux. My earth magic bloomed at her fingertips, growing the stone under Lux until he was high enough for her to pick him up the rest of the way. With a grunt, she heaved the now groaning air prince over her shoulders like a sack of potatoes, gripping his ass with one hand to keep him in place.

My pulse raced, and I had to pinch myself to stay focused. The situation was bad, but Jay’s confidence made my blood rush in all the right ways. With her hand on Lux’s ass, surrounded by Rehan and Tyson’s half-naked strength, molten desire I hadn’t known existed turned my inside into mush.

“Fall in,” Jay said, her voice ringing with command.

As if we’d practiced, which we definitely had not, the three of us stepped to her back, forming an honor guard.

“Lux is under my protection, which includes my mate’s protection.” Jay looked hard at each ruler.

I puffed out my chest. Rehan and Tyson did the same as we put our weight behind our mate’s words. Our mate. I wanted this more than anything in my life.

“You’re dragon shifters. All of you.” Jay’s voice, though still strong, calmed. “If I need to be the enemy who brings you together, fine.” She turned to Rehan and made a flapping gesture with her free hand.

As the sun rose in earnest, Rehan stepped away from us. Water drops from his shift filled the air, each reflecting the half circle of red and orange welcoming a new day. The sky filled with colors—worlds within worlds. The droplets condensed around Rehan, making his transformation ripple and shine with hot reds and golds.

My gaze dropped to Jay. She must have chosen him to shift because she knew what his transformation would reflect and double the sunrise. How fast her mind worked blew me away.

Despite Rehan’s shift from dragon to man and back again, which should have healed him twice over, patches of his dark blue scales were still missing. Strips of tendon and partially eaten flesh covered his shoulder and dotted his back.

Maybe Jay hadn’t chosen him for the sunrise. Perhaps it was this. To show how damaging the demons really were. Could I heal something a shift couldn’t?

Jay stepped back into Rehan’s waiting claws and frowned. “Come together fast, dragon council.”

Tyson’s wings sprouted from his back, and I followed suit.

I had no idea where we were going, but it didn’t matter. I was where I needed to be, I was where I wanted to be, and most importantly, the five of us were on the same page.