16. Jaiyana

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

JAIYANA

A collection of romantic sighs and open hostility greeted me when I returned to the group of women with roses in their hair. I didn't even see the girl Rehan picked before he pulled her away and onto the dance floor.

My head spun.

He kissed you - despite your ‘defect.'

Don't call it that. You gave up every organ for power, and you'd do it again!

Until getting trapped on this island, I'd never given my infertility a second thought. I had a handful of apprentices and worked with a few kids I liked, though young kids weren't my cup of tea. I furrowed my eyebrows. I'd been happy for a long time, driven and enjoying life. What happened to me? Why did it take getting kidnapped, my magic sealed away, a whirlwind romance, followed by heartbreak, to make me feel alive again?

I took a deep breath and pushed away my questions. One thing at a time, and right now, that was my magic. Cool tingles still sparked in my abdomen from my kiss with Rehan. Not my magic, but raw elemental power infused my being. I'd even deepened the kiss, seeing if I could feel more. It hadn't increased the sensation, but I had access to something now.

Yes, that's the only reason you kissed him back.

Don't make this more than it is.

I focused on my third eye. Only other magic users with their ‘eye' opened would see a physical change. The women around me probably watched me concentrate really hard on nothing. Hopefully, it didn't look like I was taking a crap. Did everyone look the same when they evacuated their bowels? Did most people even look in the mirror? How had this become a recognizable facial expression?

Focus.

I lifted my magical eyelid, which cracked open. My breath hitched. I tried to force my eye open further, but no luck. I squeezed my hands together in front of me and bounced. The world glowed. No distinct Ley Lines crossed my sight, but the hint of magic changed everything.

Spells which responded to external stimulation, like kissing dragon shifters, were curses. Think Sleeping Beauty.

Suppression Magic?

Broken by the kiss of a sexy dragon.

I closed my third eye and spun, tracing the lines of Rehan's movements. He twirled an athletic blonde to the beat of a flamenco guitar and drums, slowly growing in volume as more people arrived at the party. Despite his bulky muscles and flip-flops, he stepped lightly.

I wiggled my hips.

What comes after kissing?

Dragon magic made that kiss hot. He's trying to own me, just like Tyson. He probably thinks he can fix my fertility.

He didn't reject you. He'll fix your heart. Let him in.

Not gonna happen.

"A prince of fire, and now THE prince of water?" a woman's voice exclaimed, pulling me out of my head.

I turned. Dressed in a yellow baby doll dress, the speaker had pinned her bleach-blonde curls into an artful updo and held a martini in her delicate fingers. I recognized her from The Hunt. She'd been one of the trio who walked off the starting line.

"Hey," another woman spoke up. "They chased her for an entire day. What did you do, Eve?"

The second speaker moved through our little group to stand by my side. Shorter than the average woman here, her curly red hair bounced as she walked. A lovely red dress hid most of her curves while swirling around her in artful waves.

"I didn't just hide in a bush a mile down the road, like you," Eve said, tossing back some of her martini.

The red head bit her lips together and furrowed her eyebrows.

I tried to come to her defense but only squeaked. This was getting old. It sounded like Rehan and Tyson were princes. Something neither of them mentioned to me and would only make my situation that much more complicated.

Heat brushed my shoulder. I side-eyed the redhead, who was almost a foot and a half shorter than me, swearing the sensation came off her. But the dragons ‘checked' their brides-to-be for magic, so it couldn't have been.

"And look where hiding got you," Eve said, flipping her hair.

The redhead's eyes widened, and rage blazed across her face. Before this went any further, I grabbed her arm and pulled her toward the tiki bar. Wine. This was a party, and some social lubrication never hurt anyone.

The glow of a phone screen distracted me. I stopped walking to pluck the device from its owners' hands. I needed to communicate.

"Hey," the shifter said, his shimmering brown shirt catching the light as he turned.

So far, the majority of dragon shifters I'd seen looked to be European in heritage, which made sense. They shifted into massive, chunky medieval dragons. Though they were tan from living in the tropics, their skin was mostly pale, and their hair color matched their element. To see a half-Asian, half-something-much-darker dotting the sea of white surprised me. With his slightly curly, cropped black hair, I had no idea what his element was. Though the brown shirt made me guess earth.

He looked exotic among his kind, though you'd never think it from his slightly hunched posture and open smile.

Does he still shift into a medieval dragon?

Thank god you can't talk. That's not woke.

I raised an eyebrow and gave him a toothy grin, holding the device just out of his reach. This was probably not going to go well. To my surprise, he rocked back on his heels and stuck his hands in his pockets, matching my grin with his own. A gleam flashed in his dark green eyes. He flicked a forked tongue out between his teeth. I couldn't shake the feeling he tasted me.

Creepy or hot?

Still deciding.

"I see you have something of mine," he said easily.

My heart fluttered.

Really, again?

All these dudes look like underwear models, enjoy the view.

I'm talking about the woman when I first woke up before the terror set in. My view was blankets, but it was still the same fucking flutter. She also smelled me, I'm sure of it.

Hmm, good point.

I leaned forward and scanned the bronze dragon shifter from head to toe. He stood a few inches taller than me. Though he was obviously fit, he wasn't quite as jacked as Rehan or Tyson. Dark runes covered his skin, flowing with his defined corded muscles.

Runes!

I sucked in a breath—runes, which connected him to the Ley Lines. My gaze snapped up to his face.

"Squeak!" I said, somehow forgetting I couldn't talk.

"Hum, I don't know that one." Runes wiggled his eyebrows and gestured to his phone. "But it's pretty clear you need that more than me." He gave the woman still hovering at my elbow a smile. "I think Tenzin's on The Hunt for a mate just over there," he pointed, "if you're looking for a dragon to match that lovely fiery dress."

The anger in the woman's face vanished, replaced with heat and hope. A lot of hope. She bit her bottom lip and looked at me as if asking permission to go.

Curiosity made me hesitate.

Although the woman clearly had her voice and knew what was going on here, she also didn't give off the same vibes the other applicants did. It wasn't just her height. With a delicate bone structure and long, silky, deep red hair, if we'd met in an open supernatural setting, I would have pegged her as a Nymph of some kind.

Really, a dance full of dragon shifters isn't an open supernatural setting?

Not when they only take human mates.

The woman brought her hands in front of her chest. Her long, delicate fingers laced together. Nymphs had a natural glamor, like chameleons, which let them blend into any situation. But any mage should be able to see through it. If she was glamoured up, my new rune-covered friend would have called her out.

I had too many things on my plate. She looked human, knew what the fuck was going on, and clearly knew what she wanted. I couldn't get hung up on details. And why was she waiting for my permission anyway?

With a grin, I gestured in the same direction Runes had. The sun couldn't have outshined the woman's face. She rushed off, her skirts billowing behind her to the sound of Runes's rich chuckle.

"Every woman wants a fire dragon," Runes said his voice light. "They have money, power, technology. Even with their hatred of water, they somehow have complete control over all our trade coming in by boat. Our four elements should be balanced, but fire somehow always comes out ahead."

I turned back to him with a list of questions spinning in my eyes.

He held out his thumb and forefinger as if framing a picture. "It looks like your trajectory would have taken you to the bar. Why don't you type out a few bits while I grab you a drink?"

I nodded, but as he turned to leave, I reached out and put a hand on his bare forearm, tracing one of his tattoos with my thumb. He was my first real connection to magic. As far as I could tell, Rehan and Tyson were both elemental dragons. They didn't use raw Ley Line power.

Runes put his hand over mine and pulled me in for a hug. "I don't know what's going on, but you'll be okay."

I squeezed him hard. God, I didn't realize how much I needed to hear those words.

Someone's gaze burned into me, and I looked up to see Tyson glaring daggers at me. I should have guessed he was a prince with that ego. What a mess. My heart squeezed. I'd be pissed too. Magical bonds were no joke; once dragons claimed something was theirs, they never truly let it go. Dragon shifters couldn't be that different. Pushing me away had to be painful, even if it was the right thing for Tyson to do.

Anger was so much easier to feel than pain. I knew that too well.

I tore my gaze away from him and squeezed the random dragon shifter in my arms. He was so innocent and sweet. I needed to let him go before he got pulled into my shit show.

Runes pulled back when I did. "You have my phone. I'll come back."

Heat filled my face. Of course he would. I was an idiot.

He stepped toward the bar, and the crowd swallowed his frame.

I focused on his phone, typing my questions into an email. No one disturbed me, and upon returning, he patiently waited for me to finish before exchanging the phone for a glass of rich, creamy liquor.

I didn't recognize the caramel-cream drink, but it was good enough. I let the next sweet sip sit on my tongue before swallowing.

Runes grinned. "Cream liqueur is my go-to comfort drink." He cocked his glass towards me and took a sip before focusing on his phone. "To answer your questions, yes. Tyson and Rehan are princes. The most powerful family rules each elemental clan, except in earth, which is a complicated democracy. Tyson's a third son, while Rehan's a first. His grandfather, not his father, still rules water territory." His smile fell a bit. "Dragon shifters live a lot longer than humans, though the newer generations, not so much." He took a long breath. "And bringing women to the island is necessary but also controversial. You see, magic likes balance..."

I smiled, hearing something I liked to say a lot coming out of his mouth.

"And, well," Runes frowned, the skin between his eyebrows furrowing. "The longer you stay here, the more you'll see how unbalanced our choices have made us."

"What are you doing?" A woman's voice called. A tan hand snaked across the dragon shifter's shoulder and pulled him backward. "You saw that kiss. We don't want to start anything with the water dragons." The woman groaned. "You can't go anywhere without a babysitter. This is such a frustrating assignment!"

Rune's face fell, and he looked at me as if seeing me for the first time. I put my hand out, trying to calm him as if he were an animal moments from bolting. He couldn't leave yet. I still had more questions.

The hand gripped the dragon shifter's shirt and yanked. He closed his eyes and shook his balled fists in front of him before letting out a calming breath. "It looks like I'm leaving. It was good to meet you, um…"

"Squeak!" I said, reaching out to keep him from leaving.

He took my hand and squeezed. "You're in good company. Rehan's the best of us."

I know that! But you literally have my lifeblood tattooed on your skin. Unable to actually say that, I squeezed his hand back. Warmth traveled up my arm, and the fluttering in my heart increased until he released me.

He cocked his head to the side and smiled softly. "We'll meet again, I'm sure of it." And with that, he plucked his phone out of my grip and was hauled away from me, vanishing back into the multitude of people.

A trickle of liquid hit my hand, and I realized I'd forgotten about my drink. It leaned precariously to one side, and I righted it.

Shit. I had more information but also more questions. The noise of the crowd swelled. All around me, dragon shifters my height or taller chatted and danced. It felt odd not to be one of the tallest people in the room. Instead of standing and looking at shoulders, I shimmied toward a towering black speaker sitting on the ground off to one side. The Spanish guitar coming out of it wasn't loud yet, but its presence warned of a much rowdier party to come. Setting down my drink, I boosted myself onto the top and watched the masses mingle.

As far as I could tell, except for a few older dragons, every shifter was in their early twenties to early thirties and decked out in either jeweled blue, red, brown, or white. It was mostly a sea of blue and red, peppered with brown. I only spotted two white shirts in total. Interesting.

About eight human women had white flowers in their hair and were being passed around and fawned over by the men and the other women. Fuck, no wonder all the women were so excited to get selected for The Hunt; dragon shifters treasured them.

Non-flowered women must be mates who stuck, but there were more than I'd seen in The Hunt, so maybe just mated women in general living on the island. I listened carefully, overhearing snippets of conversation and watching for anyone taking more interest in me than they should.

If someone involved in my abduction was here, I hoped they'd give themselves away.

I sipped my cream liquor, eyeing a couple who pointed at me before disappearing back onto the dance floor. I scanned for the dragon I'd just met, but I didn't see his mop of black hair. My gaze found Rehan dancing with a shorter woman dressed in pink. He winked at me, and my heart fluttered. Even if the kiss was just his way of protecting me, he said he'd listen, and we'd fix my predicament together. It was probably more than he was willing to take on, but it was a better start than pretending to be Betty.

At the thought, my gaze locked on Tyson, still trying to kill me with his scowl. Even wrinkled and downturned, his damn face looked like the Greeks sculpted it out of marble.

No one should be that hot.

I pulled my focus away from him. A woman with long, straight brown hair paused to eye me. A minute later, a pair of dragons in blue pointed at me.

Peachy, everyone's talking about you and taking an extra special interest in you. Finding someone taking an extra, extra special interest in you will be easy.