31. Jaiyana

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

JAIYANA

I woke to pitch dark, lying on a stiff mattress. What felt like cotton bedding surrounded me. I didn't hurt. Not even a little. I lifted my hand and put it so close to my face that it bonked my nose, but still didn't see anything. The world spun, my brain struggling to orient myself. I strained to hear something, but only my increasing breathing echoed in the live space.

I forced myself to sit and crossed my legs, pressing my palms to the mattress. This had to be down.

"Close your eyes," a recently familiar rich baritone said.

I slapped my hand across my eyes as light assaulted my vision. Slowly, I spread my fingers, adjusting to what was probably dim lighting but seemed to blaze like the sun. A small cave surrounded me. Wood furniture lined the edges. Several tables were covered in lumpy white cloth, clearly protecting whatever was under them. Each piece touched the other and cluttered the small space. Runes covering the walls drew my gaze.

It had to be years of work. The shapes for dark, silence, safety, warmth, and more swirled with artful lines all running left to right. It was incredible.

"Good morning, princess," the baritone said again.

I rolled my eyes and moved my attention to the dragon shifter sitting across the cave. Runes, as I'd called him, the tattoo-covered exotic man from The Social sat across from me. A simple sleeveless Asian-styled button-down replaced his brown silk. Instead of an open smile, he watched me with wary curiosity.

Despite his guarded posture, the memory of his hug as he told me everything was going to be OK made me smile. I studied the runes on his arms, the connection to my magic, the answers I needed.

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

He cocked his head to the side before pointing behind me. I turned slightly, unwilling to let him entirely out of my sight. A massive glass of water and a pad of paper with a pencil sat on a bedside table.

I hadn't realized how thirsty I was until I saw the water. I snatched it up and chugged. He pulled a large bottle of water out of a stack and refilled my glass.

After the water was gone, I picked up the pad and paper. ‘We meet again.'

He tried not to smile, but his eyes still crinkled, and his mouth twitched. "I wasn't sure you'd remembered me from our brief conversation. Even if you didn't, this is a small island. Despite the elements not getting along, gossip is hot, social media is a thing, and all of it burns like wildfire."

I cringed. ‘Wildfire' had to be a dig. He'd found me with a fire priestess even though his last words to me praised Rehan. In his mind, I must have gone back to Tyson.

He probably thinks I'm a disloyal trollop.

No one uses the word trollop anymore.

Still…

And why do you care what he thinks?

I blinked a few times . Why did I care?

"Tyson's fine," the shifter said, probably seeing the panic in my eyes, though he didn't know its source. "I saw him rampaging through the air, spitting fire not two hours ago."

The pain I hadn't realized had a hold of my heart released. Tyson was alive. A single tear slipped down my cheek, and I quickly wiped it away. I didn't like him. I just didn't want anyone to lose their life.

You are so full of shit.

"The fire priestesses are fine as far as I'm aware. The one you saved is back with her people." He cracked his neck. "You've been asleep for about sixteen hours. It's late morning. I think that covers the basics."

I got hit in the head. What were the chances it was the guy behind me at the time?

Do you really want to know?

Probably not.

I took a few breaths and centered my thoughts. Tyson was fine, but I wasn't. Though I kind of was. Even my head injury was completely healed. This felt too much like when I woke up on the island.

‘Who are you? Where am I?' I wrote before flipping the paper around.

He narrowed his eyes, leaning back in his chair to balance on its back legs. "You can call me Ryūshiki"

Giving him a flat look, I wrote: ‘Really, earth dragon in Japanese?'

His eyes brightened. The legs of his chair hit the stone floor with a thud and a small puff of dust. "All right, smarty pants might be a better name for you than princess." He grinned. "What do you want to call me?"

‘Your name.'

He barked out a laugh. "Fine, Ogden. And your name?"

I chewed on my lower lip. ‘Jodido.'

"You're playing with me." His grin got even bigger, displaying every one of his white teeth. "I'm not calling you ‘fucked' in Spanish, and I'm not calling you Betty either. Do my fellow dragons know about the curse entangling you?"

I clutched the paper to my chest. Fuck yes, this was going to save me so much time.

Shaking my head, I wrote again. ‘No. I don't know how it ended up on me…or what it is. Tyson's clueless. Rehan knows something's wrong and is helping me. How do you know?'

"This is my lair." He gestured around him. "I'm the closest dragon shifters can get to a warlock. I felt them while I was healing you."

Fuck yes. A warlock who's communicating with me.

Probably not as powerful as you.

No one's as powerful as you.

I know.

I hugged myself before realizing how crazy I looked and crossed my arms instead.

Ogden watched me with his eyebrows raised. Although he could still be in on my abduction, why would he point out the spells binding my magic?

How had Doctor Raba not felt it?

Don't jump to conclusions there, Jay. You know better.

I took a deep breath. The fire dragon's doctor either lied or the curse could be unraveling, so only after kissing Rehan had it become visible. Doubling down, my kiss with Tyson gave me access to his fire, but still not my magic. Stupidly, I hadn't checked my third eye after blowing Rehan or kissing Tyson…given I'd been running from a volcanic eruption after kissing Tyson.

If I stuck to strictly Vulcan logic, intimate relations with my mates were doing something, but there were other factors to consider, like time, emotions, and length of physical contact. Getting access to their elemental magic wasn't the same as having my raw power back. Assumptions were futile.

I think that's The Borg, not Vulcans.

Why is nothing ever simple?

You said, mates.

You, little me, would never pass a Bechdel test.

Whatever, if I said it, you said it.

I uncrossed my arms and focused on the warlock observing me. The current usage of ‘warlock' was just a male magic user… the internet had done wonders for blurring magical definitions. So far, he'd shown me his control of his earth element and strong healing powers. I traced a tattoo peeking out of his shirt on my leg.

Ogden leaned forward, concern creasing his brow. "Ah, you all right?"

I took a deep breath, stopped talking to myself, and wrote. ‘I'm just absorbing information.'

He smiled. "I do the same. No one takes time to think about life anymore."

I bobbed my head. ‘The spell on me?'

"I can feel it, but I've no idea what it is." He picked at the knot, keeping his wide belt in place. "It's magic beyond my experience woven into your very essence. It might have something to do with your voice, or it might not."

‘It's attracting dragon shifters to me,' I wrote.

He cocked his head to the side. "Maybe. But very unlikely. A mate mark isn't just magic. Its nature, destiny, and fate all tied into one." He glanced down at my neck, his face unreadable. "You have two mate marks."

Heat rose to my cheeks. Our ‘conversation' could be flirty or combative, depending on how you looked at it. Unlike the other two dragons, Ogden didn't move to touch, claim, or proclaim me his mate, and I wasn't sure if it was a good sign.

Really? Are you expecting all dragons to fall at your feet now?

Shut up.

Kissing Tyson had done something. It was a safe bet I had a mate in each dragon clan and had to bonk them all.

Like Pokémon.

Fuck off, brain.

I focused and wrote, ‘Well, what now?'

He frowned and sat straighter. "You're a rogue magic user on my island. In my home." His ropy muscles flexed as he stood and took an aggressive step forward. "The runes covering my walls hide you from the world, your mates included. I need to know you're not here to cause trouble." He turned to a cloth-covered table and pulled off the sheet.

Bottles of ingredients and two cauldrons with Bunsen burners already under them appeared before me. An enchantress's wet dream and everything I'd been trying to get through Rehan. I let out a needy whimper and leaned forward.

A blush stained Ogden's dark cheeks, and he stood a little straighter. "This is my alchemy lab," he continued, trying to stay lofty and uncaring but failing miserably. "Someone recently bought unexpected supplies from me. I assume it was Rehan for you."

He streaked toward me, gripping my chin between his thumb and forefinger.

I met his stern gaze without flinching. I might be a dirty half-dressed mortal at the moment, but I'd still fuck him up if he tried to hurt me.

"I'm trusting you." He glanced down at my lips, his eyes betraying his interest. "But there's only one entrance to my lair. I have complete control. If you make or do anything to hurt my kind, I'll seal it shut, and you will die alone and starve to death. Do I make myself clear?"

My stomach twisted. Would I die? Was I still immortal without my magic?

I didn't want to find out.

The creases between his eyes doubled as he tried to stare into my soul. I kept my expression even, knowing his look too well. I didn't blame him for threatening me. I'd put my people first if I had any.

Fuck, I didn't even have friends back home unless my accountant counted.

Don't fucking point it out.

I was trapped without my magic with a memory full of holes, apparently. The sorry state of my existence hit me hard.

I leaned the weight of my head on his fingers and trained my gaze down, hoping he didn't see the demons dancing in my eyes every time I looked in the mirror.

He released me and stepped back. "I'm sorry," he said. His voice broke with regret. "This island's all we have, and it's more fragile than anyone imagines." He reached out as if to caress my cheek and pulled back. "I suppose Rehan's supplies were to check your blood and magical signature for tags?"

He stepped to the table and patted the top. "I've left components out for you," Ogden's gaze dropped to my chest and back up. "I have some ideas of my own, as long as you want my help."

Pulling myself together, I gave him a sharp nod before writing, ‘I do,' on the pad.

His smile lit up his face, and the tension eased between us before he stiffened and scowled again, remembering I was possibly his enemy.

It was rather adorable.

Don't you even start!

"I'll be back." He touched two fingers to the top of my head. "I promise."

I smiled and watched his sculpted backside exit through a tunnel and into the dark. The boom of a closing door never came. Although I couldn't see them, the spells on this place must hide everything.

A shiver ran down my back. After blinking in the dim light, I stood and stretched. Like when I woke up in the dragon's tent, not one of my injuries from rolling down the side of a mountain still marred my skin.

But I knew who healed me this time. Ogden. Despite the earth dragon's threat, I lightly walked down the tunnel he'd left through. A solid wall of stone closed me in after only a few steps. Backtracking to the main room, I explored the edges of his ‘lair,' as he called it. I found nothing but what I'd already seen. No shower, no running water.

I sniffed my already ripe pits. A hint of Tyson filled my nose, along with BO and dirt. I just hoped it didn't get too much worse.

Taking a deep breath, I cracked my back. I was physically trapped this time, but maybe with someone more helpful.

Fucking dragon shifters.

You like him!

Noooo.