41. Jaiyana

CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

JAIYANA

S ister Abby had gone from angry to a knowledgeable tour guide so fast it gave me whiplash. When our tour ended, instead of leaving me on my own, she took me to the tiny library and pulled out a board game, which felt so, well, normal. It wasn't a hobby that screamed dragon shifter or ‘evil genius involved in a plot to trap me on an island.' Sister Abby seemed like a woman just trying to make friends after a really rough start from said friend… twice now.

I can't believe you claimed you were broken to a person actually missing limbs.

I'm not a wordsmith, fuck'n sue me.

I feigned scrutiny of the cards in my hands to blatantly stare at Sister Abby.

Did I need to be more suspicious of her or less?

I really thought Caoimhe, the little redheaded not-nymph, could have been on the island to watch me. Yet, since making my clothing what felt like years ago, I hadn't seen or heard from her. She was either terrible at her job, or I was paranoid.

Oh, I know the answer to this one.

Shut up.

Library books, with their color-coded bindings, filled the shelves around me. The living room-sized space only had one battered square table in the center, and we occupied it. The sun had set a few hours ago. Glowing balls of swirling air magic floated above us.

I placed down my sixth unique science symbol, winning our third game of Seven Wonders in a row. The sister's pencil-lined eyebrow ticked. She was not a good loser. Although I usually loved to bask in my victories, I gave the woman some privacy by standing and studying the books on the shelf behind me.

The sound of her controlled breathing filled the small space. I bit my lips together to keep my humor at bay.

"You have to have played before," she said, coming up behind me.

Her body heat kissed my back, and the scent of fresh laundry, deodorant, and an unmistakable masculine musk made my head spin. I tried to shimmy to the side to give her more space, but she rested her hands on either side of the bookcase, pinning me in place without touching me.

"Have you played the original game, not the one meant for two?" she demanded.

I shook my head and pulled out a book titled The Great Elemental Split.

Sister Abby put her hand on the book before running it up my arm, leaving a trail of goosebumps in its wake. Once her fingers rested on my shoulder, she spun me to face her. I pushed down my libido, still on overdrive from my foursome, apparently.

Her gray eyes bore into me. "What other games have you played?"

I clasped the book to my chest. "Squeak?"

The sister's gaze flicked to my lips, and her eyes shifted into her dragon slits. Butterflies beat their wings in my stomach. I started to put a single hand on her chest to push her away when she tore backward. Her horns poked up again, and she put a finger on each one, taking deep breaths and willing them down.

I had so many questions, but without a voice, I just stood and watched the show. When the two nubs vanished, she did a weird little dance to reach through the layers of her robes, briefly exposing one very sculpted, thick calf muscle. She smoothed down her clothing as if nothing happened and held up a white phone. "I should have thought to give you a pad and paper."

I drummed my fingers against the book in excitement as she unlocked the device. This was the first phone I'd seen in the air temple, and she kept it hidden on the underside of her robes, so maybe they weren't allowed.

‘You little minx!' I wrote as soon as she handed me the device. ‘No wonder you sneaked your number onto my phone. I'm so sorry I didn't message you back, I lost my phone in the eruption.'

Sister Abby flushed. Her face fell as she read.

"It didn't occur to me that you lost it." She looked anywhere but at me before straightening her shoulders. "It wasn't really your phone, was it?"

I typed: ‘Rehan gave it to me, and Tyson put a bunch of security on it.'

"They're working together?" Sister Abby cocked her head to the side.

I typed: Kinda. It's a long story. Is technology allowed in the air temple?

Sister Abby hummed, noting my quick change in topic, but went with it. "I'm fairly new here. I can't just give technology up." She scowled. "My family's complicated. It's for emergencies… I just can't be in the dark."

I nodded in understanding and typed. ‘I get it. Knowledge is power. It's much harder to hide from something if you don't know where it's coming from.'

She narrowed her eyes. "Anyway, games." She waved her hands in the air. "What other games have you played?"

I listed a handful of euro strategy games from the early two-thousands when I'd gotten really into tabletop for a few years. As an afterthought, I added Tafl, which I'd played a lot of in Scandinavia before it fell out of favor for Chess back in the Dark Ages.

God the Dark Ages had been dull and dirty.

Lots of gray morality for you to master magic in, though.

I shivered as my memory filled with a man's brown eyes surrounded by possessed red. I knew those eyes, and not from the Dark Ages, but something more recent.

"Ok."

Sister Abby's voice snapped me back to the present. I blinked a few times, struggling to orient.

"I've never heard of Tafl," she continued. "And the rest of these are all older…."

Right, we were talking about games.

"…but you know your stuff. Card games always have a degree of luck to them."

Whatever makes you feel better.

Be nice. Abby's great. Maybe her lover has a brother, that smell.

Not again.

Sister Abby stared at me with a weird smile on her face.

"Games again, tomorrow, lunch, and dinner." She put her hands on her hips and leaned forward. "I will take a win off you."

I grinned and reached up to pat the single nub, once again trying to escape her head.

The following morning, I found my red bra and panties replaced with blue and silver ones, which were much more comfortable and mostly didn't show through my blouse.

Aria met me in the little cafeteria and brightened my morning with constant chatter about her drama. It had moments of annoyance, but her joy uplifted my spirit. Instead of joining her in her classes, I wandered back to my room and dove into The Great Elemental Split, which turned out to be a detailed account of dragon shifter history beginning with the creation of the shield.

When they first came here, they'd all gotten along as much as dragon shifters could. But the island was small, and no one dragon could control the rest. Over a few years, they drifted into their new communities and set up leadership.

I'd just gotten into the fire dragons' rise to power through technology when a knock sounded at my door, making me jump. My bladder screamed at me, and I bolted to the main entrance, tearing it open, before sprinting for the bathroom to relieve myself.

When I came out, Sister Abby still stood in my doorway, shifting back and forth from foot to foot. "Did you change your mind?"

I shook my head and darted for my pad and paper. ‘No, lost track of time reading, then needed to pee.'

Sister Abby grinned. "Good book?"

I bobbed my head; good information, anyway.

"I get lost in books, too." She motioned to my couch. "We can just play here. I brought sandwiches."

We set up her game on the large coffee table in front of the unlit fireplace. Castles of Burgundy had quite a bit more to it than Seven Wonders. She ended up only explaining the rules before she needed to teach again.

"Don't touch it." She instructed as we both stood from the couch. "I teach four afternoon classes, and I'm coming straight back here." She reached forward and palmed my waist. Her hand felt warm and much bigger than I'd expected. Little tingles of energy danced along my skin before she squeezed me and ran for the exit.

I tried to look at her ass, any part of her, to understand my physical reaction, but she lived in a sea of fabric. Although I'd messed around with women, I missed the joystick in the center too much.

So, what makes her special?

She has one really nice calf?

Are you a calf person?

I think if you have to ask that, the answer is no.

I sighed and went back to my book. This evening, if all went well, I'd ask for her help getting out of here. I had no faith the trio of Og, Tyson, and Rehan would be able to find my fourth mate, and I wasn't sitting on my ass waiting.