52. Jaiyana

CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO

JAIYANA

I had no idea if the dragons found me funny or not, as I floated with my butt directly above my map, but whatever. What mattered was Olivia Rose's voice and how many others were impressed. I needed to establish myself as dominant and powerful immediately.

First impressions and all that.

Although controlling the elements was a lot like using my magic, it required a different set of ‘magical muscles' which currently had the strength of a newborn. Using wind magic to keep myself hovering was the most taxing, but the intricate map of the Ley Lines took unreal concentration. Using raw elements to get colors split my focus in so many directions I wouldn't be able to hold a conversation beyond my planned entrance.

Not the way the elements were meant to be used.

Everything's art if you label it.

Heh.

"Where are we?" One of the earth dragons asked, studying my map.

"No!" Tyson's father punched the table. "Guards, remove this thing from the room."

Right, so maybe less strategy and more defense.

I released my map and dropped my legs, coming down in a wide stance.

"Obviously, your report was wrong." The oldest dragon in the room stood facing the one with flaming horns. "Rehan claims this woman, whom he calls Jay, is powerful and knowledgeable, and she has displayed both."

"Guards!" Tyson's father repeated.

The air shifters, who I just bowled through, took a step forward, including the one I'd thrown to the floor. He looked ready to murder me. I caught them by surprise. This time the four of them would hand me my ass, especially if the fire dragons joined in.

"Stop," Lux yelled.

I looked behind me to see the air prince standing and vaulting onto the table. He put his back to mine to face his father.

"Call off our guards," he demanded. "Jay's my mate."

A shiver ran up my back, and my heart fluttered. I was, at the moment.

"Lux." The Air King stood, his face turning an alarming shade of red. "Don't make the wrong choice again."

I reached behind me and gripped Lux's cool cybernetic hand, linking our fingers together.

"Right and wrong be damned, there are traditions which need to be upheld." Ryker stood as well. The last time we met, Doctor Raba had been assigning me value. "This woman is clearly not a dragon and has no place in this room. Her humanity cannot be overlooked."

Well, it seems it's my humanity and not my fertility that is the problem now.

You just can't please some people.

"No." Rehan's rich voice rang through the room, and my heart sang. In one massive step, he joined me on the table, boxing in my left. "She's my mate, and I asked her to be here. She's everything Tukaqu said and more."

I nodded at Rehan and bumped his hip with my own, unwilling to tether my remaining free hand.

"Rehan! We told you to have our backs and only our backs," Rehan's father growled.

Before Rehan responded, Og lightly leaped onto the table. "She's mine as well." He smirked. "She wears multiple marks, and they work together. Jay is something magical, someone we don't need to talk about but talk with ."

His mention of marks sent a ripple of conversation through the room. Fathers gave their sons questioning looks and faces filled with disbelief and suspicion equally. I bit my lips, wishing Og hadn't brought that up. My plan to sit on that particular fact fizzled.

Knowledge was power, and I didn't have much, so I clung to what I had. Drawing my shoulders back, I smiled like it was a good thing. The three men surrounding me puffed up their chests. A thrill of excitement chased through my system, and my smile grew.

The two women in the room both grinned at me. The older one winked. I let out a breath and placed a hand on my hip. My mates stood up for me. Even if it was just the curse, I loved it.

I turned a circle, taking in body language and calculating my allies.

Air dragons, not on my side.

Water dragons, split

Earth dragons, probably on my side?

I turned back to Ryker and spawned five little balls of magic, juggling them before thrusting my arms forward and making them float in the form of a question mark. "Should I stay, or should I go?" I sang. The Clash song instantly looped in my brain.

"Go," The Fire King growled. "It's not even a question. Fire guar–"

Before he could finish, Tyson stepped forward. His ridged body contrasted the burning in his dragon-slit gaze. He locked his gaze on me. The hot-headed prince, the wild card whose moods flickered like his fire.

Tyson's father stuck his arm out to keep his son from jumping on the table, but Tyson sidestepped him and vaulted to my side. "Feck, you better be worth it, Wiggles."

I flushed before snorting. "I better be worth it? You better learn to play nice."

Tyson grunted, making eye contact with the rest of my mates before sliding in front of me to face his father. "Jay's staying, we're listening to her, and that's how this goes."

I rubbed my palms together and wiggled my hips. My heart sang. I wasn't sure if Tyson would stand up for me. Hell, I wasn't sure if any of them would after I busted in here. But all four of my friends and lovers had my back. Finally, I wasn't fixed, but I wasn't a voiceless pawn on this island anymore.

I sucked in a breath, ready to start spewing facts about the Ley Lines to convince the elemental dragons to act, but a blinding light streaked across my vision.

Too many sets of arms pulled me flat against the table. People yelled and cursed, and I fought through the overprotective tangle of limbs to blink at a figure in a kaleidoscope of bright white light.

"Jaiyana." The man sounded like he spoke through an old rotary telephone. Brown eyes looked out of aged sockets. Tatters of a shirt hung off his square shoulders, which melted into a cloud of gray smoke as his ghost-like astral projection gazed at me with a longing I couldn't fathom.

Or could I? His square jaw looked so familiar. I'd seen those brown eyes before, in a cave less than a week ago, but filled with red. A memory swirled in my head, just out of reach. I brought my hand to my chest, almost able to feel his white-streaked dark hair between my fingers.

I knew this person intimately.

"My love, my muse, my obsession." His eyes flashed.

Discomfort twisted in my gut, along with a healthy dose of fear. Who was this?

"I've gifted you these dragons to fix our mistake." The man's gaze raked over all of us, still in a pile in the center of the table. "We did this. His magic infects the Ley Lines. If you find me, you find him."

The room violently shook. I would have fallen off if I hadn't already been firmly stuck to the table by a pile of limbs.

"He's found me. I cannot stay." The man's voice grew softer. "I knew you could learn to love, that you weren't that cold woman who turned from me. Save the world from our mistake – find me!"

With those words, the bright light condensed into spears and rocked back through the ceiling, leaving the room feeling dark despite the dragon statues still swinging in the aftermath.

I swallowed hard, looking at where the man's astral projection had floated.

Tyson's warm hand cupped my cheek, turning my face to his. "I've gifted you dragons?" Fire still burned in his eyes, but not quite the same kind.

"Ah," I stuttered, all my mates sitting up and turning to face me, a similar question in their eyes.

Nice Jay. Back to your usual eloquence.

Shut up.

Two loud raps of a stick sounded. "I think the EM is adjourned for today." The oldest dragon in the room said. "I suggest we table the discussion on Betty Strope and instead focus on the magical being tethering our sons."

I flushed and pulled my face out of Tyson's grip. "Are you talking about me or the astral projection?"

The oldest dragon's eyes seared blue. "That is indeed the question."

To be continued in Jay's Silence, The Worst Guide to Collecting Dragons, book 2.