Page 111 of Jay's Silence

I laced my fingers together and pulled my hands to my chest. That had been it, although I hadn’t realized it at the time, that was me banging four dragons from four different elements at the same time; well, in the same session, if we needed to get technical. If my curse was sex-based, it should be lifted.

I called on my magic.

Unlike my eye, nothing came. Not even a tingle.

I shut my eyes and took a deep breath. I’d already guessed, but the curse had nothing to do with sex. My only whiff of power was during the fight… when I thought I’d lost everything and admitted I needed to stop lying to myself.

I thought back on the baby steps I’d taken after The Hunt.

My third eye didn’t open when I kissed Tyson because I’d been pretending to be Betty.

It did open when I kissed Rehan, not because he marked me but because I’d been vulnerable and accepted his comfort.

Nothing happened when I blew Og. But after we spent the day together, working side by side, I’d asked for his mark. I’d opened up, knowing I needed something, and accepted his help.

And Lux. Everything about meeting Lux had been so crazy I hadn’t checked anything consistently. But his power and my eye both grew stronger before we even kissed because I’d trusted my girlfriend.

And the biggest step, after we left the island, my fear of losing Tyson to Pixie Dust, made me raw. It wasn’t the sex; it was admitting I didn’t want to lose any of them.

All of this was about me facing myself.

A strange thought wormed into my brain. Could I have cursed myself?

I tapped the table in front of the computer a few times. If I had, this Bradly Cooper helped me. I was sure of it. Though my realization didn’t explain the pods of demons in our Ley Lines or the old man who set all this up.

No. If I’d learned nothing else, I needed my memories back yesterday.

As night approached, we helped ourselves to more of Drukpa’s food. My accountant had a discrete transport company using a portal in the morning to clear out Drukpa’s treasury. I was back to focusing on my memories. I flicked my new earrings:lapis lazuli crystals set in silver and clear quartz. Gawdy as fuck, but a great find considering my situation.

“So,” I tapped the little timeline I’d taped onto the wall of the living room.

Like the rest of the house, this room had a masculine feel. Dark leather sofas and chunky tables were evenly spaced between mostly empty floor-to-ceiling bookcases.

I sat on a chair near the wall while Og and Rehan sat on an oversized couch. Tyson rubbed his now normal-sized but still scaly limb from his spot perched on a stool.

“Jay?” Rehan asked.

I focused. “So, timeline. Right. Past me has all three pieces of the casket now, so what do I do, and where do I go?” I ran my finger along the string, connecting the last five months of my life. “This is the date I woke up on the island. It’s also the same date the still-forming demons appeared in the Ley Lines, according to the DPT. And one day before that is the last day Bradly made a purchase using my account.”

“It’s all connected,” Tyson pointed out.

I nodded, doing my best not to make it sarcastic. Tyson was showing he was listening, even if he repeated the obvious.

“The next movement in the pods wasn’t until after the old man showed up and told you he gifted you dragons and you needed to fix your mistake,” Rehan added.

I moved us along the timeline and tapped a picture of Gorm’s Casket. “The mistake being releasing a God, mostly likely.”

“But said God, who we assume created the demons, hasn’t done anything since,” Og added. “Oliviarose says the island’s quiet.”

I chewed my lower lip. “That actually makes me more worried. It’s like he’s recharging, or he needs something more to follow through with his plan.”

“When did the old man make the portal at Scalehive?” Lux asked.

I moved my finger. “He finished the day before I came to the island.”

“I feel like that would be cutting it really close for magic that complex,” Og added.

I nodded. “Yeah, almost like he didn’t know that was the plan until the last minute.” I scribbled down ‘portal’ on a piece of paper and taped it to the correct location on the string.