Page 31 of Jay's Silence
Jay gave us a rundown of the meeting. Her paraphrasing was to the point and neatly worded as if she gave reports like this on a regular basis.
“There was no air representation at all?” I asked once she finished. My first concern was for my people, not my abusivedad, whom I’d emotionally divorced before I knew what that word meant.
Jay shook her head.
I bit back a frown and rubbed my chin. “It just seems wrong that no one from air was present.”
“Tukaqu’s thrown your father into his own jail,” Rehan explained. “He says it will take a lot of digging to find out who else has strayed from their dragon instincts.” Rehan glanced at Jay, who seemed painfully defeated. “But it’s one of our policies not to interfere with other elements.”
“Except fire who, apparently, interferes with air on a regular basis,” Tyson added. “Your words, Bladder Fish, not mine.”
Rehan grunted.
“Everything will go back to exactly what it was.” Jay thunked the table. “I’ve seen it over and over and over. Bad shit happens, bad shit is brushed under the rug, no one learns or changes.”
“You called out my sire,” Tyson popped a dumpling into his mouth. “Did you see the color he turned? Feck, that was funny.”
Although Tyson's words were boisterous, a hit of fear darkened his eyes, and his hand trembled. I met his gaze and gave him a sharp nod, which he returned after a heartbeat. We both knew what having a shit parent felt like. He wasn’t alone in this.
Ogden choked on his water. “You did what?”
“I left them with a few thoughts,” Jay wrinkled her nose. “And now they can be someone else's thoughts. I’m not sticking my nose where it’s not wanted. Whatever’s happening on this island isn’t my business. We find the traitor, free my magic, and move forward.”
“What, my beautiful, enchanting, and too smart for her own good mate, do you believe moving forward looks like?” Ogden asked, batting his long black eyelashes.
Jay let out a little humph and pursed her lips.
The table devolved into side chats, and I didn’t quite know how to jump into either of them. Rehan and Tyson talked about fire’s ‘special forces.’ I knew a little about them.My dad called on King Ryker’s mysterious troops often to help him with his projects involving multiple elemental magics. Still, I was under the same impression Rehan and Tyson had… help meant technology. But there was nothing technological about the quartz stars stealing our magic.
On my other side, Jay and Ogden discussed the finer points of a curse and the morality behind any loss of free will. I wasn’t sure I cared. After a lifetime of hiding, my bond with Jay gave me more freedom than I’d ever hoped for. Even if it was a curse, and Jay suddenly wasn’t my mate anymore, I’d be her loyal friend until my dying breath. I knew it deep in my heart.
Topics changed, and I managed to find a bit of footing. It grew late. The tone of our discussion changed from exchanges of information and banter to something completely different. An undercurrent of competition, the same one I’d felt at our board game night, laced our words. My posture grew more confident.
I leaned forward, making my words to Jay more important than my simple observation. “They didn’t give us anything other than water to drink.”
Jay sighed. “This island is like two steps away from being dry, I swear.”
Rehan brushed her arm, taking her attention away from me. My dragon paced, not liking that at all. Instead of indulging it, I studied Jay’s other mates. I’d spent so much of my life watching a world I couldn’t participate in, and my year teaching kids only honed my observation skills.
Ogden desperately wanted Jay to want him, but not because of the curse.
Tyson wanted Jay because he didn’t know if he liked himself.
Rehan wanted to help Jay. His attraction to her was apparent, but unlike the other two, he took the situation in stride.
And what did I want?
The sound of their voices became a light breeze in the background. Jay groaned and flipped the paper she was holding so it hit her forehead. Ogden laughed. My dragon stirred, and I focused everything I had on pushing him and my rut down. Jay might have shocked it out of me temporarily, but it wasn’t gone, far from it.
“Fecking Sea Slug!” Tyson roared.
“Get your head out of your ass!” Rehan roared back.
Their yelling pulled me out of my thoughts. With me still between them, Tyson and Rehan charged. At the last moment, I managed to scramble out of the way… though why? I could hold my own, right?
Rehan faked a high punch and dropped to the floor, taking Tyson out at the ankles before rolling back to his feet.
He changed his trajectory to Jay and pulled her into his arms. Jay squeaked like she had when I first met her and disappeared under Rehan’s bulk on his small cot. With a rush of cool moisture, his wings grew out of his back. He draped them over the bed while purrs ripped out of his chest like a cat.