Page 42 of Jay's Silence
“Is anyone sitting here?” A woman asked Rehan, pointing at the empty chair on his left.
The water dragon froze as if unsure what to say. Jay elbowed him.
“Ah, yes…“ Rehan said. Jay elbowed him again. “Er, no. Have a seat.” Rehan stood and pulled out a chair.
The woman blushed while the man with her paled at Rehan’s size. Our water dragon’s tanned, sculpted arms did look amazing, sticking out of his dark tank top.
“Sweety,” the woman sat, fanning herself. “Why don’t you go grab us drinks?”
“Ah,” her sweety stammered, his camera hovering above the table in indecision.
Jay leaned over to Rehan. “You are arguably the hottest man in this room, and I need to use a phone. Use what you got and make us a friend.”
“Because it’s ten AM,” the man finally answered his sweetie’s question, still eyeing Rehan.
Rehan looked around the room, drawing the man’s attention to the large number of tourists with beers in their hands.
“I guess this is the Guinness Factory. It’s why we came here.” The man set his camera on the table, and the woman reached out and squeezed his arm. “We are on vacation; we can be naughty.”
Heat rose to her face, and her eyes slipped to Rehan while she said the word ‘naughty.’ I looked at Jay and found her glaring daggers at the woman before noticing my attention and smoothing out her face.
I quirked my lips. “Feeling a bit possessive, mate?”
Jay glared at me, and I winked.
Despite Rehan’s awkward start, it didn’t take long for Jay to have the woman’s phone in her hands. Tyson returned with the beers. I’d just taken my first sip of rich and creamy dark malts when the lights cut out.
My claws were out in a heartbeat while Lux stood and slid to my back.
Lux, defending me again, well, us, but choosing my back, not our mate’s. I winced, and my gut twisted. What had I done?
Suddenly, the lights came back, swirling with color, and a stage lit up with the jarring sounds of a bagpipe. I retracted my claws while Jay lunged for Lux, pulling him back to his seat. At the far end of our table, a man and a woman with curly red hair dressed in all black stepped up and started dancing, their feet hammered the tabletop with metal in perfect synchronization with the music.
My head spun as my crazy morning hit me. Less than two hours ago, I lost my stomach at the sight of a dead body rotting on my tropical island. Now, I sat in the center of a show, watching two very lively young humans dance with a beer in my hand.
“I need my phone back!” the woman squealed.
Jay made a few more hasty swipes before opening up the camera and returning the device to the woman. She immediately pointed her phone at the dancers and whooped with excitement. Rehan forgotten.
This wasn’t just a different island on Earth. I felt like I’d been transported to a different world.
Jay took a deep breath and nodded, which I assumed meant we were set. The crowd began clapping in time with the music, and after a sip of beer, Jay joined them. Though I wasn’t sure if I liked the thick creamy malt, I was thirstier than expected and downed half of it. The room spun slightly, and I forced myself to breathe.
Ireland.
I was off my island for the first time in my life.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
JAIYANA
The Alliance got us settled into a hotel room, no questions asked. The sound of the buzzing streets of Temple Bar, Dublin’s downtown, drifted through the open windows, letting in a bit of early evening light. The bare but functional room was more than a stranded shifter could hope for, though less than I’d ideally like to show my dragons.
Even knowing their stories continue without you?
Especially knowing that. This adventure is like our last party. We might as well live it up. No strings attached, right?
My inner voice just shook its imaginary head.