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I froze. Why would she write that? Did Rehan put something in her mind to scare her into needing him?
“What I felt before the eruption might have been a single force.” Og chewed on his bottom lip. “This will sound crazy, but it felt like someone was in our flow. Like a consciousness that didn’t belong on the island.”
Wiggles paled, and my stomach sank. “Stop letting them scare you, Wiggles. There’s nothing on this island that isn’t supposed to be here.”
“Squeak,” Wiggles said, pointing at herself.
“Maybe you’re supposed to be here too,” I said. Not willing to be wrong. “If the eruption had nothing to do with Wiggles, then neither does this thing that pulled Og toward the mountain. Or whatever story you made up about the cave.” I stood straighter and looked down at Ogden. “It was chance you found her, and we won’t leave this up to chance again.” I pinned Wiggles with my gaze. “I will find you the best dragon. Until then, you can remain with the air priestesses.”
Before Rehan or Og said another word, I bolted forward. Shoulder checking Rehan, I whipped Og’s knees with my tail, and the smaller dragon went down. I grabbed my mate, pullingher into my chest before lighting Og’s table and chair on fire and throwing up a wall of heat behind me.
I gripped Wiggles hard, expecting a struggle, but she wrapped her arms around my neck, and my confidence swelled. I hit the night air at a full sprint. A little girl let out a scream, drawing the attention of a few other earth dragons exiting a sizeable wood building five hundred meters in front of me. I ignored all of them. My wings tore out my back, and I launched myself into the sky, beating the air with all my strength. I don’t know if I was lucky or if the earth dragons picked this area because of the air currents, but I found a draft and soared up.
Rehan shot out of the cave with Og on his heels. Although the Water Toad shifted immediately, Og slowed to deal with his people.
I grinned. “Just me and you again, Water Loser.”
Rehan roared, a sound half human half dragon, as he shifted. He’d easily catch me as a dragon, but he couldn’t do shite without risking Wiggles. I squeezed my mate to my chest and rubbed her forehead with my cheek.
“I don’t like that they know you better than I do,” I whispered, half hoping Wiggles didn’t hear me. “Especially Ogden. You just met him.”
She rubbed my chest and adjusted her grip around my neck.
My heart melted. “Feck. I wish you could talk.”
She tapped my collarbone. “Squeak.”
I smiled at her. “You too, huh?”
Rehan circled me, making a big show with his blue flames. I angled toward fire territory, watching Rehan’s dragon toes twitch in frustration. As badly as I wanted her with me, and not that I would ever tell Rehan or Og, she would be safer away from my family.
They didn’t have her best interest at heart.
Did they have mine?
I took a deep breath. With a final look toward my home, I banked in the opposite direction. Rehan roared his blue flame into the air and attempted to herd me away from air territory, but I put Wiggles between us and kept flying.
“The air priestesses will keep you safe.” I swallowed, not understanding or liking the weird feeling creeping into my gut. It reminded me of when I was little and couldn’t shift.
Wiggles pushed away from my chest to squeak indignantly in my face.
“Look, it’s either this, or we set you loose in air territory. And we all know how that went in earth.” I pinched the skin on the side of her leg where I was holding her. “Og’s a squirt for a dragon. He might still look big to you, but he’s not up to snuff.”
She scowled at me and crossed her arms, elbowing me in the ribs.
I let out an oof. “Fine, maybe he’s useful,” I admitted. “He’s good at blocking my mate mark anyway, and if he’s blocking mine, then he’s definitely blocking Shark Biscuit.”
Wiggles rolled her eyes but smiled. She might not like my nicknames for her other mates, but they made her smile, which made me smile. A warmth that had nothing to do with my fire filled my heart.
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
JAIYANA
Soft knocking woke me the following day.
It took me a moment to figure out where I was. Last night, the priestess, who dressed like Sister Abby, froze in shock at the sight of three unique elemental dragons dropping me off at her temple, tucked into the border of air territory. After a bit of prodding, she directed me to a guest room at the back of the temple built into a mountaintop.
The space was simple but comfortable. White and silver decorated everything, including sheets of gauzy material hanging on the walls. After a quick shower, my head hit the pillow, and until this very moment, I’d forgotten about the world.
