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My anger drained out as fast as it came. I eyed the air prince’s tight shoulders, the guilt written across his face. He was terrified. And not of me, of losing Jay. Taking a deep breath, I stepped back and crossed my arms over my chest. “Who cut your hair?”
“Ah, Og?” He said, eyeing me suspiciously, though the tension ever so slightly eased between us.
“Fire him,” I said. “How’s Jay?”
Lux blinked, releasing a long breath. “That’s it? Insult my hair and ask about Jay?”
I rubbed my delt. “Yeah, that’s it. The cut is bad, and Jay needs a fourth to get uncursed.” I jerked my head at the airprince. “I believe all dragon shifters need her help as badly as she needs ours.”
Lux brought his metal hand up and waved it in my face.
I cocked my head to the side. Sister Abby had been missing the exact same hand. I looked from his hand to his face again, and a light bulb clicked on. “Sister Abby?”
A guilty look crossed the air prince's face, but he didn’t deny it or back down.
My initial shock turned into relief. My chest rumbled, and my laugh bounced around us. I clapped our fourth on the shoulder. “No wonder you looked like you shit yourself when I demanded an explanation.”
Lux groaned.
“That entire night baffled both me and my dragon.” I rubbed my delt. “I’m thrilled to know I didn’t spend it growling at an innocent priestess.”
Lux lifted his chin and thrust his cybernetic hand between us again. I wasn’t great with people. Between Tyson’s shit words in our chat and whatever Lux had to deal with in his life, the air prince needed reassurance.
I pointedly looked at his hand. “Jay chose you, and I trust Jay. Now isn’t the time for your insecurities.”
The smile that broke out on Lux’s face almost blinded me. Despite the underlying urge to break his nose for existing, my heart lightened a second time.
I trusted Jay. That wasn’t me just talking. To extend trust to an air dragon so easily felt out of place, but not wrong.
“So, Jay,” I prompted.
Lux wrinkled his delicate nose. “She’s better.”
Footsteps filled the hall, along with the rap of my grandad’s staff. Tukaqu slowed as he walked past us, forcing my fellow water dragons to do the same. He gave Lux a long, slow glance, letting his gaze linger on his prosthetics. My grandad’s shouldersfell. Instead of making a demand, he simply nodded respectfully and swept through the meeting room doors. The rest of my family’s representatives followed.
“He thinks our isolation caused…” I gestured to Lux’s hand.
Lux clenched his metal fist, and pain filled his eyes. “This is only the damage we can see.”
A shiver ran down my spine.
“Leberecht, it’s been months,” Tukaqu boomed before his conversation was lost in the chatter now filling the meeting room.
“Jay’s locked in my room at the moment.” Lux chewed his lower lip. “Og says he can still see some drugs in her system. I tried to get her to talk, but she ignored me to do push-ups and sit-ups. She devoured the meal I got for her and then clambered out a window to sit in the sun.”
I chuckled.
“I would’ve taken it personally.” Lux scratched his smooth chin. “But she said it was either all of us or none of us. She wasn’t explaining anything twice.”
My chuckle turned into a laugh. God, I’d never loved a woman like this before. A weight lifted off my shoulders. Jay was fine. She handled Lux just like she’d handled the rest of us.
We didn’t have a plan and hadn’t gotten a chance to talk, but maybe everything wasn’t as dire as I thought. Lux was here talking to me. Ogden wanted to greet me with a hug like we were old friends.
Tyson’s scowl pushed to the forefront of my mind. The fire dragons had a report of half-truths. Had they trapped her here? There were still too many unknowns.
I’m sure my chuckle, which devolved into dark worry, showed on my face.
Lux peered at me like I was insane, and I clapped him on the back. “Sounds like Jay’s recovering well. Thank you.” I pushed him toward the meeting room. “I believe it’s time.”
