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A shiver ran down my spine.
We isolated ourselves when technology made our dragon bodies too hard to hide. We needed space to fly and peoplewho understood our volatile nature. I hadn’t been born yet, but when man took flight, we lost our skies. Too many dragons were gunned down or reported as UFOs. Most of the human race didn’t know about the shifters living amongst them. As a wolf or a bear, hiding wasn’t that hard. But when you turned into a massive mythical creature, it was a different tide pool.
I turned my focus from the past to the crack ‘team’ my grandad put together to investigate his ‘bad feeling’ about the Ley Lines.
The speed boat could probably hold twenty. Today, we were maybe half that and missing an element… air. Although I was surprised, I still found myself disappointed.
A single dragon sat shrouded in a deep cowl at the helm, one of King Ryker’s special forces. According to the Fire King, select dragons were trained in advanced technology, which made them more flexible than any single elemental magic wielder. Their uniform kept Ryker’s technology a secret. With his control over the island, there wasn’t anything any of us could do to change it.
Unlike the eerily calm grim reaper figure at the helm, two fire dragons stood as far away from the edge of the boat as they could get. They clutched waterproof bags to their chest and eyed the sea unhappily.
A few steps to my left, Ogden stood point of his trio of earth dragons. His black hair gleamed with a rich brown in the sun, and the runes tattooed on his skin almost glowed.
Tukaqu rapped his staff on the wooden deck. “Are the fire dragons doing whatever they’re doing with your mate?”
“She’s your mate, for sure then?” Ogden asked.
I made eye contact with the earth dragon. Unlike the social, this time we didn’t turn away from each other.
“I believe so.” I grinned but kept my answer vague.
Ogden’s expression pinched, and his gaze unfocused. My grin fell. Before I could ask, Tukaqu glided past me, his attentionsolely focused on the thick rope of magic the width of two dragons in front of us. The fire dragons followed, dropping their waterproof bags to pull out a set of sensors and a computer.
The boat crept forward, and the nose dipped into the Ley Line. Whatever thought crossed Ogden’s mind was replaced with excitement. The runes on his skin brightened with crackling magic.
Ley Line magic.
Jay needed magical help. Ogden’s and my paths had crossed a few times now. The warlock was capable. I’d even seen him chatting with Jay at the social. I’d check with her first, but maybe he could help us.
The front of the boat pushed fully into the Ley Line, and the hairs on my arms stood on end. It had taken over a hundred dragons to create the spell that kept our island hidden and our people safe from humans. Tukaqu had been one of them and was the only one left alive. In his old age, he was so often wrong, but not always.
I swallowed my pride and took a step toward the Ley Line. As the edges brushed my skin, a shiver of pure terror rocked my body.
“You doing okay?” Ogden asked, stepping next to me.
I took a deep breath and pushed down old fear. “Yup. The power is incredible.”
Ogden grinned. “It is.” He lifted his head to the sky and took another step forward. His loose top stirred as he entered the stream.
Unlike the warlock basking in power, I forced myself to take one step after another. If an earth dragon could do this, I could do this. A memory of my physical form, hurtling through the cords of pure energy as they ripped me apart, pushed to the surface.
“You aren’t that boy anymore,” I whispered.
Magic tingled along my skin and ran down my arms in waves. I didn’t stop walking until a storm of crackling power whipped my hair and pulled at my essence.
My fear spiked before retreating into the memory it came from. I came up on Ogden’s side. Nothing pulled at me. No pain tore into my soul. As it always did, the magic swirled around me like it had never grabbed me as a child.
What happened to me had been a fluke, a stupid mistake.
Ogden still held his arms out in front of him, and I eyed the tattoos, letting my thoughts wander to my mate once more to help calm the last of my nerves.
“Do you feel that?” Ogden asked, his voice a breathy growl.
“Ha, Hah!” Tukaqu said, banging his staff against the wood deck. A large swell made the boat rock, and Ogden gripped my arm to stay standing.
“Focus, Rehan,” Ogden said, still holding my arm. “Listen to your breathing, how it swirls with the world around you, like waves crashing onto the shore.”
I side-eyed Ogden. “Are you high?”
