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I’d been separated from Jay for over twenty-four hours. My last visual was of her being surrounded by fire and taken from me. The last emotion she’d seen on my face was confusion, not support. While I tried to have her legally released, Ogden and Tyson busted her out. What if Jay assumed I didn’t want her? The apparition who claimed to have ‘gifted’ us to her weighed on my mind. I believed my feelings were my own, but combined with Jay’s insistence they weren’t, doubt plagued me.
My dragon whined, still unable to fathom her being anything but our mate. But I couldn’t let his emotions blind me. Jay hit me hard and fast. She was a sea lion charging toward her prey. I didn’t know if I was at her side, in her way, or the fish she’d found for breakfast.
What scared me most: I would happily be any of those three if it meant kissing her even once more.
It was late. The sounds of soft snoring and the light rustling of sleep filled our wing of the EM building. Light still came fromTukaqu’s room. The easy peace I’d made with my grandad a few days ago still carried through the madness of the last few days.
I couldn’t help but feel my family waited for me to fail.
My dragon strained against my self-control, begging me to go to Jay, but I held him in check. Our brilliant mate came up with a plan, and I needed to do my part. I clicked on the attachment, and a rough map opened in front of me. Jay’s drawing was crude but informative. She and Ogden had spent the day gazing through a mirror, searching for Lux using a spell which linked one of his spare prosthetic arms to his essence. I’d heard of scrying before but never seen it in practice.
From what I could tell, it hadn’t entirely gone smoothly. Several parts of the castle were blocked from magical sight, while a few hallways ate magic. One of these rooms at the back of the castle had more activity than usual, including guards and a visit from Lux’s father.
Jay was confident enough about the unusual activity that we were going for it, tonight. Before Og’s spell on Lux’s tower failed and Jay ended up back in the clutches of the Air King.
The light in Tukaqu’s room clicked off. I shut my door and turned to the window, spilling moonlight into my room. After mumbling my incantation wrong twice, the entire window frame popped open. I wiggled out of it, only slightly bending the metal and sending a dusting of white mortar down the walls, which hopefully didn’t wake my sleeping family.
However, if it did, as long as I moved quickly, it wouldn’t be a problem. My only role tonight was to distract. Mate or not, Jay still needed my help, and I’d do my part.
Once through the window, I let myself plummet down and snapped my wings out to catch an updraft. The cool night air streamed past my human skin as I shot up and posed dramatically in front of the waxing moon.
Two unshifted air dragons zoomed toward me with their wings taught. I plummeted again, this time toward Lux’s dark tower. The two air guards easily guessed my trajectory and adjusted, joining their two friends already standing on Lux’s roof.
Unlike me, the four covered their human bodies in scales. Even in the dark, their various shades of white and gray caught the moonlight. I landed with an unmissable boom, sending a burst of water magic through the building to shake it and let my friends know it was go time. Stars twinkled above me. For a moment, I swear I saw the outline of a Ley Line in fluorescent-green, but I shook my head and forced myself to deal with the here and now.
“I need to talk to my mate,” I said, holding my hands out to show I was here in peace.
The four made a box around me. Directly in front of me, the shortest of the four frowned. Long, almost translucent silver hair settled on his shoulders. “You weren’t to leave your designated area, water dragon.”
I dropped my shoulders. “Do you have a mate?”
The shortest’s lips turned down, and he rocked uncomfortably.
I locked my gaze with his. Emotions I didn’t need to fake laced every word as I spoke. “A week ago, mine was ripped out of my arms, only to return to this shit show. Please, let me help you get her out of that tower.”
The short one shook his head. “You need to leave. Our orders are clear.”
“Wait,” a different voice came from behind me. “There are four of us and one of him. If he can get the human out, we can take credit for capturing her. It will guarantee promotion.”
I wasn’t a good liar. I kept my face as neutral as possible and my response as simple as possible. “As long as she’s not with that fire dragon.”
A low snicker came from my left.
I lowered myself to the floor, sitting in Jay’s favorite cross-legged position, and waited. The short one studied me before signaling to the other three. They gathered together, and after a good bit of whispering, the short one pointed at me.
“You get her out, she comes with us, and you return to your wing. If I even see a single scale on your skin, we will take you down.”
“As long as she’s not with fire,” I repeated, not needing to fake the anger and jealously lacing my words.
“And some think elemental dragons could co-exist,” the one who snickered added.
I clenched my fist and forced myself not to react.
I didn’t hate all fire dragons. One in particular frustrated me more than the others at the moment.
“They’ve blocked the door.” The short one gestured to a square plate just behind him. “Some spell we can’t penetrate. Those bastard earth dragons won’t lift a finger to help, and King Ryker won’t lend us any of his special forces.”
The ease with which this dragon mentioned the Fire King’s special forces rubbed me the wrong way. The cowled dragon driving fire’s boat into the Ley Line tugged at my memory. I’d only seen a few of the figures in my lifetime. They rarely left fire territory. This random guard knew about them and expected them to help? With Ley Line magic?
