Page 56 of Silent Jay

“Everything, especially humans, are pieces in a bigger game.” Tukaqu downed the rest of his wine in one gulp. “Dragon unity, keeping our island and the world’s Ley Lines safe is more important than one mortal. All of you should know this.” He dropped his gaze to me. “I’m disappointed I had to learn about her myself, Rehan. We are a family. Do not be the one to tarnish what I have built.”

I met his gaze. He hadn’t told the family about my mark on Jay, nor had he offered them details beyond her fake name. But he could, and we both knew it. Was this his deal? He’d help me keep her hidden if I let him use her to push around the fire dragons?

My entire life I’d been a good grandson and gone with whatever Tukaqu decided. I idolized the old dragon and loved to see him twist my family to his will. But I was one of the people he bent. For the first time, I had someone depending on me to stay strong.

“So.” My dad wrinkled his nose distastefully. “Tell us more about Betty Strope.”

I clenched my fists and locked my gaze with Tukaqu. If I lied, he’d know. But if I told my family everything, I’d be betraying Jay’s trust. In the last few days, mate or not, helping her had become my world.

“We connected during The Hunt.” I inclined my head to Tukaqu, silently agreeing to his terms, before focusing on my family. If I left out everything that made Jay complicated, the truth was simple. “Tyson knocked me unconscious from behind. When their pairing didn’t work out, we found each other at The Social. It’s that simple.”

My dad grunted while a new question came out of my uncle's lips. For better or worse, my grandad, the dragon who ultimately held my fate in his hands, kept his mouth shut.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

JAIYANA

It was late, and Rehan hadn’t returned from his family dinner. I studied my new uncracked phone screen, wrapped in a race car red case. It oddly matched the solid blue boxers I’d stolen from Rehan.

You like them both.

Fuck me.

The bubblegum-pink-haired shifter from TECH finished up an hour ago, and I found myself swinging in Rehan’s sky chair, reading…or at least thinking with a book opened. I turned to the final page of a short story written by a dragon shifter for shifters. The adventure took me all over the island in search of a magical egg that would give birth to a dragon able to wield all the elements.

I’d read hundreds, possibly thousands, of books about ordinary humans wanting magic or discovering they had it. To read a similar story from a dragon who already had it but wanted more was too relatable. I sighed, thinking of my own life.

Maybe I don’t like them…I just want to be a dragon shifter.

You can fly without turning into a lizard. You want to play with their snakes.

I snorted.

The door to the hut banged open.

I jumped out of my chair, ready to fight. Rehan’s rich, rum-spiced scent washed over me. He enveloped me in his tense arms, running his hands all over my body as if looking for injuries.

“TECH didn’t touch you, did they?” He asked, his forehead coming to rest against mine.

I gave Rehan a moment to feel my completely uninjured body before pulling away and picking up my phone to elaborate. Before I could finish typing, he pulled the red case off and chucked it across the room.

Giggling squeaking, I took the phone back and finished my thought.‘The kid was awkward and very quiet. She just did her job and left. Relax.’

After a moment, I switched to my messages with Tyson, showing Rehan my ‘advanced’ warning. I flipped to the next message, and Tyson’s schedule for me popped up.

Rehan leaned into me. “I tried to change it.”

I nodded, hoping he understood it was all okay, and pointed out the ‘upgrades’ TECH installed. As fast as I identified them, Rehan pulled plugs out of sockets and cords out of the walls. Even the TV and PlayStation Tyson left me were unplugged and pushed into a corner.

I scowled at the toys I’d been excited to use and decided Rehan didn’t need to see the fancy new high-speed internet. My memes had been loading so slowly with his old router.

Last, I pointed out the motion sensors he’d put around the building. Rehan hesitated on those. “Maybe some extra security wouldn’t hurt on the outside.”

I coaxed him onto his bed before he obsessed over Tyson's changes and straddled his legs. In the pitch dark, I felt the scaled shorts, which he’d definitely not needed when he went to dinnerfully clothed, drop. I couldn’t ask, so I left it and dug my palms into his tense back muscles.

He let out a long, satisfying groan and relaxed. Under my touch, the mountain of a man turned into putty. He trusted me, and despite my situation, I silently promised never to break his trust. After chasing out the last of his stress, I wrote, ‘I keep score; back rubs are never free’ across his broad shoulders.

“Are you drawing on my back?” Rehan snorted. “Is it a dragon or something?”

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