Page 29 of Silent Jay

“This is my sire, Ryker.” He pointed to the dragon shifter, who I would have guessed as much, before gesturing to the other. “And, Doctor Raba.”

I narrowed my eyes at the Doctor. Middle-aged, the man sported neat, cropped black hair. A salt and pepper beard framed his round face. He stood with his shoulders slightly slumped, wearing a white lab coat with a stethoscope around his neck. Nothing about him screamed dragon, and without my magic, he could be dogs standing on each other's shoulders for all I knew. This person could be the man who brought me here, a simple human doctor, or an unreliable quack.

I let out an annoyed sigh and picked up the tablet: ‘Am I getting a virginity test too, cuz that will fail just as hard.’

Tyson snorted before remembering his anger and scowling.

Doctor Raba directed me to sit on the table. He mumbled under his breath in a language I couldn’t make out. His fingers moved in recognizable patterns as he called on magic. So not a simple human doctor. I let him poke and prod me, pretending I had no idea what he did. The worst that could happen: he would detect whatever magic was suppressing my own, and I could get out of here.

A flush of excitement rushed through me. I could use this. Frantically, I poked my forehead, where my third eye should open. Everything living had a center of power. For humans, it was our third eye – right in the middle of our forehead. Dragons held their power in their hearts. Doctor Raba eyed my motions but ultimately ignored them, focusing on my lower gut. I slumped and dropped my hands.

“She's not lying,” Doctor Raba declared, stepping back. “She’s missing several organs, including her uterus.” He eyed me. “You’re twenty-four, according to your paperwork?”

I turned my palms to the ceiling. The number was only off by like a thousand years.

“Well, I can’t determine her age.” He looked at Ryker. “But other than her lack of fertility, I detect nothing wrong with her.”

I clenched my fists and willed myself not to cry. Fucking hack, it had to be a spell of some kind. Why couldn’t Doctor Raba feel it?

That or he’s in on it.

Peachy.

Tyson crossed his arms over his bare chest and didn’t meet my gaze. “So, what should we do?”

King Ryker scowled. “You said Rehan mate bonded her, correct?”

Tyson bristled. “He cheated.”

“Get over yourself, son.” King Ryker took a step forward, and Tyson’s posture dropped and glued his gaze to the floor.

An overwhelming need to step in front of Tyson and defend him from his father had me jumping off the table, but I planted my feet. This wasn’t my fight. If he’d wanted to work this out between us, he would have stayed last night instead of storming off like a child who didn’t get his way.

He even ran to his dad. Maybe we’re dodging a bullet on this one.

Or maybe his father has him so tied in knots he can’t make his own decisions.

No, don’t even start that. We are not on the island to rescue dragons.

We could be!

“We’re giving her back to the water dragons,” Ryker continued, pulling me out of my speculation. “We’re keeping our mouths shut about her defect.”

Defect?My jaw dropped.

Tyson jerked like his father's words hit him but didn’t look up from the floor.

“They can either figure it out on their own or not. Either way, she won’t be our problem anymore,” Ryker finished.

I lunged for the tablet in Tyson’s hands and prayed he could read my rushed words full of errors.

“There’s clearly been a mistake here,” Tyson read my words out loud. “Just package me back home, and we can pretend this never happened.”

I didn’t miss the hurt in his eyes before he buried it with anger. “How did you learn so little in your class? You don’t have a home to go back to.”

I blinked in shock. “Squeak?”

“We faked your death,” Ryker explained. “You didn’t have any family to cover, so you had to vanish. Scalehive already erased your old life.”

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