Page 64 of Silent Jay

“Well.” Drama Llama narrowed her eyes. “I guess we can start from the beginning.”

I bowed my head and motioned for her to lead on.

“Runes are not magic in themselves.” She gestured to the rocks below us. “Wait,” she glanced back at me. “You do know what magic is, right?”

I nodded.

“Right, okay.” She gestured to the women around her. In unison, they waltzed through the patterns on the ground. “These two runes are for fire and fertility, the two most powerful runes in the world.”

I bit my lower lip to keep from laughing. Powerful, sure, but not the most powerful. Not even close.

“We interconnect them here,” as she said the word ‘here,’ her four companions came to a stop at the points. Their synchronization impressed me. Drama Llama must have seen something on my face because she loosened slightly up. “Runes are not magical; they are conduits for the Ley Lines. They channel the power which we move.” She sighed. “We’ve picked the easiest job for you. Although you will need to step with us for the first part and hold your hands correctly to channel the magic, your part ends there. You will stand still and wait for the prince to touch you and reignite his fire.”

I put my hands in front of my chest to make it look like something was exploding.

She scowled. “Not like that.”

I sighed. This was going to be a long afternoon.

“She’s a natural. You’re fortunate,”the Drama Llama said when Tyson landed a few hours later. “It will be shaky, but your ceremony can go as planned.”

Shaky? You’re doing the second two steps of the ritual backward! It’s a wonder you can pull any power from the Ley Lines at all.

The woman pulled Tyson to the side, voicing her many concerns, I was sure. I rolled my eyes and focused on not moving so the two youngest sisters could finish taking my measurements.

From her spot, still seated off to one side, Gray Eyes stared at me with a dopey grin on her face. The moment she saw me looking, she dropped her gaze and scowled at the ground.

I grabbed the priestess writing figures down and pointed her at the mystery visitor.

“Sister Abby,” she explained. “Putting out a dragon's inner magic has only happened twice in our history. She'll be observing for a few days. Don’t worry. She won’t be around for the actual ritual.”

I eyed the girls' writing tools before reaching forward and commandeering them for myself:‘From a different fire temple?’

The girl snatched her pencil and paper back while the other pushed my arms up. I held them in place and looked expectantly at the pencil wielder.

“No, there’s only one temple for each element. Sister Abby’s air. I think an earth dragon was supposed to be here too, but he didn’t show.”

I eyed the girl's pencil again, and she physically pulled away from me, bringing it into her chest. I huffed and turned my attention back to Tyson, who was laughing at something Drama Llama said to him, which made her face turn red.

He fucking dropped you.

Then caught me and admitted he was wrong.

The moment the girls finished taking measurements, I bound up the crater to Tyson’s side.

“Excited to see me?” He asked, pulling a red sweatshirt over my head which smelled like him.

I rolled my eyes.Excited to get out of here.

“I will see you tomorrow, Betty,” the head priestess said a little too loudly, as if not being able to talk also made me deaf.

Tyson kicked out my ankles, catching my back and cradling me against his chest again. “She goes by Jay.”

The series of angry squeaks on the tip of my tongue from his manhandling died.

She goes by Jay.

My eyes probably looked like saucers, and I dropped a hand to cover my mouth before my smile exposed my molars. Tyson didn’t look down to see my reaction; he leaped off the mountainside, and my stomach lurched. We hung in the air awkwardly as he struggled with the weight of two.

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