Page 77 of Silent Jay

I got hit in the head. What were the chances it was the guy behind me at the time?

Do you really want to know?

Probably not.

I took a few breaths and centered my thoughts. Tyson was fine, but I wasn’t. Though I kind of was. Even my head injury was completely healed. This felt too much like when I woke up on the island.

‘Who are you? Where am I?’ I wrote before flipping the paper around.

He narrowed his eyes, leaning back in his chair to balance on its back legs. “You can call me Ryushiki”

Giving him a flat look, I wrote: ‘Really, earth dragon in Japanese?’

His eyes brightened. The legs of his chair hit the stone floor with a thud and a small puff of dust. “All right, smarty pants might be a better name for you than princess.” He grinned. “What do you want to call me?”

‘Your name.’

He barked out a laugh. “Fine, Ogden. And your name?”

I chewed on my lower lip. ‘Jodido.’

“You’re playing with me.” His grin got even bigger, displaying every one of his white teeth. “I’m not calling you ‘fucked’ in Spanish, and I’m not calling you Betty either. Do my fellow dragons know about the curse entangling you?”

I clutched the paper to my chest.Fuck yes, this was going to save me so much time.

Shaking my head, I wrote again. ‘No. I don’t know how it ended up on me…or what it is. Tyson’s clueless. Rehan knows something’s wrong and is helping me. How do you know?’

“This is my lair.” He gestured around him. “I’m the closest dragon shifters can get to a warlock. I felt them while I was healing you.”

Fuck yes. A warlock who's communicating with me.

Probably not as powerful as you.

No one’s as powerful as you.

I know.

I hugged myself before realizing how crazy I looked and crossed my arms instead.

Ogden watched me with his eyebrows raised. Although he could still be in on my abduction, why would he point out the spells binding my magic?

How had Doctor Raba not felt it?

Don’t jump to conclusions there, Jay. You know better.

I took a deep breath. The fire dragon’s doctor either lied or the curse could be unraveling, so only after kissing Rehan had it become visible. Doubling down, my kiss with Tyson gave me access to his fire, but still not my magic. Stupidly, I hadn’t checked my third eye after blowing Rehan or kissing Tyson…given I’d been running from a volcanic eruption after kissing Tyson.

If I stuck to strictly Vulcan logic, intimate relations with my mates were doing something, but there were other factors toconsider, like time, emotions, and length of physical contact. Getting access to their elemental magic wasn’t the same as having my raw power back. Assumptions were futile.

I think that’s The Borg, not Vulcans.

Why is nothing ever simple?

You said, mates.

You, little me, would never pass a Bechdel test.

Whatever, if I said it, you said it.

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