Page 66 of Dragon Rivals of New York

Jethro shakes his head with a confused look. Right, he can’t hear me.

Jeslyn walks back in with the first aid kit and hands it off to Damian, who gets to work setting out supplies. Otto still hasn’t regained consciousness. Will stitching him up even help? He’s so pale, and it’s clear he’s lost a lot of blood. I squeeze Jethro and Kyro, feeling helpless and sick as Damian works.

Sweet Otto, who helped me get things to make scones just this morning. Awkward and embarrassed Otto, who didn’t want Kyro to know he’s sleeping with Damian. I think that secret’s out of the bag now. No one could see Damian in this moment and not know he cares deeply for the man he’s tending.

Tears brim over and run down my cheeks. That could be Jethro or Kyro on that couch. It’s a miracle it’s not. I’m so grateful they’re okay and so gutted that Otto isn’t.

“Did… Did you take back the temple?” I ask, forgetting for a moment that they can’t hear me. When there’s no answer, I take Kyro’s anguished face in my hands and make sure he’s looking at me. “Did you win?” I shape the words slowly.

He shakes his head, and a tear falls down his cheek.

This is too much. The cost is too high. I can’t let them do this again. We can’t risk real lives for the possibility that there might be a negative consequence to the hordes if we don’tmate.

I hold my men tighter, letting the tears flow freely. How did they become so important to me in such a short time? They’ve changed me. If I forget them, I won’t be the same person I am now. I don’t want to go back. I’ll risk myself and everything I have to bond them, but I won’t risk the lives of people like Otto. This is my battle to fight, and I’m going to fight it.

I just don’t know how yet.

Chapter 32

Jethro

Myearswon’tstopringing. But it doesn’t matter because I’m here, safe with my mates.

It could have been a lot worse.

Since none of us can hear anything, we send text messages and write things on scraps of paper to communicate. Adrianna lets us know that no one else was seriously hurt besides Otto, but there were a lot of minor injuries, and none of us made it out with our hearing intact.

The plan is to give everyone twenty-four hours to heal, then gather both hordes tomorrow night to vote on whether we continue to fight or take the risk of Kyro, Sora, and me not mating. Neither horde usually puts things to a vote, but this is a decision that will affect us all.

If we fight again, it’s likely everyone will need to join in, notjust those who are trained, and none of us want to see another injury like Otto’s. Now that we know they have a siren, we can take precautions, but it likely won’t be enough. We were outnumbered and lost even before the siren screamed.

I still can’t believe there’s a siren in the Ruby Diamond Horde and none of us knew about it. There’s usually only one or two born in each generation of dragons. Their songs are the things of legend, serving as a potent aphrodisiac. But their screams will burst any eardrum within miles if the person or dragon hasn’t protected themselves. If you’re close enough to a siren when they scream, it can be deadly.

Thank the goddess, none of us were that close.

Once we’re sure Otto is stable, I drag Kyro and Sora back to my place to rest. Even though it was only our ears that were affected, I feel shaky and off balance. It’s strange to speak when you can’t hear your own voice, so we stay quiet. It lends a solemness to the mundane process of getting ready for bed.

I hate silence. I feel vulnerable being alone with my thoughts, not being able to hide behind a joke or an innuendo, not knowing what people are thinking or saying.

It’s like peeling off a layer of protection, standing naked in a well-lit room. It’s a vulnerability I think we’re all feeling—though differently. Kyro can’t deny or lie about what he’s feeling. Sora can’t protest how much we adore her. I can’tmake a cheeky comment. It’s just us, as we are at our core.

Anxiety has me shaking as we stand side-by-side and brush our teeth. I feel suddenly shy in a way I haven’t felt since I was… well, a lot younger. What if they don’t like me without the humor I bring to our little group?

I move behind Sora and wrap an arm around her, my forearm just below her breasts. She leans her head back against me and closes her eyes. If I can’t offer a snide remark or a laugh, I can at least offer something else. I slip my hand down into her panties. She stiffens and shakes her head. I withdraw.

Her face scrunches, and she says, “Sorry.” Or at least, that’s what I think she says. That’s the shape her mouth makes in the mirror. Tears follow the word, and she crumples, turning into me and holding me tight with her toothbrush hanging out of her mouth and digging into my shoulder.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay,” I say, and it feels unnerving to not hear the words the way I normally would. “It’s alright if you’re not in the mood.”

Am I yelling? Did that come off wrong? Because she’s crying even harder now, toothpaste leaking out her mouth and down my chest.

She’s already shown that she reacts strongly to adrenaline, so it’s not a stretch to imagine that the adrenaline crash after being so worried about us and seeingOtto injured has probably killed her sex drive. I just wish there was something I could do for her.

I can tell she’s babbling words into my skin, but of course I can’t hear them, and it makes me feel powerless. I want to solve this, to fix everything for her. But I can’t. I don’t even know exactly what’s wrong.

My gaze catches on Kyro’s in the mirror, silently asking him what I should do. How do I handle this? What did I do wrong? He doesn’t catch on to my question, and only sighs before stepping closer. He takes Sora’s toothbrush from her and guides her to turn back to the sink and spit, then he picks her up and carries her to my bed.

I stay behind a minute, my hands on the bathroom counter, staring at my reflection. Without my voice or my body, what do I have to offer her? Or him?

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