Page 39 of Medusa

Jaden had never felt so alone.

He was pretty sure the punch to his torso had broken something, or at the very least cracked a rib. His breathing didn’t feel affected, so it hadn’t punctured a lung. The bruising would be pretty bad no matter what. Jaden had seen the damage to Pollux, and now that Typhon had brought him up, he was pretty sure he was responsible for Pollux’s condition.

Okay, so they took me for two reasons.

They must have been planning to kidnap me all along, for losing my fight with Pollux.

A bookie, huh?

He must have had major odds for Pollux winning that fight and had to pay out big time.

So they had a drug prepared to incapacitate me and brought it along to knock me out.

They also had the sensation-booster, shifter inhibitor drug ready to go once I got here.

If I could transform, I’d be out of these chains in seconds and through that door like tissue paper.

Jaden amused himself with imagining that scenario for a few minutes before he remembered that Typhon was a diamond dragon. He shuddered. Those were some of the most ancient dragons. It had been rumored that the humans had wiped them all out, or so he and his brothers had heard once they woke up from their sleep.

Obviously not.

They had the knockout drug with them, so they were planning on kidnapping me anyway.

Then Maddie distracted me from my usual routine.

She also somehow got on their radar.

Jaden pictured Maddie from that night—the night before?—and swore. Of course, she’d been wearing that sheer top thing with no bra underneath. It made him feel feral that Typhon had tried to put his filthy hands on her. Maddie had managed to give them the slip and come to find him.

But now Typhon is obsessed with her, so much so that he was distracted from the real issue the last time he’d interrogated Jaden; the fight with Pollux.

Jaden smirked. If he could keep Typhon off balance, drop hints about a person that he wasn’t asking about, even if they were fabricated, he might live long enough to be found. His brothers would find him if they knew he was missing.

He just had to buy them some time so they could realize he had been kidnapped and do something about it.

He drifted a little as he tried to come up with plausible hints about Maddie and the way the brothers fought.

It felt like many hours had passed before Typhon and his men returned to the room, almost a full day.

Maybe it had been night and they’d gone to sleep again?

Jaden didn’t care. The more days that passed, the more likely he was to be found.

Typhon was smirking as he put a small blue object on the seat of the chair in front of Jaden. “Tell me about the dice,” he said.

“Good luck charm,” Jaden replied automatically.

Typhon punched him in the jaw. “Try again.”

Jaden spat blood in the other dragon shifter’s face. “If you know the answer, why don’t you tell me?”

Typhon scowled. “We know that you and your brothers randomly choose what matches you lose. I assume you roll the dice before the match and only win if the number says so.” He paused, looking at Jaden for agreement.

Jaden kept his face impassive, despite Typhon having guessed correctly. “Cool theory. That’s just my good luck charm.”

“Liar!” Typhon hissed, spittle hitting Jaden’s face. He hit Jaden a couple more times, fists quick and punishing.

It took a moment for the spots to clear from Jaden’s vision after that bout. He took careful breaths through his mouth; his nose was definitely broken. The hot blood flowed down his upper lip before dripping into a pattern on the floor.

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