9. ~Kai~
~Kai~
The dragon was challenging me.
This was a form of payback from his sick and twisted perspective.
Odd, because I was usually known as the sick and twisted one.
Having it reciprocated wasn’t something I was used to.
Of course, he’d picked up on that.
He was making himself one hell of a stubborn adversary.
One hell of a notable adversary.
And now he’d tried to dig deeper at my heart by coming after Nyx.
“You’re immune to Incubi allure.”
“That I am,” he responded like a self-satisfied little bitch.
“Not all dragons are. In fact, most aren’t.”
“Correct.”
I kicked the door shut—again—because Nyx had left it open in his discombobulated state when he’d left moments ago.
“Do you have any idea what this meant to him?”
He started, seeming a whole lot surprised. “That’s where you go first?”
Blowing past what he’d obviously mistakenly assumed about me, I strode up to him and told him, “Since he was turned into a hybrid, he’s only be able to be with one person sexually.”
“You.”
“And it’s killed him that it could only be that way, killed him that it’s been such an issue.
He was so free before, but what happened to him broke that in him.
This now apparently being an option with you is a huge thing for him.
It won’t just be sexual relief to him. It will be a great deal more. Fuck, it will be everything to him.”
“You think I’m just using him, playing with him?”
“Yes. To get at me.”
“I’ll admit, when you sent him to dreamwalk me like that, it did occur to me. Until I realized that it was solely your doing and you’d sent him to do your dirty work, that he was just an ordered, uninformed participant, just trying to please you.”
“You shouldn’t have been able to even sense his interference. You certainly shouldn’t have been able to see him, or even interact.”
“Well, we did a lot more than just interact.”
I growled low in my throat.
He pushed me further when he swept his tongue over his lips. “He has a unique taste. He tastes like cotton candy. Don’t you think?”
“Yes,” I gritted out.
“So you do give, then? I figured you just took and commanded.”
“Then you assumed wrong.”
“Huh.” He cocked his head to the side. “Why do you treat the angel differently?”
“Because that’s how she needs it.”
“She needs to be degraded and treated like your dirty little slut?”
“It’s the only reason she’s returning for more.”
He frowned. “I don’t understand. Aren’t you holding something over her?”
“So she believes.”
“But you’re not really?”
“She needed a push.”
“To fuck you?”
“To let go.”
He thought for a moment and started pacing back and forth. “Wait a minute, you want her to unleash her power? You’re not really trying to stifle it?”
“I lost her because she stifled it herself. So, what do you think?”
“Lost her as your friend? I heard you talking about some former friendship.”
“It wasn’t just friendship to me.”
“I see.”
“What do you want from her?”
“That’s my business.”
“Yet, you’ve made it mine. I know it’s something to do with her power.
And here’s the thing, you might have felt it from her, but it’s barely in use.
She’s not the indomitable force you believe her to be.
She doesn’t live up to her Celestial status.
I’m trying to help her. Now, after all these years, I finally have an in.
Years . Do you understand me? Do you see just how fucking bad it is?
I won’t let you fuck all over this opportunity.
This is my last chance. It’s her last chance. ”
“Last chance? Why?”
“After this year is done, she’ll have fulfilled her promise to her family. And that will be it. She’ll resort to what she’s wanted all this time because of her fear of her own power.”
“Resort to what?”
“She’ll disappear into the ozone. She’s even searching out dangerous ways to remove her power altogether.
Unbeknownst to her, I’ve thrown up obstacles to stop her from going that route.
But she’s still searching, anyway. One thing you need to know about Ari is that she’s incredibly stubborn.
If her quest to get rid of her power fails, she’ll likely trap herself in a phantasmal plane , and there’s no one alive on this plane who can breach her magic to pull her out of it.
Not even Ryker Morgan can absorb that much Celestial magic to break through it with his defensive power. ”
“You’re fucking kidding me.”
“I wish I was. She’s in a bad state. She hides it well, but I know her. So if you came here to taste her power, to use it for your own ends, or whatever the fuck, know that you’ve made a huge mistake.”
He scrubbed his hand over his face. “I wanted to be with someone who could match my raw might, who could understand it, who could taste it and revel in it as much as I’d revel in theirs.
No magic-wielder can live up to that, no other dragon either, because I’m stronger than all my kind.
I wanted to craft a new place for what I am—a freak, basically.
And she’s the only one—I felt her when she reached magical maturity. She’s the one.”
Well, then.
“You don’t just want to use it. It goes a great deal deeper than that.”
“And you know I’m telling the truth because you’re covertly employing a truth spell. Smart, because I can’t be impacted by magical coercion, but a truth spell is an outlier where that’s concerned.”
I smiled. “I’ve been doing some research.”
“Tone down your arrogance, it’s only partially impacting me.
It’s just giving me the urge to tell you the truth, it’s not actually forcing it all the way.
The option is still there for me. You’re more fortunate than anything that I’m in a generous mood now you’ve told me what I want to hear regarding both Nyx and Ariana. ”
“That I’m not a stone-cold asshole from hell to them both, after all?”
“Something like that.” His eyes narrowed. “I still can’t condone the way you’re treating her, though.”
“Maybe some balance could be helpful.”
He started. “Are you actually asking me to assist?”
“If I were, I need to make it clear right now that you can’t take her for yourself.”
“You’re in love with her?”
“I was. Until she turned her back on who she was. And on me. It’s kind of hard to love someone who’s no longer being themselves.”
“Sounds incredibly complicated.”
“That’s usually my thing.”
“Not when the heart is involved. It’s different then. Everything is.”
“So I’ve heard.”
He chuckled. “Sure, we’ll go with that, seeing as though it’s all you can admit.
At least you’re not actually the stoic puppet master I took you for.
You do wear that image well, though. It even fooled instincts as attuned as mine.
Of course, that was assisted by the fact that you do possess a dark and fucked-up side. ”
I got up in his space. “You. Can’t. Take. Her. Are we clear?”
“You do know that there is something called agency? Her own agency? What she wants? Not just what you design for her, or even hope for her in your less puppet mastery moments?”
“If I didn’t know that, I wouldn’t have gone about things this way, or waited three fucking years for an opening. I don’t know you well enough yet, so I’m concerned about what you’ll do to disregard her agency.”
“The days of dragons kidnapping their women and spiriting them away to their castles full of treasure are long past. Most are fables, anyway. I only know of two actual instances where that even occurred in reality.”
“And Nyx?”
“I like him. It’s genuine.” He shoved a hand through his hair. “Sounds strange, seeing as though it’s so new, I know.”
“It actually doesn’t. He has a way about him. And I’m not talking about his allure. You and I can both counter that, so it’s not a factor. I’m a stoic asshole to most people, yet he was able to worm his way into my heart. He’s my friend, and I don’t exactly do friends. That’s how special he is.”
He chuckled. “Yeah, I can see that.” He shifted his weight and folded his arms across his chest. “Then we agree to stop working against one another?”
“Agreed. On a probationary basis.”
“Fine. Will she be in class later today? I didn’t get a chance to ask about her schedule before she took off in such haste after the Ruminat hut situation.”
“She’s not here today and she likely won’t be for the rest of the week. Your best bet is this weekend.”
“What? It’s the first week of classes of a brand-new year.”
“It’s her typical avoidance. When she does venture out of her dorm room for a rare time this week, likely at the latter end, it’ll be at nightfall, and you’ll find her up near one of the turrets.
She’ll sit there for a while before getting up the courage to fly around for a little while.
It takes her some time to actually take the leap—literally and figuratively.
” I shook my head in despair. “Every fucking time.”
“Motherfucker. How did this happen? Isn’t she close with her family?”
“She is and they’re extremely supportive.
But they’re also extremely concerned about her power set, and they possess a very real fear of what would happen if she lost control.
She had a lot of issues with it when she was a child and it clouded a great deal.
They’re also under a lot of pressure from various factions, as well as high-ranking officials in the Guardian Movement and the Unity Council to ensure she’s kept in line.
And there are even very real concerns of what the True Celestials would do if she expended a mass amount of uncontrolled power. ”
“They think they’d come for her?”
“Perhaps even worse than that. So, you see how it’s a complicated and highly-volatile situation?
That’s why I’m treading so carefully, why I have to play these sorts of games.
What I’ve been doing since her party has already had her letting go, bit by bit, in a way she hasn’t before. In a safe environment.”
“It’s fucking harsh, though, Kai.”