Chapter 48 Jai
CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
JAI
A sea dragon.
The initial shock keeps me still, pausing my heart for long moments. But of course, it makes sense, and the surprise is washed away in a flood of awareness.
I had felt her affinity to dragons, her affinity to my power—Phaethon’s power that meshes with mine.
Being a dragon, she’s a dragon speaker—to a lesser degree than an Eosphor, of course, and even less the first Eosphor.
It’s as if they were dragons in another world, changed as they crossed a gate, which is why they can speak to the reptiles roaming the sky.
I’m not pretending to understand their origin and why their form is so different, but that much is clear.
“That’s why,” I whisper. “Why you are able to speak to the darakin, and the drak. Remi and Keres. They are your dragons.”
“You called him down,” she objects.
“A dragon, be it a darakin, drak or dara, will only come down if they want to and that only happens if you can speak with them.” I think about this.
“This reinforces my feeling that all the dragons are related. The dara came with the Eosphors during the Last Reversal. The darakin insist they are related to the Great Dara but I’m starting to think they are more related to draks.
Some may be born from fiery, scaly eggs and some, like you and I, are souls who passed while fighting and changed but didn’t leave this world. ”
“Some dead never leave,” she whispers. “Never cross the gate into another world.”
After that, she’s quiet, probably lost in thought.
I’m quiet too, my mind still grappling with all that has happened, and with the power raging through me, flinging around more and more memories like fallen leaves on the ground, blown about in gusts of wind.
I’m at the eye of that storm, pelted by images and sounds, and it feels as if a spark is being fanned into a flame inside my chest.
Or inside my head? Hard to pinpoint its location.
Its significance, either.
I’m still struggling to figure out what it is. What it translates into. And meanwhile, it’s getting stronger. Hotter.
It makes sorting through my head, keeping my thoughts straight and clear a goddamn battle. Even without Phaethon howling inside my skull, I keep losing track of what I was thinking or wanted to say.
“Remi,” she says, and it takes me a long moment to focus on that. “You said that darakins may be souls that passed while fighting. That some dead never leave. Could Remi be… could he be my brother?”
The bright hope in her voice wakes me up from the daze I keep falling into.
Her brother?
“I don’t know, makhair,” I tell her truthfully. “I’ve never spoken to him much. Haven’t talked to many darakins in my life. Mostly to draks to coordinate the king’s army.”
“But my brother fought. He fought to protect me when the king… the king came for my family. I remember as much. What if he’s back?”
“Darling,” I whisper, wishing I could give her this moment of joy. “I don’t know if it could be him.”
“But Remi has said things that nobody but my brother knew. It has to be him!”
I lift a hand to stroke the satiny skin of her cheek, feel the feathery flutter of her lashes. “Then ask him. That would be fucking great.”
“Wouldn’t it, just? Even though he’s a dragon now.”
“The soul is what matters,” I inform her, hearing a secret question underneath her words. Does she think I’d be repulsed by the idea of her having a different body? “Not the shape. We may crave the body, but what we love is the spirit. And I love you, Little Thorn, more than you can ever imagine.”
I lay her down right there, on the terrace, under the morning sky.
She opens herself to me. It’s different from taking her the last time. This time her trust shines through her eyes, her body language. She welcomes me with no restrictions, no hesitation.
It fucking slays me.
I kiss the hollow of her neck, that sweet depression of her collarbone, then trail kisses down to her breasts, taking my time to torment each pert nipple until she moans my name and pulls on my hair.
Owning me.
I use my fingers to spread her open and marvel at the sight that greets me. She’s pink like a flower, and so wet for me, shiny and bright.
I taste her, because I can’t help myself, but then use my cock to tease her opening until she uses her grip on my hair to pull me up and kisses me.
Until I sink inside her and shudder with the rightness of it. The way she grips me, the way she moves under me, it’s how the sky was made, how the universe works.
She’s everything. She is my world.
The shape doesn’t matter, but I love her shape. It hasn’t changed. I love every curve and every spot that makes her writhe.
How will she look as a sea dragon?
Beautiful, I just know it. She’s beautiful in every form. She was a beautiful girl, and she will be beautiful when she grows old.
Always the most gorgeous woman, to me.
“Come with me,” she says, turning in the circle of my arms, pressing her body to mine. “We can bathe and break our fast together, and… spend more time together.”
We would have more sex—in the tub, on the carpet, on her bed. In front of the grand window overlooking the sea. In front of her mirror.
It’s tempting. So damn tempting. There’s nothing I want more.
“First I have to find Tru,” I tell her regretfully. “Haven’t seen him in days and I have to talk to him.”
She stiffens in my arms and her gaze shifts away. “Oh. Is it urgent? Did something happen?”
“I told Arkin that we can’t touch the king because of his mark on you. Ark wasn’t happy and Tru is likely to go off… and do stuff without consulting me. I’m worried about that.”
She gives a strange little laugh. “Right. Go on, then, and speak to your loyal friends.”
I frown. “Is something the matter?”
“In all this?” She waves a hand as she draws back, away from me. “Not a single thing. Everything is perfect.”
“Rae…”
She flashes me a quick smile, her gray gaze softening. “No, really, I mean it. Listen… I came here for revenge.” Her voice goes low and easy, the tension leaving it. “But I found you. I can’t wrap my head around it. I’m afraid to go to sleep in case it was all a dream.”
Something in my chest tightens until I can’t breathe.
“Go meet your friend,” she says, then winks. “I’ll go to my room and take a bath alone, eat and rest alone. Maybe play with myself alone.”
“Fuck,” I groan. My cock is stiff, tenting my pants, growing harder with every passing moment. The thought of her spread on the bed, or in the tub, playing with herself… “No.”
“No?”
“Don’t touch yourself,” I growl. “I’m the one who touches you. You don’t touch what’s mine.”
“Bossy, didn’t I say so?”
“And arrogant,” I mutter, “don’t forget that.”
She laughs, the sound clearer now. “And if I disobey?”
I bare my teeth in a sharp grin. “Then I’ll punish you. I won’t be gentle.”
“Promise?”
Damn. I knew she liked Phaethon’s way, and I swear I hear him snorting in my mind.
“I liked being with Phaethon,” she says as if hearing my thoughts. Is she hearing my thoughts through the bond? “But being with you was even better.”
I swear, I hear her voice in my head and I jolt a little. You have my heart, Mars.
And I’m fucking scared she’s about to break mine.
Holding her hand, I accompany her to the door of her room, then reluctantly step away.
I hate stepping away from her. What I want is to keep her wrapped in my arms forever. Not to leave her out of my sight ever, in case she vanishes again.
But instead, I find myself asking a manservant where Tru might be. He sends me in the direction of the upper floors where our rooms are.
I stride through the palace, my mind torn in a hundred directions. Does the king know what Rae is? Does he think he could use that? Or is he only using her to control Phaethon through me?
Does he really think Phaethon is about to open a gate for him?
Why all the theatrics, the power shows, the mark on my mate, the speeches and lashings?
Does he just want to put on display how he controls us?
Is it a political move? Is there dissent in his court?
He has always kept it under wraps so far.
Oftentimes, he has used me to suppress it. Had me fighting and killing both humans and fae. An extension of his supremacy. His violent general. His right hand. His sharp blade.
Tonight, I have to be vigilant in case he tries to manipulate her. I’d expected him to try that more, but he keeps saying that it all aligns with the prophecy, so what need would he have of that, right?
Lost in thought, I see someone coming down the corridor toward me and come to a halt.
“Tru.”
He does a double-take when he sees me. “Athdara. I was just knocking on your door but got no reply.”
“Sleep has been… elusive,” I say.
He casts me a curious look. “Because of your back? The lashing?”
“I was with Rae,” I admit.
For some reason, he pales. I swear, the blood literally drains from his face. “I should get going. I only meant to see if you’re okay. That lashing was brutal.”
“It was,” I agree.
“And how is it going with Phaethon?”
“Funny you should ask that… It’s better.” I watch his face, but it’s blank, though still pale. I’ve always trusted Tru but something is off. “It’s quieter inside my head.”
“Has the king bitten you?”
I shake my head. “It’s not that. But you’re right, something has changed, for fucking sure. It feels as though my power is growing. Being with Rae… it’s shattered some kind of seal inside me, freeing my magic.”
His eyes widen. “The prophecy—”
“This isn’t about the prophecy. It’s about her being my fated mate. My beloved. If anything were to happen to her…”
He takes a step back and his face goes positively gray. “Fuck, Jai. I didn’t know. I swear on all the sleeping Gods. I thought she had taken the king’s side. Let him mark her. Control her. I thought the finnfolk had a hold on her and were trying to off you.”
“What are you talking about?” I narrow my eyes at him. “Tru. What the fuck are you saying?”
He’s still backtracking. “I didn’t mean to harm her, hells, Jai, but I thought she worked for the finnfolk and you know what they did to my family. I thought she wanted to kill you. You’re like a brother to me. What would you have done in my place?”
“You…?” Pieces are falling into place, forming a dark picture. “You were the one who pushed her off the balcony? Who tried to fucking kill her? Tru… My mate. You tried to kill my mate.”
“I didn’t know that.” He’s shaking his head convulsively. “Please, Jai, believe me.”
A roar leaves my chest, shredding the inside of my throat. “You dared!” My shadows erupt, wrapping around him, around his neck as I start after him. “You motherfucker.”
Suddenly, hands are on my shoulders, shaking me. “Stop it, Jai,” Arkin shouts. “Stop! He’s your friend. He only did it to protect you.”
I whirl on him. “Did you fucking know? Were you in on this?”
“No, I wasn’t, but he’s right. I’d have done the same if I thought she was trying to kill you. You didn’t tell us who she was. How were we supposed to know?”
Disgusted, I step back. “You two make me fucking sick. I trusted you. I told you she was the woman I love, Ark. And you…” I jab my finger at Tru. “You almost killed her. I almost lost her again because of your fucked-up move. Instead of talking to me first. Instead of asking me.”
“You’re so love-struck,” Arkin interjects. “You don’t see clearly.”
I seethe. “No, you are the ones who don’t see clearly.”
“You told us that killing the king is off the table! That she is more important to you than the world!”
“And it’s the truth.” I gather my shadows back. They come slowly, jerking and spiking. “She’s the idealist, not me. If I lose her… my mind will snap right the hell through. I’ve tried to imagine it but I fucking can’t. This game is lost.”
“So you’re telling us you’re about to ally yourself to the king and Phaethon? Help them do what we’ve been trying to stop? This is about the future of the worlds, Jai!”
“I can’t lose her. I’m not about to betray the world, so calm down. But we have to find another way. That’s my end decision.” I glare at him. “And if you ever touch her again, I’ll end you. I swear it.”
Turning my back on them, I drag my heavy feet, my heavy heart and my scorching fury down the corridor, heading to my room.
“Welcome into the fold,” Phaethon whispers inside my mind.
“Fuck you and your kind,” I mutter, kicking my door open and storming inside. “I’m not on your side because I put her first. I haven’t given up yet.”
“But you will,” he says, smug. “Because the only other way, as you said, is sacrificing the Little Human and for you, that would be the final blow.”