Page 135 of Jay's Silence

My mates chose me: magicless Jaiyana, who talks to herself and loses memories to her crazy ex who brought a god down on the world. I spent weeks trying to drive them away, even purposely pitting them against each other like a manipulative child. And they stood by their marks, even using my dick moves to bring themselves closer together.

The world around me slowly sped up. Like a carousel, demons and dragons came back to life. Energy buzzed around me and filled me with exhilaration. My dragon’s powerful forms flew and sprinted toward an enemy a hundred times more powerful than them.

They believed in themselves, and they believed in me.

Thousands of moments I’d taken for granted overlayed the battleground.

“Push, girl, you’ve got this!” A thousand people at the gym shouted at me, believing I could do more than my mind and body wanted.

A thousand Arias’ youthful faces smiled at me, believing in the adult brightening their world.

A million micro-interactions filled me with meaning. I watched myself carelessly turn down Superintendent Kelly, passing him off to a woman who became the love of his life. I ran into Og at the Social, who pointed Caoimhe to Tenzin, whowould become the love of her life. Little moments I could never predict the outcome of but helped the people I touched. My actions filled my world with love. It was that simple.

A crack, like the split in a fault line, shook my insides. Magic I hadn’t felt in months surged forward.

I stood. The fault widened into a canyon, and pure power made my blood dance. The repetitive self-doubt that had haunted my existence died in a flood of truth. I was worthy of love. My own, and the love of my stupid dragons, whom I was letting beat themselves to death for my mistakes.

The words of a long-dead language tumbled out of my mouth, and my magic glowed around me. Unlike Og, I didn’t need runes to focus my will; I made demands of the world, and it bent. Four lines of invisible power raced to my dragons and wrapped around their chests.

One by one, I pulled them back to my side.

Tyson, who showed me how badly I wanted to be soft.

Rehan, whose quiet resolve forced me to confront my truths.

Ogden, whose simple acceptance made even my negative qualities shine with rays of good.

And finally, Lux, my damsel in distress who reminded us true strength came from the heart.

They skidded, or crashed, as I’d pretty much just pulled Ogden out of the sky, to a stop with various looks of confusion on their faces. Like cats, they regained their feet with dignity, licking their asses like they meant to do that.

Ok. They didn’t lick their asses.

We could make them.

Maybe later.

With the return of my magic, the one-way mate mark bloomed into a genuine two-way connection. I shoved pure magic into my mates. It wasn’t healing; Just like Og, that would require time and lots of energy, but the rush of power would givethem a second wind. They formed up; Rehan and Tyson stood at my sides. Og and Lux crowded my back. The four let out a roar, and streams of elemental magic crackled through the space in front of me.

“Now we can kill a God,” I said, thrusting my fist into the air.

We still can’t.

Shut it, I have a plan now.

Gorm streaked towards us and sprayed another round of poison. I stuck my hand in the air, palm up, and caught every last drop before sending it back directly into the Gorm’s demon dragon eyes.

The beast reared up. Rehan and Tyson leapt forward, slashing at its exposed neck. I needed to get higher. Literally responding to my thoughts, Og lowered his neck. I jumped onto his head and called a flame sword into my hands... not just any flame sword this time. I pulled the pure elemental flames of all four of my mates and fused them with my raw magic to give the weapon a core.

Opposite our fight above Lux’s tower, where Og wouldn’t even put me down, he charged into battle with me on his snout. The moment we got close enough to Gorm’s dragon, I jumped. Like a knife through butter, the sword sunk into the demon dragon’s skull and lodged itself in its poison gland.

I released the hilt and jumped back, finding Rehan’s head waiting for me.

Pure joy and adrenaline surged through me.

Gorm thrashed before focusing on me. His neck contracted, ready to spit. Except when he opened his mouth, the gland with my sword stuck in it burst. A stream of poison flooded his mouth and body, drowning the demon dragon in its own toxic goo.

But not the god.

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