“Are you really okay?” Zilon asked, coming over.
Philit was still off to the side, not moving or looking at me. He was taking it the hardest, since the pain had happened when he tried to enter me.
“I think so,” I said.
Zilon’s frown deepened.
“You didn’t like our touch?” he asked, sounding so patient.
“I don’t know,” I said, sighing and burying my head in my knees.
“Rayna.” The softness in Zilon’s voice almost undid me.
I was trying to understand so much but still didn’t get it. All I knew was that the pleasure had quickly changed, making me uncomfortable instead.
“They fucking did something to her!” Landers yelled out, still pacing while scowling hard in my direction.
“He’s just worried about you. That was an extreme reaction; one we didn’t expect,” Philit added.
“I know,” I said, looking down at my knees and wondering if I was broken.
This should have been a happy moment but that quickly crashed when I rejected them. The pain was so intense that it had felt like I was being murdered rather than having the sex I had craved.
I fricken threw up. Couldn’t get much more dramatic than that in the middle of sex.
“Here, get dressed,” Philit said, tossing clothes at us. His expression was closed down, giving nothing away. I stared at the robe. It was a Fyre academy one, silvery white and designed to make riding a dragon easier. “Rayna, what happened when they took you?”
“You want to listen now?” I asked, unable to hide the bitterness in my voice.
Even Landers came over, getting clothes to put on. As they covered their nakedness, it was easier to think clearly again, since I was no longer distracted by their bodies. No longer remembering what it felt like to have one of their cocks in my mouth while I was coming. The taste of them.
“Please, just tell us,” Philit said.
My shoulders slumped as I caved, knowing this was my chance to get them to understand.
“They were teaching me how to use my magic,” I said, lifting my hand up and showing them my lightning. “They were teaching all the riders how to use magic. We aren’t just someone meant to give you your fire, but we can also fight on our own. Do more than what the dragon king and his people have been trying to make us believe. And Neyil says I’m part of a prophecy, that I’m the key to ending this war. And once the war is over, then we can all focus on the real danger in the Crotlyn Mountains.”
“What danger?” Philit’s eyebrows were furrowed as he listened to me, trying to understand.
Wariness filled the bond between us, but I couldn’t pinpoint why he felt that way or what thoughts he was hiding deep to provoke those feelings.
I shook my head. “I don’t know. He hasn’t really explained that yet.”
“So while we were freaking out, you were off playing with the fucking Fae?” Landers’s nose scrunched up in disgust.
“It wasn’t like that. I tried to escape, but that place isn’t easy to leave. I’d made it as far as the castle walls before I was caught. Then, I made a deal with Neyil. I’d stay there for the week, learn more, get to see what riders were truly capable of doing without the dragons there to suck their powers away, and then he’d let me go. After the Winter Solstice tomorrow, I was supposed to be let free.”
“You can’t be gullible enough to believe that, can you?” Landers asked.
I crossed my arms, beginning to feel defensive. “Probably as gullible as you are to believe the dragon king would simply let us go.”
That shut them up quickly.
“I think it’s fair to say we both did what we had to do to survive,” Zilon said, trying to calm us back down.
We took a moment to collect ourselves and cool down our simmering emotions.
“What do you mean by the dragons sucking your powers?” Philit finally asked.