“You need a hand there?” Notus’s voice came from behind her as she was positioning the last one.
“Hey Notus.” She said warmly, turning to look at him. He was striding toward her in a leisurely pace, his curly blond hair ruffled by the wind. He was wearing dark blue jeans, a grey t-shirt and a beige jacket.
“Thanks, but I’m almost done, actually. I’m just putting together an area where we could sit. I thought you guys would appreciate being outside.”
“Definitely. We take every opportunity to stretch our wings.” Notus grinned at her. “Figuratively this morning, anyway. The others are just getting showered after their morning flight, and they’ll be here shortly. They didn’t want to smell bad on the first day of school.” He winked at her.
“You didn’t join them on the flight?” Rainey said.
He huffed out a long sigh, which caused two wisps of smoke to puff out from his nostrils. Sadness flickered in his deep indigo eyes. “No. I got injured when we fell to Earth and haven’t been able to fly since.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry, Notus. You must miss it.”
“I do. Normally, we heal very fast. Our saliva has a special property which makes wounds heal, but for a reason we don’t understand, it hasn’t been working in my case. It’s been fine for injuries we’ve gotten here, and it also works on humans, but maybe it’s because my injury happened between the two worlds.” He shrugged.
“Perhaps it’ll just take longer than it normally does,” Rainey offered. She wished there was something she could do.
“Maybe. I’m trying to accept it as it is, anyways. And being so busy with the agency and the building project here helps a lot.”
“Good morning, teacher!” Rainey recognized Quinton’s voice, and she turned to see him approaching them in energetic strides, looking serious and determined. Eurus and two dragons she hadn’t seen before were following him.
“Rainey, these are Zane and Jett,” Notus introduced the dragons. They both nodded at her and said hello cheerfully. Jett had a dark olive skin, wavy hair and black eyes. He was shorter than the other dragons and so extremely muscular that his chest was almost square. Zane had big blue eyes and the blondest hair she’d ever seen in her life. It almost looked white.
“Do you have anything I could write on and something to write with?” Rainey asked.
“Sure do,” Jett said. “I’ll go and get something for you.”
“Rainey, thank you for taking the time to teach us,” Eurus said. “Boreas is the only one of us who has some skills, but he’s been busy with the agency. We’ve been trying to follow his instructions, but it hasn’t been easy. Not to mention we didn’t even know you have different rules of building here.”
All the other dragons nodded at Eurus’s words. They seemed so appreciative and eager, it was almost difficult to believe. Maybe it was something Boreas had put them up to.
“We’re very eager to learn,” Zane added as if he’d heard her thoughts. “We used to have good homes in Ethereum. Some of them were made of granite, others were cloud castles. Personally, I prefer the cloud castles – they’re much more comfortable. So, we want to create some comfort for ourselves here.”
“Roofs that don’t collapse would be a good start,” Notus said, and they all laughed.
Rainey tugged at the hem of her sweater nervously. She felt very tense, but their enthusiasm helped her relax a little. They seemed to really want to learn, and she needed to do her best to help them. She so wanted to get something right for once.
“Don’t start without me.”
Rainey heard a familiar voice and turned her head in time to see Boreas emerging from behind the communal area. “I thought you had to be in the Dragn Protection agency today?” she said, unable to prevent her lips from curving into a smile.
“I had to, but I made some arrangements. I decided I couldn’t miss your first day of teaching.”
Her heart skipped a beat and her cheeks heated at his words. She wasn’t used to attention, especially from men who were as handsome as he was. “Well, I’m very glad you’re here. You can help me out if I get stuck with something.”
Boreas saluted her and went around the back of the communal building, then returned with a crate and seated himself between Jett and Notus, right opposite Rainey, rolling up the sleeves of his denim shirt. His presence gave her a new burst of confidence. His deep brown eyes were kind and his smile, which sometimes slanted slightly down on the left, in a manner she found very charming, was encouraging. She heard his words again, You will be great today. I just know it. She took a breath and focused her thoughts, drawing support and inspiration from his powerful presence. She was going to do this right. For Boreas, who seemed to believe in her. She couldn’t disappoint him.
“Okay, then,” she said. “I thought we could do some theory today to cover the basics. How does that sound?”
“Great!” they said in unison, grinning and nodding.
The next three hours flew by. Rainey was self-conscious at first, stumbling over her words and forgetting the point she wanted to make. But Boreas’s smiles and little nods here and there, and the curiosity in everyone’s eyes, dissipated her stress and she became more and more confident. The dragons had been taking notes on paper, and they were so diligent that Jett had to go and bring more paper. They’d also been asking a lot of questions, and listening to her with undivided attention.
They stopped for lunch halfway through the day, and even then they continued asking questions. Rainey had covered the theory a long time ago, and despite the fact she had an avid interest in architecture and read a lot about it in her spare time, she had been worried that she’d forgotten some of it. But her mind was very active and she was able to easily regurgitate the information, producing detailed answers.
After lunch, they were eager to get back to work.
“I thought we could look at designing the interior of the cabins now,” Rainey said. “I just need a moment to draw a few sketches.” She grabbed her pencil and a piece of paper.
“A round of applause for our brilliant teacher in the meantime,” Boreas called, and they all stood up and gave her a loud cheer.
“Thank you so much,” Rainey said, feeling the heat rise from her neck toward her face. She was glad she had buttoned her shirt all the way up and for a second she wished she could pull it over her face too. A lump of emotion came to her throat, and her eyes threatened to tear up. “You’ve all been wonderful,” she said. “And it’s been one of the best days I’ve had.” She looked at Boreas last, as if to tell him without words that he’d been her main source of strength and inspiration.
She was afraid her words made her sound stupid or pathetic, but she also needed all of them to know how much that day meant to her. She felt appreciated in a way she hadn’t in a long time.
“This is officially the best day I’ve had here,” Quinton said in a voice full of excitement.
Zane nodded. “Me, too.”
They spent the next two hours looking at interior design. Rainey wanted to make the afternoon more playful and less theory heavy, so she suggested designing a dream home together. She asked each of them what features they wanted their home to have, and she made a long list. Then she suggested they should take turns to come to the front to draw their desired features on the common sketch. They all loved the idea and enthusiastically took turns at drawing. Quinton was the last to take his turn, and the other guys made fun of him for taking twice as long as everyone else to make sure all of his lines were as straight as could be.
When they were all done, Rainey thanked them for their support and enthusiasm once again. She was so happy when they all said they couldn’t wait for their next lesson. Quinton gave her another hug before he left and, to her surprise, so did everyone else before rushing off—Zane and Jett to the Dragn Protection office and Quinton, Eurus, and Notus to take possession of the lumber that had just arrived.
“You were brilliant,” Boreas said to Rainey.
<
br /> “Thank you.” Her cheeks were warm. “I was very nervous this morning and so close to asking you to cancel the whole thing, but I didn’t want to let you down. And you have a way of making me feel more confident.” She lowered her eyes, hoping her words didn’t sound cheesy. “Thank you for believing in me.”
“You should believe in yourself, too. You have every reason to.” Boreas smiled at her. “You shouldn’t doubt yourself, Rainey.”
Her cheeks grew hot, and she started cleaning up her desk to hide her face from him.
“I had a call from Veitch Lumbers earlier,” Boreas told her while helping her tidy up the area. “They’ve only delivered a third of the lumber today because they didn’t have enough supplies to cover the whole order.”
“That’s weird. I thought they had a good amount of supply on site,” Rainey said.
“So did I.” Boreas shrugged. “It’s not a big deal anyways. We’ve got enough to make a good start. They said they’d have the rest later this week.”
“That’s good. I’m glad it’s not an issue.”
“Not at all,” he said. “By the way, there are some tables and chairs in the storage area if you’d like to use any of them for the classroom,” Boreas offered.
“Oh, that’d be great. I think it’ll be more comfortable for the guys.”
“Let’s go and get them now then.”
They walked together to the storage room. It was a small extension on the right of the community building, crammed with wooden furniture. Some designs were rustic, made from high-quality oak, using the natural shapes of the material to create irregular and fluid pieces, while others were solid classical items, most of them decorated with ornamental carvings.
“I had a lot of time on my hands when we first got here, so I made many different things,” Boreas explained.
“You’re very skilled!” Rainey exclaimed. “I love your designs.”
“Thank you,” Boreas said humbly.
He helped her look through all the things and choose the items she liked. She selected three rustic tables and six chairs for the guys and another chair and a small table for herself.
“Why did you leave?” Boreas asked.
“What?” Rainey was confused.
“Your architecture degree. Why did you drop out?”
“Oh. Dwayne encouraged me to change. He thought it would be difficult for me to find a job in the field. He said it was too competitive and I didn’t have the natural talent for it.”
A little sound escaped Boreas’s lips, something like a growl. Rainey startled.
He laid his hand on his chest and cleared his throat. “That’s a shame,” he said. “You obviously have a lot of passion for it. We were all impressed with your knowledge. And I could also tell from your sketches that you have real talent.”
“Maybe one day I’ll go back to it,” Rainey said and smiled to herself. Would she really? Probably not. She doubted she’d ever gather the courage again. But here on this island, she felt different. Life felt different. It was like a fairytale, magical and ideal. And just like a fairytale, it was unreal, but she was going to allow herself to dream and enjoy it while it lasted.
Chapter 6
Boreas
“I spoke to Aquilo earlier,” Notus said to Boreas the next day, in the Dragn Protection office. They’d just finished an early meeting with a new client, who was offering to pay a small fortune if they could find a small chip that one of his competitors had supposedly stolen. Boreas had no idea how something so small could be of so much value, but the money was beyond good and they’d readily accepted the case, despite the fact that they were low on resources.
“He’s saying things are alright. Megan Garner has calmed down a little after the break-in. They’re going away to her sister’s for the weekend. She lives in a small town about three hours’ drive away.”
“That’s good,” Boreas said. “I’m sure the change of scenery will help to relax her. Let’s put someone on patrol around the house while they’re away in case that nut job tries to come back.”
“Will do. I’ll check who’s available,” Notus nodded and sipped from his coffee.
The door banged opened and Caden walked in. His red hair was messier than usual, and his light blue jeans, gray sweater and black jacket all looked dirty, as if he’d been rolling in the dirt. Boreas could tell just from the expression on his face that he was in one of his extra-shitty moods again.
“You two seem to be having a very leisurely morning,” Caden teased.
“Here comes the troublemaker,” Notus said, raising his blond eyebrow in Boreas’s direction.
“Did you sleep on the street?” Boreas asked. “Why do you look so disheveled?”
“It’s none of your business where I’ve slept,” Caden barked.
“I’m just worried about you,” Boreas replied and tried to remain calm.
“Really?”
“Yes. Really.”
“Well, if you’re so worried about me, you should come and help me find out if there are any female dragons living in some shitty corner of that miserable place,” Caden took off his jacket and threw it on the sofa.
Boreas stood up behind his desk and strode over to him. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“Quit playing stupid, Boreas. You know what I’m talking about.” Caden waved his arm in a manic gesture. “We’re losing our powers. We need to find some females of our species and mate with them to restore our strength. That’s the only way we’ll be able to break through the barrier and return home.”
“Damn it, Caden,” Boreas said. A wave of anger washed through him. “I thought you’d given up on all of that stuff and decided to help us out here. We’ve got a prophecy to fulfil.”
“I don’t care about your fucking prophecy,” Caden hissed. “There’s no way the Oracle predicted that it was our destiny to come here. She’s probably looking down and laughing at all of you, stupid fools.”
“Go wash that stink off you, and stop wasting my time, Caden,” Boreas said. He was forcing himself to sound casual, but he was wasting his patience.
“You are the one who’s wasting time,” Caden shouted, jabbing a finger at Boreas and taking a step toward him. His eyes were blazing with anger. “Playing boyfriend and girlfriend with your little human there. We’re spending a fortune paying for her time on the island, and wasting precious time. All because you can’t control your dick.”
Boreas charged towards Caden, grabbed him by the collar of his sweater, and slammed him at the wall. His blood boiled in his veins and his ears were ringing. Notus was shouting his name somewhere in the background but he ignored it.
“Listen to me, you ungrateful stupid dragon,” Boreas said between clenched teeth, puffs of smoke escaping from his nostrils. “Rainey has helped us so much here. How dare you speak ill of her? I’ll rip off your scales one by one, and clip your wings, if you say anything bad about her again! Do you understand me?” Shaking with anger, he slammed Caden at the wall a second time.
He felt an arm on his left shoulder and heard Notus’s voice behind him, as if it was coming from a distance.
“Boreas, calm down,” his friend was shouting, trying to pull him away from Caden.
Boreas let off a snarl. He wanted to beat the crap out of the selfish moron, but he knew that Notus was right. He let go of Caden but he continued standing in front of him, his face an inch away from his. “I’m sick of you and your childish intrigues,” Boreas said, his throat pulsating violently. “All you’ve been concerned with since we arrived here is yourself. We all miss Ethereum, Caden. We all left family, friends and loved ones there. And while you may be a blasphemous idiot, we recognize that we have a prophecy to fulfil here and all of us are committed to it. We’ve been working our asses off, while you’ve been causing havoc. So dragon up, and help us out here.” Boreas gave him a final shove before stepping away. “Get out of here.” He gestured toward the door. “Now.”
Caden grabbed h
is jacket, and walked out, mumbling under his breath.
Boreas paced around the room, which felt like it was closing in on him. He needed to go out for a flight.
“I’m sorry,” he said, turning to Notus.
His friend looked at him, his blue eyes tense and worried. “I’ve never seen you so mad before. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you being mad before. What’s going on, man?”
“I don’t know, Notus,” Boreas shook his head. “Maybe the stress is getting to me.”
“He’s right about our powers, you know? We do need to consider finding some female dragons to mate with,” Notus said carefully.
“I know.” Boreas sat on the sofa and took his head in his hands. “I’ve been worrying about that, too. But we have other problems and responsibilities. And above all, we need to stick together and support each other. He always stirs things up.”
“His mouth is too quick for his brain. He doesn’t mean half the things he says.” Notus chuckled.
“You’ve got a point there.” Boreas looked at his friend, feeling grateful for his support.
“Rainey is your mate, Boreas,” Notus said.
“What?”
“She is,” Notus nodded. “I see how you are around her. You’ve been a different person since she showed up in our lives. Eurus has noticed it, too.”
“Come on, Notus,” Boreas protested. He stood up and started pacing up and down the room again.
“That’s the fact, man. She’s your mate. And the sooner you stop fighting it and you accept it, the sooner you’ll solve whatever’s preventing you from being with her.”
He took a deep breath. What the hell was Notus talking about? Rainey? His mate? An avalanche of feelings and images cascaded into his head. The way she smiled. The way she often tugged at the hems of her shirt or sleeves. The way she played with her hair when she was thinking. Her dreamy eyes. Her sensual lips. Her smell. Yes, Rainey was special. That was for damn sure. She was the most gorgeous and beautiful woman he’d ever laid eyes on. He loved spending time with her and his dragon was unusually excited around her. But he’d never consciously thought about her in that way because she already had a mate. Yeah, he was the world’s greatest asshole who wasn’t even fit to lick her boots. But surely, Rainey wasn’t looking for a romance. He was attracted to her, yes. He may even be getting a little bit attached to her, but it wasn’t going to happen. Caden was right. They did need to try and find some female dragons and mate with them, so they could restore their strength. And he needed to play his part and do what was good for the clan.
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