Claimed

by Sammie Joyce

  “Then we should get you out of here. You still have time to sneak back in before she wakes.”

  Before either of them could get up, Gavin strode into the room. “You’ve been awfully quiet, brother. Are you still asleep, or—”

  He stopped dead when he saw Rose. She was still naked, half entwined with Jagger. Gavin’s easy expression morphed into a dark scowl, which he directed at Jagger. “What do you think you’re doing? She belongs to all of us, not just you!”

  Jagger started to say something, but Rose interrupted him. “What do you mean, I belong to all of you? I’ll have you know I don’t belong to anyone.”

  Gavin’s anger seemed to melt a bit as he looked at her. “That’s not what I mean. The prophecy says that when we find the one, it is the duty and joy of all four of us to love and protect you. Well, it doesn’t specifically say four, but it says the dragons you first encounter and grow to bond with, which is us.”

  “I—you all want to be with me?”

  “Of course. I see Jagger has taken first dibs without asking any of the rest of us.” The scowl was back, an expression Rose matched.

  “I chose to be with Jagger. We’re both adults, and neither of us need to ask your permission.”

  “You… you don’t want the rest of us?”

  Rose hesitated. She was confused and overwhelmed. Unsurprisingly, after last night, she felt closer to Jagger than any of the others. That didn’t mean that her feelings for them had left, though. But she barely knew them—barely knew any of them.

  Rose knew it was insane to consider giving up her virginity to a dragon she’d known less than a week, but she was. She’d be happy for any one of them to take her. After last night, she envisioned it being Jagger, but she realized she would be just as happy for it to be one of the others.

  “I didn’t say that. I’m just saying you shouldn’t be angry with Jagger because he was with me first. There’s plenty of me to go around.” Rose had never flirted before she met the dragons, but they seemed to draw out a whole new side of her.

  The blanket was covering her up to her waist. Her usual shyness seemed to have taken a holiday as she got up, letting the blanket fall away. The dragons made her feel confident within herself like no one else ever had.

  Gavin’s eyes flicked down her body, and it was easy to read the desire in them.

  “Like what you see?” Rose murmured. She stood close, waiting to see what he would do.

  Gavin stepped closer, so that her breasts were pressed up against his chest. “I’d say so.”

  He tilted her head up and kissed her. His kiss was different from Jagger’s—faster and harder, where Jagger’s had been playful and tender. Rose loved it. It was just as perfect in its own way. Gavin’s tongue prodded her to open her mouth, which she did eagerly.

  Time lost meaning as they kissed. Eventually, they broke apart for air. Gavin’s scowl was completely gone.

  “I have to go, or my roommate will miss me. Maybe we can continue this at another time?”

  “You can count on it.”

  Rose glanced at Jagger, and was relieved to see no trace of jealousy. He was smirking at Gavin. It was a strange thought, being with four dragons, but Rose found it to her liking. She realized she was grinning so wide that her lips were starting to hurt.

  “Come on, let’s get you back. The spell should still be working, but you’ll need a distraction to get past the guards.” Jagger led her out of the room.

  Asher was in the main area, and he raised his eyebrows when he saw Rose. “Looks like someone had a good night. You might want to do something with your hair before you go. Not that it doesn’t make you look even sexier when it’s tangled like that, but it’ll probably raise questions with your roommate.”

  Rose was relieved that he didn’t have a reaction like Gavin’s. She knew Gavin tended to assume the worst, but she didn’t blame him for it. The dragons had been put through hell by the witches. If his way of dealing with it was to assume the worst, she wouldn’t try to change him, though she hoped to give him more reasons to smile in the future.

  “Is Mace still asleep?” Rose didn’t want to leave without saying goodbye to him if he was up. Mace was quiet and often didn’t participate in conversation as much as the others. She didn’t want him to feel forgotten. Rose thought about his curly blond hair and imagined running her hands through it. No, Mace was definitely not forgotten.

  “Yeah, he always sleeps late. Do you want me to wake him?”

  “No, that’s alright, let him sleep. Just tell him I said goodbye, will you? Though it won’t be for long—I’ve volunteered to bring you guys breakfast.”

  “Excellent.” There was that gleam in Asher’s eyes that was somehow dangerous and exciting at the same time. “Now, come, let’s get you out of here. I’ll open the door; we can’t have the witches seeing it open of its own accord. Tell us when you’re back in your room so that we can undo the invisibility spell.”

  Rose followed close behind Asher. He opened the door of the basement, stepping aside to allow her past.

  “Excuse me, I was wondering if you could bring some orange juice with breakfast today?”

  One of the witches sneered at Asher’s request, but at least she didn’t hurt him. Rose didn’t stay to hear the whole conversation. She sped through the halls, hoping that Annabelle would sleep late today.

  She opened the door to her room as quietly as she could. Annabelle was yawning and sitting up. It was clear she’d just woken. Rose hurried to the opposite side of her bed, climbing in and pulling the blankets right over her head.

  Asher, I’m back. You can take the spell off.

  Done, he replied after a couple of seconds.

  See you soon!

  Rose stayed where she was, listening to the sounds of Annabelle getting ready.

  “Rose, wake up.”

  She groaned and slowly pulled the blanket down, trying to appear as if she’d just woken up. “I’m up.”

  Rose got dressed in silence, her mind still on the dragons. She was tired after spending half the night talking to them, but she didn’t regret it. She could have a nap after class today.

  As she yawned, she found Annabelle peering intently at her. “You’re glowing.”

  “Um… thanks?”

  Annabelle grinned. “I think someone got laid last night.”

  Rose thought Annabelle was too intuitive for her own good. She considered lying, but decided that would just raise more suspicion. “Maybe.” She couldn’t keep the smile off her face.

  “I don’t suppose I get to know who the lucky girl is?”

  Rose considered telling her that it was a guy, but realized that would be a bad idea. There were a lot of women here, but hardly any men. It was just the dragons and one or two staff members. She’d have a better chance of keeping this secret if she didn’t narrow the pool of possibilities down.

  “Nope, not yet.”

  Annabelle shrugged. “Well, if you want to spend the night away from here, I won’t tell anyone, if you don’t want me to.”

  “Thanks, Annabelle. You’re a good friend. I do want to keep this quiet for now, but when I start telling people, you’ll be the first.” Rose had no intention of telling anyone, but if she had to tell someone, she’d tell Annabelle. Of course, even as trustworthy and as good a friend as Annabelle was, she’d still react quite badly to find out that Rose was in a relationship with four dragons. Best to keep quiet about it.

  Rose supposed that she was indeed in a relationship with them. She’d never wanted romance or sex before, but now, she found herself delighted at the prospect of both.

  She ate her breakfast as quickly as she could, eager to get down to the dragons. Unfortunately, one of the kitchen staff decided to come down with her to help her hand out the trays, so Rose couldn’t act as she’d have liked to. She would have wanted to sit on the couch between her dragons, talking and laughing with them.

  Instead, all she could do was share glances with t
hem filled with meaning. Jagger winked at her when the other woman wasn’t looking. Are you up for another night here?

  Of course!

  No, Jagger, she needs to sleep. Asher frowned at Jagger. Rose, maybe tomorrow night? I can see that you’re tired.

  She was tired, she couldn’t deny that, but she wanted to spend time with her dragons. Rose blushed at thinking of them as hers, but it felt right. I guess tomorrow would be fine. Even she could hear the disappointment in her mental voice.

  I’ll make the wait worth your while. Asher gave her a heated look that just made Rose blush harder.

  You’re adorable when you blush. Gavin stepped closer to her to take his tray, letting his hand brush hers. Are you up for having more than one of us in bed at once?

  Rose hadn’t thought of that, but she couldn’t deny that the idea was appealing. Maybe.

  She handed Mace his tray. Sorry I didn’t say goodbye this morning—I didn’t want to wake you up. I know I hate it when someone wakes me before it’s necessary.

  That’s alright, Rose, he said softly, staring at her as though she was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen.

  She had to leave just a few minutes later, but Rose was determined to spend some time alone with them when she brought their food tonight, even if it was at the risk of the guards coming to check on them.

  They had a theory lesson today. Kaylee was teaching them to focus their energy into a small object, causing it to explode. Rose barely listened. She could think of little else except the dragons. She heard enough of the lesson to know that it was important to shield yourself from flying fragments when doing this spell, but beyond that, she had no idea what was going on.

  The lesson dragged on, and Rose was relieved when they were finally released. Jade and Wendy stayed back to ask Kaylee something, which left Annabelle and Rose walking to lunch.

  They passed Mace in one of the hallways, dusting a number of old paintings.

  Annabelle moved closer to him, deliberately hitting him with her shoulder as she walked. Mace staggered a bit, but managed to stay on his feet.

  Unbidden, a flash of hot rage went through Rose. She grabbed Annabelle’s wrist, spinning her around. “Don’t do that! It’s completely uncalled for.”

  Annabelle looked torn between anger and disbelief. “It’s a dragon, Rose. It deserves far more than that.”

  “His name is Mace, and he’s a person!”

  “No, he’s not. Haven’t you been listening at all? We need to keep them down. Araivis!”

  Rose leapt between Annabelle and Mace. The pain spell hit her like an electric shock. It wasn’t enough to knock her to the ground, but it was certainly enough to hurt.

  Mace grabbed her arm, pulling her behind him. No, Rose! I won’t have you getting hurt because of me.

  “Get away from her, you monster!”

  “He’s trying to protect me, Annabelle, like any decent person would do when someone is getting hurt.”

  Rose quickly stepped out of Mace’s grasp, before Annabelle tried to do something drastic. Annabelle glared at her. “I’m telling Kaylee. We all thought you were getting better, but you’re not better at all, are you? What have they done to you?”

  “They haven’t done anything, they—”

  It was too late. Annabelle was already stalking off. Rose turned to Mace. “Are you alright?”

  “I should be asking you that. You shouldn’t have jumped in front of that spell.”

  “I’m not putting up with this nonsense anymore! They can’t just keep treating you like animals.”

  Mace was staring at her in awe, as though her words were something more than common decency. Rose guessed they were. This was more than just disapproving of torture. She cared for her dragons.

  As Mace looked at her, she realized that he cared too, perhaps more than she’d realized. She couldn’t just read his thoughts—she could read his emotions. Rose didn’t know if this was a normal part of the whole mind reading thing, or if it was something unprecedented.

  It’s normal. Mace switched to mental speech. As you get more advanced, you’ll be able to sense our thoughts or emotions, unless we deliberately block them off, or you do.

  Why would I want to do that?

  Sometimes it can get overwhelming, being able to sense everything someone else is thinking and feeling. Or you might want to block off your own thoughts and emotions for privacy. It’s not recommended, though. Hiding things never goes well. Asher has us all banned from blocking each other, though he doesn’t have the authority to ban you. As our mate, you are his equal in authority.

  Rose wasn’t sure what she thought about that, and now wasn’t the time to figure it out. “I’d better go see if I can calm Annabelle down. This won’t go on forever, Mace. I don’t know how, but I’ll find a way to unite us. The witches are wrong about dragons. You aren’t monsters. I believe you are good.”

  He smiled shyly at her. “I know. That’s why I believe in you.”

  As she rushed through the halls, Rose’s head spun with what she’d just found out. Mace was in love with her. It seemed incredible that he could fall for her in such a short time, after having only a couple of real conversations with her, but at the same time, it felt right.

  Rose didn’t have time to figure out her own feelings, but she suspected she was heading in much the same direction as Mace—for him and his brothers.

  She hurried toward Kaylee’s office, but her heart sank when she saw she was too late. Annabelle and Kaylee were just coming out, both looking grim.

  “Rose, I’d like to see you in my office.” Kaylee held the door open for her, leveling her a forbidding stare.

  Annabelle opened her mouth as if to say something, then changed her mind and hurried off.

  Trembling, Rose stepped into Kaylee’s office.

  Chapter Eleven

  Rose sat tense in her chair. If Kaylee tried to lock her up and reeducate her, she had to fight. No way was she going to let her feelings for the dragons be brainwashed away. Who knew what kinds of vile magic they’d come up with for the task?

  Of course, a fight with Kaylee was probably doomed from the start. Rose barely had a grasp of the basics of magic, and Kaylee was the coven leader. Coven leaders were elected from the most powerful and accomplished witches. She’d probably be knocked out and strapped to a bed before she knew it.

  Her only real option was flight. If she could get out before Kaylee cast a spell, she might have a chance, but where would she go?

  The dragons. They would protect her. Rose didn’t know exactly how they would do it, but she knew that if she could get to them, they wouldn’t let Kaylee near her, not when Kaylee was intent on harming her.

  “Well, Rose? Do you have anything to say for yourself?”

  Rose hadn’t yet figured out how she was going to get out of here before Kaylee cast a spell at her. She tried to stall. “What do you mean?”

  “What do I mean? I mean your disgusting behavior toward one of the captive dragons! Annabelle told me that you shouted at her for dispensing discipline, and even worse, you deliberately got between her and him when she tried again, hurting yourself in the process!”

  “I’m not badly hurt. I’m fine.”

  “No, you are not fine! I thought spending time with the dragons was helping set your head straight, but clearly I was wrong!”

  Kaylee went into a rant about the dragons, how evil they were, and how disappointed she was in Rose. This was extremely useful, as Rose used the time to decide on an escape plan, should escape become necessary. She didn’t need to listen to the rant; she’d heard it all before.

  She bowed her head, trying to look ashamed as she glanced covertly around the rest of the room. Kaylee would have to cast her hands out to cast a spell. The minute Kaylee’s hands moved toward her, Rose would use her feet, which were already resting against the legs of the desk, to push it forward, throwing Kaylee of balance.

  That should be enough to make the initial spell
miss. By the time Kaylee was casting a second, Rose would be gone. She’d go to the left as she got out, reaching a corner almost immediately, so Kaylee couldn’t cast spells at her running back.

  She just needed to turn corners faster than Kaylee could, and she’d be safe. Still, it was a dubious proposition. Better to avoid conflict altogether.

  Rose interrupted Kaylee mid-breath. “I have something to say now.”

  Kaylee glared, her nostrils flaring. Rose wouldn’t have been surprised if she breathed flames. “Well?”

  “I know what you think of dragons—believe me, I really do. You’ve given me a lot of reasons to hate them—some sound, and some not. Just listen to me for a minute. I’ve been spending time with them, more time than you or the other witches ever have.”

  She took a deep breath, steeling herself. “They’re not bad people. They’re not perfect, but neither are we. Look at what’s happened to both the witch and dragon populations over the last two decades. We’re killing each other. Even if you don’t believe they have any good in them, you have to realize that fighting them is just going to end in extinction for all of us. We need to find a way to unite our people—or at the very least, learn to live with each other.”

  “If every witch dies fighting those monsters, it’ll be worth it. Better we all die than have one of them free to wreak havoc on the human population.”

  “That’s not what they’re going to do, though. I know you think they will, but it’s just not true. It may have happened hundreds of years in the past, but Asher and the others don’t bear any responsibility for what their ancestors did.”

  “You all bear the crimes of your forefathers,” Kaylee hissed. Rose could have sworn that for a moment, her eyes flashed red.

  “Kaylee?”

  Kaylee blinked several times, her hands clenched on the desk. “You will report at once to Maria. If she can’t heal you of your delusion, you will have to be transferred to a specialist ward.”

  “I’m not delusional just because I don’t agree with you! Maria can’t cure me, because there’s nothing to cure!”