I shrugged. “Nope, maybe I’m not the same as the other marked. There doesn’t seem to be any spirit energy inside.”
My words all rang of truth, not that I knew if the mystics could sense that or not.
His pupils darted left and right, as if trying to ferret out my secrets.
“We were told that your mark was far larger than any other here. Surely, you must have a greater connection to spirit?”
I shrugged again. “Don’t know what to tell you.”
He met the eye of another mystic. Gerard, I realized. He would have been the one to tell him of the mark.
Ignoring everything else for a moment, I turned to Mischa. “So are you, like, connected to all of these supes?”
I wanted to understand what was happening between the marked. I could actually see the dragon specters intermingling. They did seem to be forming bonds in the smoky stuff.
Mischa nodded. “Yes, it’s as if I can feel their life force, or their energy. I know exactly where each one is. I could find them with my eyes closed.”
She was interrupted by Quale. “Now it is time to really tap into the powers. I want you all to tell us what is on the back wall.”
All heads lifted to stare out across the massive space. I had noticed when we walked in, that there had been words painted on the far wall, but I hadn’t paid attention to what it said. Now, even with my wolf eyes, I couldn’t see the image clear enough, it was too far away. I had a suspicion that in dragon form I’d have seen to that wall and beyond, but I wasn’t connected enough to my dragon to partially shift, so I wouldn’t even try.
It seemed the marked had no eyesight problems. Even Mischa was muttering away next to me before shrieking in joy as she finally managed to zoom her eyesight out far enough.
“This is incredible. I can’t even imagine what it feels like for you to be an actual–”
I cut her off with a loud cough. Even though she had been whispering, there were too many ears in this place.
“Still nothing, Jessa?” Quale was watching us, his eyes flicking between Mischa and me.
I shook my head. “No, I can’t seem to find the dragon marked energy. But I’ll keep trying.”
The rest of the afternoon was filled with the mystics teaching the marked how to tap into their dragon abilities. I’d never seen supernaturals jump higher, run faster, or react quicker. They were enhanced, and that worked for fighting also. Lucky for Mischa, this wasn’t a fight class. Judging on the demonstration between a vampire and a wizard – she would have gotten her ass handed to her. I’d been impressed, especially as the vampire gained the upper hand and threw the wizard about fifty yards across the room and into a wall. The wizard recovered quickly enough. It seemed their bodies were like super soldiers when they were calling on the dragon spirit.
This was the only part of the training I wanted to join in on, I was pretty sure I could tap into my wolf and have a shot at fighting. I wasn’t skilled or connected enough to use my dragon yet, but something told me once I had better control over my shift, I’d be able to use her extra senses in a similar way to the dragon spirit.
All of the Compasses were in the room now, having trickled in slowly over the last hour, bringing food and goodness. Since I had no dragon spirit, I was able to sit out of most activities, hanging with my boys enjoying all the scrumptiousness of my first love – food. Grace and Tyson were back to ignoring each other, peeling off to opposite sides of the group. I was going to guess that the pair definitely did not do enough arguing. Their shit still wasn’t resolved.
“What’s with you and Grace?” I asked the wizard during a quiet moment.
He growled, running a hand through his hair. “Frigged if I know, I can’t understand that woman to save my life.”
I snorted. “Keep calling her ‘woman’ and you probably won’t have a life.”
He shook his head. I could see the tension was wearing him down. “I most probably deserve the silent treatment, but I never thought I’d want to hear someone’s thoughts so much. Shit, even yelling would be better.”
I reached out and took his hand. He needed the comfort.
I remembered what that had been like, the uncertainty, fear, longing. Seemed he was the one now who wanted something more, and Grace was the one not ready.
Many boring hours later, the marked training was done and it was time for the mystics to focus on my quads. I was leaning against the wall, Braxton on one side with his arm wrapped tightly around me, and Jacob on the other. Just as the dragon marked supes started to exit the room, one of the mystics slithered past. He paused near my group. “Any luck finding your spirit?”
They were such asshats. I bared my teeth slightly, my eyes flat as they locked on him. “If I find it, you’ll be the first to know.”
He blinked at me once or twice before backing away slowly. It would be nice to think he was scared of me, but most probably the quads had been doing something off to the side. They were kings of the scary face.
“They think you’re deliberately not following their instructions,” Braxton said, his voice close to my ear.
I nodded. “I know, but that’s better than them knowing the truth. They’re on the king’s team, and unless the stories about him were very exaggerated, I will never stand with the king. I don’t want him to ever know I’m a dual shifter. He will use me, and I will not be used.”
Braxton leaned in and nuzzled me, partly comforting and partly pantie-drenching. He was sporting the slightest stubble today, and as he rubbed against my cheek the sensation was deliciously hot.