very rare power where I can become a hybrid of a dragon and a man," Braxton said, his deep voice emerging from where he stood at the doorway to the back porch. He was spilling shifter energy all over the place. "Jacob appears to have the same ability, only he's taken it a step further."
“Braxton still usually looks mostly human,” Mischa added.
Jacob's chest, which was at least doubled in size, rumbled under me. "I was going to shift."
That deep voice was not human. It was the way I imagined an alligator talking, all raspy and weird. I'd never actually imagined a dragon talking, because until the last few years I didn't even know they were real.
"You can talk in this form?" Braxton asked, stepping closer, curiosity lacing his face and voice. He was watching his brother closely, but not in a predatory way—he was curious.
Jacob nodded. "Yes. Talking is hard. Vocal cords partially changed."
Braxton was nodding again, only a few feet away now. He was a dragon shifter and was far less breakable than me, so it was nice to have him close … in case I needed backup.
"The fact that you can make any human sounds when your head is a fucking dragon … dude." Tyson stepped closer. "That’s super impressive. I'm sure I could do the same, you know, if I wanted to."
"Shut up!" Grace hissed. "You competitive bastard. Now is not the time."
Her voice was sweeter when she spoke to Jacob. "Could you release Justice now?" She was trying to edge closer, but Tyson kept getting in her way.
If there was one thing these Compasses had in common, it was how protective they were over their mates.
Jacob didn't release me. Instead he stormed out of the house, me still in his arms.
"Is he hurting you?" Braxton asked as we moved past.
Jacob picked up the pace, so I shouted my answer: “No. I’m totally fine!” Despite the claws and scales, I was being held gently.
I had no idea if Braxton heard me. By then we were in the forest. When no one followed, I figured they understood what I already knew: Jacob was no threat to me.
The further we stepped into the dense trees, the calmer he grew, and the green magic that swirled around us and coated his skin in scales and armor faded, until eventually it was just me and Jacob, standing before a particularly majestic redwood trunk. It was so wide that I could only imagine it was centuries old.
I waited for him to speak, but he seemed beyond words, so I took the lead. "So, how are we doing with the whole 'ignore the possible mate bond' thing?"
No reply.
"I'm going to give us a three out of ten, and that's only because we’re both still breathing and in one piece. It's a charity three points. We don't deserve them."
Slightest twitch of his lips, but that could have just been because he was clenching his teeth so hard his lips were losing blood flow.
"I know my jokes are pretty rusty," I continued, because apparently word vomit was my go-to in tense situations, "but it also might be that you're a tough crowd." I nodded. "Yeah, pretty sure it's on you. I'm fine."
He released a sigh, and there was a lot of emotion in it. "I'm sorry, Ruby."
I swallowed my next words, trying to figure out why my chest fucking hurt. I didn't like my chest hurting. That wasn't good. And when did he decide that I needed a nickname? This was the second time he’d called me that, and … I didn’t hate it.
"You didn't do anything wrong," I told him honestly. "I accept who you are, Jacob. I think it's you who has an issue with this side that’s full of emotion."
He swung toward me, and the movement was fast and jerky. "I have never been like this. Not in all my years, and not in the lifetimes I lived before I rejoined this Earth as a Compass."
What? Wait ... what?
"You remember previous lifetimes?"
He had previous lifetimes? Fuck, we were getting into some deep, philosophical shit here. I didn't even know what my beliefs were, despite the fact that I'd heard rumors of actual supernatural gods being sighted around the place. I preferred to just wait and find out.
"I only remember this life," he said, reaching out to place his hand on the tree before him. "And I know it’s a mixed ideology that we can reincarnate. My brothers don’t even believe in it,