Page 95 of Cast By Flames (Dragon's Breath)
She shook her head. “No. I thought they might be like whales and come up for air.”
He giggled. “Sea dragons couldn’t live very deep if they couldn’t breathe, Grandma.”
“No, I suppose not.”
“They’re very ferocious,” Bailey said, pretending to shiver.
Orion’s eyes rounded. “You’ve seen them, Mommy?”
She smiled. “Only once. My team was assigned to fight land dragons, but there was one time when they brought us as reinforcements. The few slayers and a contingent of Marines stationed at the coast got overwhelmed.”
“Why did they attack?” Orion asked.
“The Spraedan don’t like anyone fishing near their territory, so every now and then they go after the boats and trawlers.” She squeezed his hand. “But we always taught them a lesson, and they’d retreat back into the ocean.”
There was so much Aidan still hadn’t learned about his mate’s time away from him. This was a story he hadn’t heard before. With all that they had to worry about, he hadn’t asked much about her battles with dragons on the East Coast, but of course, she would have run into sea dragons. He’d never seen any for himself, only heard stories about them.
Conrad and Rosalie joined them, with the newly turned slayer pulling his girlfriend into his lap. He gave Orion a grave face. “Sea dragons are the most dangerous to fight. They’ll try everything they can to pull you under the water, and if they do, you ain’t comin’ back up.”
Bailey frowned at him.
Aidan understood since they did their best to hide the darker elements of the world from him. He leaned against the wall by the door, waiting for the last of their guests to arrive.It was nice to watch everyone interact and take this evening to enjoy themselves.
“What do they do if they pull you under?” Orion asked, leaning forward in his grandma’s lap.
Everyone stiffened, unsure how the unpredictable man might respond.
Conrad made a tsking sound. “They take you to their secret city deep in the ocean and make you eat vegetables for the rest of your life.”
Aidan fought a smile.
Orion let out a loud giggle and kicked his feet. “Ha ha. You’re silly.”
“He’s right,” Bailey said, lips twitching. “That’s where all the children who don’t eat their vegetables go.”
Paul and Candace were sitting at the table with their chairs turned to face the sitting area. Danae’s sister had been quiet, but she snickered at Conrad’s outrageous lie.
“I saw lots of sea dragons when I rode a ship from Scotland after the dragons arrived.” Candace shuddered. “It was all the sorcerers on board could do to shield us from them. Sometimes, on a clear day, you could see children at the bottom of the sea eating broccoli, green beans, and brussels sprouts. They had whole platters in front of them.”
Orion gave them all suspicious looks. “I don’t believe you guys.”
“Believe it or not.” Conrad shrugged. “But you’re taking your chances if you don’t eat some vegetables every day. At leastyou get some meat, fruit, and bread here, too. The water dragons won’t even give you a cookie if they take you down there.”
A knock sounded at the door. Aidan turned to open it and found Zoran in the corridor, escorted by Ruari and Freya. He gestured them inside. “Please, come in.”
“Did we miss anything?” Ruari asked, running his gaze around the room.
They were the final guests, other than Kayla, who would arrive from the kitchen with the food.
“Orion was just learning that if he doesn’t eat his vegetables, he could be taken by sea dragons and forced to eat them forever in the underwater cities,” Aidan replied seriously, managing to keep a straight face.
Zoran lifted a brow to this. “Are we going to need to protect him from this dire fate?”
“No,” Orion shouted, fisting his hands. “I eat most of my vegetables, so they can’t get me.”
Conrad let out a chuckle. “I’d watch it with that ‘most’ part, little man.”
Orion slipped from his grandma’s lap and raced to Zoran, leaping into his waiting arms. Aidan tried not to feel jealous of his son’s exuberance to see his uncle. Ruari’s nose scrunched as if he found the scene displeasing as well.
