Page 34 of Emerald Waves
Yes, yes, of course. Our mate.
Our mate who lay writhing in pain on Ionus’ couch, unable to communicate or let us help. This feeling of helplessness didn’t sit well with me. Especially when it was tied to someone I loved.
Think Emerson, think.
I ran my hand over the scanner outside the horde. “Wait here,” I told Odem.
“Not on your life. You heard Ionus. What if something is going on with that statue and it attacks you? There’s no way I can help from out here.”
“If it attacked me as it did Caro, there’s nothing you could do to help.” A physical being was far easier to combat than one that fucked with your head.
“As a protector, it’s engrained in me to do all I can. If I didn’t at least try, Ionus would have my scales.”
Ionus scared the hell out of me on the best of days, more so than this artifact did, though I’m sure that fear was backwards. “Not a hint of teasing my mate for his choice of horde.”
“I promise.” Not sure how well Odem kept his promises, but his words were all I had to go off of for now. Odem glanced around, his eyes widened in surprise. “Why would I tease him for this? His horde is seriously cool.” One by one he inspected the tanks, a youthful smile upon his face. “Here fishy, fishy.” And his inner child had risen to the surface, not that it was ever far for him. But as soon as my eyes landed on the statue, my heart stopped.
“Um, Odem?”
He came around the corner and to an abrupt stop. “Do. Not. Touch. It.” He quieted, mentally communicating with his brothers. “Fuck,” he muttered. “Do you have any idea what it is?”
“Not a clue. There hasn’t been much time for research.” With the mating and moving, but I left that part out.
Think, think, Emerson. Something about this is familiar.
“Huh, this statue is kinda cool.” Odem got as close as he dared without touching it. “It’s like if a dragon mated with a sea creature. Looks old too.”
“That’s it!” I exclaimed, running toward the boxes we’d not yet unpacked. “The Mer-dragon’s. For so long I’d believed it was nothing more than dragon lore, fairytales told to the young.” Fuck, it wasn’t in this box. I ripped open another, careful not to damage the ancient scrolls. “Aha!” No sooner had I slid it from the box than Odem appeared by my side as I unrolled it with the utmost delicacy. “My Draconian is a bit rusty.”
“Well, mine’s not.” Odem’s solemn declaration gave me pause. “The Merdragons, water dragons, were said to have been extinguished during the dragon wars. When alive and facedwith grave peril out of fear they turned themselves to stone for protection. All of the stones are believed to have been destroyed.”
“That’s-that’s…” words failed me.
“That’s a Merdragon. Quite possibly the last remaining one.”
“It’s not,” Caro’s voice scared us both. How had we not heard him enter the horde? “I’ve been in their den, that’s where I found it.”
Every Denarius brother filed in. “Brother, you better start explaining before we’re at war with a distant relative over this.” Ionus wasn’t in the mood for bullshit. “They obviously know you have it, or they wouldn’t have attacked you as they just did.”
“Fuck.” Caro sat with a huff on the floor, clearly too weakened to remain standing for long. “I located their cave recently buried deep beneath the sea and that’s where I found the statue. The same mental assault happened there, reducing me to my human form and rendering me powerless as their elders appeared before me then vanished. I didn’t know what the stone was, just thought it was an artifact worth preserving in my horde.”
“We must return it at once,” Ionus demanded. “Peace must be made. We leave at dawn.”
“Your dragons will never make it that many leagues beneath the sea. This is a journey I must make on my own.”
Mate?
Emerson, my love. Your dragon isn’t strong enough to accompany me. I’m sorry, but there’s no way. Our brothers will follow as far as they can. I-I, I can’t risk losing you.
I don’t like this.
Nor do I. But it’s my mistake and I must atone for it and make peace as Ionus said.
“Hey, who made this flipper for the turtle?” Caro growled at Odem’s question. “It’s freaking cool.” I felt a shift inside mymate as the anger he’d initially harbored at Odem’s question was replaced by pride.
“I did. His other was shredded by a boat propeller.”
“I knew your link with water was strong, though I had no idea it ran this deep.” Even Ionus was surprised by this. My mate’s fear of his brothers tormenting him over his horde was all for naught. “There is much good you could do, maybe that’s the angle to take when we meet with them.”
