Page 62 of Emerald Waves
And there went the tears.
“I love how fate is bringing us our mates. All the cousins will grow up together, so close in age.” Caro’s eyes filled as mine had. “I can’t begin to tell you how long ago we’d written off our own happiness and accepted the life we were created for, believing that maybe it was meant to be that way. Now to find that wasn’t the case is overwhelming in the best of ways. I love you so much it hurts to be away from you.”
“And I you, mate. Our lives will be so much richer together.”
“They already are, my love. No amount of wealth will ever surpass the love of family.”
Found family, I nearly said. But that tidbit I kept tucked away. This found family was better than anything my blood could’ve been. This town, these brothers, well, except for Caro when he first realized we were mates and pretty much freaked out. But they treated me with respect and now filled the void in my life, and my heart, with a love unlike any other.
“I thought we could start shopping for the nest, along with linens and a few items of clothing. Once the magic created from our love reveals its sex, we’ll order more.”
There went my savings.
“I know that look and don’t forget, your mate has been around long enough to have made wise investments. Our family will never want for anything.”
From nothing to everything. My cup was overflowing, as was my heart. I couldn’t wait to meet the culmination of our love had created. No child should ever have to suffer as I had, and I’d see too it our children never felt that pain.
Chapter Nineteen
Caro
There was something about the scrape of claws through stones that had a grounding effect. It helped that I could picture the cradle and the ledge for all the baby things so vividly in my mind while I worked. Each drag of my claws sent another layer of dirt and rock crumbling onto the horde floor, but I had a broom handy to clean it up with later. I’d had to move the desks apart to make space to stand while I worked, but come morning, when my archivist was awake and ready to get back to his discoveries, the spot would be pristine and ready for him.
I’d already bolted two sturdy iron hooks into the wall, and ordered the big, heavy-duty lanterns I intended to hang from them. While dragons didn’t need light to see by, the effect of having lanterns in the cave, in addition to the light installed in each of the habitats that needed them, kept the cave bathed inwavering shimmers of light, just like the ocean, before one dove so deep they left all the light behind.
Thinking of the ocean reminded me of the conversation Mattias and I had after Ionus stormed out. I’d questioned why I never sensed him shadowing me and his response had been to question why I’d felt the need to block them out and use my abilities to keep my presence masked whenever I’d gone exploring. It dawned on me then that he used the same ability to keep me from picking up on his presence. What could I say in response to that? Nothing. I’d stood there feeling chastised and a bit ashamed, because Mattias and I truly should have been exploring together.
I’d promised to bring him the relics I’d found, or at least the ones I’d begun to suspect weren’t human. To me it had always been like buried treasure, only sunk deep in the sandy bottom of the ocean floor or some difficult to reach cavern only accessible to humans when the tide was low. He’d pointedly asked how many inland explorations I’d ever attempted, and why I hadn’t piped up about my love of exploring cave systems when Alex arrived on our doorstep, discussing spelunking and fossil hunting with Ionus, who preferred being in the air over being confined. It made sense when storms were his element to command, and he thoroughly enjoyed being one with the atmosphere.
My answer had been simple, but complicated too, so I’d only shared a fraction with him, not wanting anything to be misconstrued.
Ionus had already sensed Alex was his mate, so I saw no need to get too familiar.
Fair enough. What was your reason for keeping it from me?
That part I hadn’t had an easy answer to.
I assumed you’d seen them all before.
That had been the easiest answer, given the way he prided himself on being so in-tune with his element. I knew my way around the world and the scars from all the changes it had undergone. I’d seen the rise and fall of civilizations, but when it came to what lay beneath the surface, my focus had been limited. Ionus had been right to call me out on being more in-tune with Mattias’ element than my own. I could create one hell of a wall of dust if we ever needed it, but resulting damage to everything it coated would leave me with yet another mammoth landscaping bill. I just didn’t see where earth could be much use in battle when dragons typically took to the skies. I’d figure it out though, if it would keep them off my back for a while. I’d expected Ionus’ disappointment, but there was an undercurrent of fury in Mattias’ words, and the aura around him in his office, that I was still struggling to process.
I did not feel like I’d crossed any lines in rescuing the sea life I’d saved. I’d been nearby, and they’d called to me. If they’d called to him, I’d have known far sooner that my brother liked to lurk when I was in the water.
When he’d been able to find me.
While I might not have known that we were engaged in a giant underwater game of hide and seek, it did thrill me to know that I’d been able to keep myself hidden from him in the depths, even if only for a short while, by tunneling beneath the sea or emerging from the floor of it. That he hadn’t known about my rescue efforts meant that my ability to mask myself from my brothers was truly something that had begun to frustrate Mattias for the past century. Apparently, it had become a real challenge for him to locate me in any body of water or feel my presence when I tuned them out. Hearing that I’d been rendered defenseless beneath the sea without him ever hearing a whisper about it had pissed him off, and left him shaken, something he let me know that he did not appreciate.
Telling him my intent had not been to upset anyone hadn’t been the answer he’d wanted to hear. My promise to no longer mask from him when I entered the water had been his first request. The second was about the artifacts. I’d gather and return them to him just as soon as Emerson was finished with his photos and descriptions for the catalogue.
My claw rasped over the stone, having finally carved enough of the bassinet basin to see that it was going to turn out the way I envisioned. Emerson and I would be able to touch, tuck in, turn, or otherwise fuss over our egg without having to get up from our desks. It was the perfect height to allow us both easy access. I was sure Emerson was going to have a blast picking out the perfect blankets to line it with.
Prickles spiked through my blood, sizzling as I was alerted to something tripping the wards. This time it wasn’t the ones near the cave that Alex had tripped upon his arrival. The ones going off now were coming from the archive building in town, which had its own, specific ‘ring’ if I were to compare the vibrations the wards gave off to the ringtones humans assigned to different phone contacts. I hurried from the horde, securing the door behind me before I strode through the house, dragon restless beneath my skin, itching to get out.
The stars were bright in the sky as we tore out of our homes, wings emerging and propelling us into the sky even as we completed our shifts. It only took two flaps for Ionus to send a terse message to us, ordering me to approach from the east, and Mattias to approach from the west, while he would take the most direct route. Odem and Quint he commanded to stay behind and protect our mates and the dragonets.
They weren’t pleased, but they complied, Odem more willingly than Quint, but then Odem took every opportunity he could get to spend time with the little ones. None of them slept throughthe night yet, so his presence would allow Alex to get some much-needed sleep.
As I approached the archives, moonlight illuminated the silhouette of a dragon shape perched on the edge of the building, claws digging into the roof, peeling back chunks of brick in long, heavy lines. As I circled around, I saw why they were able to breach the wards so close to the building. A large hole revealed the entrance to a tunnel, as well as another dragon, this one clawing its way into the building from the side.
