Page 59 of Emerald Waves
“If you say so. Now answer my question. Why am I always the last to know what’s going on with any of you?”
“Because you expect more than we can deliver, most of the time,” I blurted.
“No, I expect what I know you are capable of,” he replied, “Which is why what I saw in the pool beside the gems is so concerning. You are completely out of touch with the earth and all that it could be telling you. We know we are going to be plunged into war the moment the Gorynych realizes that their castoffs have been discovering their dragon sides and places with other pockets of dragon kind. We each need to be as in touch with our elements as much as we possibly can in the hopes that we can find where more of our kind is hidden and make sure they know of the continued danger from the Gorynych.”
“I did bring us to the Merdragons, in a sort of sideways way,” I pointed out. “That tunnel had never been there before the day of Emerson’s fall, or I’d have already explored it. I think being so near to him in the archives prior to that day had already begun to awaken my stone. The time between swimming through the tunnel and feeling Emerson’s distress was rather short, I think. I know I lost track of everything when I was disoriented, but I don’t believe it was for that long.”
“And yet you hid it, and the statue, from me,” Ionus said. “That is the part I am still struggling to understand, along with your recklessness and secretiveness. I expect reckless behavior from Odem and even from Quint from time to time, but none of you have ever tried to conceal something of such importance before.”
“I guess someone had to be the first.”
He didn’t even try to conceal his snarl this time, and I knew I was pushing it. I also knew that I was shielding and borrowing from Odem’s bag of sarcastic remarks, to keep from fully having to engage in this conversation with him.
“Give me a proper reason and I’ll drop it,” Ionus declared. “Give me anything that doesn’t scream of arrogance, recklessness and envy and I’ll be silent from this point onward, but I don’t think you can. You have not embraced the earth as fully as you should, you are not as skilled at tapping into it and reading the condition it’s in, and after our exercise with Raven, I’ve realized that your capability to exist and even thrive in the deepest depths almost rivals Mattias. After my own struggle to handle that swim, even with the two of you aiding me, I don’t consider that to be a bad thing, it means you have a leg up on the rest of us. What shocked me was that neither he nor Raven were aware of it. It’s enough to make me wonder how many other secrets you’re keeping from us.”
“Nothing earthshattering, I can assure you.”
“What good are assurances when I don’t know what to expect out of you anymore?” Ionus asked, sounding weary now, instead of angry. “We have more at stake now than ever before. We have mates and children to protect and nurture to maturity. None of us knows what would happen to our stones or our abilities if one of us were to lose their lives, which you could have easily done at the hands of the Merdragons, and never once did you even bother to reach out and let us know you were in trouble. That is unacceptable, Caro. You are supposed to be my second in command. I need you to step up and start acting like it. I also need you to think harder on what drew you to that tunnel, or if your dragon opened the tunnel for you because it sensed the Merdragons were hiding within the underwater caverns there. If we can learn what signs to look for and what the presence of others of our kind feels like, perhaps we’ll have an easier time locating them. The longer Gramps and his clan have been with us, the more of a signature I pick up from them that’s different because their element calls to my own.”
“I think you have your answer right there,” I pointed out. “Now you can describe it.”
“Being able to compare experiences would make for a sounder determination.”
“If I remember any more than I’ve already shared, I’ll tell you,” I replied. “But there’s not much more to it besides I spotted the tunnel, and I swam inside. Case closed. Not quite as exciting as falling down a rabbit hole, I suppose, but it got the job done.”
“I hope that one day your hatchling gives you as hard of a time as you’re giving me,” Ionus muttered.
“Did you just put a curse on me?” I growled, shooting him the side-eye.
“No, I’m merely wishing you a taste of your own medicine,” Ionus replied. “Maybe once you understand how frustrating it can be to want to keep someone from making grave mistakesonly to watch them tap-dance on a landmine, you’ll comprehend why I worry about all of you so much. Your misadventure was proof that even as protectors we are capable of causing harm and upset among other dragon communities. We must treat this with much more caution moving forward if we want the rest of dragon kind to be able to trust us.”
“I know,” I replied, hanging my head a little. “I screwed up. It won’t happen again. My focus moving forward is on getting the house ready for the little one and keeping Emerson happy and content until he has the egg.”
“Good luck with that,” he said as he finally headed for the exit of the foyer. “There were times when sayingGood Morning, My Lovetriggered a twenty-minute tirade on all the ways the morning hadn’t been good, starting with the squirrel that woke him, which he threatened to send me outside to roast.”
Snickering, I could just picture Alex, hair sticking up in every direction, sending Ionus out like a king sending a knight out to battle for him. Not only was it amusing, but there was a sort of charm to it that just made Alex perfect for my otherwise grumpy older brother. Finding his mate had been the best thing that had ever happened to Ionus. He seemed lighter these days, even while he’d been chewing me out. If this was the Ionus of two years before, I’d still be on the pitch paying penance for my transgressions, exhausted, and not in the way I’d been the last time I’d left it.
I snickered at the thought, knowing I’d never look at it the same way again, and doubted Alex would either. Decades of jokes would be born of that moment, and I couldn’t wait to hear every one of them.
Chapter Eighteen
Emerson
I woke with a start from a dead sleep when it hit me. No clue how long I slept, having been beyond exhausted after the day I had, but I had to talk to him and find out if it was true. There was no way he didn’t know, and my mind wouldn’t relax until it got the answers it sought. Unless I’d been giving him far too much credit, which was highly possible, though not likely.
He knew.
I rushed down the stairs and out the front door, not realizing until it was too late that I’d zoomed right past Ionus and Caro. Great, now they were following me. But I was a man on a mission, and this was a big one.
Mate?
I ignored Caro’s call to me. He’d soon find out. I only hoped this didn’t cause a rift between the brothers, as that wasn’t myintention. Bursting through the front door to Mattias’ house, I knew exactly where to find him— in his office.
“I wondered how long it would take one of you to put the pieces together.” He tossed the pen down, stared at the three of us, and gestured toward the wingback leather chairs across from his desk. “Take a seat. I have a feeling this may take a while.”
“How long have you known?”
“You’ll have to be more specific than that, Emerson.”
