Destiny of Dragons (2 page)

“How many dragons have you captured?” The cages hadn’t appeared overnight in anticipation of capturing a sea dragon.

“Six.” Bingwen announced the number without shame.

“And after you handed over these six did the emperor reward you?”

Bingwen’s cheeks took on an angry flush. “He’s waiting for a more important catch like one of you. He told me to do better.”

“And how am I better?” As he asked the question Liang realized the answer. Liang and his brethren were old dragons, their blood and magic was rich and powerful. One of their claws had more energy than an entire youngling dragon. After feasting on the others, the emperor’s hunger had grown. They’d been protected from Huangdi finding them when they were stone. Their release must’ve brought them back to his attention.

“I think you are a useless traitor, but you’ll be of greater use once I turn you in. Enjoy your captivity.”

Liang turned his back to his captor and returned to contemplating the sea creature in the aquarium. For some reason the little plant-like beast fascinated him and Bingwen had nothing more to say that Liang cared to hear. He would bide his time and escape before the emperor arrived or more likely, before the emperor’s goons came to fetch him. Huangdi rarely did his own dirty work. That was one thing Liang doubted had changed over time. The emperor loved power, but he enjoyed lording it over his minions more.

“I will look forward to your death and my rise to power.” Bingwen’s footsteps became fainter as he walked away. The sandy floor made soft crunching noises beneath his bare feet. When the sound of footsteps faded to nothing, Liang knew Bingwen had left. Good riddance. He had an insane emperor to worry about, he didn’t need to deal with a mad king on top of it.

Liang waited for several minutes before he dared to turn his head. Gone. No one else remained except for Liang and the sea creature, or at least nothing else in the dome.

He needed to get out of there and find his friends. He pondered his choices as the sea beast floated a slow trek across its aquarium. The king hadn’t shown any interest in the aquarium creature, but he must keep it for some reason.

“Hello, little guy,” he called out.

“You need to escape before Bingwen returns.”

The words spilled across his mind in a soft, intimate invasion. The creature had a male voice with a silky, seductive tone that had Liang’s body awakening for the first time since his petrification.

“I can’t get out of the cage. What are you?” Maybe he hadn’t asked in the most elegant fashion, but he needed to keep the conversation going in order to hear that voice again. Whatever compulsion he felt had nothing to do with spells and sorcerers.

“I’m a leafy sea dragon. We’re different from seahorses.”
The sea dragon didn’t say how they differed. He didn’t appear eager to engage in conversation at all.

“I’m a water dragon. My name is Liang. What’s your name?” He held his breath as he waited for a response. He didn’t like having to pry information out of the little beast, but he needed to hear his voice again.

“Proteus.”

“Nice to meet you, Proteus.” Liang sighed as each word Proteus sent across their mind link settled in and made his cock sit up and take notice. He’d never met a sea dragon shifter before. Something about the male had Liang ready to do whatever was necessary to get them both out of their cages.

He ground his teeth together. Exchanging one prison for another hadn’t been in his plans. During his long petrification he’d imagined his life if he ever got free. He’d made elaborate plans to make a home with his brethren dragon somewhere, not live inside a cage. By now the China he’d known had no doubt been buried beneath office buildings and tons of cement. Besides, the land of his birth no longer belonged to his kind.

Once he escaped he needed to find his dragon horde and retrieve a bit of treasure to exchange for modern money. He’d amassed quite a fortune before his capture by the emperor.

“There’s the key!”
The sea dragon’s voice snapped Liang out of his introspection.

Liang followed where the sea dragon pointed his nose. A ring of keys sat on top of a bookshelf. “That’s a little far to reach.”

“Use your magic!”

The frustration in the sea dragon’s voice had Liang snapping out of his bout of self-pity. He was a water dragon, under the water. The leafy sea dragon had a point.

Maybe being stone for all those years had broken his brain. He should’ve been able to come up with that solution on his own. Liang took a deep cleansing breath, and for the first time since he woke he pulled at his magic.

Energy rushed through him with a crackle of power. He focused his magic on the keys and pulled at the seawater flowing outside the dome. A thin thread of liquid spiraled toward him. Liang manipulated flow around the keys. The water danced under Liang’s direction. He reveled beneath the joy of using his magic again. Even if the emperor killed him in the end at least he had one more chance to use his power.

“Stop playing, Bingwen won’t be gone forever,”
the sea dragon snapped.

“Sorry.” Liang had ignored the urgency of his situation beneath the joy of reconnecting with his magic. Properly scolded, Liang tightened his control and transformed the tip of the water flow into ice. The small hook snagged the key ring. Grinning, Liang called the water to him.

When the keys finally dropped into his hand it took all of Liang’s restraint not to shout his victory and draw Bingwen’s attention. Just because the dragon was out of sight didn’t mean he couldn’t hear what was going on in the dome.

“Good job,”
the sea dragon praised.

“Thank you.” Flush from his success, Liang slipped the hand holding the keys between the bars and after a few false tries, he unlocked the cage. As soon as he was free he headed for the aquarium. Liang pressed his fingers to the spot nearest the sea dragon.

“You’re welcome.”

This close he could see intelligence glowing in the creature’s eyes. “If you shift I can get you out of here.”

Leafy green fronds floated around the little beast as he shook his head from side to side.

“Why not?”

“Can’t change.”

Liang wanted to ask why, but he needed to get out of there not get into a debate. Still, he couldn’t abandon his new friend. A strong connection pinged between them, compelling him to take Proteus along with him.

“Mate!”
The sea dragon’s awed tone whispered in his head.

“We’re mates?” Liang didn’t know what to do with that information. He’d always thought he’d bond with one of his own kind, but he knew better than to question The Fates. He stroked the side of the aquarium. “Are you in danger?”

Sadness flowed from the sea dragon.
“Not right now. He will keep me safe for a bit longer before.”

Various scenarios flashed through Liang’s head and not one of them was pleasant. “Why?”

How did the little creature know he’d be safe and why was Bingwen keeping him at all? Liang had never known the emperor to be interested in the smaller sea shifters before, but he didn’t know what might have changed during his curse.

“I can’t say. I don’t know you well enough.”

Liang ignored the pang in his heart protesting that his mate should trust him regardless. Weren’t mates fated to be with their better half? Why would Proteus choose to stay here after he claimed they were mates?

“I could take you in your shifted form. My water ability could keep you warm.”

“What about when we travel? I have to retain the same temperature or I could go into shock.”

Liang refused to acknowledge defeat, however he knew some tropical animals were extremely sensitive to changes in their environment. If he weren’t careful he could kill his mate with too large of a temperature fluctuation. He couldn’t chance it.

“I’m going to go get my friends. We’ll come back and get you out of here. I can carry you in a ball of water, but not as a dragon.”

He didn’t dare risk his mate’s life. As much as he didn’t want to leave Proteus, he couldn’t stay there and wait for Bingwen to recapture him. He had to go find his friends and warn them that others were hunting their kind. Telling Zhou the emperor had turned other dragons against them would be painful. His leader had always fought for the prosperity of dragon kind, to learn of their betrayal would be a hard blow. Hopefully the king of the Coral Sea was the exception instead of the norm for dragons.

“You need to go,”
Proteus prodded him.

Crap
.

“I will come back for you. I’m not going to leave you here forever. If you don’t want to shift, you’ll have to wait until I can get help.”

The sea dragon’s melancholy increased like an icy shard piercing his heart.
“I understand. Save yourself.”

Guilt stabbed at him like broken shards of glass. “As soon as I find my people I will be back. I promise.”

The little shifter nodded, but Liang could feel his distress mingled with fear. He suppressed a burst of anger at the shifter’s resistance over leaving.

“I’ll be here when you return.”

“I wish I didn’t have to leave you behind, but I won’t have hands to hold you in dragon form.” He hated to admit a weakness, but if he couldn’t confess a flaw to his mate, who could he confess to?

“I understand. Good luck finding your friends.”

Liang wished he knew what his mate looked like. “When I come back will you show me your human form?”

“If it’s the right time.”

At least now he had a reason to survive.

He nodded his goodbye to Proteus, unable to say any more words as the pain of separation twisted him up inside.

Proteus seemed to understand since he returned the nod and said nothing else. Liang went to the door and opened it. Some magical force field kept the water out. He checked around, but the king of the Coral Sea must’ve gone off to get a snack because Liang saw no one as he shifted back into his dragon shape then swam away.

Aden Gale sat in a chair in his front room and stared out at the water. The waves of the Puget Sound crashed back and forth in a primal dance he never got tired of watching. Ever since he’d transformed into a dragon Aden could see more, hear more, and feel more than he ever had before. In some ways he enjoyed his heightened senses, but other days he longed to return to his pure human existence. People had lower expectations of a killer than a dragon king.

If Aden concentrated hard enough he could feel where every one of his people stood on the earth, both his son and the others he’d claimed as his own. The scent of his mate filled his nose seconds before Gallen’s warm, firm hand slid across Aden’s shoulder.

“What’s wrong?”

Aden smiled. No one worried about him like Gallen did. Everyone else thought Aden could take care of himself, but his sorcerer lover kept a close eye on Aden’s moods, always eager to jump in if Aden needed anything.

“Nothing.”

He hadn’t shared with Gallen his new super awareness of the world around him. Partly because he didn’t want to worry his mate, but mostly because he wondered how much weirdness one person could handle before he decided to leave. If his mate ever jumped ship, Gallen would take the best part of Aden’s humanity with him.

His newly awakened dragon half wouldn’t accept the loss with any kind of grace. Most people thought Aden was dangerous enough, but without Gallen to ground him no one would be safe.

Gallen leaned down to kiss Aden on the cheek. “You’re always thinking of something. You spend more time contemplating things in one afternoon than most people do their entire week.”

“I was thinking that if you left me my dragon would take over.” Aden winced at his abrupt confession.

Gallen walked around the chair. He climbed onto Aden’s lap and straddled his hips until Aden had to look his lover in the eyes. “Why would I ever leave you? You’re the love of my life, and my mate. I know you don’t understand how it works with supernaturals, but by now you should know the permanence of mates. Doesn’t your dragon tell you we belong together?”

Aden sought out his inner beast. The dragon hissed his discontent over what he considered Aden’s foolish concerns. Of course they would keep the sorcerer. One’s mate stayed no matter what. Worry slid off Aden like water down his scales. “You’re right, my dragon is quite happy with our bond. I’m just borrowing trouble.”

Gallen smiled. “You don’t need to borrow trouble, it hunts you down and insists on paying interest.”

“I have never loved anyone like I love you,” Aden confessed. “It scares me to need anyone so badly.”

Vowels and syllables spun in his head forming words of love, commitment, and a bonding so deep that if he ever lost Gallen it would shatter him inside.

Gallen cupped Aden’s face. “Don’t. You never have to worry about that. I won’t leave you and I’m really difficult to kill. We’ll be fine.”

Aden couldn’t stop a harsh laugh from escaping. “I turned into a dragon, my love. I will never be fine again.”

“True, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. It does make it easier for you to protect your boys. I know how much they mean to you.”

Before he found his mate, his son and his son’s friends had been everything to Aden. Now Gallen had been added to the ever-expanding circle of people under Aden’s protection. “I know I said it before, but I really think it’s time to move in with Carey.”

“Because of the treasure? Does your dragon not like the separation?” Gallen didn’t seem upset over the idea, more like he was seeking an explanation.

Aden shrugged. “It’s not that, well not entirely that. I feel something coming, something evil. If the emperor or any of those creatures out there try to attack my family I want to be there when it happens.”

“As much as I love your place, I’m happy to stay wherever you are. A place isn’t what makes a home, the people inside make it worthwhile. If you think it would be better for us to move in with your son than that’s what we’ll do.”

Aden kissed Gallen on the forehead. “I appreciate that. You’re always so supportive.”

“That’s what mates do. They look out for each other. Besides, I think your dragon will be happier next to your treasure.” Gallen paused as if thinking something over. “It’s interesting that Carey can sense it even if he can’t transform into a dragon.”