Destiny of Dragons (4 page)

“Are you taking Jiang with you?” Carey asked.

Zhou shook his head. “No. If I leave Jiang here I can use him for communication.”

“I can mentally talk to you,” Aden reminded him.

“Not like Jiang. If I’m across the other side of the world my connection with Jiang is still strong.”

Aden couldn’t argue with his reasoning. “Do you need backup?”

It had been several days since Aden had done any fighting, retirement had cut back the number of battles, but not the intensity. His fingers twitched, missing the hard, rough grip of his Glock or the smooth barrel of his favorite shotgun. Trained in killing, there were few weapons Aden hadn’t managed to master at one point or another in his career.

“No. I think two dragons will be enough.” Zhou’s hard mouth curled up at one end. “Besides, I think it would be better if we saved you for a rainy day. The emperor might be aware of your existence, but other dragons haven’t come forward to join or oppose you. I think he hasn’t told anyone else.”

“Ah, the element of surprise.” Aden appreciated a sneaky strategy. “I’ll stay put then. Test our telepathic link if you want while you’re gone. I’ll work with Gallen to have the sea dragon’s home ready when he arrives.”

“Thank you,” Zhou’s formal bow had Aden returning the gesture.

Aden still didn’t appreciate his leadership role. Being thrust into the position of king of the dragon world hadn’t been on his to do list. Now, despite his vow to retire, he had the responsibility of dragon kind on his plate. His destiny didn’t include lying on the couch and watching television. Good thing he never bothered to buy cable.

“Did you get a chance to go through your grandmother’s diaries yet?” Aden asked his son.

“No.” Frustration threaded through Carey’s tone. “I’ve been trying to get the household settled and find places for the new dragons and push out the hawks. I didn’t know I’d become a halfway house for the paranormal.”

Aden sighed. “Nothing has turned out quite like we planned. Once we depose the emperor we should finally get some peace.”

God he hoped there would be peace. Running from crisis to crisis, uncertain if everyone would make it safely had him staying awake at night.

Proteus drifted around the aquarium. His heart pounded against his narrow chest. Careful not to over exhaust himself, he settled near the bottom by the coral. He could do this. No matter if his heart ached from the absence of his mate and he worried he’d never see Liang again.

A mate wouldn’t lie. He repeated the mantra over and over as he waited. Either Bingwen would return and kill Proteus after all, or Liang would return before Proteus could leave. He couldn’t chance it. Transportation could kill the eggs. They needed to hatch before Proteus could change back.

He lifted his tail to get a better look at where the eggs lay along his brood patch. They had darkened recently, turning a bit orange. A good sign. Soon they would hatch and he’d have babies to raise. Only two. His mood darkened. If Bingwen hadn’t killed Leana there would’ve been more. He’d been furious when he discovered she’d hidden her pregnancy. Bingwen might’ve raped Leana to create with a fabled sea dragon, but she’d gotten even by laying them as sea dragon eggs. Proteus had been her best friend and agreed to carry them until hatching. She’d snuck away and transferred her eggs to Proteus before dying of complications. Unfortunately Bingwen had found out, captured Proteus and put the sea dragon in the tank to keep him healthy until he hatched the eggs.

Damn he missed her. He’d only come to visit because she’d sent him a distress code. They’d had an emergency call set between them when they were mere hatchlings and floating in the sea together.

He pushed away the bad thoughts, worried the negative energy might affect the hatchlings. Proteus would carry them for several more days before they would be able to hatch. At least he wasn’t a seahorse. The thought of squirting eggs out of his abdomen had him shuddering. Yes, much better to be a sea dragon.

Where was his mate? Beautiful Liang with his smooth skin and understanding eyes would return, Proteus had no doubt, but would he return before the eggs were hatched? Bingwen would kill Proteus once he was no longer needed and from the look of the eggs, that moment could be any time now. Maybe he should’ve told Liang why he couldn’t transform. He needed to keep the eggs in the brood patch on his tail or they wouldn’t get the proper amount of oxygen and nutrients. Without that support they could die. He had no idea where they’d end up if he transformed into a human, and he couldn’t chance that they would simply fall to the ground and break.

A low hum had Proteus edging to the corner of the aquarium. Liang appeared outside of the dome alongside another water dragon.

“Greetings, Proteus.”

“Greetings, Liang.”

Joy infused Proteus. Liang had returned.

The eggs wiggled a bit as if they had absorbed a bit of his happiness. He glanced down, wondering once again. Leana had sworn she had a dream of them being one girl and one boy. Proteus didn’t know if she was right or not, but whatever they were, Proteus would protect them with his life even if he had to go up against Bingwen to do it. They were the last bits of his dear friend on this earth and he would guard them with everything he had.

A loud roar pulsed through the dome. Only a water dragon could push sound through water with such ferocity. Bingwen swam into view stopping a few feet from the pair of dragons. His fury scattered the fish in the sea.

“You dare invade my kingdom!”
Bingwen roared.

“I’ve come for the sea dragon,”
Liang’s calm tone made a mockery of Bingwen’s rage.

“You can’t have him! He’s mine!”

Proteus didn’t bother to object. The king had never cared about facts before, Proteus doubted Bingwen would bother with them now.

“He’s my mate!”
Liang said.

Crap! He should’ve warned the dragon not to say anything about that. Now Bingwen would never let him go, especially if he could use that knowledge to further his standing with the emperor.

“Too bad. He holds what is mine. I’m glad you brought your friend. More dragons for the emperor.”

“You do notice you are outnumbered, right?”
Liang asked.

Bingwen swished his tail and puffed up his chest.

Proteus thought the dragon looked like a blowfish trying to intimidate a larger predator.

“You were foolish to come here. I am King! I will destroy you.”

Proteus couldn’t even call it a battle. Bingwen attacked and the dragon to Liang’s right reached over and snapped his neck. In seconds the dragon that had tortured Leana and trapped Proteus was dead.

For several minutes Proteus stared at the Bingwen’s body floating in the sea. He almost wished for a longer battle so Bingwen could’ve suffered more. This one had finished too fast. Wow, he had no idea when he’d become so bloodthirsty.

“Are you all right, little fish?”
Liang asked.

“Yes.”
Bingwen hadn’t dared hurt Proteus once Leana had transferred her eggs. He’d been too worried they would be injured. Too bad Proteus suspected he only wanted the eggs to sell to the emperor, not to raise the children as his own. Bingwen had let slip the emperor offered a good price, even for half-breed dragon eggs.

“We’ll be right there.”
Liang drifted over to the dome door. It only took the water dragon a moment to reach Proteus.

“Where did the emperor put his people?”
Liang asked.

“He never had any subjects. I don’t think he was even a proper ruler. He announced himself a king, but he never had any followers.”

“I did wonder at the lack of any signs of people. I’m going to create a ball of water to carry you in. My friends in Seattle are getting you a tank set up. When we get there you will have a safe home. Unless you’d rather stay here.”
Liang let his voice fade off.

Proteus shook his head.
“No. I want to go with you.”

Would Liang still want him after he discovered the children?

“I’m going to get you out of there,”
Liang’s low and soothing tone eased some of Proteus’s fears. Would he notice the eggs? If he didn’t understand about sea dragons Liang might just think they were part of Proteus.

It was a miracle that Leana had been able to have any children. Sea dragons were notoriously hard to breed. Proteus wouldn’t ruin her legacy by letting them die, even if it meant losing his mate.

Proteus floated to the top of the tank as Liang transformed into his human shape. Liang climbed the small ladder then popped off the top of the aquarium. “Easy now.”

Eager to escape his imprisonment, Proteus swam into Liang’s fingers. A ball of water swirled around him as the dragon shifter lifted him out of the tank.

“Thank you.”
He didn’t know what else to say to his rescuers.

Up close Liang’s warm brown eyes glowed with power. “Be patient, it will take a while to get back to Seattle. They almost have your new home set up”

“Seattle?”
He’d never been anywhere but Australia.
“Will I like it there?”

“If you don’t we’ll find someplace else. As long as we stay out of China I don’t care where we live.”

Proteus wondered about the China ban. Maybe one day Liang would tell him why. They had a lot of things to sort out before then. He hadn’t expected Liang to climb onto the back of the other shifter.

“I can’t keep you in your ball of water while in dragon shape,” Liang explained. “This is my leader Zhou who will help us get back home. I’m going to ride on his back while I carry you.”

Proteus nodded his understanding. If he’d given it any thought at all he would’ve figured it out all by himself. The trauma of losing his best friend was still affecting his thinking.

“Jiang said everything is set up.”

Proteus heard Zhou speak through his connection with Liang.

“That was fast.”

“Apparently they paid a lot for a rush job and the store had an aquarium on hand they were trying to get rid of.”

“Do they need to acclimate the tank? I’m not taking Proteus only to have him die from transfer shock.”

Zhou snuffled.
“Gallen used magic.”

Gallen must be quite powerful. Proteus shivered at the thought of another sorcerer near his babies.

Liang cradled Proteus’s ball of water close. With his water magic he kept Proteus cozy in a warm swirl of water the exact temperature of the Coral Sea.

He thought it might take a while to get across the world, or at least he thought that’s where Seattle was, but magic ignored geography and before long they were landing beside an enormous fountain.

Liang climbed off his dragon shifter friend, careful to keep Proteus protected in his ball of water as he walked toward a large house.

“Is this him?” A handsome blond man asked as they approached.

An older version of the man, with harder features, but just as gorgeous stood behind him. Proteus wouldn’t want to be on the bad side of either of them.

“Aden, Carey, thanks for helping with this.”

“I have the aquarium all set up,” the younger man said.

“Thanks, Carey.” Liang headed in the direction Carey pointed.

Proteus couldn’t stop his mental screech of delight. Along one wall was an enormous aquarium that stood from floor-to-halfway up the wall.

Liang came to a halt before it. “How did you get it installed so quickly?”

The older blond laughed. “You pay enough money you can get anything done.”

Proteus wouldn’t know, he never dealt with money before. His family had remained in their sea dragon shape for most of his life. They had preferred the simpler life of a sea creature to the more complicated human existence. Too bad they’d been caught in a fisherman’s net. To this day Proteus didn’t know if they had died or been sold to an aquarium.

Proteus let out a gasp of relief when he went from a confining ball of water to the spacious aquarium.

“Thank you.”
He projected the words to the entire group of people who had come to stand and watch him swim.

Various
you’re welcomes
were said back.

Liang stayed the closest. He pressed his hands to the glass as if trying to merge with Proteus.

“Dude, you’re cleaning that,” Carey said, a scowl on his handsome face.

Liang lifted his hands. “Sorry, sorry I’ll clean it.”

“Do you think one day I could see your human form?” Liang asked.

Proteus braced himself against the wistful tone of the water dragon. He didn’t wish to hurt his mate’s feelings.

“One day soon.”

“Why not now?”

Proteus drifted away and pretended not to hear him. The babies were so close to hatching and he refused to endanger them. When he didn’t reply Liang spoke again.

“I hope one day you can trust me.”

He hoped so, too.

A shiver went through Proteus. He couldn’t answer, not over the instinct to shake his tail. He shook then rested then shook again until finally they broke free. Two tiny sea dragons drifted away from him.

“Congratulations, Liang, it looks like you’re a father.”

Proteus didn’t notice who spoke, his entire attention focused on the newborns. He nudged them with his nose and sent telepathic waves of reassurance. For the most part they ignored him as they went about exploring their new environment.

He floated to the side of the tank to peer out at Liang.

“Is this why you couldn’t shift?” the water dragon asked.

“Yes. I promised her I would see them safe.”

“You should have trusted your mate.”

Proteus could hear the pain in the dragon shifter’s voice.

“I didn’t know you. I didn’t know what you would do. Not all mates are good people. Leana’s mate raped and killed her.”

The little sea dragons floated around him, their baby chatter sweeping away his sadness. Now finished examining their aquarium they wanted food.

“What are they saying?”

“They’re hungry.”
Words were still beyond the babies, but they projected their hunger and need for sustenance at Proteus.