Dragon Scales (7 page)

"Let's go look," Isaia said. He straightened up and offered Amantea his hand. Amantea took it, letting Isaia haul him to his feet. Isaia's hand was warm and firm, steady and secure, and Amantea reluctantly let it go as soon as he was standing. Teria was sitting in her pile of cushions, watching them both with steely blue eyes. Had they sorted out whether she was going with them to deal with Naldo?

The cave corridor was dimmer than Amantea remembered, but his eyes adjusted quickly. Isaia stayed close and quiet as they walked, heading back toward the cave opening. Amantea could hear the lap of lake water on the cave's shore, but he ignored the unsettling reminder that he was underneath the lake. He was safe, he was fine, and he'd get them out without having to touch the water.

Somehow.

There was nothing living in the cave corridor, except a small amount of moss that was nowhere near large enough or useful enough for Amantea's purposes. The chamber had been empty of any growth as well. Amantea stared dully at the dark water that led out to the bottom of the lake.

"There's nothing here," Amantea said. He shivered, the cold of the cave creeping back in through his clothing. "I can't bring us out."

"There's nothing in
here
," Isaia said. "Something plant or seed, right? About this large?" Isaia drew a small circle in the air.

Amantea nodded. There was nothing of that description inside the cave. What was Isaia planning? Isaia unknotted the scarf around his waist. "What are you doing?" Amantea asked, his voice slightly higher pitched than he'd meant it to be. Isaia grinned at him.

"Hold that. I don't want Teria to kill me for soaking her favorite scarf." Isaia tossed the scarf, and Amantea scrambled to catch it, folding it over his arm. Isaia stepped into the water, and Amantea's heart jumped into his throat, thoughts of Isaia being naked
again
disappearing immediately.

"Is that safe?" Amantea asked. His fingers tightened on the scarf, and he stared worriedly at the dark water.

"I'll be fine," Isaia said. He gave Amantea a soft smile that made Amantea bristle. He didn't need to be coddled. "I'll be right back."

Isaia smirked then and stepped into the water. Surely he wasn't serious... But he was, wading out into the water and then slipping beneath its inky surface. Amantea took a deep breath, trying not to worry. Isaia could swim. He'd swum them both to the shore of the cave, after all, and Amantea had been nothing but dead weight.

What if he didn't come back?

Amantea pushed that thought away, forcing his hands to relax so he didn't permanently damage Teria's scarf with his worry. What if he did come back, but there was nothing that would work for a portal? Amantea had never worked with water plants. What if they didn't work? Would anyone come and free them? Would Naldo leave them there until Isaia gave in and gave up his dragon scales?

Biting his lip, Amantea paced along the water's opening. It had been too long. Had it been too long? How long could Isaia hold his breath? How long could dragons? Amantea continued to pace, ignoring the way his wet, cold clothing clung to his skin and made him shiver. He wanted Isaia back, wanted to be out of this damp, cold cave, wanted to be curled up in his nest, warm and comfortable and maybe with Isaia—

Isaia burst from the water, breaking the surface and gasping in a deep breath. He was clutching several murky-looking plants, and he dragged in another ragged breath as Amantea gaped at him.

"Are you all right?" Amantea demanded when his wits finally gathered enough for him to form words.

"Fine," Isaia said, smirk reappearing. He waded out of the water, and Amantea couldn't be upset at the way the water dripped from his fine form, though it did little to help him forget that Isaia was naked. "Will any of these work?"

"I don't know," Amantea said. He wrinkled his nose. They smelled like sour lake water. Isaia spread his offering out on the cave floor, and Amantea edged closer. He knelt down to poke at the plants. He discarded immediately the three leafy plants Isaia had brought. Leaves didn't work. That left two weirdly-shaped things. The first was flat and wide, with a ridged top and smooth bottom. It was hard, so maybe some sort of nut?

Turning it over in his hand, Amantea focused on it, pushing the magic of an anchor into it. It rebounded hard, and Amantea flinched back, dropping the thing. It was some sort of animal, not a plant. He shook his head, glancing up at Isaia—and getting an eyeful of Isaia's cock. Amantea managed to say with only a little strain in his voice, "This won't work."

"And the others?" Isaia asked. He was watching Amantea, a tiny hint of a smile at the corner of his mouth. He probably realized how discomfiting his closeness was, the jerk.

"Too leafy," Amantea said, nudging the three leafy plants away. He picked up the last thing. It was slick and soft in his hands, irregularly shaped. It reminded him of a mushroom, though it didn't look quite right. He did the same thing he'd done with the animal-thing, and this time the magic cemented. "This one will work."

"All right, then," Isaia said. He waded back out into the water, and Amantea turned the mushroom-like thing over in his hand. He supposed it wasn't too odd he'd never seen the like, given he wasn't prone to putting himself anywhere near lakes or ponds or other bodies of water. Isaia returned after a few minutes in which Amantea didn't stare at the surface of the water, willing him to reappear.

He had three more of the mushroom-like things, which he unceremoniously dumped into Amantea's hands. "How many will you need?"

"Um," Amantea said, frowning when Isaia managed to accidentally drip water on him. "Probably only a dozen, since I know exactly where we're going."

"Great," Isaia said, sounding like it was anything but. Amantea couldn't blame him; he wouldn't want to dive into the cold lake water looking for one small plant to anchor the portal. Isaia disappeared again after taking a deep breath, and Amantea focused on setting the anchor magic on the three that he'd brought up.

So it went for five more trips. Isaia would disappear under the water, and Amantea would set the portal anchors on the mushroom-like plants he brought back. He came up with nothing once, and sat on the edge of the cavern for several minutes, but Amantea didn't say anything. He'd wrapped Teria's scarf around his neck to keep it out of the way but not on the floor. He tried not to think about how it had been wrapped around Isaia's hips until very recently. Finally, Isaia came back up with the last of the mushrooms.

"Do we need to port from here?" Isaia asked, eyeing the plants Amantea had set up in a rough circle.

"Yes," Amantea said. "I spelled them here, so we have to leave from here." He took the last two plants from Isaia, curving his fingers around them. "If you want to go get your sister, I should have the last of it set up by the time you return."

Isaia made no move to go fetch Teria. Instead, he tilted his head at Amantea curiously, like Amantea was some special kind of specimen or oddity that warranted being stared at.

"What?" Amantea demanded. Then he realized he still had Teria's scarf around his throat. "Oh, um, do you want this back?" Amantea tugged at it with his free hand, but Isaia shook his head.

"It would just get wet." Isaia was still dripping, it was true. "The walk will dry me. Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," Amantea said. He swallowed hard because Isaia was probably referring to his being upset about the water. He was fine. Isaia had gotten them out of the lake, and now they were going to port out, and everything would be fine.

"Are you sure?" Isaia asked. He stepped forward, touching his hand to Amantea's chin. It was a soft, intimate touch, and Amantea stepped back, not wanting to deal with the rush of emotion it elicited. He almost wanted to go back to when Isaia was trying to get rid of him.

"I'm sure. Go get your sister," Amantea said shortly. He moved away, crossing to the last gaps in the circle. Isaia was gone around the curve of the cave before he set the first one.

He could hear Isaia and Teria bickering before he saw them, something about her scarf, and Amantea quickly unwrapped it from around his neck. He folded it over his arm and then busied himself looking over each of the portal anchors. He didn't need to, but it was better than standing there waiting for Isaia and Teria to appear.

"See? It's fine," Isaia said. "You can have it back now. We're going to my father's old house, and I have plenty there."

"Ugh," Teria muttered, though at the location or something to do with the scarves, Amantea didn't know. He handed her the scarf, which she took and wrapped around her head. She gave Amantea a smile that looked like it hurt her mouth to make. "Thank you."

Amantea nodded, not sure what to say to that. Isaia was carrying the books that had been at the back of the cavern, and he had a bright red cushion tucked under his arm.

"Let's get this done," Isaia said, stepping into the circle. Teria was already inside from when she'd approached to get her scarf.

Shutting his eyes, Amantea focused, activating the portal. The ground shifted slightly under his feet, and it was only through lots of practice porting that Amantea didn't so much as stumble. Teria and Isaia weren't so lucky, given her cursing and the sound of him dropping his books. Amantea opened his eyes; they were, as he'd aimed for, inside Isaia's house. There were still various things strewn all over the floor, and Isaia seemed content to let Teria's books join them. He stalked over to one of the chests and fished out a scarf, wrapping it around his waist.

Amantea hesitated, at a loss. What next? Were they going to go confront Naldo immediately? His limbs felt like the weight of the lake was bearing down on them, and that wasn't a happy thought. Amantea shivered, and Teria clucked her tongue, climbing to her feet.

"You need to get out of those wet clothes before you catch cold. Isaia, find something for him," Teria said. She strode over to Amantea, and he warily took a step back, for all the little good it did. She snagged the hem of his shirt and tried to pull it over his head, and Amantea was done. He shifted, turning small and dropping out of her reach.

Fleeing wasn't the bravest of options, but Amantea was tired and cold and wet and he didn't need grabby dragons trying to get him naked on top of that. He pulled his shirt off quickly and flew away while Teria was still gaping at him, heading for the rafters where he'd be out of reach. He curled up in his spot on the rafters, ignoring that he was still cold and wet.

He could hear Teria and Isaia talking below, but they were speaking in hushed tones, and he couldn't bestir himself enough to find out what they were talking about. There was a lull, and then the house shivered—Isaia removing the sealing spell, Amantea realized—and the door opened and slammed shut.

"Amantea," Isaia called loudly. "You can come down. She's gone."

Amantea debated staying where he was; it felt like there were several pounds of leaves stacked on top of him, weighing him down. But he was cold and wet, and he needed to find out what they were doing next. Hopefully Isaia wouldn't try to fob him off now that he had Teria back. Shoving himself off the rafters, Amantea flew down. If he didn't fly quite straight, well, who was counting? Hopefully not Isaia.

Once he was on the ground, Amantea shifted back. He stayed sitting on the floor, however, not caring that he was once again stuck craning his neck up at Isaia. He let his wet shirt drop to the ground, wishing it were dry so he could put it on again.

Instead of looming over him, Isaia knelt on the floor facing him. He was wearing a bright orange and yellow scarf around his waist that matched his scales, making them all but glow in the dim light of the house.

"I'm sorry about Teria. She likes to be in charge," Isaia said. He scowled at the front door. "She's decided to sleep outside for the evening." The way he said it, it sounded less like a decision and more like something Isaia had made her do. Amantea wasn't going to argue. He absolutely didn't want to be manhandled. Not by Teria, and even thinking about Isaia like that was a recipe for disaster. Amantea didn't want to get eaten by a dragon, not after all this.

"So we're going to deal with Naldo tomorrow?" Amantea confirmed.

"Yes." Isaia's expression darkened, and Amantea would have felt sorry for Naldo, but he couldn't gather the energy to care about a man who thought kidnapping and blackmail and attempting to destroy a faery nest were good ideas. "But that's to deal with tomorrow. I can lend you some wraps for tonight while your clothes dry out and set up a nest for you if you want to sleep down here."

Amantea nodded, then realized that wasn't a sufficient enough response. "That sounds good."

Isaia stood, stupidly graceful despite the swimming and the lake and, well, he hadn't done two portals, but Amantea still didn't approve of him having more energy. He held out a hand, and Amantea took it.

Oddly, Isaia didn't let go of his hand as he led the way across the room to where his trunk of wraps was. "Pick any."

Amantea snagged the first one that caught his eye, a pretty green thing that was decorated in swirls of lighter green and a soft cream color. Isaia waited, and Amantea scowled at him. "Turn around."

"Right, faeries." Isaia rolled his eyes, like nudity wasn't a big deal. Given the way Isaia treated his own nakedness, that was probably a fair assessment when it came to dragons. As soon as Isaia had turned, Amantea struggled out of the rest of his wet clothes. His skin was damp and clammy, but Amantea awkwardly draped the wrap around his waist, tying it in a single knot at his hip. It was nowhere near as covering as he was used to, but he'd deal until his clothing was dry. Particularly if he got to sleep soon.

"You want dinner? Or sleep?" Isaia asked, not turning around.

"You can turn around," Amantea grumbled. He crossed his arms over his stomach, well aware he was shorter and uncolorful and far less muscled than Isaia. "I want sleep."

Isaia grinned at him, baring all his teeth, and his eyes skated from Amantea's head to his bare feet. "I'll set up another nest, all right? Like before?"