Oceantide

by Everly Taylor

  “That he knows what I am?” I hazarded.

  “Well yes, that too. But he has to have a shit ton of power to be able to stay even semi-conscious and not fully succumb to the call of the siren. Especially one as powerful as your sister,” he reasoned.

  Jet was right, there was no way that an average human could have remained conscious to the call of even the weakest siren, let alone that of my sister. Even though he appeared to be only a human, he had to be something more. Not to mention he was here and we were all magical beings as this was a place for only supernaturals. I wondered if that was the reason I had felt drawn to him, not because I was curious about the humans, but because he was something different?

  The very person we were discussing walked in and his gaze fell on me instantly. His intense stare never left mine as he walked to the front of the class and passed the professor a piece of paper. I assumed his excuse for being late, though we all knew he didn’t care. As he took his seat, he looked at me again before Alayna and Carmen scooted their desks closer and started their incessant chatter.

  “Fresh meat for them, lucky him,” Jet said dryly, making me chuckle.

  “We will talk more about this when we meet up later,” I said quietly. I knew I needed to tell them the rest, but I didn’t want anyone to overhear. It was probably best I thought it through anyway. Now that I had a different way of looking at it, my unexplained feelings for him were probably nothing.

  The rest of the day passed quickly and before I knew it we were finishing dinner and I was saying goodbye to the guys. They had discussed already how they were going to get into Sebastian's office during my tutoring session, all I had to do now was keep Chan distracted long enough for them to be successful.

  I walked toward the classroom, hoping that this wouldn’t take too long, and I would still have time to see the guys afterwards. Though I had no clue what to expect from Chan, it was as good a time as any to find out for sure.

  I turned the corner down the hall to the classroom and let out an oomph as I walked into the solid chest of a guy again. He reached up and gripped my arms to steady me, and without even looking up, I already knew who I had bumped into.

  “Are you going to make it a habit of bumping into me like this?” he asked, amusement lacing his voice.

  “Not if I can help it,” I quipped as I pulled my arms from his grip.

  “Interesting,” his brow furrowed as I took a step back.

  “I’m sure you’re used to girls fawning over you, with your devilish good looks and all, but you’re not going to get that from me,” I shrugged a shoulder as I struggled to not ogle over him. Instead, I looked at him flatly, wondering what it was that had drawn him to me in the first place. Was it the something other that we still didn’t know, or was it something more?

  “So you think I’m devilishly handsome, huh?” he responded cockily, his eyes dancing with humor.

  “Don’t get a big head, just because you're handsome, doesn’t mean you’re King Coral on the reef,” I rolled my eyes. “If you will excuse me, I have to be somewhere.”

  I moved around him, but he reached out and gripped my wrist, stopping me. Unexplained heat washed up my arm where he gripped my bare flesh and I looked at him surprised as he jerked his hand back. I knew from the look in his eyes that he had felt it too.

  “Sorry, I just-” he stammered. He stared at me helplessly for a moment before he spoke again, desperately this time. “What’s your name?”

  “Una,” I told him, sharper than I intended, but I was furious with myself for feeling something for him. Even though I knew he was clearly hiding things from me. We had enough on our plate to deal with already, we didn’t need anything else.

  “Una,” he breathed out, his eyes searching mine for what I didn’t know, and I felt like I could lose myself there forever. He reached out and gently took my hand, rubbing his thumb over my knuckles before lifting it to his lips and tenderly kissing it. I shuddered out an unwanted breath as chills raced over my skin and I jerked my hand free.

  “Now that you know my name, you will know who to leave alone in the future,” I snapped out.

  He looked at me curiously, “Why would I want to do that?”

  “It would be the wisest decision, pretty boy.”

  “Then why did you save me?” he asked.

  “I have no clue what you're talking about,” I lifted my chin in defiance, hoping that was enough to cover the lie as I walked around him.

  “Una,” he said softly, making me pause but not turn back to face him. “I will have you before this is done. And I always get what I want.”

  “I should have let you die that day on the beach,” I said over my shoulder before making my retreat to Sebastian’s classroom.

  I rushed through the door and Chan straightened as I entered, “You’re late.”

  “Yeah, but I’m here,” I retorted before realizing who I was talking to. If this guy was really not on our side, I probably had just made a really big mistake.

  “Indeed you are,” he nodded before moving past me and shutting the door behind us. I watched him cautiously as I moved to the front of the class, out of sight from the door to his office. Hopefully buying Jet and Beck some time as I was already late.

  “So, those lessons?” I asked.

  “Yeah, they are shit. Don’t worry about them,” he responded, his voice less gruff than before. “I needed an excuse to get you back here, away from prying ears. I had to wait until I could destroy all those ears hidden around here and my office.”

  “Why would you need to do that?” I questioned, not wanting to give him anything more than he already knew. Note or not, It still remained to be seen if he could be trusted.

  He crossed his arms and leaned against a desk, “I know you have no reason to trust me. That letter really is from Eva though, and she is desperate to hear back from you. To know that you are okay.”

  “Why should I believe you?”

  “You really have no reason to,” he shrugged. “That being said, I have no reason to lie to you either. Jack Frost has kept my people chained to this hell hole for longer than I care to admit. I want to see him destroyed, probably even more than you do.”

  I blinked in surprise at his bluntness as questions flew through my mind. I blurted out the first question that came to mind, “How?”

  Chan shook his head, “We aren’t really sure how. Only that somehow he had us trapped in our dragon form, unable to shift or leave this floating island. We were compelled to obey him. Something about Eva’s presence negated whatever he had done to us, and I was able to leave. When we reached our destination, I was even able to shift back to this form, one I haven’t used in ages.”

  “So why come back? Why risk it?”

  “That’s a loaded question, Una,” he shifted and looked directly at me. “If your people were suffering, wouldn’t you do anything you could to save them?”

  His words hit close to home and slowly I nodded.

  “Exactly. How could I live free knowing they were trapped? When we were planning to rescue you and the others, I volunteered to return. I knew the risks, but I accepted them. I have no reason to lie to you Una, just as I have no reason to stop the others from going through my desk at this very moment.”

  This time I openly gaped at him. How the hell did he know?

  He seemed to read my thoughts as he grinned at me. “Dragon, remember? Our hearing is the very best there is, even in our human form. I assume you're looking for some clue about who I am?”

  My mind raced, it was now or never. I needed to decide whether to trust him or not. Everything he said seemed to make sense, and he was right, he could have reported all of us and had us thrown in solitary for even daring to search his office. Instead, it seemed to amuse him. I decided to take a leap of faith and confide in him.

  “No, I was hoping to get that out of you myself. Though it would seem to be unnecessary as you have been pretty forthcoming with me. They are looking for Seba
stian’s records on the source of the pixie dust. There is someone here that needs our help, and we were hoping to get started there.” I watched him closely, waiting for his reaction and hoping that I hadn’t made the wrong choice in trusting him.

  “They won’t find them in there,” he stated as he crossed the room and opened his office door. “Guys, why don’t you join us?” he called into the room before joining me again. A very shocked Jet and Beck trailed behind him, looking to me for answers. I tried to reassure them without saying anything, but they still looked unsure and petrified at being caught in the act.

  “It’s alright. We can trust him,” I said finally as they joined me.

  “What you’re looking for, I removed yesterday. I couldn’t risk Frost getting his hands on any more information than he already had. I agree that we need to help this pixie though, so I will get you the information,” Chan stated.

  “Why?” Jet asked, ever the suspicious one.

  “Because I believe in Eva, and I believe that someone finally has to stand up to Frost and bring his ass down,” Chan replied firmly.

  “Fair enough. Tomorrow then?” I reached out and shook his hand as he nodded. The guys eyed Chan warily before following me from the room. Eva, you had better be right in trusting this dragon, I thought to myself as we left him staring after us.

  Chapter 13 – Eva

  The castle needed quite a bit of love and attention and it was part of my training to bring it back to the glory it once was. Jaxon worked hard with me to show me how to switch back and forth, using my ice to create the structure and my electricity to carve through the ice.

  “That’s a little crooked, Eva,” Jaxon smirked at me.

  Sweat poured down my back despite the cold frozen tundra that was now our home. “It gives it character,” I quipped.

  He shook his head and gave me a peck on the cheek, “Yes, but character is not your assignment. Do I have to bring the professor in here to grade your work?”

  “I think he would give me an A plus plus plus. I am his favorite student, after all,” I teased in a sultry voice.

  He rolled his eyes at me. “We aren’t talking about grades in the bedroom, my Queen. Besides, I am in charge of your training, so that makes me the teacher now.”

  “Hmm, Professor Jaxon. I like the sound of that. Want to bend me over the desk and fuck me?” Though I was teasing, the thought of it was making me hot, my panties drenched.

  Jaxon leaned in close, his hooded eyes showing me that he wanted to do exactly that. He was inches from my lips when he let out a slow heated breath, chills racing across my skin as I trembled in anticipation. Instead of giving me what I wanted though he booped my nose with his finger and chuckled, “You’d have to make the desk first.”

  I groaned and stomped my foot, childish but I didn’t care. “You could help, you know. We could enjoy more extracurricular activities if you didn’t make me do all this by myself.”

  Sebastian walked in just then and came over to give me a kiss. “We still have had plenty of time for that. Your powers are like muscles, the more you use them the stronger you get. I know how desperate you are to get Una back, but it’s not happening until you are strong enough to go up against Frost again.”

  “I hate it when you're right,” I groaned. He was right, and we both knew it. I wouldn’t be able to face Frost unless my powers were stronger. As it was, I had only barely escaped before, and I wasn’t dumb enough to think it was because I was more powerful than him. It had been pure dumb luck and catching him off guard that allowed our escape. That, and Una’s tidal wave that I had been able to use to our advantage.

  At the thought of Una, I turned back to work on fixing my lopsided column. She had sacrificed herself to be left behind so I could get stronger. As much as it sucked, I wasn’t about to let it be in vain. I was interrupted by Calex and Blade, the former flying in through the large open window that I hadn’t fixed yet, and the latter bounding through the door in his lion form.

  “Eva, we need you to come outside now,” Calex’s voice was dripping with urgency.

  “What happened? Is it Frost?” I asked, the fear overtaking all rational thoughts, even though I knew there was no way he could make it through the barriers of my castle.

  Blade growled, unable to speak in his animal form, so Calex answered with a sexy smirk, “Would we really take you outside if that were the case, Ice?”

  I rolled my eyes and grumbled, “Well, you were the one that came in here like his ass was lit with the fires of hell but didn’t tell me anything.” I let out a squeak when he flew down and scooped me up, carrying me as he flew back out the way he came in.

  I loved being in his arms when he flew. It was something that we did often now that he was able to spread his wings. I buried my head in his chest, forgetting about whatever he wanted me to see as I took in his scent. He still smelled like ashes; better than the fires we had burning in our castle to ward off the cold. The low temperatures didn’t bother myself or Jaxon, but the others weren’t made for it.

  Calex had taken to wearing furs instead of the normal thin shirt that showed off his sexy body. Blade had resorted to being in his lion form as much as possible, his own fur had grown long and thick almost immediately to keep him warmer. Sebastian seemed to be comfortable in his druid cloak, and I always teased him about there being something more to his cloak that he wasn’t telling me.

  We had been lucky to find a lot of clothing, furniture, and furs that were left over from my ancestor’s reign. Though the castle needed work, it was as if it were a time capsule with all the belongings still perfectly intact. I had even found the crown my great grandmother had worn, a beautiful creation of sparkling ice that shone in the light and sparkled like diamonds. I refused to wear it, still not comfortable with my role as the queen. Let me rephrase that, sometimes I wore it to please the guys. They loved to play the part of my servants with me in nothing but a crown.

  Calex swooped down and I looked to see that Sebastian, Jaxon, and Blade weren’t far behind. As he landed in the front courtyard of the castle, I teased, “You seem to have taken the long way.”

  He gave me that devilishly sexy wink that always made me swoon. “I just wanted to hold you for a little while longer. Can you blame a guy?” He chuckled before looking over my shoulder, “Okay, turn around,” he instructed.

  I turned around and immediately put my hands up, defense ready as I eyed the two strange men that knelt before me. The guys didn’t seem to be alarmed so I lowered my arms and studied them for a moment.

  They both looked to be of Asian descent though I had no clue how they would have found us way out here. Honestly, I didn’t think we had any locals as we were so deep in the northern mountains that it was lost to most. The guys had told me of small villages nestled here and there among the frozen wilderness when they went out on scouting trips, but never mentioned anyone coming close to our new home as they were as isolated as we were.

  “Queen of the Snow,” the first one said as he raised to his full height. He wore all black clothing with gold trim, matching the other man that had not spoken or risen from his knee yet. My heart raced as he held up his hands placatingly. “We are of no threat to you. If we were, one of us would have eaten you before you went for a ride on my back.”

  I tilted my head to the side and tried to figure out what he was talking about. The only one I’ve ridden, aside from my men, was the dragon. “Cronan?” I questioned, not believing what I was hearing, let alone seeing in front of me.

  “Yes, that is the name you have given me. I don’t remember my true name, but I am agreeable with the one you have chosen.” The amusement in his eyes reminded me of the way he looked the first time I scratched his nose after Sebastian had taken me for a ride on him. “You have freed myself and one of my clansmen. We owe you our lives.” He bowed deeply. “It will be an honor to serve you my Queen.”

  I was at a loss for words and looked to Sebastian, questioning if he knew about
this, “I had no idea, Eva. I don’t know how I missed this.” He seemed frustrated with himself and saddened by the humans that stood before us as he looked from them to me. I could see the true weight of the dragons being trapped shifters wash over him.

  The other man stood up and spoke in a deep, gruff voice, “If I may, Professor? You couldn’t have known. It was magic, like nothing you or we have ever seen before, that bound my brethren to our dragon forms and servitude to the reformatory. We all knew by the way you communicated with us that you cared for us and didn’t agree with our service. We do not hold these actions against you.”

  I listened to him speak to Sebastian, and though he looked frightening, his tone didn’t match his appearance. He was larger than Cronan, and as he spoke, shadows seemed to surround him making his already large frame look that much larger. It was as if the shadows grew and receded with his emotions, or maybe the shock was just getting to my head.

  “Are you the red dragon?” I asked hesitantly, still intimidated by his size.

  “Yes I am. My name is Chan and I am honored to serve you, my Queen,” he bowed to me and I squirmed at the attention and title.

  “Um, thank you, Chan. It’s nice to meet you. I’d like to know how you broke away from whatever bound you to that prison. And if you left then why is your family still there?” I asked, trying not to be rude but needing answers before I trusted them enough to let them into our home.

  “It was you, your Majesty,” Cronan answered. “We aren’t sure what you did, but somehow being with you allowed us to fly past the barriers. I had sensed it the first day that you rode me with the Professor but wasn’t exactly sure. I felt it again when you were escaping and knew we could move past the boundaries of the island. Though we are not sure how we were able to, and our kin are still not.” He paused for a moment, before his gaze met mine, “You are the one that set us free,” his voice was filled with awe. “We were just able to shift to our human forms today. I’m not sure why but it seems the magic binding us has worn off.”