Chan spoke again, pulling me from my thoughts. “Sergio was the driver and Sebastian trusts that he has nothing to do with the influx. He suggested looking further into those that were closer to Frost.”
“Damn,” I swore. “I had hoped Sebastian would have given me an actual person so I wouldn’t keep fumbling for answers. What about Henry? I know Sebastian’s notes cleared him, but he’s been acting very strange lately. I don’t know what his deal is but he’s weird enough that he could be in on it.”
Chan shook his head, “I am certain it’s not him. The new behavior is for a reason, one that benefits all of us. Keep in mind that he was awake during the fight between Frost and Eva. His memory wasn’t wiped like almost everyone else’s. He might actually be one of the few to finally see Frost for what he really is.”
I was stunned, “I had no idea he knew what actually happened. I’m guessing you won’t tell me how Henry’s weirdness benefits all of us?”
“I can’t. You know Frost has it out for you, and the less you know, the better. I don’t trust that he won’t bring in the veritician again. We can’t take that chance. I know you have some ideas of who could be responsible for bringing Shay here. You should trust your instincts.”
I sat back in my chair, “At first I really thought it was Frost, but when I mentioned the dust to him, it was clear that he wasn’t even aware of the presence of it here, let alone someone being held in the caves. That only leaves a couple of others and one sticks out in my mind the most. It’s just going to be hard and dangerous to prove it.” As much as I loathed Frost, I thought he would at least punish the person that enslaved Shay. We only needed to prove it first. “Did Eva say anything else?” I asked, eager to hear more from her.
“She is excited for you to join them, and can’t wait to meet your mates. She hopes to hear from you soon.” he held the letter in his hand and burned it as he had my letter to Eva. It was better to be safe than sorry.
“What are all the books for?” I asked, trying to be a little sociable with him. After all he was helping us in an immense way.
“Sebastian is trying to figure out how Eva was able to free myself and my friend. I’ve been looking through his documents and some ancient texts he suggested to see if I can find anything. So far, I have come up empty handed. He’s given me a list of places that he thinks more information might be, but I have yet to find anything of use. I’m actually not sure I will be going with you when you leave,” he informed me.
“Wait, you plan on staying here?” I questioned. “I thought that getting you out and freeing your people was part of the escape plan.”
“It was one of the goals but not a priority. Getting you and your mates out is the priority. I knew when I volunteered it was a possibility I would be here until long after the mission was over. I don’t mind and will stay here as long as it is needed.” His voice left no room for argument, but I was not one to let things go.
“I don’t want you to be left here. Surely if we help too we can find the answer you need,” I offered.
“No. You must concentrate on saving Shay and getting out of here yourself. I know you have your own unfinished business that you must take care of for the merpeople. Besides, when I do figure it out, we can fly out of here.”
My eyes widened and I felt like an idiot. “Oh yeah, you’re a dragon. I don’t know how I could have forgotten that.”
He chuckled, “It’s easy to forget when I’ve been staying undercover in my human form. I’m actually concerned with shifting while I’m here, I worry I won’t be able to shift back. I can’t help my brethren if I’m stuck as a dragon, bound to this place again.”
My heart went out to him at the sadness in his voice at the last part. “I can understand that. It must be hard though. To see the others flying outside the window and want to join them. I miss the ocean and my tail so much that sometimes my legs even ache, phantom pains that come and go. I can only imagine how you feel being so close to them.”
“It is hard. I don’t know what happened, but after we left Shadow Isle and whatever spell was broken it left us unable to communicate with our clan. Even being back here, I still can’t hear them in my head,” he revealed. “We always talked that way before, and now I can’t even sense the others. It’s as if they don’t exist for me. I don’t think it would be so bad if I could talk with them, but not being able to, not knowing if they are actually okay, it’s quite frustrating.”
“I can imagine,” I replied.
“I can still shift, at least away from Shadow Isle. My brother has been able to shift back and forth far away from Shadow Isle as well. Like me, he can’t hear our clan and it worries us both. We can’t even feel the connection with each other when we are away. It’s as if all our connections to my people were taken away with whatever broke the spell that kept us here. I don’t know if I would recognize another dragon shifter, even if they were standing in front of me.”
“I’m so sorry Chan.” I knew it was just words, but I couldn’t think of anything else to say to comfort him. I also knew that there were no words that could help with all he was going through. And then a thought occurred to me, “I wonder if Frost might have the information you need. He is the headmaster so any secrets of this place would be in his possession. I’m sure how to keep dragons as slaves would be up there on the list of important things to know for whoever is in charge.”
“We did think of that already. I just have not been able to find where he keeps it hidden. It’s very tricky to get in his office, let alone any of his other hiding spots. Jaxon gave me everything he knows, and the hiding spots he is aware of, but the information I seek is not in any of those places. At least, I have not yet found it.”
“Was there any answer in there for freeing Shay?” I questioned even though I knew he would have told me already.
“Sorry, Una, no. You’re going to have to find the person who is holding her first. Sebastian does not think he can break it unless he knows the person she is bound to. As powerful as he is, even he has limits to his power.”
“I should go before I’m late for check-in,” I said as I tried to keep the disappointment from my voice. I knew even with Henry on our side, he could only go so far to protect me. I had a new respect for him knowing that he was helping us, even if I didn't know how. I didn’t want to push his or my luck by putting him in a hard position. He could only let me slide so many times before Frost figured it out. That fucker had eyes everywhere. “Thank you for everything. I have faith that you will figure it out, just as you think that I can find the asshole that bought Shay.”
I quickly made my way down to the cafeteria where Jet and Beck were waiting for me. They each took one of my hands and we got in line. This time when Henry winked at me I winked back. I wanted him to know I understood and was grateful, even if I couldn’t say as much.
“What was that with Henry?” Jet asked as we sat down next to Ry who was already meticulously eating her food.
“I guess I just figured out he’s not an asshole like everyone thinks he is,” I replied with a shrug and hoped that he wouldn’t press. I really didn’t want to risk being overheard. Jet grunted and thankfully let it go.
Across the room, I spied Adar and felt that pull to him again. As much as my instincts were telling me to invite him over to sit with us my mind fought it. All was not forgiven and I didn’t trust him. I pushed the food around on my plate as my stomach churned, a combination of everything I had learned that morning and my reluctance to accept my attraction to the prince. I was mentally exhausted from everything.
Beck was the first one to notice my lack of appetite and he leaned in close to my ear, “Don’t make me feed you like a tadpole in front of all these people. You need to replenish your energy from last night.”
I felt the heat rise in my cheeks and my body flushed as I thought about the night before. Jet’s hard cock inside of me, filling me as Beck joined him. Fuck, those two played me like an instrument and they were the
masters of my body. I didn’t even remember how many times I came.
“Ugh, could you all stop making her go in heat. I swear I’m going to start carrying around a damn bar of soap so she stops stinking like arousal,” Ry complained.
“Someone needs to get some dick,” I sing-songed back teasingly. A blush crept up her face and it seemed to me that there might be someone she was thinking about. “Do you have someone in mind or do I need to play matchmaker?” I cackled, “Those three over there could use some discipline.” I pointed to the three men that were throwing food at each other and acting like children. I didn’t know who they were, only that they were new as I had not seen them before.
“Hell no!” she said in a whisper shout. “They are not my type. I like my men to be strong and disciplined. Not ill-behaved man children.” I smiled at the far-away look in her eyes.
“Hmm, is there someone else you have in mind?” I asked as I batted my eyes and acted innocent.
She lowered her eyes and mumbled something under her breath and it only confirmed what I believed. I would get it out of her eventually. And then I would do my part to get that girl laid. She needed it, something fierce. “Okay, but you are welcome to use the room whenever you want. Just let me know so I don’t interrupt something fun.”
Ry looked at me in horror and I just shrugged. “Sex is a natural part of life. You might find yourself a little less rigid if you get some dick.”
She shook her head and gathered up her tray as she stood, “Nope. Not going there with you. See you in class.”
I watched her hurry off with a little pep in her step. There was just this little bit of excitedness that I could see because I had gotten to know her. “Shit! I think I know who she’s lusting over.” Beck and Jet just shook their heads and pretended like they didn’t want to know. I watched her leave the cafeteria and smiled, hoping that she would get what, or rather who, she wanted.
I looked back at the guys, “We have to have a study group tonight. I have some very important things I need help with.” I told them, knowing they would understand that I had received word from Eva. While I couldn’t read Eva’s complex code, I could certainly speak my own with my men. I would have been excellent as a spy for the Supernatural Spy Agency if I hadn’t ended up in this shithole. I think the whole Shadow Isle for killing humans would automatically void my application even though I was completely innocent. Add the escape we were plotting to that and that would be a big nope.
It worked out better this way though, now I could be free to have study time with my guys, anytime I wanted.
Chapter 26 - Adar
I watched Una across the lunchroom without being stalkerish. As soon as she would look in my direction, I would quickly look down at my plate so that she wouldn’t know I was staring. I made progress by getting her to be my friend and that was a start. I sure wasn’t going to fuck it up by scaring her away with my staring at her.
The people surrounding me were just like the ones back home. They gravitated toward me when the rumors got around that I was a prince. I shouldn’t have opened my mouth to those two bitches because I was sure it was them that spilled the information. It was incredibly hard to drop a title I had used my whole life though.
Even though I had told them to leave me the fuck alone, I would still catch them staring at me as if I were a piece of meat they wanted to devour. I should have been used to it since it had been that way my entire life, but damn if it wasn’t making things more frustrating, and even more difficult with Una. The disdain at their attention was clear anytime she caught me surrounded by them. But I didn’t know how to change it.
Una was the only person that didn’t give a shit what my title was and that made me more attracted to her. Before yesterday, I didn’t know where her family came from or anything about them and I didn’t care. I was supposed to marry a princess as per tradition in my kingdom. All the ones that were paraded around me were nothing special. They were all the same boring women that were bred to have perfect manners and never show any emotion other than happiness. They were dolls, puppets, just fake.
Una wasn’t like that at all and I was shocked to hear that she was a princess herself. She spoke her mind and did what she wanted. There was absolutely nothing prim and proper about her. I could imagine the look on the other royal families’ faces if she were to attend a formal function. I chuckled to myself as I pictured how the last princess the queen had demanded I marry would have reacted. She was a princess from the sea, much like Una, though I doubted they came from the same pod. They were both so different.
Her spirit and strength drew me to her, even when I didn't want her to. The other princess was needy and clingy and had rubbed me the wrong way. Her sister had been sweet but we didn’t hit it off as I imagined I would with a future bride. I would have preferred to have married her over the one the evil queen had insisted on though.
Thinking back to it, I realized the queen had more than insisted. She forced me into an engagement with her, negating the fact that I had decided to ask her sister, Darya. That was the first sign that this woman, Mira, was someone I would not want to marry. Anyone the queen approved of was just as power hungry as herself. It took me months of pleading with my father to get the engagement called off. I had never been more relieved over anything before in my life.
It caused quite a lot of tension between our kingdom and that of the sea. I hadn’t known until afterwards that I was engaged to a mermaid princess. I was thankful for my father’s skills at negotiating and he was willing to pay the gold that it took to settle things for me.
My heart squeezed as I thought of my father. I missed him so much and hated that those responsible were out there ruling over what he had worked so hard to build. Even worse was knowing that the queen was a power hungry bitch and would not think of the people in her quest for more. She would never be satisfied and I feared that my people would pay the price.
I laughed as I thought again about Una being from the same family as that cold hearted bitch my mother had betrothed me to. It was a small world, but not that small. There was no way the two were even slightly related, then again, I didn’t know much about the mer-people, so it might be a possibility.
My memory from the day she saved me was fuzzy at best. I remembered waking up to her over me on the beach, brushing my hair back from my eyes. Other than that, I could recall nothing else. I had no clue how I had even ended up in the water, let alone how everyone else had been either. All I knew was that we were, and some were rescued, some were drowned.
There were so many unanswered questions that I needed answers to, and Una seemed like the only one that would be able to answer them. If she were related to the princesses, it could explain why she was so angry with me. What if she was sent here to kill me as the queen had sent me here to hurt her? No, I couldn’t see Una doing something like that. She may have been angry with me when I first arrived, but I could see she had a big heart and wouldn’t hurt others if she could help it.
I wished I could find out more about what was happening with my people from my friends in the kingdom. I thought I would’ve heard something from one of my old friends to update me, but it seemed now that I was the fallen prince, they no longer cared. I certainly couldn’t count on Fallon to update me as I was sure he was in the queen’s pocket. Something about his behavior was wrong and that was another thing I had hoped to hear about from my so called friends.
I should just let it go, I knew that in my head, but in my heart, it was still in my kingdom, the legacy my father had left for me. Though it was no longer mine, I cared about it with every fiber of my being. If only I could get out of this prison and go back. I shouldn’t count my old friends as friends either. They obviously abandoned me once I lost the prestige that had come with my title.
I watched as Una and her two mates left the cafeteria. I abruptly stood up to follow, not caring that I had interrupted whatever one of my fan club members was saying. I had no idea what he talked abou
t and I didn’t care. My only thought was to get to Una to talk to her. Try to sort some of these questions out, hopefully find out about her past and how she was connected to mine, other than the queen being jealous of her beauty.
I quickened my pace so I could catch up to them enough, staying just within distance to see them, but still, I hung back. I watched her gorgeous ass sway and heard her laughter echo through the halls. I longed to be the one making her laugh and jealousy ran through me. I didn’t understand how she could have more than one mate or how that whole thing worked. I knew it was common for supernaturals, but it wasn’t common for the humans I had been raised with. Even so, seeing her with them, made me wish I was one of them.
Beck leaned down and kissed Una, making me long to find out how her lips would feel against mine, how she tasted. Fuck, I was getting a bulge right in the middle of the hallway. I needed to stop this unhealthy obsession or do something about it.
I chose to do something about it and jogged to catch up to the three. “Una, I think we still have some things to talk about. I wanted to know if we could meet after the last class?” I felt the scent of magic in the air and knew her mates were angry. I looked at Beck, who held his hands tight, water dripping from his balled fists, his power barely restrained. “I promise that I will be a perfect gentleman and not do anything to disrespect your mate,” I assured them with a slight bow.
“Yes, I do believe there are many things we need to talk about, prince,” she replied as she eyed her men. “I need to think about where we can go and I’ll let you know before the end of the last class.”
My heart soared at the prospect of spending some time alone with her and it not being because we were stuck by alarms. “Thank you,” I replied as I made sure to say the same directly to Beck and Jet. I saw both of them visibly relax and the water stopped dripping from Beck’s hand. At least I wouldn’t be attacked by them at the moment.
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