by Rinelle Grey
Humans though…
Lisa gasped suddenly, her eyes flicking open and going immediately to Verrian’s face. She smiled.
In that moment, Calrian could see the love pass between them, even if it was shrouded with pain and uncertainty. There was no doubt in his mind that not only were they lifemates, they cared about each other deeply.
He reached for Rylee’s hand without taking his eyes off the screen, squeezing her fingers, taking comfort from the closeness.
Verrian smiled at his mate, though his happiness mingled with agony. “Are you all right?”
Lisa looked confused. “Of course, why wouldn’t I be?” Calrian could almost see her memory of whatever events had led them to this point return. Then her eyes fell on the Trima leader’s human form and they narrowed. “Ultrima?”
Ultrima gave a smarmy smile. “I’m pleased to see you have recovered, my dear. That was a close call, or so Latrima informs me.” He looked at his life dragon, who nodded.
Lisa looked back at Verrian, her eyes asking him a question her mouth didn’t repeat. They were talking in dragon speech, Calrian was sure of it. Which further confirmed their lifemate status, if he’d needed it.
Since his mate had not died, Verrian would live through this experience, but if he was forced never to see her again…
Calrian bit his lip. He couldn’t even imagine the suffering that would cause for his brother.
The life dragon spoke into the silence. “I healed you,” she offered.
His brother’s human mate didn’t look impressed. “Why did you do that?”
For a moment, everyone looked taken aback. Calrian was surprised himself. He might not want to accept help from the enemy clan, but if he were dying, he’d accept it.
Apparently Ultrima wasn’t too impressed either. “I would have thought a thank you would be in order. You would have died without immediate assistance you know,” he pointed out.
Suddenly, Lisa didn’t look so defiant. She stared into Ultrima’s eyes and swallowed. Then she must have noticed the spotlights because she lifted her head and stared around at them.
Calrian knew just what she would see. Human police surrounding the lair.
Could they actually take on Ultrima? That was probably what she was thinking.
Calrian suspected they’d have a pretty good chance. Human weapons were powerful. Possibly even powerful enough to take on the Trima dragon. But Ultrima had many dragons behind him. Even though the rest of his clan was also in human form, they were numerous. Even if the humans could defeat them, it would come at a great loss.
Lisa must have realised this too. She laid her head back down, looking disheartened.
Ultrima turned to Verrian. “You can see that I’ve kept my part of the deal. Now it’s your turn.”
Lisa turned to Verrian, her eyes wide, as his brother stood up slowly. Her expression grew more anxious as Verrian stared at her for several long moments before saying, “I’m sorry, Lisa.”
Then he turned and walked away.
Calrian’s heart ached. He wanted to call out to his brother, to tell him not to abandon his mate just because Ultrima decreed it so. But it was no use. Even if his brother could hear his words, he wouldn’t turn around. He’d made a promise, and no matter how much it made his heart ache, he wouldn’t go back on it.
His mate didn’t understand that. She pushed herself up on one elbow, her hand reaching for her mate, calling out to him.
But Verrian didn’t pause or turn around.
Lisa turned back to Ultrima. “What did you do to him?” she demanded. “Why is he leaving?”
Ultrima smiled triumphantly. “That was the deal. I’d heal you if he left and never saw you again.”
“You what?” Lisa demanded.
“You heard me.” Ultrima’s smile didn’t dissipate.
Lisa stared at him, as though she couldn’t believe what he was saying. “Why would you do that?”
Calrian shared her confusion. His brother had been right there, and Ultrima hadn’t even attempted to attack him. Yes, the Trima leader was surrounded by humans who would most likely shoot him if he attacked, but to just let Verrian walk away…
And with such a strange set of conditions.
And yet, it reminded Calrian of his own experience. Ultrima had let them live too, and had sent them away with… well, the opposite instructions actually. He’d told them to go and mate, to be happy, to have many children. Calrian remembered it clearly because it had been so surprising.
Of course, in the same breath, Ultrima had told him to remember they’d condemned him to a life of loneliness by not allowing him to wake Sarian.
Seemed like the Trima dragon had decided to spread that feeling around this time instead of love and joy. That only made Ultrima’s actions even harder to understand.
The Trima leader gave a sardonic smile. “To see what he’d do. I wanted to know how much he loves you. Enough to give you up rather than see you die? Karla loved Taurian that much. Or enough to break his word to stay with you? Which do you think is more important to him?”
Taurian?
Calrian barely heard the rest of Ultrima’s smarmy speech. His mind wouldn’t move past the fact that Ultrima had mentioned his youngest brother’s name. Did Ultrima’s words indicate Taurian was awake as well?
Lisa was staring at Ultrima in disbelief as well, though Calrian didn’t think it had anything to do with mention of Taurian’s name.
She scrambled to her feet and turned towards the police, the spotlights lighting her up from all directions. “I’m Lisa Evans,” she announced loudly. “You’ve been looking for me, I hear. Well, here I am. I’m happy to tell you anything you want so long as you arrest this dragon!” She pointed a dramatic finger at Ultrima.
There was complete and utter silence for a moment. Then the quiet was broken by Ultrima’s laugh.
The sound sent a chill down Calrian’s spine. It was the same slightly mad sound the lightning dragon had made just before he’d let Calrian and Rylee go. Calrian would never forget that sound.
“Bravo,” Ultrima said, clapping his hands slowly. “It really is amazing the sort of things people in love will do. Never fails to amuse. Now.” He looked out at the police. “Thank you for being patient while I took care of that. Shall we get back to business?”
One of the police officers, one who looked like he thought he was in charge, stepped forwards. “We need you both to come in for questioning. All of you in fact.” He waved his hand to indicate all the dragons who stood impassively behind Ultrima.
Calrian’s eyes widened. Did the police really want a police station full of dragons? Were they mad?
Ultrima stepped forwards. “I will come as a representative of my people. Everyone else will stay here.”
That was not what Calrian had expected him to say.
If the Trima dragon had thrown lightning at the entire human police force, he would have been less surprised. But to just surrender…
Why had the lightning dragon never done that when he was facing Rian clan? Everything might have turned out differently if he had.
He turned to stare at Rylee, and realised if things had gone differently, he never would have met her. He wouldn’t have even lived in the same time as she did.
He would have spent his whole life not even knowing what he had missed.
For a moment, the strange juxtaposition of his past and his present overlaid each other, and Calrian’s stomach roiled. He didn’t want to think about it, didn’t want to even consider the ramifications of the fact that without his clan’s death he never would have met his mate.
On the television screen, the police officer nodded. “That is acceptable, for now. But the rest of your people will remain here, on the mountain, until we have ascertained the threat. I’ll leave people to see that you do.”
Ultrima nodded too. Well, why not. It wasn’t like the dragons would really let the police stop them if they wanted to leave. With a life dragon, t
hey wouldn’t even have to fight to do it. But the humans had no idea about her other abilities, even if they had witnessed her healing skills.
The police officer turned to his brother’s mate. “Lisa Evans, you will come with us as well.”
Calrian wondered what she’d done to upset the police. There’d been no mention of any crimes in the news article, just her association with his brother. But why did they want her when they’d just let Verrian walk away into the trees.
Probably because they had bigger fish to fry.
Or maybe because they thought she might give them information the dragons might not divulge?
Whatever their reason, his brother’s mate didn’t look happy. She glanced over to the trees where Verrian had disappeared, and Calrian could almost see her considering following him.
If she tried, would the police let her?
Would Ultrima?
Before she could move, the Trima dragon spoke up. “Lisa stays. That’s part of my deal.”
Calrian bit back a laugh. There Ultrima went again, doing something unexpected and beneficial to them. Funny that he considered the Trima lair a safer place for his brother’s mate than the police station.
He’d lived alongside humans for more than twenty years, and he knew most of them were kind, decent people. But right now, they were afraid. They’d been confronted with something they hadn’t even known existed until today. Something large and scary looking, with powers they didn’t understand. Who knew how dangerous they would be?
The police officer considered Ultrima for a moment, probably wondering how far he wanted to push a man who was supposedly a dragon. The same man who had a companion who had healed someone’s wounds right in front of him.
Wisely, he chose to take the bird in his hand. “She stays, but she stays here so we know where she is.”
Ultrima nodded. “That is acceptable.” He gave Lisa an amused smile.
The barbed smile she gave him back would have made a weaker man’s knees buckle.
Seems his brother’s mate was quite feisty.
The police officer stepped back, waving and calling orders to the others around him. A car was brought into the clearing, but not too close. Then the police escorted Ultrima over to it.
Calrian could see the fear in their faces. No one wanted to get too close to the dragon in human form they supposedly had in custody. And he didn’t blame them.
One officer even froze up as Ultrima came near, and others had to step in to take over his job.
The humans might have captured the Trima leader, but he was pretty sure none of them had fooled themselves into thinking they could keep him confined if he changed his mind.
As Calrian watched the police car drive off with his greatest enemy, his mind started working feverishly. Ultrima’s absence could just afford him the chance he’d been looking for—the chance to reunite with the rest of his family.
If Taurian was awake, were there others awake too? He needed to find out. Urgency surged through his veins.
But as the cameras swung back around to his brother’s mate, standing next to Ultrima’s life dragon and surrounded by the entire Trima clan, his heart sank.
Were they really any better off than they’d been this morning?
Chapter 63
“None of what happened there changes anything,” Rylee insisted, once she and Calrian were alone in their room. The calm and certainty she’d felt here only that morning was a dim and distant memory.
She’d known from the first moment they’d seen Calrian’s brother on the news, that her mate would be reconsidering his earlier agreement to wait until the morning. But Verrian’s situation didn’t change the facts.
“Of course it does,” Calrian insisted. “Verrian’s mate is trapped inside Ultrima’s lair, and who knows where my brother even is right now. And on top of that, Ultrima mentioned Taurian. Does that mean he’s awake too? And is this Karla his mate?” He ran his hand through his hair and paced the room.
Rylee could understand how he felt, but in his agitation, he was missing the point. “It seems like Verrian is handling everything quite well,” she said firmly. “Maybe he doesn’t even need your help. It certainly isn’t urgent. After all, you managed everything just fine yourself when you woke up. And it sounds like he’s not even alone.”
“I managed because I had no choice,” Calrian insisted. “And the fact that Taurian might be awake too just makes it more urgent that I find them.”
Rylee didn’t see how he figured that, and she wasn’t sure she wanted to. “You will find them,” she reassured him. “But this doesn’t change the fact that you can’t get there tonight. Now Ultrima that has been arrested, the risks should be past, and I’m sure the planes will be flying again tomorrow.”
Calrian perked up at that. “Of course. They’re probably flying again tonight. Can you check for me? I’ll get Hayrian to take me back to the mainland. No need for you to come out at this hour.”
That wasn’t the answer she’d been hoping for, and for some reason, Rylee’s heart began to beat faster.
She wasn’t even sure why. Calrian was right. With Ultrima otherwise occupied, now would be the safest time for him to find his brothers. But now it wasn’t Ultrima she was afraid of. The news story had revealed another threat. One that scared her even more than Ultrima did.
“I don’t think you should take Mora with you now that we know Ultrima has a life dragon,” she said firmly. She wanted to be calm and rational, but her voice broke on her daughter’s name.
Calrian responded immediately, coming across the room and taking Rylee’s hands in his. “I’ll take care of her,” he assured her. “I promise to bring Mora home safely. And Verrian. Maybe even Taurian too. It’ll be a real Rian reunion.”
His words brought no peace of mind for Rylee. She felt tears prick at the back of her eyes. “There you go again, making promises you can’t guarantee. When are you going to realise I’m not going to fall for that?” She gave him a half smile, but was aware that it faltered before really appearing. “Verrian might not even want to come,” she pointed out. “He won’t want to leave his mate, even if he can’t be with her.”
She saw the look in Calrian’s eyes. He knew that too. “I can’t not go,” he said softly, his voice begging her to understand. “I will leave Mora if you wish, but Verrian and I stand a far greater chance with her help.”
A far greater chance of what he didn’t say, but Rylee could guess it would have something to do with rescuing his brother’s mate. And possibly more of his siblings.
Calrian took her silence as an indication that she needed further convincing. “I may not be able to guarantee Mora’s safety, but protecting our family is always my first priority, you know that, right?”
He stared at her, his eyes pleading for her to understand. And she did—far more than he intended. Her heart ached. “Which family?” she asked softly. “Because right now, protecting both might just be impossible.” Her voice was low. “And they’re your clan, and we’re not.”
She couldn’t meet his eyes as she spoke, sure that he was going to deny her assertion. Just as she doubted it would ever be true. She might be his mate, but she would never be a dragon. There were things about him she could never fully understand.
But instead of denying anything, Calrian pulled her into her arms. “Verrian is my brother,” he agreed. “And I love him like a brother. Taurian too. But…” When she still didn’t look at him, he gently lifted her chin until she was staring into his face.
The expression of unwavering love in his eyes brought tears to her eyes. “Rylee, you are my mate,” he said softly. “And mate trumps brother in every book. My brothers will understand that and even expect it, especially if they have mates of their own. The fact that you’re human is irrelevant. It always has been and it always will be. Verrian’s human mate just reinforces that. You and Rowan and our dragon children, you’re my first priority. And that’s not going to change just because Verrian
is awake. Not even if all my brothers and sisters are awake. Yes, I want to find them, but not if it means risking you. Or Mora.”
Her eyes filled with tears. “I know that.” And she did. But there were no words for the fear in her heart. Rylee gave up trying. “I just… I’m going to miss you so much, Calrian.” She swayed in close to him, leaning against him for support, wanting to soak up every bit of him she could before he left.
Because she knew he would. And she’d let him. She just had to keep hoping he would come back to her.
“I’ll miss you too,” he breathed into her hair. “But I won’t be gone long, I promise. This is my home. You are my life.”
His words comforted her, even if they didn’t completely remove the fear in her heart.
“I’ll check the airline,” she told him. “And we’ll get you on the next available flight.”
She could do this. Calrian loved her and she loved him, and they were bound together by an unbreakable, magical dragon bond. She shouldn’t be so afraid of losing him.
Yet she was still relieved to find no flights were being scheduled until the next morning. She tried not to feel too guilty about being pleased to have another night with Calrian. Verrian wasn’t in any immediate danger, even if he probably wasn’t having the best night of his life.
Once the flights were booked for the morning, Calrian seemed to settle. He pulled her into his arms. “Thank you, Rylee,” he said softly. “I couldn’t have done this without you.”
“You’ll be reunited with your family tomorrow,” Rylee promised, hoping that was true.
“I’m sure I will,” Calrian agreed. “But right now, I’m looking forward to spending the night with my mate.” His voice deepened on the last words, the love in his voice unmistakable, bringing fresh tears to Rylee’s eyes.
“I’m looking forward to spending the night with you too,” she said softly.
Suddenly, the world was right again, and she was here in her mate’s arms, knowing she was loved.
And there was no denying it. The look in Calrian’s eyes, the way his hands slid across her body, and how his lips came down to kiss her tenderly… Her dragon certainly knew how to show his love.
