The Pearl of the Dragon [The Triplet Mermen Trilogy]

by Casper Graham

  “Indeed.”

  Caspian grabbed Gavin’s hand and smirked right before he jumped high into the air with a strong swish of his tail and plunged into the ocean. Gavin’s yelp of astonishment was gargled the moment the two of them hit the water. Caspian attempted to drag his mate underwater, but he was surprised when he realized he was holding on to claw-like fingers instead. He gasped at the sight of Gavin’s half-altered form.

  “You look astounded.”

  “I am. For a second there, I thought you were a merman, but your emerald-green tail is so much longer and thicker.” Then, Caspian gently caressed the protruding horns on the top of Gavin’s head. “I love these two large pointed horns and those razor-sharp ridges from the center of your neck all the way down to the edge of your tail. They’re magnificent.”

  Gavin chuckled in amusement. “I’m a water dragon, babe, so I won’t have any merperson-like features on me.”

  Caspian chortled for a moment. “Water dragons remind me of those lizard-like reptiles.”

  Gavin grimaced. “Ugh. Stupid humans and their damn classification systems. I’m an enormous dragon in my original form. I refuse to have anything to do with those puny, pathetic reptiles.”

  Caspian rolled his eyes. “Yes, Your Majesty. You’re the best and greatest dragon in the world. Come on then, O’ Great One. Follow me.”

  He swam deeper and farther out into the ocean. He noticed the other creatures giving him and Gavin a wide berth. In the past, when he had swum on his own, some groups of fishes would have moved closer and played with him, bumping and rubbing against him. He understood they were terrified of Gavin now. Even though Gavin wasn’t in his full dragon form, the water dragon shifter was still gigantic. Caspian was also aware that Gavin’s status as a council member was another factor for those other creatures to avoid getting too near to him and his dragon mate.

  “Every creature is frightened of me. I’m horrifying enough in my half-shifted form, but Miranda has also done severe damage to the water creatures’ trust in the council.”

  Caspian held Gavin’s claw-like hand and squeezed gently. “Give them time. You’re not Miranda. You’re also a wonderful mate, and I love you.”

  Gavin gave him a sheepish smile. “Thanks, babe. I love you, too.”

  After that, the two of them continued the journey in silence. Several moments later, Caspian spotted the entrance to the cave that concealed the merfolk community he’d grown up with. He tugged Gavin backward when his mate tried to head toward the entryway. Gavin gazed at him in confusion.

  “You can’t see it, but my mom’s protective magic is subtle. It surrounds the entire cave. Watch.”

  Caspian drew upon his fire magic and hurled a ball of fire toward the cave. Immediately, a shimmering layer of magic absorbed the ball of fire before disappearing once again.

  Gavin whistled softly. “Damn.”

  “Uh-huh. Hang tight. That disturbance on the shield will alert the guards. Sometimes, my parents will come out along with them. My dad is a general, after all.”

  Caspian was right. A few seconds later, his parents and some guards exited through the entrance of the cave.

  “Cas?”

  Caspian grinned widely. “Hello, Mom.”

  He winced in utter embarrassment when his mom rushed toward him and started hugging and kissing his cheeks and forehead. “Oh, my son! I’ve missed you so much.”

  “Mom, don’t be dramatic. It has only been a hundred years, give or take.”

  “Hush. Don’t ruin this precious moment for me. Where are your brothers?”

  “On land.” His mother’s expression dimmed immediately. “I’ll bring them and their mates back into the ocean for a party soon. I promise.”

  “Your father and I know about Drake and Edwin—” His mother choked off in shock for a few seconds while he smirked at her. “Wait a minute. Baltic is mated, too?”

  Caspian beamed at his mother. “Yup. He’s recently mated to Jefferson Workman, an elf. The same night as me and my mate, I believe.”

  As expected, his mother began ranting about Baltic and how thoughtless his baby brother was. “He should have returned straight to the ocean and let us meet his mate. When I was his age, I…”

  Caspian grimaced and tuned his mother out. Then, he shrugged at Gavin, who was biting his lower lip in a valiant attempt to stop himself from laughing out loud. He heaved out a sigh of relief when his father and the guards swam toward him and his mother.

  “My love, you’ll get plenty of chances to scold Baltic next time. Caspian has brought his mate home to meet us. Let us focus on them instead.”

  His mother blushed. “Oh, right. Where are my manners?”

  Caspian pulled Gavin toward him and his parents. “Mom, Dad, meet my mate, Gavin Barton. He’s—”

  “—a water dragon shifter and our new council member,” his father interrupted. “It’s an honor.”

  “Council,” his mother greeted while bowing her head.

  Gavin lowered his head in return. “The honor is mine. I’m mated to Cas. I promise I’ll take good care of him forever.”

  “Of course, Council—”

  “Gavin, please.” Gavin cut Caspian’s father off midsentence. “I’m your son-in-law, after all.”

  “Right.”

  Then, everyone was quiet. Caspian interjected in a hurry before the silence could stretch on and become really awkward.

  “Mom, Dad, we’re also here on an official business.”

  His mother stared at him in confusion. “Huh? Did something happen on land? We haven’t heard about anything bad in the ocean.”

  Gavin cocked his head at Caspian. “Why don’t you fill them in, babe?”

  “Okay.”

  Caspian floated between his parents and tugged them forward while Gavin and the guards followed from behind them. As they headed toward the entrance to the cave, he informed his parents about the various attacks by shadow people on land.

  “So, they’re attempting to make everything chaotic by assaulting various beings at random?”

  “Maybe, Dad. Fortunately, no one has died so far.”

  His mother shook her head. “It does sound similar to the case of the dolphin shifters. If those shadow people were in solid forms, I’d whoop their asses myself. Seriously.”

  Caspian snorted. “We aren’t certain of their motives yet.”

  His mother harrumphed. “They’ve caused enough harm.”

  Caspian had to agree that his mother might have a point. “True. Are you sure no one in the ocean has any inkling about the things happening on land?”

  His father tapped him on his shoulder with one tentacle. “Nope. Air and land creatures are much closer to one another, but the water creatures tend to be more isolated. Almost all of us reside extremely deep inside the ocean.”

  Gavin approached Caspian. “Babe, it’s very dark here at the bottom of the ocean. Almost zero light is able to penetrate all the way here. I don’t think the shadow people consider it worthwhile to dive all the way here.”

  “You’re right. We should still ask around just in case there are creatures down here who have heard about the shadow people and their motives.”

  Gavin shrugged. “It’s worth a try.”

  Caspian’s father jumped in when there was a brief lull in the conversation. “I agree with Gavin, Cas. If you both truly can’t dig out anything helpful, I’ll keep an eye and ear out on your behalf. I can always send one of the guards on land if I discover anything at all. In the meantime, we can have breakfast together. Your mother and I were about to eat earlier when we sensed the disturbance in the shield.”

  Caspian grinned at his parents. “Sorry about that. I was attempting to show the magical shield to my mate.”

  His mother beamed at him. “It’s fine. Your father and I have missed you and your brothers very much. We’re glad to see you. Just remember to bring your brothers and their mates back to the ocean next time. Your mate, too, of course. I’m goin
g to throw a party for you all. All my sons are mated. That’s definitely worth a grand celebration.”

  Caspian beamed at his mother. “Will do, Mom.”

  Breakfast was a loud and cheerful affair. He told his parents a bit about the attack that had happened to Baltic and Jefferson before they moved on to the topic of the tainted potions. Naturally, his parents were concerned, but they were also relieved that Baltic and Jefferson were able to get through it just fine. When they were done with the meal, they ventured out from the cave. The four of them were flanked by a group of merpeople guards. As they traveled through parts of the ocean, he wasn’t surprised at all when they were unable to uncover anything. He knew the chances of anyone down here knowing anything were rather slim. Once they were back in front of the cave where he’d grown up in all those years ago, he embraced his parents and promised he would be back soon with everyone in tow. He chuckled when Gavin seemed taken aback by his parents hugging him, as well.

  His father pulled back seconds later. “Please take care of my son.”

  Caspian scoffed in irritation at his father. “I can defend myself just fine.”

  His mother rolled her eyes at him. “You’re mated now. You’re both supposed to protect each other.”

  “Yes, Mom, I know that, but—”

  “Hush. As your mother, I’m always right.”

  Caspian wanted to argue back, but Gavin grabbed his hand and squeezed quite hard on it. He glared at his mate, who kissed him briefly on the lips to silence him.

  “It’s fine, babe. I’ll be delighted for you to have my back.”

  He felt a little better after hearing that, so he shut his mouth and simply smiled at his parents. He and Gavin bade farewell to his parents before they made their way back to shore. This might not have been a fully productive trip back into the ocean, but he at least had gotten to meet up with his parents and introduced his mate to them. He and Gavin swam hand in hand as they waded through the seawater. He had a lot of nostalgic and sentimental reasons to miss living in the ocean, but he belonged wherever Gavin was. If he had to live on land for the rest of eternity, he wouldn’t mind it at all as long as he had his mate next to him forever.

  Chapter 6

  Gavin sighed as discreetly as he could while sitting on one of the chairs at the round table. Not that it made a difference. He was in a meeting with his fellow council members, who were all supernatural beings with incredible senses. He was certain they could hear him just fine. He didn’t care, though. The other four council members might have been ruling the council much longer than he had, but aside from Sombertooth, the hellhound shifter, he was actually much older in terms of age compared to the other three. He was bored at the silly meeting. They didn’t have any new information, so he had no idea why they needed to sit in the chamber in the alternate dimension and hash over the old stuff. After a few more minutes, he couldn’t keep his mouth shut any longer.

  “My fellow councils.” Four pairs of eyes turned toward him immediately. He barely stopped himself from rolling his eyes. “Why are we here really?”

  Zestus, the pegasus shifter, grinned at him. “To exchange news occurring in our respective domain, of course.”

  Gavin nodded. “I haven’t obtained anything fresh on my side. Everything the four of you have been talking about over the last two hours is nothing new, as well.”

  “It hasn’t even been one and a half hours since we convened, Gav,” Oveda, the dwarf, corrected him with a gentle smile.

  Gavin tried not to grit his teeth in irritation. “That’s not the point. Can we get to the shadow people, please?”

  Sombertooth snickered at him. “You young ones are so impatient.”

  Gavin ignored Sombertooth winking at him. “I miss my mate terribly. Sitting here with you bunch of old people isn’t my idea of fun.”

  Tarragon, the fairy, snorted out loud. “Speak for yourself, Gav.”

  Gavin chuckled in acknowledgment of the fact that he was the second oldest among the five of them. “Fine. Anyway, the shadow people?”

  Sombertooth placed both hands on the table before responding. “I questioned the shadow person Caspian captured for us.”

  “And?” Gavin prodded, feeling more than a little impatient to get things moving along.

  “It’s a male, by the way,” Sombertooth replied with a tone that sounded as if he was talking about what to eat for breakfast. “It took a little persuasion to convince him to squeal.”

  Gavin understood Sombertooth’s implication behind the word “persuasion.” It was definitely much harsher than what the word actually meant, but he didn’t bother seeking clarification from the hellhound. If it had been up to him, he would have killed the damn creature for daring to assault Caspian. He still yearned to eradicate the shadow man for good. He was furious that anyone had dared to harm his mate. He knew he wouldn’t be able to stop himself from murdering that motherfucker. That was the only reason he’d handed the shadow man over to Sombertooth.

  By protocol, he should have passed the shadow man over to Tarragon. After all, the fairy was in charge of all creatures whose element was spirit, but Gavin wasn’t thinking clearly back then. He just had to remove the shadow man from his sight before he truly lost his temper and caused the council to lose the only opportunity to interrogate the shadow man for any clues as to why he, and some other shadow people, had been assaulting innocent supernatural beings. It wasn’t easy to locate another shadow person. Shadow people were notoriously slimy and slippery, evading detection and almost impossible to find.

  “Go on. Don’t keep the rest of us in suspense,” Zestus urged, obviously curious now.

  Sombertooth nodded. “We’re right about the motive. The shadow people want to cause chaos to break out in the supernatural world, but they also don’t care if it ends up exposing us all to the ordinary mortals.”

  Oveda scrunched up her face in bewilderment. “That doesn’t make any sense. Their group is a part of the supernatural world.”

  Tarragon shook his head. “Actually, it makes plenty of sense. The aether or spirit element contains both light and darkness. The shadow people have always been secretive. The one sure thing we all know about them is they feed on negative energies. If the supernatural world is exposed, you can imagine the fear and even anger that will be directed at our kind from those ordinary humans.”

  Gavin whistled under his breath. “They’re smart.”

  Sombertooth tapped his fingers a few times on the table. “I know that the shadow people don’t reproduce in a sexual manner. They increase their numbers through an intense, all-encompassing feeling of terror.”

  Zestus rubbed his chin for a few seconds while seemingly pondering about the situation. “Are their numbers on the decline?”

  Tarragon scoffed. “More like the opposite. I may not be able to pinpoint their exact locations, but I can feel their growth. After all, I’m in charge of all creatures whose element is the aether or spirit. I can sense the darkness growing larger. The amount of magic is incredible.”

  Gavin gazed into Tarragon’s eyes. “How can you be one hundred percent positive it’s them and not the other creatures in the realm of the darkness?”

  Tarragon smiled at Gavin. “Easy. Every group of supernatural being I oversee is cooperative. They all report their numbers to me at least once a month, so I’ll be aware if there has been a mass killing of the people I’m supposed to take care of. On the other hand, I’ll also know if there has been a huge increment in their numbers.”

  Gavin’s eyes lit up in understanding. “So, only the shadow people have been silent all this while?”

  “Yes and no. They will contact me once in a while, but it happens once in a blue moon.”

  Oveda snorted. “What’s the interval?”

  Tarragon chuckled. “Every five, six hundred years or so.”

  Zestus chortled in amusement. “Those damn shadow people.”

  Sombertooth, Oveda, and Tarragon burst out laughing, as wel
l. Gavin had no idea what was hilarious about the situation. He thought it was horrible. The council members should have been updated at least once every six months, but the shadow people broke the rule. He was taken aback when Sombertooth clasped his shoulder and squeezed it gently.

  “You need to lighten up a bit, Gav. We may be the council members, but we’re not omniscient. There are times when we just have to find humor in our duties. Otherwise, Zestus, Oveda, Tarragon, and I would have gone insane a long time ago. Being a council member has its perks. The supernatural beings we’re in charge of will send us precious gifts once in a while. You’re new to this, but I’m sure you’ve heard about that. We accept those gifts not only because we don’t earn any money through this thankless gig at all but also out of respect to some of the supernatural beings’ cultures. Some of them will be highly offended if we reject their gifts. They will view the rejection as a personal insult. I’m certain you know that, too.”

  Gavin nodded. “This is so much more complicated than I thought. I agreed to replace Miranda back then because I didn’t want to leave the water supernatural beings without anyone to care for them. I simply haven’t thought about the other aspects with a much deeper consideration.”

  Zestus snickered. “It’s too late to back out now.”

  Gavin resisted the temptation to stick his tongue out at the pegasus shifter. “Whatever. The only thing I want to know is why the shadow people have a sudden need to want chaos now.”

  Oveda shrugged. “I have the same question.”

  The five of them were quiet after that. Gavin glanced around the glittering chamber. It was full of lights and magic. In fact, the whole alternate dimension where the chamber was located was literally drowning in magic. It was so dense he could almost taste it on his tongue. The chamber was extremely spacious because it was also used as a conference room for large groups of supernatural beings in times of emergency, which had only occurred once several hundred years ago when they were almost exposed to the ordinary mortals. He shuddered at that particular memory. He hoped he and the other council members would be able to solve the issue of the shadow people soon. Otherwise, the outcome would be too horrifying to even think about.