Cole

by Emilia Hartley

  The spout lashed out at them. It cracked against the side of the truck, sending it veering off course. Cole yanked the emergency brake and the vehicle careened to the side. Jude grabbed him and held on tight until the truck came to a full stop.

  The waterspout wasn’t done with them. It slapped the roof of the truck. He could hear the fiberglass body groaning and cracking. It might not hold up much longer.

  Jude moved to get out her door, but Cole caught her. His heart was in his throat. The waterspout was on her side. When she looked at him, he jerked his head to his door. The very least they could do was put the truck between them and the waterspout.

  Cole’s beast roused itself, shaking its scales. It told Cole that Alistair wanted Jude. His old leader wanted Jude to break the spell holding him beneath the lake’s waters. Her proximity to the lake and Sybil’s weakened state gave Alistair more freedom. If Cole failed Jude and Alistair dragged her under the water, Cole would never see her again.

  Because she wasn’t Alistair’s mate. She belonged to Cole. Heart and soul, he knew that she belonged with him. If Alistair got ahold of Jude, then she would drown. Alistair wouldn’t just hand her back. He would make his old clan hurt. That was how he broke them all.

  Alistair had tired to kill Cole. He’d done it in front of the others, a show that should have made them all back away. Alistair had been trying to intimidate his clan. Fear was Alistair’s greatest tool. Cole could almost feel Alistair’s claws in his stomach now.

  The cold, slicing feeling in his stomach meant nothing to him. He helped Jude over the console in the center of the truck and onto the grass outside. She was his main concern. While she watched the waterspout, Cole yanked her into his body. He claimed a kiss before she could move.

  For a second, she sank into him. She fisted the front of his shirt in her hands, holding on for dear life. If they hadn’t been shifters, it would have been a bruising kiss. Cole didn’t want to let go, but the waterspout crashed against the truck again. The vehicle slammed against Cole’s back. It shoved him forward, but he dug in his heels and pushed back.

  “You need to leave,” Cole told his mate. “If you leave, then he won’t be able to hurt you.”

  “Fuck that,” Jude growled. Her eyes were turning gold. “I’m about to go for a swim so I can throttle him.”

  She started to step around the truck, but Cole snatched her arm and tugged her back. “If Alistair drags you into the water, I’ll never see you again. He will drown you.”

  “He needs a mate, right? Then I’ll let him think he’s getting one.”

  “It won’t work,” Cole growled. “You…you’ve been marked by me already. Remember? He’s going to take one look at you and know that you’re already mated.”

  She paused. “Already mated? You mean…?”

  He groaned. This wasn’t the time. They shouldn’t be talking about their feelings. They should have been searching for Asher and the humans that he’d taken on the water. Sybil said over the phone that Asher had crashed the boat. She’d seen it in her cards and called right away.

  “Yes,” Cole said. “I love you. My heart belongs to you and you alone. If Alistair finds out, he will try to kill you. Leave the area and don’t come back until I call you.”

  She shook her head. “You forget that I’m a gold dragon. We were meant to rule. Part of ruling is making sure dumb upstarts don’t get too much power.”

  He couldn’t win. Not with her. She was headstrong and stubborn. Cole could only hope that she was as strong as she thought. If she wasn’t, they could both lose everything.

  “Trust me,” she begged. “Go find Asher. Leave Alistair to me.”

  He wanted to plant his feet and argue, to keep her safe and far away from the danger, but that would never be how it worked with Jude. She was a protector. Her dragon had chosen this territory. Meant to be a queen, she would rise to that position no matter what. Cole couldn’t hold her back.

  “Stay safe,” he said, not that she would. Jude would throw herself headlong at the issue. That was the only thing he could rely on.

  She grinned, that same grin he saw the first day they met. It was a challenge and a show. Maybe she wasn’t as confident as she looked. Maybe she was shaking on the inside. Cole certainly was.

  She stalked toward the water while Cole ran along the lake’s edge. He glanced back, once, to see her put her hands on her hips and look up at the waterspout like a disappointed friend. Cole sucked in a shuddering breath and returned to his own mission. Asher needed him. Sybil had called because Asher wasn’t capable.

  Cole couldn’t stand to lose anyone else. He wanted to keep his family safe. Far away from the lake, Asher had been safe. Cole never should have let him take the boat out. Cole should have booked Asher a flight back to wherever he’d come from and sent him a bill for the cost. That would have taught Asher never to visit again.

  Now that the clan was coming back, they were in danger again. Alistair had changed. He shouldn’t be able to use the water the way he was. The magic Sybil used to trap him had molded the sleeping beast into something new. He was a dragon unlike any other in the world. A water beast.

  One that wanted to drown the world.

  They’d inadvertently created a lake monster. Great.

  Cole rushed along the edge of the lake, searching for a plume of smoke or any other sign of a crash. He had to find Asher. That was all that mattered. Cole knew he should have been worried for the humans aboard, but fear from so long ago reared its ugly head. He thought he was going to lose them all, his whole clan, when Alistair first betrayed them.

  While Cole had bought ten years, it didn’t feel like enough.

  “Over here!” A familiar voice shouted for Cole’s attention.

  A sopping wet Asher trudged toward Cole. Without thinking, Cole ran for his clanmate and pulled him into a tight hug. Relief flooded Cole, along with water because Asher was soaked through and through. Droplets splashed the ground when Cole squeezed tighter.

  “I didn’t think you were the affectionate type, bro.” Asher sounded just as relieved, but then his voice dropped low. “Look, man. About the boat. I’m so sorry. The water appeared out of nowhere. One moment, we were above it, and then the next, we were under it.”

  “Don’t worry,” Cole told his clanmate. “The people on board. Are they okay?”

  Asher swallowed hard, but he nodded. “I made damn sure everyone got back to shore. That’s why I’m soaking wet.”

  “Good, because we have a problem on our hands. You didn’t crash the boat. Alistair did.”

  Asher’s lips formed a question he never got to say, because his gaze moved past Cole. Asher’s jaw dropped. Cole nodded, but Asher grabbed Cole’s face and turned it so he could see the shore behind him.

  The waterspout stared Jude down, but on either side of her now stood great beasts. They weren’t dragons, but dragon shaped. Another dragon-shape climbed out of the water. Cole watched the lake’s level drop as the water creature clawed its way toward Jude.

  Asher rushed forward, but Cole was glued to the spot. The dragon-shaped water all looked like the same beast. Yet, that wasn’t the beast Cole remembered. Alistair had two great horns curling back from his head. This beast didn’t have horns. It had a spine ridge along its neck that wavered in the air like seaweed in the water.

  Cole refused to think that the water had changed Alistair that much. Something was off, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on what. Before he could figure it out, the waterspout wrapped around Jude. It brought her high in the air. She didn’t scream or struggle.

  One moment she was there, her eyes meeting his across the distance. Then she was gone, dragged beneath the surface. Cole could have sworn his idiot mate waved at him. She waved. If she lived through this, he was going to tell her that she was a careless idiot.

  If she lived…

  The dragon-shapes turned their attention on Cole and Asher. It would have been funny had one of them not put a claw through t
he back of Jude’s cabin. The wall crumbled beneath the impact. The beasts were made of water, but that didn’t seem to matter. They hit like solid beasts, like real beasts.

  And one was crashing toward Asher. The young dragon shifter clapped his hands together and laughed. A second later, his beast erupted. He tossed his white-scaled head back before galloping toward the water-beast. Asher was larger than Cole remembered. The beast before him was bulky. It was scarred with old injuries.

  What kind of life had Asher lived without him? It’d been ten years, but Cole remembered a young and skinny guy. Not the raging beast that slashed its claws through one of the water-beasts.

  Cole’s heart stuttered as the water-beast reformed. It coalesced into the form of a snarling beast and slapped Asher with its tail. Asher staggered. The other water-beasts were gathering around Asher.

  Jude was beneath the water’s surface. If Cole let Alistair figure out that she was already bonded, she would drown. Yet, if Cole abandoned Asher, there was a chance he would lose his clanmate, too.

  Trust me, Jude told him.

  She’d walked up to that water’s edge without an ounce of fear on her face. Cole needed to trust her. She could bring the fight to Alistair, but Asher needed Cole. Three water beasts swiped at the white dragon shifter. Asher dodged two, but the third connected.

  Blood welled on the surface of Asher’s scales. He favored his flank, and didn’t put any weight on it. The same water-beast went to strike again. This time, when it hit, blood swirled through its form.

  Cole wasn’t going to let Asher die. He didn’t let anyone die last time and he wasn’t about to let it happen this time. Jude could handle herself. Like she said, she was a gold dragon, and this was her territory now.

  Cole unleashed his beast. For a moment, Asher stared at him. Cole had forgotten that none of his clanmates had seen the scars.

  18

  The world was dark. A grip tightened around her stomach and dragged her further down. She’d been here before. Both in reality and her dreams. The beast lurking here wanted her. That much was obvious. She was a possible key to its freedom. Not that she was going to let that happen.

  She wasn’t going to die down here, either. There was a mate waiting for her, back on the land. Cole loved her. She’d heard him say the words with his own mouth. She should have said them back. There would be time for that later, she reasoned. Because she was not going to die down here.

  Over and over, she told herself she wouldn’t die. If she said it enough, it might even come true. There was no way of knowing, though. All she could do was fight. Jude had fought for years. She’d fought for everything she had, every scrap of reputation, every chance to live in peace. This was no different.

  When the two glowing orbs ignited before her, she didn’t back down. She let the beast pull her toward it.

  Release me, it commanded.

  She couldn’t talk back, being underwater and all. So, instead, she shrugged. As if to say too bad. The beast didn’t like it. The waterspout holding onto her shook her. Her head snapped back and forth. She had to grit her teeth and force herself to relax so it didn’t break her. It was trying to shake the air out of her, she realized.

  Love me, it demanded. The voice boomed around her.

  If that was how it tried to win love, it would be alone for a very long time.

  Jude was tired of the beast. Tired of the way it crept into her mind at night, of the way it threatened her territory, and most of all tired of the way it kept making demands. She bowed to no one. Jude had never served a king. She’d been her own queen for her entire life. No one would make her bend. Not when she was strong enough to stand.

  Her beast, growling in agreement, began to break free. She felt the change work slowly. Her fingers sharpened into claws. Her teeth pressed against the inside of her lips. The water was trying to push against her change, to keep her in human form, but she was stronger than that. Her beast was a part of the land. It’d found the magic that ran through it.

  The dragon in the water brought her deeper, closer. Her golden beast glided through the water. Dragged, deeper and deeper, she let the dragon bring her into striking range. If she was closer, she could kill it. She could put an end to this once and for all.

  Then the territory would truly become hers. No one else could lay claim to it. She and her mate would rule…

  If Cole was alright with letting her rule. Jude knew her stubborn beast wouldn’t be willing to let Cole lead, but she could try if he wanted the chance at leading.

  In her moment of distracted thought, she found herself suddenly inside the creature’s cage. Her tail lashed against the bars. Before her was a young man. Not at all the leader of the old clan. This was not Alistair.

  Another face looked up at her beast. The young man, hair floating in the water and eyes blazing with an unnatural power, looked her up and down. His gaze rested on her beast’s neck, where her claiming mark would have been in her human form.

  Before the young man could react and hurt her, she struck. She swiped her claws through the water, but it slowed her down. The young man disappeared. It was like he’d never been there. The current didn’t sway with movement. It didn’t rush in to fill the space he’d been in. Nothing moved.

  Tell them they’re fools. Tell them I will come to kill them all when I am freed.

  Not if Jude had anything to say about it. She rounded, trying to find the source of the voice. No one stood behind her. There was nothing in the darkness. No, that wasn’t right. A form slithered through the water. But it wasn’t a human. A long beast undulated in the darkness, like a creature born of the water.

  Or, perhaps, molded by it.

  Jude wanted to ask who she was talking to, but in this form, she couldn’t speak. The water pressing in on her made it even harder. Jude watched the beast out of the corner of her eye, catching glimpses of it. Ever wary, she looked above. The light beckoned her. Life called.

  She hoped she could break through the cage the beast had pulled her into. Her dragon’s lung’s could only survive for so much longer. Sure, it had somehow tapped into the magic of the lake and the land around it, but that didn’t mean she could breathe water like this other beast. The lake would kill her.

  The beast swimming around her didn’t seem to want to kill her. She could feel its gaze on the back of her neck as it watched her, but it made no more to keep her there. Growling, she kicked off the lake bed. The magic of the cage rippled around her. It tried to grab at her, tried to keep her there.

  But the cage was never meant for her. It washed over her scales when it realized it couldn’t have her. Her chest burned as she swam. The beast assured her everything was fine, but Jude knew she’d spent too long under the water. Maybe meeting the beast of the lake in its own territory had been a bad idea, but she’d survived nonetheless.

  Cole slapped his claws through the water-beast. It sliced through the creature and rendered it into nothing more than droplets that sprayed everywhere. Cole thought he’d won until the creature coalesced again. The droplets skittered back together, rising and rising into a hulking form.

  He growled, a rumbling sound that would have shaken any normal beast. The water-beasts were unflappable. With no mind or heart, they charged ahead. Asher stormed through the, but even he was growing tired.

  Cole glanced over his shoulder, back at the water where his mate had disappeared. Jude was still trapped somewhere in the lake. He desperately wanted to dive in after her. There was no reason to exist if she died here. His own life meant nothing without the new light he found.

  But, then Asher bumped his flank and caught his eye. Determination flashed in Asher’s eyes. The dragon was bloodied and slouched, but when Asher looked back to the water-beasts he held his head high.

  Cole had more than Jude to live for. He had a family. They might be scattered across the states, but they were still his family. They were the reason Cole had stayed at the lake, protected it. His family had been everything
to him once, and he’d forgotten. Now, Cole had a chance at reuniting his family.

  He’d found them a great leader. She’d fallen right into his lap.

  No.

  Sybil had conjured her. The damned witch and her meddling. Sybil must have known that her body was failing her for a long while. So, she’d gone about rearranging the universe so that Jude came to them. He didn’t know how she did it, but Sybil had aligned his stars.

  He only hoped they all lived through it.

  The water-beasts circled Cole and Asher. They stared the real dragons down. Cole looked past them, hoping no humans stumbled into his property or drove their boats too close. He hadn’t been patrolling the nearby hiking trail as much as he used to. With Carol’s help, he’d scared away a number of kids, but that didn’t mean one couldn’t stumble onto the property still.

  This needed to end soon. Cole couldn’t afford to let it go on all day. He had a mate and his territory to think about. If humans got hurt in this mess, his family would never be safe on their territory again. They’d be hunted. Humanity would push them out.

  If Jude lost her heart’s territory, she would burrow.

  Cole shuddered when he realized how much he stood to lose. He’d thought that he’d sacrificed everything, but he hadn’t. That he held the closest to his heart had only been far away from him. He’d forgotten what it meant to fear. To fear that everything would be lost.

  Tossing his head back, a burn ignited in his throat. It felt good. It seared through the fear and brought with it a sense of courage. Cole could do whatever he put his mind to. He’d been given this family, a mate, because he was capable of protecting it.

  Fire spun from his maw. It engulfed one of the water-beasts in a torrent of heat. The plumes faded, and a burst of steam leapt into the air. Where there had been a water-beast was now nothing.