“Let me go,” the merchant spluttered, nearly tripping over his own two feet as he tried to keep up with his longer-legged captors.
Neither paid any mind to Gleason’s complaints, though. Instead, they stopped in the doorway that opened out onto Raft City, the apprentice engineer raising one hand to his mouth as he called after Sabrina’s retreating back. “Captain! Do you still want the prisoner?”
They’d caught her before she advanced out of earshot, and now Sabrina and Walter turned as a unit, her hand tucked beneath his elbow. And for one split second, Nicholas saw red.
Sabrina’s memories aside, he’d felt the secrets hovering behind Walter’s twinkling eyes as soon as the latter stepped onto Intrepid’s ramp. He’d sensed the power flowing through the older man’s body, too, noting the way sea foam slapped against the raft’s sides when Sabrina was a little too slow to fall into “Uncle Walt’s” arms.
Raft City’s ruler was a snake in the grass and he didn’t deserve to set one finger upon Nicholas’s intended mate.
Intended mate? Well, that was a sweet realization Nicholas would have to roll around in his mouth at a later date. Because Walter was now sending lackeys scurrying back up the ramp to accept Gleason from his current jailers, giving the shifter one last moment to set Sabrina’s ship to rights before he took his leave.
Meeting Zach’s eyes, Nicholas raised both eyebrows then ducked into the cargo hold for a private conversation. They had only seconds, and even that felt too long to let Sabrina out of his sight while she walked alone through this den of pimps and thieves.
Still, Nicholas forced his thoughts to slow as he spoke to his mate’s younger brother. “I don’t have time to explain, but I need to ask you one question.”
Zach pulled out his tablet to key in a response. But Nicholas shook his head.
“You don’t need that. It’s yes or no. If it came right down to it and you had to do so to save Steph and her egg and this ship...” Nicholas paused, met the teenager’s gaze. “If it was life or death,” he continued, “would you speak?”
Zach’s cheek twitched and he stretched his neck to one side as if attempting to release a sudden dose of overwhelming tension. Had the boy really thought that just because Nicholas didn’t ask him outright about his past that the shifter hadn’t been busy teasing out his secrets? Did he really think it wasn’t obvious why a boy who itched to communicate and had taken to tablet dictation like a fish to water refused to so much as open his mouth?
Once again, there was no time to smooth the rough edges away from the secret. Instead, Nicholas just waited. And when Zach swallowed hard and nodded once, the shifter spared one final second to offer affirmation.
“Good man,” he said quietly, gripping the youngster’s shoulder in a gesture that he hoped broadcast his pride and approval. Then, turning on his heel, he put Zach out of his mind and ran after his receding mate.
***
“Honey bun! Don’t leave me behind!”
At first, Sabrina thought the words had nothing to do with her. But then Uncle Walt was turning yet again and her body pivoted right along with him.
Only then did she recognize the voice. Nicholas had left the ship she’d expressly asked him to protect and was jogging toward her with a lovelorn expression on his face that had to be fake. No dragon would ever look so sappy unless it was on purpose.
Sabrina’s first impulse was to laugh...which in turn made her angry enough to spit nails. She shouldn’t be amused by Nicholas’s antics. Shouldn’t compare them to his twin’s, remembering how Alexander’s jokes always hid a soft center of protective endearment.
Nicholas isn’t like Alexander, she reminded herself. While her first mate’s twin frolicked and played and created trouble that always ended up making his victims feel better instead of worse, Nicholas was the secret keeper. Her hard-nosed, business-minded dragon played his cards close to the chest and hoarded disclosures like shiny treasure. Endearments from Nicholas shouldn’t twist her stomach into knots of yearning; they should caution her about potential danger ahead.
Sabrina told herself the knowledge that Nicholas’s presence was a warning was why she rose up on her toes then leaned forward in greeting. That was why she accepted his saccharine nickname willingly and continued to play along.
Her receptivity wasn’t designed to assess the way Nicholas’s lips softened when they brushed across her own, just barely displacing sufficient air to touch skin to skin. Nicholas was clean-shaven this morning, his fire deeply shielded. And yet, even as aborted and showy as the kiss might have been, the gesture still filled her recently cleared head with the fuzzy warmth of flying.
“Is there something you want to tell me, Princess?” Uncle Walt asked from behind her left shoulder. His jolly laughter rolled across the platform and brought her back to the present with a jolt. Then, as Sabrina reluctantly stepped out of Nicholas’s embrace, the older man offered a hand for the latter to shake.
It seemed like such a simple gesture, but Sabrina had to force herself not to leap between the men and prevent the incipient touch of skin on skin. After all, a water mage and a fire-laden dragon were such supreme opposites that it seemed inconceivable Walter wouldn’t see through Nicholas’s minor ruse as soon as they came in contact. Sabrina had felt the electric jolt of the latter’s fire every time she trailed fingers across his bare skin. Surely Walter could do the same?
In an attempt to defuse potential catastrophe, Sabrina opened her mouth and allowed herself to babble. “That’s the other reason I came to Raft City. I wanted to bring Nicholas home to meet my parents, and you’re the closest thing I have left.”
Nicholas’s gaze latched onto hers and what had started as a tale spun from air suddenly felt unbelievably real. Sabrina gasped in a lungful of life-giving breath and tore her eyes away from the dragon’s fire-laden eyes with an effort.
“Uncle Walt,” she continued, clearing her throat when her voice cracked, “this is my husband. Nicholas, meet Walter Atwater, ruler of all he surveys.” Then she held her breath and hoped for the best.
Flattery had always been the key to Walter’s good graces, and Sabrina hoped likening their host to a beloved parent would do the trick now. But as male hands met and clasped, Sabrina knew that she’d gambled wrong.
Because Walter’s smile faded, his brow lowered, and the sound of waves breaking against the side of the platform abruptly impinged upon their grouping. Around them, formerly unobtrusive guards stepped forward, their gazes locked onto their leader’s face. Hands rose as if to call magic and Sabrina found herself sliding around her supposed spouse as if to shield him from attack with her own smaller body.
“A dragon,” Walter said flatly. His nostrils flared, and Sabrina half expected a wave to leap up and push the shifter off the deck and into the sea.
Water and fire, greed and honor—the men were opposites in more ways than one. No wonder Walt’s jovial-uncle demeanor had fled to be replaced by this steel-spined ruler.
But Nicholas didn’t appear concerned by the less-than-cordial welcome. Instead, still gripping Uncle Walt’s flabby hand, the shifter leaned in close and whispered so low that Sabrina could barely hear.
“Yes, I’m a dragon...and I’m also Captain Fairweather’s first mate,” the shifter offered. “Sabrina recently placed me in charge of routes and cargo, and I’ve got ideas for making Intrepid’s trade more profitable. Perhaps the two of us might take advantage of this opportunity to sit down together and make a deal?”
Chapter 28
To Sabrina’s surprise, Walter fell for the ruse hook, line, and sinker. Greed glinted in the water mage’s eyes, but he merely pulled Nicholas in closer so he could whisper in the latter’s ear. “Later,” the older man offered with a toothy grin.
Then he was charming and cheerful Uncle Walt again, waving guards aside as he led his guests off the salt-encrusted platform and into a watery wonderland more luxurious even than the one Sabrina remembered from childhood. The passageways t
hemselves were made out of glass and transparent plastic so the inhabitants could watch colorful fish dance amid strands of drifting seaweed as they went about their daily life. And at intervals, fountains brought running water inside, freshwater creatures hopping and slithering through dense groves of ferns and mosses that must have been carefully transported out to sea on airships like her own.
“Our desalination facility is state of the art,” Walter bragged as Sabrina ran a finger across the soft, green cushion of plant life lining the rim of one basin. Then, glancing at Nicholas, who was standing as far away as he could from the spray of water: “But don’t worry. I have dragon-friendly accommodations as well.”
The room he showed them to next was, indeed dragon-friendly. An actual fireplace filled one corner, a glass door closing off the space so oxygen could be independently cycled through the interior to feed the flames. Stairs led up to a small balcony perfect for liftoff and landing, and curtains were available alongside each extra-large window to shut off views of the watery expanse.
“One of our pods,” Walter said proudly as they stood together at the balcony railing, salt air teasing Sabrina’s braids aloft. “Movable in case of storm,” their host elaborated in response to a questioning glance, “or if the residents don’t happen to get along with their neighbors. Isolated and romantic, wouldn’t you say?”
Scanning the horizon, which was surprisingly bare, Sabrina felt her cheeks heat even as her gaze returned to Nicholas’s enticing form. The pod was, indeed, located on the extreme periphery of the sprawling settlement. A perfect location for newlyweds to learn each others’ bodies without having to stifle their cries of pleasure...assuming she and Nicholas were actually an item rather than merely being unlikely allies attempting to pull the wool over Walter’s eyes for a single night.
Time to change the subject, the captain thought, racking her brain for a way to sidestep the twinkle in Uncle Walt’s eyes. And then Nicholas solved the problem for her.
“What’s going on over there?” the shifter asked, twisting around to point toward a formerly quiescent patch of water behind them. No longer calm, the ocean surface was now roiling dramatically as if something much larger than a fish was trying to emerge.
Then, to Sabrina’s horror, the something materialized into a head of sopping hair and two frantically paddling arms. Dark locks slipped to one side and a teenage boy looked directly toward her, his eyes those of a terrified child.
***
Nicholas had been on edge ever since descending from the clouds and setting foot on Raft City’s floating settlement. He’d held it together though. Had pretended not to notice the encircling ocean and nauseating stench of rotting fish, had even managed to block out the slap of water against raft after a supreme effort of will.
But he couldn’t ignore the teenage boy struggling to stay afloat. And neither could Sabrina.
“He’s drowning,” the captain said, turning to Walter Atwater as if expecting the man to save his subject’s life. As she spoke, the boy’s head dipped beneath the surface of the ocean again, and Nicholas’s hands clenched into fists.
That’s not Sam, the shifter reminded himself. The boy isn’t even a dragon. Submersion in water isn’t a death sentence for a human.
Well, it wasn’t a death sentence as long as the human in question knew how to at least tread water. This teenager apparently did not.
For his part, Walter watched the boy sputter and gasp without visible concern. “He’s a late bloomer learning how to swim,” the water mage rebutted when Sabrina’s ice blue eyes continued to bore into his own.
Sure enough, other human figures soon surfaced to join the flailing teenager. These newcomers—some as young as five or six—moved through the ocean like dolphins, their grace making the older boy’s ungainly exertions even more painfully obvious. They cavorted and frolicked, manipulating water as easily as Nicholas had seen his captain play with the wind.
They’re in their element, the shifter realized. Quite literally.
Walter Atwater wasn’t the only water mage in the city, and it appeared that most of the next generation shared his knack. In contrast, the older boy’s thrashing had taken on a note of desperation that carried Nicholas’s feet to the edge of the balcony without his permission.
Water-mage heritage or not, the teenager wasn’t learning how to swim. He was barely managing to stay afloat.
“Uncle Walt...” Sabrina began, her voice as steady as ever but the barest hint of tension evident alongside her neck. Like Nicholas, the captain clearly realized that pressing the point would put their own mission at risk. Equally apparently, she was quickly reaching the stage where concern for the child’s wellbeing outweighed the importance of shielding her own secrets.
Once again, the oldest boy’s head popped under, and this time it stayed down much longer before returning to the surface. Nicholas only realized he’d been holding his breath after the child reappeared, his own lungs responding by pulling in a great gasp of life-giving air.
If he—an adult and a dragon—was straining against lack of oxygen during that time period, then the teenager would soon resort to gulping down water while submerged. And, after that, the boy would drown.
Blinking away the image of Sam that kept attempting to rise up in front of his eyes, Nicholas glanced at the adult water mage one last time. Walter watched the children with the faintest hint of a smile on his face, speech unnecessary in order to get his point across.
This was survival of the fittest. A Raft City child who couldn’t swim was a liability. Walter fully intended the teenager to push through whatever blockage prevented him from manipulating water. To push through it...or to drown.
“This is bullshit.” Nicholas didn’t even realize he was speaking aloud until he felt two pairs of eyes land on his abruptly fiery form. Wings popped out of his shoulder blades, and this time the shifter didn’t stop there. Rising aloft, he allowed flames to wreathe his human skin and pull out scales to coat his lengthening spine.
In an instant, Nicholas had morphed into a tremendous predator able to break bones with a single bite. No longer an easily overlooked human, he had dropped his cover and become full-on dragon.
So much for flying under the radar, the shifter thought, knowing this transition would increase the likelihood of Walter Atwater turning against Sabrina and her ship. But he trusted the captain to protect her own. What he didn’t trust was the vague hope that Raft City’s ruler might take pity on an ailing swimmer before the child lost the will to go on.
Sure enough, the boy had slipped beneath the surface yet again, and from Nicholas’s new aerial vantage point it became clear that the victim was sinking rather than rising this time around. One small girl swam down to join him, attempting to tug the teenager up toward the sky. But she was soon forced to relinquish his arm and spurt back to the surface to fill her own lungs, leaving her companion behind.
Meanwhile, the ocean sucked at its prey, pulling the teenager yet deeper. The boy was already so far from air that Nicholas wasn’t sure he’d be able to hold onto his flames while diving to the rescue. But if Steph could survive a brief dunking in the ocean, then so could he....
Without allowing doubts to fill his mind, Nicholas gathered fire about him. Then, pulling wings closer to his body, he dove directly into the dark, deep waters of the sea.
***
Sabrina gasped as her dragon slid beneath the surface in a sizzling gout of water and flame. She watched as a creature of fire altruistically risked his life for the sake of a stranger...and in the process drove home a truth the captain had been doing her best to avoid ever since Nicholas first came into her life.
As much as it pained her to admit it, Nicholas was nothing like her father. He was nothing like Gleason or Uncle Walt or any of the other men she’d watched feed their greed at the expense of the weak.
Instead, her shifter was just as honorable as he’d initially appeared...which meant that Sabrina’s recent evasions had been
rooted in fear rather than in reality. Her unwillingness to find herself in Nicholas’s debt, her terror at being in his power—both phobias were equally meaningless when her dragon would never use that perceived authority against her.
If this incident had taught Sabrina anything, it was that two people in an equal partnership were buoyed up by each others’ strengths. A slight imbalance of power one way or the other made no difference in a true alliance.
Wincing, the captain finally admitted that Nicholas had offered her something invaluable...which she had nearly rejected out of cowardice. And that budding partnership was now rapidly disappearing into a murky saline solution that might end their truce in the most final way possible.
So, gathering her magic around her, the captain prepared to blow her cover just as thoroughly as Nicholas had recently revealed his strength. Except, in the end, she didn’t have to prove how great a danger she was to her current host. Because a great gout of water rocked the pod beneath their feet before she’d finished humming her airy companions to life. Then her ruby red dragon burst back up out of the sea, water-sodden boy dangling from one long-taloned fist.
“He’s not doing the child any favors you know,” Walter said from behind her right shoulder. Moments earlier, the older man had seemed oblivious to the drama before them. Now he merely sounded old and sad as he elaborated. “This isn’t the Before. Edward can’t survive here if he can’t swim.”
And Uncle Walt was right. Ever since the Green took over, society had splintered. The remaining settlements depended on every member pulling together to ensure they found sufficient food and shelter to stay afloat. There was no room for freeloaders.
But it didn’t have to be that way. The Aerie was a prime example of the strong helping the weak...and the weak growing stronger beneath draconic tutelage until they found their own niche and were able to pay the favor forward. Edward might not survive in Raft City, but he’d thrive as a ward of dragons.
Cerulean Magic: A Dragon Mage Novel Page 17
