“Why should we run?” Toni asked her. “And where would we even go?”
“Somewhere inland,” Arora replied. “As long as you are near the water, Poseidon can find you. It’s only a matter of time.”
“I need the water,” Dylan pointed out. “I draw my strength from it.”
Arora nodded. “I know this. This is a sacrifice you must make for the safety of your mate and her family.”
Toni’s stomach dropped. How could she ask her mate to give up his power? She couldn’t. But how would they survive if she didn’t? “I’m not sure about this,” she said.
“If it keeps you safe,” Dylan told her, taking her hand into his own. “Then I would do anything.”
“But you would lose your power!” Toni screeched. “No.”
“Toni,” he said softly. “I can’t let him hurt you.”
“You act like I’m defenseless,” she grumbled.
“I know you’re not, but your family is at risk too,” he said.
Toni snorted. “Have you met my family?”
“Yes,” he told her. “I know they’re powerful, but so is my father, and I won’t have anything happen to them either.”
“I don’t know…” Toni said, pacing the room.
“I must go now,” Arora told them, getting to her feet. “Please, do as I say.”
“What will happen to you when Poseidon asks if you found me?” Dylan asked her, afraid for the mermaid’s safety as well.
Arora smiled at him. “Oh, he would never hurt me.”
“How can you be so sure?” Dylan asked her.
“Trust me,” she answered, “I know.”
19
Poseidon stomped his way out of his bedroom and down the elegant hallway of his underwater palace. He was certain he had made a mistake by sending Arora to land to find Dylan. What if something happened to her? What if she was harmed in some way?
He knew that she would return to him unharmed, but he worried anyway. He had never worried before, not about her. She was always safe and close at hand, where he could help her if need be. But that was the problem, wasn’t it? He couldn’t help her on land if she were threatened. He couldn’t leave the ocean. He reached up and scratched his head. This was all Dylan’s fault.
Jealousy reared its ugly head deep in the pit of his stomach. Why should Dylan be allowed to walk on land, and Arora as well? Why should she have to? If Dylan had only listened to him! That boy should have stayed in the sea, where he belonged! If he had, there would be none of this mate business. There would be no dragon.
The dragon, of course, Poseidon had plans for, but none that Dylan would take lightly to knowing they were mated. The Sea God needed the dragon’s fire, and he had yet to discover how to obtain it. But needing the fire wasn’t the same as needing the dragon, unfortunately for his son, Poseidon had come to terms with the idea that he may need to kill the dragon to get said fire.
And so of course, his son would hate him even more than he already did. Poseidon shrugged it off. Some things in life were more important than the approval of your irresponsible, hardheaded children.
Why couldn’t Dylan just cooperate with him! Poseidon snarled to himself as he entered the statue room. Stone and marble carvings stared at him, all statues of the Sea God, mocking his predicament. Their lifeless eyes seemed to follow his every move, taunting him with their stoic presence.
“Stop staring at me!” he bellowed at the marble figures. “You think you could have done better?” When none of the statues answered him, Poseidon raged even further. “I will be free of this damned curse! You wait and see. Just keep on standing there, mocking me!”
He made a fist and dropped his hand as if to hit an invisible table, and his trident appeared in his hand. “No one mocks me,” he growled, taking perfect aim.
With the power of his will, energy blasted from his trident into one of the statues. It shattered into a million pieces and fell to the floor. “And you?” he said to another statue of himself. “What do you have to say? Nothing?” He blasted that one as well. And all of the other statues, one by one, eliminating their judgmental stares.
When his rant had ran its course, Poseidon took stock of the damage surrounding him. What had he done? And why? What had gotten into him to make him so angry?
Deep down, he knew the answer, but would never admit it. Not out loud and not in thought. Not even to himself. The once clean floor was now covered in dust and rubble, the remnants of what used to be a tribute to the Sea God. Now it lay in ruins. Much like, he feared, his sanity.
20
“There is more to that mermaid then she is letting on,” Jade said, watching the door that Arora had just left through. “I can’t quite put my finger on it, but there’s something.” She shook her head. “Either way, she believes she is telling us the truth.”
“I don’t like it,” Dylan said, scratching his head. “Poseidon can find me. Anywhere I go, he can find me.”
“What if you two separated?” Rebel asked. He was rewarded for his question with a smack on the back of his head from Leigh.
“Not an option,” she told him.
“If it keeps us all safe, then I think we need to consider it,” Toni said.
“What?” Dylan asked her. “Running or separating?”
Toni shrugged. “Both.”
“No,” Dylan stated with no room for argument.
“Then what are we supposed to do?” Toni asked, her voice raised.
“I don’t know!” Dylan shouted. “I’m not leaving you. We tried that once. It didn’t work. Not doing it again.”
“Hang on here,” Rebel said, moving to stand between the couple. “I know that I haven’t had the best of ideas lately, but just maybe, I got something that could work.”
Dylan rolled his eyes. Toni pressed her lips together and breathed through her nose. “I’m listening,” she told her father.
The entire family had come back into the living room and found themselves places to sit. Rebel paced the room, taking his hat off and putting it back on again. “Dylan needs the water to keep his power up, right?”
“The water doesn’t just fuel my power,” Dylan answered, taking Toni’s hand into his own. “It keeps me alive. It’s also how my father could find me. He controls the water and he would be able to sense me as soon as I touched it.”
“So without water, you would die?” Rebel asked.
“Eventually,” Dylan agreed.
Rebel let out a heavy breath. “Okay, then let’s consider this. What if you touched the water, but not just here? What if you touched it all over the world, too fast for you to travel? Would it confuse Poseidon?”
“How would I do that?” Dylan asked, hope blooming in his chest.
“Azerial,” Rebel answered. “Or Leigh. Both can go anywhere in the blink of an eye. What if they took you everywhere and let you touch the water? You could gather your strength, confuse your father, and give us some much needed time to figure out our next move.”
A smile lit Dylan’s face. “You know, that might just work,” he said.
“Or it might not,” Toni told them, pushing to her feet. “It might just piss him off worse.”
“If we don’t try it, he’s gonna keep pummeling the west coast,” Dylan reminded her. A streak of lightning flashed outside the window just in time to accentuate his statement.
“This weather may not be him,” Toni said hopefully.
Dylan shook his head. “This is California,” he said. “It doesn’t rain this much in an entire year.”
Toni looked to each of her family members. How could she continue to put them at risk? How could she leave them? It didn’t matter which way they decided, it was a no win situation. She sighed in defeat. “Where are we going?”
“I think it’s best if we don’t know,” Angel told her.
“Bullshit,” Leigh snapped. “I need to know where my baby is.”
“If you don’t know where we are, Mom,” Toni said softly. �
��Then you can’t tell anyone.”
“Then how will you get there?” Leigh asked, raising a defiant brow.
“I will take them somewhere safe,” Azerial promised. “I can move with both of them. I can take them somewhere that the Sea God won’t be able to find them.”
“OK,” Dylan agreed, moving to stand beside the goddess. “Let’s get started.”
Azerial looked to Toni before taking Dylan’s hand. “Gather your things, you don’t have much time.” And then she was gone, taking Dylan with her.
Dylan felt the world tilt under his feet and before he had time to get his bearings, he was standing ankle deep in a shallow pool. “This empties into the ocean,” he said, knowing immediately that it was true. He felt the power of the water draw up his legs and into his soul. He took a deep breath and then he was gone again.
Azerial dropped him just to his feet in the Atlantic Ocean, just off the coast of England. Then Australia, the Bahamas, Mexico, Peru, Alaska, and finally Antarctica. “Are you ready?” she asked Dylan.
He knew what she meant. Had he drawn enough power to last a while without water? “I’m ready.” And then he was standing back at the Knight Estate.
Toni was waiting for him with a small suitcase in her hand. Azerial held her hand out and Toni took it. Leigh was doing her best not to cry, but Toni could see it. She mouthed the words “I love you,” to her parents as Dylan pulled her into his side and the trio flashed away.
21
“What do you mean, you couldn’t find him?” Poseidon bellowed from his throne chair. Although he felt some measure of relief when Arora returned, her news was unsettling at best. “You said you would bring him home!”
Arora resisted the urge to shrink back from the hulking god. It would do neither her son nor herself any good to show fear. She straightened her spine and held her head high. “I thought I could. As it turns out, he is much more resourceful than we originally thought.”
The Sea God roared and the sound reverberated off the walls of his palace. “I will do it myself!” He turned his back on Arora and dropped his robes, allowing them to pool at his feet. “Come to me,” he commanded the water. A thin trail of liquid seeped through the wall and trickled its way to Poseidon’s feet. It curled around his ankle and worked its way up his body.
“Surely you don’t mean to…,” Arora said with a slight tremble in her voice.
“I will do what is necessary,” Poseidon growled at her without turning to face her. “Come to me,” he commanded the water again. More water seeped into the palace.
“But there are humans in the palace,” she argued.
“I do not care,” he reminded her. More water came, now pouring in from all directions.
“They will die!” Arora pleaded.
“Show me where to find my son!” he bellowed. Water was crashing in, filling the throne room with its dark fury. The sea above the palace churned and rose, even as it was flooding the palace.
“I have legs here!” Arora reminded him, shouting over the crashing water.
Poseidon turned to face her. He nodded once and Arora’s legs were replaced with her fins just as the walls of the palace gave way under the Sea God’s fury.
***
“You will be safe here,” Azerial said as she let go of Toni’s hand.
Toni looked down and saw soft, green grass under her feet. “Where are we?” she asked.
Azerial smiled. “Vienna, Austria.”
“Oh,” Toni said, gripping her bag tighter. Of course Azerial would deposit them in Europe, on the other side of the Earth, in a completely landlocked country.
“Thank you, Goddess,” Dylan said to Azerial, inclining his head.
“Be safe,” the goddess replied before disappearing from sight.
“Now what?” Toni asked, blowing a stray hair out of her face.
Dylan reached to her and tucked the hair behind her ear. “Now we find a place to stay.”
They walked hand in hand down the city street, enjoying the view of the city at night. Even though they had left their home during the day, on this continent, evening was in full swing. There were people milling about everywhere, laughing and talking. They passed a huge Ferris wheel that was unloading its passengers.
Before too long, the couple found a Hilton and went inside to the front desk. The lobby was large, as would be expected in a tourist city, and the night auditor was sitting behind the desk reading a book.
“Excuse me,” Toni said politely, “Do you have any rooms available for tonight and possibly longer?”
The woman looked up and at hearing Toni’s American accent, scowled. “We are full,” she said sharply in a heavy German accent before directing her eyes back to her book.
Toni looked at Dylan as if to say, what do we do now? That was when Dylan took the situation into his own hands. “Excuse me,” he said to the woman, “surely there is something available? Price is no object.”
When the woman looked up at Dylan and saw his face, Toni nearly laughed out loud. For a solid five seconds, the woman did nothing but stare at him with her mouth open. Who wouldn’t with the way he looked? Toni almost felt sorry for her. Almost. “Let me just, er, I mean, I think we might… I’ll just check and see,” she finally stammered out.
Dylan waited, resting his arms on the counter while she typed away at her computer. “I think we would like a suite,” he told her. “I want my fiancé to feel special tonight. Every woman deserves to be treated like a princess every once in a while.”
The woman blushed and purposefully averted her eyes away from Dylan. “I think we have one that has just become available,” she said sweetly. Toni rolled her eyes.
“Perfect,” Dylan said with a smile. He slid a black Master card across the counter.
“What name shall I put the room under?” she asked him.
“Mr. Smith,” Dylan replied with a wink. Toni was absolutely certain the woman was going to faint right then and there. After a few more moments of tripping over her own tongue, the auditor handed Dylan a card key.
“Enjoy your stay, Mr. Smith,” she said with a huge grin. Then she looked at Toni and the grin disappeared and was replaced with a glare.
“Thank you,” Dylan told her and then took Toni by the hand, pulling her away from the desk.
“In a hurry?” Toni asked him with a smile.
“I just wanted to get you out of there before you toasted that poor woman,” he said as they got on an elevator.
“What?” Toni asked with surprise. “She was the one glaring at me.”
“And you were growling at her,” Dylan said. “I didn’t know whether you were gonna call your dragon or if you were gonna vamp out, but one way or the other, I thought you were gonna eat her for dinner.”
“Well I am hungry,” Toni laughed.
“We’ll get some room service after we get in the room,” Dylan promised her.
“Speaking of service, are you sure it was a good idea to use a credit card? Couldn’t your father track you that way?”
Dylan laughed. “No,” he said. “Even if he knew how, he knows nothing of my finances or what cards I do or do not have. I’m not worried.”
Toni nodded and Dylan stepped off the elevator. They walked down a long hall to a room at the very end. Dylan scanned the key card and the door clicked open to a large, open room.
“Oh, wow,” Toni said, coming inside and taking a look around. “This is nice.”
One wall was nothing but windows overlooking the brightly lit city below them. The main room was furnished with a sofa and a television, coffee table, and a desk. The adjoining room was a kitchenette, along with the proper bedroom. The bed was a king, with more pillows on it than Toni would ever be able to sleep with.
“I’m gonna call room service,” Dylan called to Toni from the main room. “What do you want?”
“Anything,” she called back. Her brain had already shorted out when she saw the huge clawed foot tub in the bathroom. She was gett
ing in that. Immediately. She had already begun to strip when she heard Dylan’s footsteps behind her.
“Nice,” he said.
“Isn’t it, though?” Toni asked as her bra came off and landed on the floor.
“I wasn’t talking about the bathroom, but it’s nice too,” he said, closing the space between their bodies and kissing the top of her shoulder.
“Take a bath with me?” she asked him.
“Anything for you, love,” he grinned. He stepped around her to turn on the tap and almost immediately steam began to fill the room.
“How hot do you like it?” Toni asked with a devious grin.
“Oh, I like it very hot,” Dylan replied, wagging his eyebrows at her. They each stripped their own clothing off and Dylan eased himself into the very hot water slowly.
Toni watched with anticipation. It seemed like it had been forever since she got to see the complete male perfection that was his body. She allowed herself to drink in the sight of him as he lowered himself into the water. Tiny droplets of water raced over his tanned skin as if it were caressing it the way she wanted to.
Her gums began to ache and Toni felt her new teeth dropping down in her mouth. Her vampire side was hungry, but she wanted to enjoy every second of this wonderful torture.
“I love that look on you,” Dylan said in a husky voice. “With your mouth open and those fangs. Your eyes are narrowed and you look dangerous and sexy.”
“Mmm,” Toni hummed at him, nodding her head. He was sexy as sin, and it was time she showed him. She stepped one foot into the water and waited for her skin to adjust to the temperature. Then she slowly put her other foot in the water, never taking her eyes off Dylan.
“Turn around and sit up against me,” he told her.
Toni did as she was told, lowering herself until her bottom half was under the water and her back rested against Dylan’s chest. His skin still felt cooler than hers, even though he had been in the water longer. She took a moment to just enjoy the feel of his body against hers, the feeling of being completely safe.
Was that what he was? Her safe haven? She didn’t know and didn’t get to finish thinking about it because Dylan had begun to cup water in his hands to drizzle over her torso. The hot water ran in rivulets down her breasts and stomach. Then, they snaked back up her body, curling around her nipples and fluttering the tips into hard points.
Dragon Fire (The Forbidden Love Series) Page 11
