Link (Keepers Of The Lake Book 5)

by Emilia Hartley

  It wasn’t much later that a green dragon followed a pink dragon into the lake. Kiera’s heart leapt with hope and respect. It was Buffy’s mate that she turned to next. Heath had forgiven Buffy for her lineage, but that was possibly because she had never known her father.

  Link made it clear that he knew Alistair. The man had a hand in raising Link. From that confession stemmed the fear that Link would become his father eventually. That wasn’t what Heath asked when he spoke, though.

  “Do you think this man is your mate?”

  Kiera nodded without a second thought. Her beast was convinced. There was no other dragon in this world for her. Link was it. He had her whole heart in his hands.

  Heath nodded and joined his clanmates. Buffy moved to join Kiera, both of them keeping an eye on the water. She told Kiera that she would stay and keep watch because Zane didn’t really know her or Jude. Their presence would do nothing to sway Zane. It was better served on the shore.

  Link couldn’t find her. She was gone. Completely vanished.

  He scanned the bottom of the lake for signs of a pale form, but he couldn’t see much. His lungs were threatening to swallow water. They begged for air. He’d been under for too long, but his beast would not leave until it knew where Kiera had gone.

  He caught movement out of the corner of his eyes. Zane was coming for him. Link waited and lashed out with his tail at the last second. Zane rolled away, the impact driving him back. There was an angry hiss in Link’s mind. It had claws that sank into Link’s psyche and made him cringe.

  Kiera? Kiera? Link wanted to scream.

  Zane came for him again. Link swatted the smaller beast away with no problem, but before he could enjoy the small victory, pain sliced his back. Several claws pierced his spine. Link reached back and flapped his wings like he could shake the beast away.

  How could there be two? Hadn’t there been one in front of him only seconds ago?

  Another grabbed Link’s back foot. It climbed his body, raking Link’s scales. He wanted to howl. His body was alight with pain. It was a fire that burned him from the outside in. Had he any energy left, he would have shaken himself free. As it was, the edges of his vision were blurring.

  The world was darkening. He needed to reach the surface. He needed to breathe. If he couldn’t, he would die down here.

  Without ever knowing if he had protected Kiera. If she made it ashore, he hoped the clan took good care of her. He also hoped that she got the chance to bitch slap Zane once they freed him from the lake.

  She deserved the opportunity.

  Link grew heavy. Everything burned. Even his blood burned.

  His feet touched the ground, but before he could kick off again more water-beasts found him. They clung to his body and held him down. Link smashed through several of the beasts and flung them away from his body, but he was afraid to hit the real Zane. It meant he had to pull his punches.

  It meant that Zane would overwhelm him in no time.

  The lake trembled. Link thought that meant Zane was bringing a new threat, but several shapes zoomed toward him. Their colors were muddied, but Link could already tell they weren’t more of Zane’s duplicates. Perhaps Link was hallucinating. He imagined the clan coming to rescue him.

  He didn’t need their help. With one great thrash, he knocked the water-beasts away from himself. He held back for the clan’s sake. This was their friend, someone they wanted to save. Link never tried to pull back on his strength. He was the kind of man who used everything he had.

  He couldn’t here. He couldn’t hurt Zane the way he wanted to.

  The forms became clear. They swam between Link and Zane’s beasts. Link didn’t recognize them immediately, but he knew who they were as a whole. The clan. They had come for him. Link knew why. There was no other reason for their help.

  Kiera made it to the shore. She must have convinced the clan to come to his aid. She probably surprised herself, for he knew she would never believe she had the power to sway anyone. He wanted to rush ashore and sweep her into his arms. He would dance away with her and find a small space where just the two of them could hole up for the night.

  He would whisper thanks in her ear all night. By morning, she would know just how proud he was of her. Kiera was far better than any of them, even if she doubted herself.

  The dragons formed a barrier between Zane and Link. The pink one looked over her shoulder and jerked her chin toward the surface. The edges of Link’s vision still held a churning darkness. It cinched tighter and tighter like the hands around his lungs.

  He needed to breathe. As he swam toward the surface, he saw Zane facing the family he once held dear. The glow of vengeance that lighted the monster’s eyes flickered. It was like a part of who Zane had been was trying to return. It was trying to overwhelm the monster. It didn’t last long.

  Zane struck. The world below Link became a cloud of fury and mud. The water beasts rushed them at all sides, cutting through the murk. None came for him. Link was able to reach the surface and suck in mouthfuls of air. His head spun, but the beast in him was ready for round two. He wasn’t going to leave them on their own.

  Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the dusky skinned woman that his heart called mate. Relief flooded his entire body. The tension that had been holding him tight fled. With hope in his heart, he dove again.

  Link pulled his wings back and gave one powerful thrust with them. The mud in the water cleared. Zane’s water-beasts vanished with it. The clan looked thoroughly confused, glancing about for the creatures they’d been fighting off moments ago. Link tossed his head and stepped through the center of them.

  If Zane wanted to hurt them, he now had to get through Link.

  The message had been sent. Link spun around and flapped his wings again. He pushed the water so that it shoved the clan of dragons back toward the shore. The fight was over for today. Link held up the rear as they retreated.

  The fight wouldn’t end until they could break Zane from his prison. Link wanted to be there when it happened. He wanted to help fix his father’s mistakes. That wasn’t his job. No one put that weight on him, but Link wanted to do it anyway. He wanted the best for this family.

  16

  Kiera wrung her fingers. They were starting to ache. She saw Link breach the water, but only for a moment before he dove back below. Buffy kept whispering that the clan would be okay, but it was beginning to sound like she was trying to convince herself. Kiera noted the way that Buffy flinched every time the water surged.

  Jude placed herself between the two women and the lake, and Buffy relaxed slightly. There was too much for them all to lose. Nearly the entire clan had entered the water, Zane’s domain. Kiera kept thinking that Zane would use this as the opportunity to wipe them all out. She blamed herself for asking them to help Link.

  Now, no one would come back. The clan was broken, and it was all her fault.

  She heard the sound of water falling. A dragon grumbled. She peered over Jude’s body and felt her heart catapult when she saw Link’s massive beast. Without another thought, she tore away from Buffy’s grasp and ran for Link, throwing her arms around his neck. His rough scales scraped her bare skin and she was starting to think that some of the water was, in fact, blood.

  She didn’t care. None of that mattered. Link had survived and come back to her. She could tell him about her dream soon, because it involved him. A small voice in her head worried that he wouldn’t want to stay, but she knew that wasn’t the truth. The voice was from her time in Washington. It was fear, but she didn’t need that here.

  One by one, the other dragons reemerged from the water. They looked tired and weary. Most of them dropped to the ground like they would nap right then and there. Beyond them all, Zara gripped her hair and surveyed the lounging dragons and destroyed lawn.

  “It looks like we’re ordering for an army tonight. You’re all going to be exhausted and miserable if we don’t get food into you right away.” Zara climbed the muddy hill
back to her house. She muttered something about calling a cleaning crew but glanced back at the dragons and shook her head.

  All the while, Kiera clung to Link. She pressed her cheek to his neck and fought back tears of relief.

  “I didn’t know if they would help you, but they did. The whole clan went to you.”

  His shape shrunk in her arms until she was wrapped around a human man. He lifted her off her feet and hugged her so tight she thought she would sink into him. They were already one. She could feel the hum of his heart as it synced with hers.

  There was a long talk in the future. She needed to figure out how to tell him that her beast had claimed him. It wasn’t going to be easy. Kiera never expressed herself all that much, and definitely not this deeply. The words would be strange on her tongue. She would fumble for sure.

  Then, Link did something that saved them both the trouble. His lips touched her soft earlobe and brought a shiver up her spine as he whispered.

  “Thank you, mate. I would have perished without you.”

  “Perished is an awfully final word,” she said, pulling back to take his face in her hands. She looked him in the eye, feeling her own brim with hot tears.

  The smile he gave was filled with unspoken gratitude. She could read him so easily now. It was like their minds were one. Maybe they always had been, but she was just too far away to realize. For she was not as strong as she could be without him. He was everything she needed to be when she was at her worst.

  Strong and caring and loving and brave. He lent all of that to her when he was around.

  Behind them, Zara shouted from the back door of her castle. “All of you need to shift back to human form and put some damn clothes on. I called the cleaners to fix my floor. They don’t need to see a bunch of dragons and nude people.”

  Kiera snickered. Link let out a bellowing laugh. It warmed her belly and made her hungry for things she never thought she would be able to enjoy. There was nowhere for them to go, though. They didn’t have a home and getting frisky in the bushes wasn’t what she wanted to do every time. Kiera yearned for a soft bed and a romantic setting.

  Maybe some candles.

  Maybe some wine.

  Instead of grabbing Link and searching for somewhere to be alone, they both set out in search of their lost clothing. What they found was wet and muddy. Buffy collected it all and dumped it into Zara’s washer, but that left them naked. Zara informed them that there was a truckload of Chinese food coming their way and promptly dragged both inside to find clothes.

  Asher took Link, which made Kiera pout. She wasn’t ready to be separated from Link. Not so soon after he called her his mate. The urge to cling to him overwhelmed her. It was all she wanted to do.

  “Do you think…” Kiera paused as Zara shoved clothes into her arms. She didn’t have to finish because Zara picked up on what she was trying to say.

  “He’s one of us now. That dragon was meant to be here. To be honest, I was worried what the fight would look like once they freed Zane from the lake, but it’s shaping up to be in our favor now that you and Link are here.”

  Kiera clutched the offered sweater tight. “So…you mean…there’s a place for us here?”

  Zara pulled Kiera into a smothering hug. When she pulled back, there was a bright smile on Zara’s dark-painted lips. “And there are rooms here for the two of you until you find a place to live. I would never ask anyone to go back to that damn cabin. Zane would just collapse it on your heads again.”

  Kiera snorted in agreement. She tugged the sweater over her head and caught the leggings Zara chucked her way.

  This was her home now. It was so different from the one she’d left. Back in Washington, she had nothing. She’d been a guest in Norman’s house and everything she used had been his. There was a whole new world unfolding before her, one where she could explore what it was that she wanted.

  And that started with Link. And maybe a house of her own.

  Yet, she was startled that it was possible at all. Kiera still didn’t feel like she deserved any of this. She worried that when she stepped outside, Zane would appear and sweep it all into the bottom of the lake again. Everything would be taken away from her again. She would watch it all slip between her fingers because her stained soul couldn’t have anything so nice.

  But she found Link in the hall, held his hand, and nothing happened when they joined the others outside. The worst that happened was the fact that Link couldn’t hold her hand while the others hugged him. They patted him on the back and welcomed him into the family, even if it was a little awkward.

  She told herself that they would grow to love Link the way she did. All they needed was a little time.

  The Chinese food arrived, and everyone went about setting it up like a buffet, which it truly was. She felt like she’d walked right into the restaurant; there was so much food. They let Link heap his plate high before the others jumped on it. Kiera didn’t know when she was allowed to grab food, but as she sat next to Link, he pushed an eggroll her way.

  “You know you can get food whenever you want. No one will yell at you,” he whispered to her.

  She gave a thin smile. This was supposed to be a good day, but she was falling into old habits. Fear was creeping up on her again. It would steal everything good like a cackling imp. She worried she would never have it this good again.

  Link grabbed her chair and yanked it closer to him so that their thighs were touching. It grounded her. It reminded her that he was still there.

  But how long until she lost him? Until she lost this lovely family?

  Her throat grew tight. She didn’t know how to breathe. The panic was rising and trying to strangle her. Emptiness howled inside her. She couldn’t hear her beast who had been so loud lately. Everything she’d found was slipping away.

  Link grunted and shoved his entire plate toward her. It still had mounds of orange chicken and Mongolian beef over fried rice. “Eat. You did way too much today and I don’t think you’ve eaten anything.”

  He squeezed her thigh and went to make another plate of food. She leaned forward, feeling strange, but the moment she put food in her mouth she realized she was ravenous. Her stomach growled fiercer than any dragons he’d ever come across.

  Link returned, a satisfied smile on his face as he watched her eat. When he sat, he leaned to plant a soft kiss on the top of her head. Kiera was relieved to see any kind of hesitation between them was gone. They were mates and they both knew it. Their future was intertwined. They were forever bound to one another.

  Kiera had to trust in him. So long as she trusted him, then she could quiet the voice of fear living in the back of her mind. Maybe, someday, she would quiet it forever. Today wasn’t that day, but it was better with Link around.

  Link had a long list of things he needed to do. He spoke to Asher in private. The man had his eye on the local real estate and knew of all the good listings. Link didn’t want anything close to the water, but he did want to be near the clan. Asher said he would keep his eye out for a listing.

  Once that was done, Link made his way to Jude. The clan leader had devoured two plates of Chinese food and was leaning back in her chair. She’d been watching the room, a content look in her eyes, for the past hour. This was her clan, and it was so clear that she was proud of them.

  Link dropped to one knee in front of her. He bent his head in respect. “I pledge my service to you…If you and the others will have me.”

  Kiera’s chair screeched when she stood. She took a few steps toward him but didn’t interrupt. He thought, for a moment, that Kiera would throw herself between him and the clan. He enjoyed her protectiveness, but now wasn’t the time. Link needed to pledge himself if he was ever going to be trusted.

  Jude stirred herself from her food coma and took him in. “Pledge accepted. Not that you had to be so formal about it. I knew you were one of ours the moment Heath and Cole jumped in after you.”

  Heath protested from the corner, trying to
say he only did it for Kiera, but the protest didn’t carry half as much ire as it could have. The clan was opening to him. He belonged here, among the strong and bold, where his father had failed. Link would stand tall in defiance of the legacy his father left here. He would do his best to take it apart and fix the mistakes Alistair left behind.

  “You and your mate are always welcome here. Both of you are family now.”

  A tingle danced down his spine. He stood and the world swayed beneath his feet. He needed to eat more. Jude laughed and waved her hand toward the makeshift buffet. Link snatched three crab rangoons and another egg roll, shoving a fried dumpling into his mouth as he made his way back to Kiera.

  She’d been too nervous earlier. He hated the way she slipped into doubt, yet he didn’t know what to do to stop it. For now, the best he could do was lift her from her seat and carry her out of the castle.

  Kiera stole a crab Rangoon from his hands and popped it into her mouth. She groaned in delight.

  Just as they were leaving, the cleaning crew arrived. More shifters spilled out the front door to make way for them, but Link kept going. His work here was done for the day. All of his attention belonged to Kiera for the night.

  He carried her along the road back toward the cabins before remembering that his car was still at the park. Kiera laughed and told him there was a shortcut between the cabins and the park. She directed him through the woods as they darkened. The sun was setting, and he wanted to get her into a plush bed before nightfall.

  She deserved that, at the very least. Maybe more food. He could stop and get ice-cream somewhere. She deserved that, too.

  “Have you thought of your dream yet?”

  She sucked in a deep breath. He expected her to say no, that she still couldn’t find anything to want. Her response surprised him.

  “I’m not sure if I can have it, but I want a house of my own. I want to start a family with someone who loves me. It seems really simple and like I should be reaching further, but I don’t need anything more than that. Family is all I’ve ever really wanted.”