Demand of the Dragon (6 page)

As they made his way up the stairs leading to the tower, Lucy
hoped Emerly remembered her. And she prayed the mermaid wouldn’t be too
irritated that she’d just revealed the cave to a dragon on a mission.

By the time Caleb reached the tower, Lucy was hot on his heels.
The storm had passed over them and headed east, leaving the coast covered by a
star-studded sky. A humid breeze swept across the tower, dragging hints of salty
sea breeze to Lucy’s nose. They weren’t far from the Drakein Cliffs; it’d take
Caleb ten minutes to fly there. Twenty, tops.

“Mount up, beautiful,” Caleb said, dragging Lucy’s attention
away from the horizon.

Heavens
above
, he was glorious.

Golden moonlight shone off Caleb’s bare skin, making him seem
more like a bronze statue than a Draco. His muscles twitched and flexed,
preparing for the shift. The breadth of his back was wide, tan, and glistening
gold. Was it wrong that she wanted to skim her hands over the hard, sculpted
ridges of his body?

“My clothes are in the bag.”

Jarred into action, Lucy slung the bag over her shoulder and
waited with bated breath against the archway.

The
archway.

Her hands mindlessly skated over the stone, remembering how
their bodies had come together there. How their bodies had exploded with
passion, reverberating deep tremors of love into their hearts. When would Caleb
say that he loved her directly, without attaching things that made his statement
safe?

It
might
not
matter
anyway
, she chastised herself. If they didn’t find
Tristan, she was set to claim someone else. The thought crushed her, and
threatened to turn her heart to stone.

Thwap
!

Caleb’s thick shaft of a tail smacked against the wall. He’d
shifted while she stood there, dazed, too anxious to get going to wait for her
to finish her thoughts.

“I’m coming, I’m coming,” Lucy said, unable to tear her gaze
away from the gold-plated dragon stomping impatiently in front of her.

Stroking his sleek armor of buttery scales, Lucy got the
strangest feeling. As though he was hers, and she was his. Without a claiming
ceremony to deem it so. Things had never felt more right. As if she’d been born
for this moment.

With a giant leap she straddled his middle, slid forward into
place and coiled her arms around his neck. Caleb turned and looked back at her.
His snout was long and softly rounded, and his thick, black lashes fluttered
like fans. Caleb was gorgeous...but from a single, pounding huff and another
stomp of his front leg, he asserted his dominance. He may’ve been easy on the
eyes, but he was commanding. Rough and dangerous. Plucked straight from Lucy’s
deepest fantasies.

As Caleb bent low, flattening out, Lucy held her breath. She’d
flown at night during training, but she’d never gotten over the sheer beauty of
it. Soaring beneath the stars was magical. Breathtaking. Nothing like flying
beneath the hard glare of the sun.

With a jolt that jump-started Lucy’s heart, Caleb lunged from
the tower and took flight, drumming his heavy wings through the midnight air. He
soared, higher and higher, until Lucy thought she could touch the stars. As
Caleb leveled out, Lucy clenched her thighs around his middle and reached up. It
felt as if the moon was within grasp. The stars were bright marbles of light she
could hold in her hand. And Caleb was there to experience the majesty with her,
every inch of the way.

When the sea peeked over the westernmost mountain ridge,
Caleb’s entire body flexed with excitement, from the stiff girth of his neck to
the fierce whip of his tail.

“Yeah, we’re close,” she said, pointing to a set of cliffs that
had always reminded her of pictures of the white-faced cliffs of Normandy.
“Emerly used to live there, to your left.”

Caleb rolled his back in response and picked up speed, flapping
his wings harder and faster, with deeper strokes than before. They rocketed high
over the Drakein Cliffs. Plummeted down their jagged surface. Skimmed over the
black-sand beaches Lucy remembered so well. They glided over the cresting waves
of the Pacific, Caleb’s golden wings reaching wide and free. Sea spray kicked up
to meet them, dusting Lucy in mist.

“See that beach over there?” Lucy leaned forward, pointing to a
small alcove of black sand secluded by a horse-shaped section of cliff. “That’s
where we’ll find her.”

Chapter Six

By the time Caleb shifted back to Draco form and
changed into his clothes, Lucy had knelt by the water’s edge with her back to
him.

“What are you doing?” Caleb asked, watching Lucy swirl her
fingers in the water, round and round. It wasn’t until he crept closer that he
saw she was drawing the infinity symbol—the number eight flattened on its
side.

“This is how we used to call Emerly when we were young. I guess
she feels the vibrations in the water and knows it’s either me or Tristan.”

Laughing, Caleb stood behind her. “Morse code of the
ocean?”

Lucy gazed up at him and smiled, her silky, blond hair falling
in front of her face, stinging his heart. “Something like that.”

As she continued to swirl her finger, tracing an invisible line
in the foaming sea, a pang of want sliced through Caleb’s gut. He wanted her
stroking his back that way. Tracing the lines of his stomach and the stubble of
his jaw.

“Feel that?” she asked, slowing the circle, teasing the ripples
of water.

Oh
,
Caleb
felt
it
all
right
.

Shudders rolled through him. He had to bite back the desire to
tackle Lucy, roll her over and make love to her right here on the hot, black
sand.

Something had definitely changed inside him.

When they left Draco Cavern, Caleb could’ve sworn his newfound
feelings for Lucy were purely physical. He wanted to be close to her. To be
inside her. To consume her with joy and light their passion on fire. But he also
wanted Lucy the same way he always had—beside him, laughing with him, exploring
the isle with him, warming him with her kindness and gentle touch.

He wanted Lucy any way he could get her. He wanted more.

He’d never get enough of her.

“Emerly’s coming,” she whispered.

“From where?” Caleb’s throat cracked. “How do you know?”

Lucy stood beside him, scanning each tumbling wave. “See that
violet stream of light seeping through the water?”

Barely, but it was there; a tiny hint of purple in the moonlit
blue.

“I see it.”

As the violet hue burned brighter, a woman emerged from the
water. Well, half a woman, anyway. The bottom half of her remained hidden under
the waves. Caleb suspected it was so that her tail could remain submerged.
Emerly was probably the most beautiful mermaid he’d ever seen, though her beauty
still paled compared to Lucy’s. Sandy-brown hair flowed full and wild, falling
over her shoulders and down to her waist. Diamond dust sprinkled through her wet
locks, shining brilliantly white in the moon’s glare. Innocent brown eyes stared
back at them, though Caleb got the feeling Emerly was far from innocent.
Mermaids always were.

“Great seeing you, Emerly,” Lucy said, kicking off her shoes.
She waded into the water, soaking her jeans. “It’s been too long.”

“It has.” Emerly hesitated as if she yearned to say more.
“Why’d you bring him here? You know my demands, Lucy. The fewer dragons who know
about me living on this side of the isle, the better.”

“I know, but I didn’t have a choice.” Lucy reached out her
hand, welcoming Caleb to follow her. “This is Caleb, my dragon.”

Caleb had no intention of following Lucy into the ocean...until
she gave him the greatest introduction he’d ever heard.

He wasn’t just any dragon. He was
her
dragon.

Pride, and something a little hotter, flashed through Caleb’s
veins, making him want to grab more than Lucy’s hand. He stood by her side, a
little taller than before.

“Why’d you come here?” Emerly asked, bobbing in time with the
waves. Her voice was sweet. Innocent, with a seductive husk.

“I have reason to think Tristan is alive,” Lucy said. “That he
might’ve emerged from the portal inside these cliffs.”

Emerly eyed Lucy carefully, as if she was judging the sincerity
of her words.

“There’s something I want to show you.” Emerly smiled, her
cocoa-brown eyes hiding a delicious secret. “Follow me, and stay close.”

Emerly spun and dived headfirst into the waves. Her
violet-tinted tail slapped the water before she disappeared completely.

What
the
hell
?

“Follow her where?” Caleb asked, staring at the streams of
purple fading into the blue.

“Into the sea.”

Lucy’s sapphire eyes lit up, without a single twinge of fear.
He admired the way she threw caution to the wind. He loved the boldness of her
spirit, the way she dived into dangerous situations headfirst and unafraid. She
was more of a fighter than she knew.

Watching Lucy stomp into the water and dive in headfirst, Caleb
realized that he wasn’t falling in love with Lucy. He was there already.

They had to find Tristan.
Had
to
.

Hoping he’d be able to tell Lucy that he loved her before she
had to claim someone else, Caleb followed her into the sea.

* * *

Lucy kicked hard. Her arms windmilled as quickly as she
could propel them. Thanks to the white light of the moon blanketing the water,
Lucy and Caleb could see the swish of Emerly’s tail with crystal clarity. All
they had to do was follow the streams of light flowing behind her, and they’d be
all right.

Merfolk emitted waves of ultraviolet light from their tales
that resembled the aurora borealis, and as Emerly swam through the water,
rippling her lanky body ahead of them, Lucy could’ve sworn she painted the water
purple.

It was more beautiful than she remembered.

Looking back, Lucy spotted Caleb. He seemed to be a strong
swimmer, pushing through the water with effortless strokes that ate up the
distance between them.

When they reached the end of the cliff, far out to sea, Emerly
banked left, curving around the edge. Lucy followed, Caleb swimming in her wake.
The cliff stretched on for miles without a single beach in sight.

They were so far out to sea that if Lucy or Caleb tired, or if
something happened to them, there’d be no way to make it back. Lucy may’ve
remembered Emerly’s beauty, but she sure as hell didn’t remember the cave being
this far removed from the beach.

How had she made the swim as a teenager? She was weaker, then.
Crabbier, too. She would’ve turned back by now.

“How much farther?” Caleb said between labored strokes.

Lucy sucked in a deep breath. The cliffs had weathered and
changed in the years since she’d been here and high tide had rolled in, hiding
the marks in the rocks. “I’m not sure.”

Emerly answered for her. The violet light surged toward the
cliff, and when they reached its slanted face, Emerly surfaced up to her
shoulders.

“You’re slower than I recall,” she said when Lucy arrived at
her side, a few breathless strokes later.

“I think you’ve just gotten faster.”

Emerly shrugged as a hefty wave splashed against the cliff.
“Could be.”

“Let’s get to it.” Caleb treaded water beside them. “Where’s
this cave I’ve heard so much about?”

Emerly studied Caleb carefully. “How do I know you’re not going
to squeal about this to your dragon friends?”

“Told you she’d want something in return,” Caleb said to Lucy.
“Did you bring the satchel?”

“I left it in the bag at the beach.”

“Damn it.”

“If you let me have that medallion around your neck,” Emerly
said, “I’ll consider your word good as gold.”

“Tristan’s medallion?” If Lucy wasn’t beginning to lose her
strength, she might’ve swam back to the beach and retrieved the gold. But they’d
already come this far. Regretting the deal already, Lucy removed the necklace
and handed it to Emerly, who eyed it lovingly. “I’ve got a satchel of gold on
the beach worth far more than this. When we get back, we’ll trade the medallion
for that. Deal?”

“Luce, I wouldn’t—” Caleb began.

But Emerly cut him off, sliding the necklace over her head.
“Deal.” She pulled two diamond chips from her hair and held them out.

“No need,” Lucy said, and shoved her hand into her jeans. When
she pulled out two of the tiny diamonds she’d taken from the chest and handed
one to Caleb, Emerly smiled.

“Still know the routine, I see,” Emerly said. “How many of
those do you have left?”

“Just enough. Guess you could say I borrowed them from
Tristan.” Lucy popped one of the chips into her mouth and pushed it against her
cheek. “Suck on it,” she told Caleb.

“Excuse me?”

She understood how crazy it sounded. It had sounded crazy to
her the first time she heard it, too. “The chips of these diamonds are from
Emerly’s hair. They’re cut from the Merfolk Stone. It harnesses their shifting
energy, just like the Draco Stone controls yours, allowing you to shift. By
sucking on a piece of their stone, we’re able to draw from some of that energy
to breathe underwater.”

“I’m not going to grow gills or fins, right?”

“You’ll be fine.”

His eyebrows perked disbelievingly.

“Would you just trust me and put it in your mouth? It’s for
Tristan.”

It seemed that was all she had to say. He shoved the tiny chip
into his mouth and shrugged.

Emerly led the way, diving below the waves. Lucy and Caleb
descended after her, diving down, down, deep into the sea’s cold embrace.

Lucy’s lungs tightened, squeezing with pressure. She had to
breathe. Even though she knew the logistics and had breathed underwater while
sucking on one of Emerly’s diamond chips before, Lucy still had to steel herself
against the idea that it might not work.

She braced herself. Grit her teeth. Felt the pressure in her
lungs rise. Then breathed through her nose as freely as she had before.

Thank
heavens
. It still worked.

As they swam into a black tunnel at least fifty feet beneath
the surface, Lucy glanced at Caleb. He was breathing fine, swimming hard. No
qualms. No twitching muscles showing his fear of sucking in a bunch of
seawater.

Did everything have to come so easily for him?

They followed Emerly’s violet streams of light for what seemed
like an eternity. The water got icy cold deep in the tunnel, and Lucy’s hands
and feet began to freeze. Still, she swam, kicking as forcefully as she could.
They swam side by side in the dark, passing tunnel after tunnel that branched
off and delved farther into stifling darkness. Up ahead, a pinprick of light
caught Lucy’s eye. It looked like fire—a tiny flame burning in the dark.

It couldn’t be. Her eyes must’ve been playing tricks on
her.

Emerly sped her pace, swimming quickly toward the light. Lucy
kicked harder, but her frog kick was no match for the strength and efficiency of
Emerly’s fins. The thick violet haze flooding from Emerly’s tail dissipated to
lavender, then to a hushed amethyst. In a single blink, the color was gone.

No
,
no
,
no
!

The diamond chips allowed Lucy and Caleb to breathe, but she
wasn’t sure for how long. As a teenager, Lucy had always been forced to swim to
the cliffs on the surface of the water before using the diamond chip to swim
through the caves; she’d always assumed it was because the chips didn’t last
very long on non-Merfolk. If Lucy and Caleb got lost, how long would it take
them to find their way back? Which tunnel would lead out? And how long would the
chips allow them to breathe underwater?

Before Lucy panicked completely, Caleb grabbed her hand and
powered through the water, dragging her behind him. The tunnel narrowed and the
muddy bottom rose up to meet them. The light burned brighter up ahead, and after
a few hearty strokes, Lucy and Caleb surfaced into a monstrous, domed cave.

“Holy shit,” Caleb breathed, standing waist deep in the
seawater. He looked back, into the tunnel from where they came. “A stadium could
fit in here. Where’d this place come from?”

“We think it’s an extinct magma chamber,” Emerly said, standing
on what looked like a dried lava bed. She’d shifted into her human, or Mer, form
and wore nothing but a white sheet and a mischievous smile. “Though I’m not so
sure because there are no records of volcanoes in Feralon.”

After spitting out the diamond chip, Caleb eyed the cavern
slowly, as if he was mapping every inch of it. “I think your first instinct was
right. I’d bet this is the magma chamber and those tunnels we just swam through
are lava tubes.”

Lucy shuddered, stepping out of the water and onto land. “Let’s
just hope the volcano doesn’t decide to come back to life while we’re in
here.”

Lucy’s voice echoed, booming through the cavernous space.
Torches hung on the walls, guiding the way down a narrow path to the right.

“What is it you wanted to show us?” Lucy asked, her hands and
feet numb from the cold. She wished Emerly had a spare sheet lying around
somewhere that she could borrow to get out of her wet clothes.

Emerly turned, nearly running down the torch-lit path. “This
way.”

Caleb nudged Lucy in front of him before following Emerly.

The path snaked its way deeper into the heart of the mountain.
Warm, glowing light coated the walls and floor. And as they ducked beneath a low
archway and entered a second cavern that was just as bright as the first, Lucy
skidded to a halt.

A massive black pit swirled in the middle of the floor of the
cavern. Cone-shaped pieces of rock hung from the ceiling, looking as if they’d
dripped into the room and frozen that way. The air was hot and sticky, clinging
to Lucy’s lungs. But what had Lucy gasping for air was the man standing beside
the pit with a sword in his hand.

“Tristan!”