Sailing Deep (19 page)

              Blake was looking up the outer wall of the castle. He glanced sideways at Dylan, a small smirk curving his lips. “I hope you’re not afraid of heights.” He pointed up. “That’s the balcony to Arulean’s study.” He pulled out his phone and checked it before putting it back. “And we’re running against the clock.”

              “Then what’re you waiting around for?” Dylan said, returning his confident smirk. If he could jump out of a plane, he could climb a wall. “I’m following you.”

              “Try to keep up.” Blake stepped up to the wall and hopped up on the railing. His hands searched the wall for a moment before he found handholds, and then he was moving upward with surprising speed. “I scouted out this wall months ago. There’re good hand and foot holds in the old stone.”

              Sure enough, there were plenty of indents where they could easily grip with hands and feet. Dylan climbed after Blake, managing to keep pace. The shoes he had given him had excellent traction for just this occasion, and his fingers had the inhuman strength to make climbing easy. They reached the balcony in no time. They paused long enough for Blake to peek into the study windows before he crawled over the railing. By the time Dylan pulled himself onto the balcony, Blake was already at the large double doors picking the lock.

              Dylan raised both eyebrows as he came to stand next to him. “You pick locks, too?”

              “I always keep them on me.” Blake said though he never looked away from his work. The tip of his tongue poked out from between his lips as he concentrated on using the lock picks. Then his face cleared, and there was a soft click. “There. Works like a charm.” He slipped his tools back into a leather pouch, rolled it up, and tied it around his calf. He tugged his pant leg back over it and stood. He eyed Dylan, a small smile on his lips. “Impressed?”

              “Don’t flatter yourself.” He was impressed, but that didn’t mean he had to admit it. The man’s ego was big enough as it was.

              Blake smirked. “Looks like I’ll have to try harder.” He cracked the door open and slipped into the room. Dylan followed him, locking the door behind him. The room was lit by several soft light lamps that were spaced around the chamber. “There are no cameras here, except for ours.” Blake said, heading straight for Arulean’s desk. He squatted down and pulled the small listening device out of his pocket. “Keep an ear to the door, love.” He said before getting to work.

              Dylan obediently went to the door of the study. He leaned against it, putting an ear to the crack. He closed his eyes and loosened his restraint on his inner wolf a little. Just enough to increase his hearing. He heard the draft through the crack, the hum of the ventilation, and the slight buzz of electricity. He heard Blake rummaging around near the desk. He heard him testing his equipment.

              Then he heard the ding of an elevator, the doors sliding open, voices, and footsteps.

              “They’re coming.” Dylan breathed, eyes shooting open. He jumped back from the door.

              He had spoken softly, but Blake stood up so quickly he might have shouted. He glanced at the doors to the balcony. “It’ll take too long to climb down.” He ran as silently as he could to another door in the study and motioned wildly for Dylan to join him.

              Dylan did so without question. There wasn’t enough time to question him, even if he had wanted to. He knew Blake had a point. They would be seen climbing over the balcony or risk falling, which would surely injure them both. They couldn’t go out into the hallway. There was nowhere to hide in the study other than under the desk. There was only one place to go: the third set of intricate double doors.

              Blake opened one just wide enough to slip through. Dylan followed him instantly, and Blake pulled the door closed as quietly as possible. Dylan’s jaw dropped as he looked around to find themselves standing in Arulean’s bedroom. It was massive, easily five times the size of Blake’s room, which was already ridiculously huge. The decor was an interesting mix of modern and medieval, decorated with similar old relics as the ones in Arulean’s study.

              Blake interrupted his gawking by shoving his back. “Under the bed. Go.” Blake hissed in his ear.

              Dylan didn’t have to be told twice. He darted across the massive bedroom to the equally huge bed in the center. The four post frame looked like it had been carved and polished from ancient wood. The plush blankets reached nearly to the floor. Dylan dropped to his hands and feet as easily as he would drop for push-ups. Blake held the blankets aside so he could scoot himself beneath the bed. Blake followed a second later, settling the blanket back to cover them.

              Despite the size of the bed, there was very little space on the side they crawled under from. There were several wooden boxes beneath the bed that took up most of the space. Dylan and Blake had to press close together to avoid touching the hanging blanket. There wasn’t enough room to lay on their sides, so Dylan laid flat on his stomach while Blake laid half on the floor and half on top of Dylan. They got settled just as they heard the sound of the study door being unlocked.

              Blake tugged up his face mask to cover his nose and mouth, and he indicated that Dylan should do the same. He did. It made breathing a little harder, but it helped muffle the sound of their breathing. He didn’t know how sensitive a dragon shifter’s senses were, but he was willing to bet they were sharper than his. Despite his pounding heart and the adrenaline pumping through his veins, Dylan remained calm. This, too, was familiar territory. He knew how to regulate his breathing, calm his mind. He was a trained SEAL, and he didn’t panic. Blake, too, remained calm and unshaken. Dylan was impressed. He had seen the man only as a cocky, over confident man with some credible computer knowledge. He hadn’t realized his job involved so much … spy work. He could go from charming and cocky to stone-faced and serious in seconds. He reacted instantly to any hitch in his plans with unshakable confidence. Dylan was impressed, and he hadn’t expected to be. He felt a strange swell of pride in his chest, and he had to squash it down and remind himself that Blake wasn’t actually his mate.

              He heard the door to the study open and close. He steadied his breathing and listened.

              “Your pack is a sorry lot, Arulean.” She no longer tried to disguise the disgust and anger that cut an edge to her words.

              Arulean, however, remained calm and impassive as stone. “My pack are all lovely individuals, and I would appreciate it if you refrained from insulting them.”

              “They are all weak with this stagnant lifestyle. At least, your guard trains well, but they would never do in real combat.”

              “Nor do they plan to see combat. They are merely a measure we put in place to maintain our secrecy.”

              “Your secrecy is precisely what you should not be keeping. You have the numbers, Arulean, and my pack has the trained shifters that we need. If we combined our forces, we could easily have a force large enough to stand against humanity. Once we revealed ourselves, others will flock to our cause. The humans will not dare to move against us. And by the time they do, they will not be able to stop us.”

              “No,” Arulean said firmly in that voice that brokered no argument. “My people came here to escape the judgment of humanity and the stress of keeping their secret. The Shadow Pack exists as a safe haven for shifters who merely wish to live in peace, separate from those who would condemn them. This is a home for those who want to be themselves, with others of our kind. I will not take that away from them. And neither shall you.”

              “Your compassion makes you weak, Arulean,” Lyphnia growled. “You will not always be able to restrain me.”

              “That may be, but for now, I can. And I will. I let you run your pack how you will, but you will not jeopardize The Agreement. Our world shall remain a secret. You will not act.”

              “For now, Arulean. For now.”

              “Now, was that all?”

              “That, my dear, was only foreplay. Now onto business.”

              “Can it not wait until tomorrow? The night awaits.” A strange note entered Arulean’s otherwise indifferent voice, but Dylan couldn’t quite place it. Part of it was anger and irritation, but there was something … else.

              “Perhaps. Does your patrol extend to the shore far to the south and west?”

              Dylan stiffened, and Blake looked at him, one eyebrow raised.

              “Not as far as I am aware.”

              Dylan could hear the sneer in her voice. “I thought as much. I did a sweep of the land before making my entrance. There seems to be some sort of camp set up there. Far from the castle grounds or the neighboring villages. I did not get a close look, but it seems like something you should keep an eye on. Someone could be sneaking up on you beneath your nose, Arulean.”

              “I doubt it, but I shall have the shadow guard explore the area tomorrow.”

              “No, tonight. We will fly over ourselves. Whoever it is will think twice upon seeing two dragons.”

              “You are paranoid, my dear.” Arulean sounded exasperated.

              “I simply know how to keep my pack safe. If you have failed in your duties, Arulean, there may be some willing to join me.”

              He sighed. “Fine, we shall sate your curiosity, and I shall prove to you there have been no infiltrations of my land. Now, if you would please join me? The blood moon calls.” There was still irritation in his voice, but Dylan realized what the other strange note was: lust.

              “Eager, are you?” Lyphnia purred, her voice low and mocking.

              “Not by choice, I assure you.” It was definitely lust in his voice.

              “Then release me.” She purred seductively.

              “Never.” He responded in kind.

              “I know of your lover, Arulean. I can smell him all over you. All over this room. I am sure you would rather be with him.”

              “You will not get away that easily, my dear. You cannot be trusted unrestrained.”

              “Then you shall suffer with me.”

              “I do it for my people.”

              “How noble.”

              “Come. The night awaits.”

              Dylan heard footsteps and nearly jumped when he heard the doors to the bedroom open. They both froze. Neither daring to breathe. Their eyes followed the feet of the dragons as they made their way across the room. One in heels and one in well polished black dress shoes. She stopped at the foot of the bed, turning to face it. Dylan felt as if everything turned to stone, including the heart in his chest and the blood in his veins. He could no longer feel Blake breathing against him.

              “I can smell him on your bed, Arulean.” She sneered, disgusted.

              “Jealous, Lyphnia?”

              “Don’t flatter yourself.”

              Then they moved on, and Dylan could breathe again. They went to the opposite side of the room and pulled back a curtain, revealing the entrance to a stone spiral staircase. They began to climb. Neither of them moved until the footsteps faded into nothing.

              “You need to leave.” Blake hissed in his ear.

              “I know,” Dylan said, voice hard. He’d known from the moment she brought up his team’s location. He was aware that Blake would tell him he needed to leave. He knew he needed to leave. Yet his chest twisted and his gut clenched. He was surprised to find he didn’t want to leave, and it had nothing to do with the castle and everything to do with the man next to him.

              Blake shifted next to him, preparing to crawl out when Dylan noticed the erection pressed against his thigh. He glanced down, but he couldn’t see it in the dark.

              “Really?”

              He saw the flash of Blake’s smirk in the shadows and felt him shrug. “I like danger. So sue me.”

              He crawled out from under the bed with Dylan right behind him. They darted across the room, into the study, and out onto the balcony. Once outside, Blake glanced up, but the dragons hadn’t taken flight yet. He scrambled over the balcony railing and began a hasty climb downward. Dylan followed, nearly slipping in the process. But they reached the lower balcony without incident. Dylan followed Blake as they ran toward the back stairs. They hurried down them three at a time. They darted through the halls on the ground floor until they reached a side door. No one was around, most of them probably still around the great hall on another part of the castle.

              Despite all the running, Dylan had barely broken a sweat, and his breathing remained fairly regular. He was used to bursts of exercise. But when Blake paused outside and pushed him back against the door, his steady breathing grew ragged. Blake shoved his tongue into his mouth, his hands roaming everywhere, feeling everything. It was so sudden and so urgent that Dylan responded in kind. He knew what this was about. They were going to part ways. His heart clenched as his grabbed at Blake’s back, holding him as close as he could manage. Their kiss was all tongue and teeth and desperate growls.