Demand of the Dragon Page 6

  “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 Luc
y 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!”

  Chapter Seven

  “You’re alive!” Lucy slammed into Tristan, throwing her arms around his neck. She pulled back, searching his face for pain or loss or grief. Bright blue eyes, just like her own, stared back at her. There wasn’t a hint of sorrow lurking behind the curtain of blue.

  “God, I’ve missed you so much!” He pulled her into another embrace. “Caleb!” Tristan released Lucy and embraced Caleb in a brotherly hug. “You came...you guys really came for me.”

  Lucy’s smile spread until her cheeks hurt. “Caleb just came back and—”

  “I haven’t stopped looking for you,” he finished.

  “I can’t believe we found you.” Lucy looked at Tristan. Really looked at him. He’d changed so much since he’d been gone. His long, blond hair had darkened to a shade of dishwater and the angles of his face had hardened, sinking his cheekbones. Living in the wastelands for three years had not been kind to him. “Why didn’t you send word that you were down here? We would’ve been here sooner.”

  “I sent a message with Emerly, but she met some resistance when she tried to get another mermaid to take the message farther up the coast. Seems not every mermaid in Feralon is as eager to help a Draco in trouble.” Emerly appeared at Tristan’s side. He draped an arm over her shoulder and tucked her against him. “But I have to admit, the last few days have been the best of my life...thanks to Emerly.”

  He leaned down, and kissed her.

  Emerly and Tristan? A couple? Sure, they’d been close growing up, and Tristan had talked about her nonstop, but Lucy simply thought that was because Emerly was different—a mermaid.

  “I’m just so relieved you’re safe,” Lucy said. “You have no idea how hard it’s been living the last three years without you, not knowing what happened.”

  She wouldn’t have to claim a Draco she didn’t love. She wouldn’t have to follow her brother’s demand. Happiness filled Lucy until she thought she’d burst. They’d still have to get Tristan back to Queen Elixa’s study and destroy the paperwork, but still. She was so close to her happily-ever-after, she could taste it.

  “Well I’m safe now.” Tristan’s expression turned grim and he gripped the hilt of his sword. “But it looks like you’re not. You should take her back home, Caleb. Before she gets hurt.”

  As the pit beside them rumbled and shook, grumbling into the wide expanse of the cavern, Caleb gripped Lucy by the arm and pulled her protectively behind him.

  “You haven’t sealed the portal?” Caleb backed away.

  “It won’t close! No matter how much energy I pull from the Draco Stone, these damn beasts keep spilling through. I haven’t had another visitor in a few hours, so I knew we were due, but you guys have some damn good timing.”

  Emerly fled the cavern, back into the tunnel, as if she knew what was coming and had an emergency plan down pat.

  “Go!” Caleb turned to Lucy. “Find Emerly. She’ll keep you safe.”

  Panic turning her feet to stone, Lucy pushed against him, and gripped the hard bulge of his shoulders. “I’m not leaving you.”

  “You’re not staying. You didn’t see the beast the night Tristan disappeared. You don’t know what’s about to blast through that portal.”

  “He’s right,” Tristan said, swishing his sword across his chest, readying for battle. “I can barely fight them off each time and I’m armed. The ones coming through are getting bigger. Stronger.”

  This wasn’t happening. This couldn’t be happening. Lucy wasn’t about to leave the two most important men in her life. Especially so soon after she got them back.

  “Caleb, you’re faster and stronger with a rider.” Her palms clammed as fire shot from the center of the pit and hit the ceiling. “Shift and we can distract the beast so Tristan can get a clean shot.”

  Grasping Lucy’s arm, Caleb led her back toward the first cave. Shivers blanketed her arms, but they didn’t rise from fear—they surfaced from the warmth of Caleb’s touch. From the certainty of what she had to do.

  “I won’t chance it, Lucy,” he said. “I won’t put you in danger, but I can’t leave Tristan here to fight by himself, either. I have to stay. At least for this breach.”

  “I know.” He didn’t need to speak the words. Lucy knew he’d stay. His sense of duty and unwavering honor were two of the things she loved about him most.

  As a deafening howl erupted from the pit and the floor vibrated beneath Lucy’s feet, she realized it was too late to force the issue of riding Caleb. The beast was already here.

  “Get back!” Tristan shouted, backing against the far wall, bracing his hands against the sides.

  Smoke billowed toward the dirt-domed ceiling. Tristan counted to three, then ran at a full sprint. Leaped over the pit, slicing his blade through the air when he reached the center. He landed on the other side in a crouch, breathing heavy, his face twisted into a menacing scowl.

  Barely missing the swing of Tristan’s sword, a beast spiraled into the air, his gnarly wings tucked against him. He was a torpedo of gristle. A snarling mess of snot, sandpaper skin and pointed teeth.

  What the hell was it?

  Caleb didn’t wait to find out. His body exploded with muscle. Golden scales surged over his shoulders and down his back. His tail thickened, lengthening to full size and his middle bulked up. Before Lucy could jump onto his back—hell, before she could blink�
�Caleb took to the air, his colossal wings flapping against the edges of the cavern as he circled.

  With a roar, the beast zoned in on Caleb and took flight behind him.

  Round and round they raced, tearing through the air. Caleb tucked his wings against him and rolled left, descending toward the earth. Folding his serrated wings against his bumpy body, the beast followed Caleb’s path. Only the beast closed the gap.

  Lucy saw the plan taking shape. Knew what Caleb and Tristan aimed to do. Tristan clutched the hilt of his sword and charged toward the pit. From the opposite side, Caleb flattened out and soared overhead, luring the beast into a head-on collision with Tristan’s sword. If the beast continued on the path Caleb was drawing it down, its underbelly would be exposed and low enough for Tristan to slice through it, taking it down for good.

  But as Caleb skimmed over Tristan’s head, and veered right, the beast anticipated Caleb’s movement and changed course at the last second. Tristan lunged for the beast’s underbelly, but it was too late.

  The beast slammed into Caleb like a battering ram and sent him careening into the wall over Lucy’s head. Shrieking, she ducked into the tunnel and covered her ears as an ear-piercing squeal filled the air. Lucy only hoped it wasn’t Caleb making the hellish sound.

  Rocks and dust fell into the cavern, creating a haze of dirt and murk she could barely see through. Peeking out from the tunnel, Lucy followed Tristan’s wide-eyed gaze...over her head. The beast had Caleb pinned to the wall, twenty feet above them. Its two front feet gouged into Caleb’s shoulders, holding him in place, and its back feet pressed against Caleb’s legs. He spit and snarled against Caleb’s snout, then took a chunk out of his right wing. Letting out a guttural moan, Caleb whipped his tail, smacking the beast in the head. He pummeled the monster with his wings.

  Nothing worked. Nothing could release Caleb from the beast’s cemented grip.

  “Do something!” Lucy screamed at Tristan.

  But he’d already jumped into action. Tristan unsheathed two daggers from his boots, spun them in his hands and chucked them at the beast’s back. They hit their mark, sinking into its crooked spine. The beast shrieked and writhed, dropping Caleb from its grasp as it flew around the cavern walls.