Flattening her wings, she dove deep into the water and looked around, quickly spotting a tangle of roots beneath a large section of trees half in and half out of the water. She shot toward them, shifting into human form as she went and slipping into them before pulling herself upward to hide behind them, her head barely above water so she could breathe. The water was freezing and she found herself shivering uncontrollably, but she didn’t dare try to move from where she was.
Kevin remained in dragon form, swimming back and forth not far from there, but not spotting her behind the heavy roots. He was most likely expecting her to still be in her dragon form so that she could remain under water longer. She watched as he swam by again, his body dark against the water, leaving her unable to make out much more than just his shape, but when he finally came back up to the surface, she almost gasped aloud.
He was a deep red with silver edges on his scales. The similarities in what was happening now and her dream were astounding. Had it been some sort of premonition? She remained quiet, trying not to make a sound, even as something swam back and forth past her legs, grazing them with its long sleek body. Her guess was a snake, but she didn’t really want to know.
Right now, her biggest concern was how to get out of here alive, but that question was quickly answered. There was a loud crash into the water as the red and silver body of Kevin’s dragon was torpedoed by the much larger and more powerful green and gold dragon she recognized as Yakov. Where had he come from? How had he found them? She cowered against the roots as they thrashed back and forth in the water, their powerful wings and mouths ripping and biting at one another, sending blood into the water around them.
Her heart beat wildly against her chest as they rolled around and around in the water not very far from her, like two crocodiles in a death roll. She was terrified. She could lose Yakov, who she had slowly begun to accept she had feelings for and who was the father of the children she was carrying. She could also lose her own life and the lives that grew inside her. She felt helpless and wanted to shift, to try and help, but she was afraid she would only be a distraction from the fight for Yakov.
Finally, the thrashing stopped and a body bobbed to the surface. It was horribly mangled now that it had shifted back into human form at death and she fought to hold back the urge to swim out to see. It was only when she saw the large green and gold scales shoot from the surface of the water that she finally let out her breath. Yakov shifted and began looking around.
“I’m here, Yakov. I’m here!” she shouted to him, slowly working her way out of the roots and toward him.
“Oh, thank God. I was so afraid I was too late. I’m so sorry, Aileen. I promised to protect you and I didn’t. I’m so sorry,” he said, pulling her around the tangled mass and toward his chest.
“It’s okay. We’re okay. Kevin? He’s dead?”
“Yes. He won’t be bothering anyone ever again.”
She nodded and looked up at him as they floated together in the water. A thought occurred to her.
“Oh, Yakov. Hannah! He killed Hannah!”
“No. No. He just knocked her out. She has a helluva a headache, but she’s going to be fine. She’s the one that told me what happened.”
“How did you get up the tunnels so fast?”
“I didn’t. I shifted and flew.”
“But people might have seen you.”
“People see UFOs all the time. It was an emergency.”
Aileen let out a huge sigh of relief and lay her head on his shoulder, but he pulled her head back up toward him and kissed her deeply before pulling away and looking down at her thoughtfully.
“I’ve changed my mind about you being my pretend wife.”
“Won’t that get you into trouble with the clan?”
“I wasn’t going to tell them. I have just realized today how much I love you. I want to marry you again, for real this time.”
“Really?”
“Yes. I love you, Aileen. Marry me.”
“I want to marry you for real too.”
“Then let’s get out of this damned dirty water and go home.”
“What about Kevin?”
“Someone is already on their way to get him. They’ll take care of it.”
They shifted and flew back up to the entrance of the tunnel, winding their way back home until they reached Yakov’s lair, but both of them were exhausted. Yakov picked up a phone laying in a small alcove nearby and called up to tell someone they were home and safe, but were not to be disturbed for a while. Rather than going back up, they shifted and curled up together in the large dragon’s nest where Aileen now knew Yakov had chosen to spend his nights prior to her arrival and she had to admit, it was kind of cool and something she’d never done.