“You don’t know them like we do, Neridia,” Chase said. He looked grimmer than Neridia had ever seen him, his usually smiling mouth set in a hard line. “We’ve run into shark shifters before. One of them tried to kill my mate. Another nearly ripped Griff’s family in half. You can’t trust them. They’re lying, evil bastards, every last one.”
“Like all red dragons are greedy pyromaniacs?” Dai said, one auburn eyebrow rising. “My people’s reputation is no better than that of the sharks, Chase. I’m with Neridia. We need to get Griff back down here from Scotland. His eagle eyes will be able to tell us if this shark is lying.”
“No,” John said, with utter finality. “I will not disturb my oath-brother.”
“I don’t know why you’re so concerned about interrupting his honeymoon,” Hugh said. He was keeping as much distance as he could between himself and John, though Neridia was certain that was more to do with the paramedic’s strange sensitivity to mated pairs than the sea dragon’s simmering wrath. “I mean, you did already call him out to a fire on his actual wedding night. It’s a bit late to worry about disturbing him.”
“Hugh’s right,” Dai said. The red dragon shifter folded his powerful arms across his chest, meeting John’s angry glare without flinching at all. “I mean, that Griff won’t mind taking a day out of his honeymoon to help. He’d want to be involved. He’s not going to be happy about you not calling him.”
John shook his head stubbornly. “As shield-brother Hugh kindly reminds me, I have already infringed on my oath-brother’s sacred time with his new mate. I will not trouble him further with such a small matter.”
“You call this a small matter?” Neridia couldn’t believe her ears. “Our lives are at stake here, John! We need to know whether the Master Shark is telling the truth!”
“It does not matter whether or not he is telling the truth!” John shouted, painful harmonics scratching around his words like discordant violins. “Even if he is, it changes nothing!”
“How can you say that? It changes everything!”
Rose stepped firmly between the two of them, holding out her hands like a referee at a boxing match. “All right, time out. Both of you, take a deep breath and calm down. Remember, you’re mates. You can work this out, but not by yelling at each other.”
Neridia blushed, realizing the scene that they’d been causing. From the echo of embarrassment reflecting down the mate bond, John was equally mortified, though his own expression didn’t show it. His face settled into a polite, neutral mask.
“My sincere apologies, Your Majesty.” His voice was rigidly controlled again. “I spoke out of turn, forgetting my station. Please forgive me.”
Neridia clenched her jaw, having to forcibly swallow the urge to scream at him again. “No titles. Like Rose says, we’re mates. Just talk to me as your mate. I don’t understand why you don’t even want to find out the truth.”
John closed his eyes, bowing his head. For a long moment, he was silent, as if composing a difficult poem.
“Neridia,” he said at last, his deep blue eyes meeting hers. “Let us say that the Master Shark is correct. That he is not our true enemy, and an even more powerful hidden foe awaits us in Atlantis. What happens then?”
“Well…” Neridia hesitated, trying to work out where he was going with this. “Well, then obviously we can’t go to Atlantis.”
He shook his head slightly, gold charms glinting in his indigo hair. “A sea dragon does not flee a battle. We face the foe gladly, delighting in the joy of a challenge well-met.”
“That’s you, not me. I don’t have a code of honor I have to follow.”
“You may not have a formal code, but you have your own honor.” He held her gaze steadily. “Would you truly be content to allow fear to defeat you, before you even know your enemy?”
He didn’t mean it as a rebuke, she knew, but it stung nonetheless. “John, I’m not like you. I can’t fight. I don’t have magic powers. I can’t even speak your language! How do you expect me to be able to defeat anyone, let alone some mysterious foe who’s powerful enough to literally get away with murder?”
“I do not know,” he said softly. “But I do know that you will not face this enemy alone.”
His strength and certainty shone down the mate bond. His powerful warrior’s soul infused her own, his courage almost washing away her own doubts. His utter confidence in her was so absolute, she nearly believed in it herself.
Yes, whispered that strange inner voice, fierce and joyous. Together, we will fight. Together, we will win what is rightfully ours. No force in the sea or above it can stop us from claiming our Throne.
Neridia flinched, spooked by the uncanny sensation of something else speaking with her own thoughts. She still wasn’t sure whether she believed that it really was her inner sea dragon talking, as John had claimed.
It’s probably just my imagination. Or maybe it’s really John’s thoughts, and I’m picking up on them do
wn the mate bond. That sounds more likely.
Common sense came crashing back, drowning out the alien whisper. What was she thinking? She was just a human, and a too-big, ungainly, timid one at that. She hardly needed a shadowy enemy to prevent her from taking the Throne. Every sea dragon in the entire ocean would doubtless laugh themselves sick if she even tried to claim that she was their Empress.
“No,” she said, hating the way that her voice came out weak and tremulous. “I can’t do it, John. I just can’t.”
“You can, and you must. You are the Empress-in-Waiting. You must go to Atlantis. You must claim your Throne.”
“I can’t!” She pressed her fists to her forehead, feeling like her own thoughts were being squashed against the inside of her skull by the force of his willpower pressing down the mate bond. “I don’t want the Throne! I don’t want to be Empress! I don’t even want to be a sea dragon!”