Secrets of the Dragon’s Heart (Mysteries of Dragon’s Island #6)

Chapter 18

CHAPTER 18

***CAMERON***

C ameron flew into the living room, pulling on his pajama pants as he went, then stopped when he saw his brother standing in the doorway. “Well, damn, it really is true,” Zach said. “You’ve finally gone over to the other side. I knew it was going to happen someday. Is this her?”

He rushed across the room and put his arm around Kennedy. “Yes, this is Kennedy,” he said, preparing himself for a battle with his brother. “And before you start in on me, what are you doing here?”

“Max called me. He thought you might need some support,” Zach said, shrugging his shoulders. “Dad’s going to blow a gasket when he sees that picture of you. I thought I’d come and see if I could run a little interference. I know we haven’t always seen eye to eye in the past, but I’ve grown up since then.”

Shocked, he could only stare at his brother. They’d never been close, never had the kind of relationship brothers should have had. “Cameron, invite your brother in,” Kennedy said, elbowing him in the ribs. “He came to help, isn’t that nice? ”

“Sorry, come in,” he said, holding the door open. “I’m just so surprised to see you, I don’t know what to say.”

“Dad’s wrong, Cameron, wrong to try and force you into a position you don’t want to be in,” Zach said. “I’m not taking his side anymore. I never should have. I just wanted his approval so badly, and I blamed you when I didn’t get it.”

“I think I’ll go make some coffee and give you two some privacy,” Kennedy said, giving him a kiss on the cheek. “I’ll be in the kitchen if you need me.”

When Kennedy was gone, he gestured to one of the chairs by the empty fireplace, then sat in the one opposite his brother. “Did you really mean what you said?” he asked. “You’ve always been so squarely on Dad’s side, it’s hard to believe…”

“The last couple of years have really opened my eyes. Dad is so determined that it can only be his first-born son who leads the clan he’s tearing it apart,” he said. “Dad won’t listen to anyone, not even me. If something doesn’t change soon, the council is going to declare him unfit and remove him.”

“That would devastate him,” he said. “But that’s not going to make me change my mind. You should be the one leading the clan. You’ve been Dad’s shadow since you were a kid. You know the clan, and they respect you.”

“I’m glad to hear you say that. I always wondered if you thought I was up to the job,” Zach admitted. “I’ve been training for this my entire life. I just never thought the day would come when it might actually happen.”

“Well, it hasn’t happened yet,” he said. “We’ll have to appeal to the council. I’ll have to relinquish my right to lead, and they might not accept it. This isn’t something that’s done very often.”

“We’ll figure it out,” Zach said, a light in his eyes Cameron had never seen before. “I’ve got the council’s backing. We just need Dad to give in, and this stunt you just pulled might just do it.”

“It wasn’t a stunt, you idiot, we were attacked by a tiger,” he said. “I had to shift to save Kennedy.”

“I figured that was the way things were after Max filled me in,” Zach said, pulling a velvet-covered box out of his pocket. “I thought you might want this.”

He opened the box, a wave of emotion washing over him, “Grandma’s ring,” he finally said, then looked up at his brother. “Thank you, Zach, I don’t know how you knew, but this is perfect.”

“Does she know yet?” Zach asked, looking into the kitchen. “If not, you might want to put that away.”

“I haven’t asked her yet, but I’m going to this morning,” he said. “I’m going to marry her today down at the beach right before we launch the balloon.”

“Wow, you’re not messing around,” Zach said. “Are you sure, Cameron? That might be rushing things.”

“It was Marie’s idea,” he said. “You remember her, don’t you?”

“Marie is here?” Zach asked. “How could I forget her? But the clan will never allow it.”

“Marie says it’s happened before. She says it’s in our history. If we’re bonded, the clan has to accept her,” he said. “We’ll have to pass some kind of a test in front of the council, but if we pass, we can be together.”

“Well, if you’re really supposed to be together, that shouldn’t be a problem then,” Zach said. “What exactly is this test?”

“That’s the problem, I don’t know, it’s buried somewhere in our history,” he said. “I don’t suppose you know someone who’s an expert in this stuff?”

“There are a few people I can think of, but it would take time,” Zach said. “And I don’t think we have enough of that. ”

“Too bad we don’t have the library here,” he said. “I’m sure we could find what we needed between the two of us.”

Zach opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, the air in the cabin began to crackle. There was a loud cracking sound followed by several thuds in the kitchen. “Kennedy,” he said, jumping to his feet and running to the kitchen, his brother right behind him.

She stood by the table, a stack of plates in her hands, staring at something in front of her. “Are you okay?” he asked. What was that noise?”

“Are those yours?” she asked. “I was trying to set the table when they just appeared out of thin air. Maybe you could get them out of the way. They look kind of old.”

“What the hell? Where did those come from?” Zach asked, taking a few steps toward the table. “These are the books that we need…”

He laughed, then walked over and picked up the books off the table. “Make yourself useful and take this into the other room,” he said, handing them to Zach. “Welcome to Heart of the Ocean, little brother. That was nothing, you should have seen the tiger the island sent after us.”

***Kennedy***

Kennedy plunged her hands into the soapy water, listening to the two men behind her as they flipped through the ancient texts spread out on the table, a little smile on her face, more contented than she’d been in a long time. As she worked, there were gasps of excitement followed by groans of disappointment, and a few muttered conversations, but the two were working as a team, and she could see how happy it made Cameron.

When she was finished, she turned to the two men. “I’m all finished here. I think I’ll go take a shower,” she said, drying her hands on a towel. “Are you having any luck?”

“Some, but we’ve still got a long way to go,” Zach said. “Thank you for breakfast. You should have let us clean up, you cooked.”

“Don’t worry about it. It was no big deal, and you two are a little bit busy,” she said, smiling at Zach. “You can cook next time.”

“That’s a deal,” Zach said. “I’m quite talented with a barbeque grill; we’ll do dinner sometime.”

“I’m going to work a bit longer on this while you’re getting ready, then I need to hit the shower myself,” Cameron said, getting to his feet and pulling her into his arms. It’s going to be a busy day. Let’s take a walk on the beach before we go to Max’s. I want some time alone with you.”

“That’s sweet, Cameron,” she said, giving him a quick kiss. “But do you really think we should?”

“No one will miss us if we steal a few minutes to ourselves,” he said, his eyes full of warmth. “And there’s something really important that I want to talk to you about alone.”

“Hey, no fair. You know I can’t resist a secret,” she said, giving him a dirty look. “You just said that so I’d agree to go with you.”

“Maybe, maybe not,” he said, grinning at her. “You’ll just have to come with me to find out.”

There was a little chuckle behind them, and she turned to look over at Zach. “You stay out of this,” she said, but she was smiling at him. “He might have won this round, but I’ll get even.”

Zach studied her for a second. “I don’t doubt that for a second,” he said. “You’re an amazing woman, Kennedy, and my brother is lucky to have you. I’m really happy for you two. ”

“Thank you. I’m glad you and Cameron worked out your differences. Having you on our side makes all the difference,” she said. “Now I think I’ll go take that shower.”

“I’m going to hang out for a while longer, then go find a place to crash for a couple of hours,” Zach said. “I’ll see you down at the beach later.”

When she came out of the bedroom a little later, Zach and the books were gone, Cameron was stretched out on the couch, sound asleep, and she thought about just letting him sleep. But a second later, he stirred and opened his eyes. A smile spread across his face, he sat up and then patted the space next to him on the couch.

“You look beautiful today, but then again, you look beautiful every day,” he said, putting his arm around her. “I like waking up and having the first thing I see is your face.”

“Are you buttering me up for a reason?” she asked, feeling a blush warming her cheeks. “Not that I don’t like the compliments, I just…”

He silenced her with a kiss that made it clear what he was thinking, then pulled away from her. “You drive me crazy, but we don’t have time for that right now. I need a shower, and then we’re going for that walk.”

While Cameron was in the shower, she logged onto the internet using the code Max had given her, her heart beginning to pound when she saw the response to her press release. They were going to have an audience later that day, a much bigger one than she’d anticipated, and hoped that Max and the rest of the staff were prepared. She might have found a way to explain the picture, but it would bring a lot more attention to the island in the process.

Cameron came out of the bedroom a few minutes later. “I think we’d better skip that walk on the beach and go find Max right away,” she said. “The island is going to be overrun with people. My press release seems to have generated a lot of attention. Walter is having a fit, making statements anywhere he can that what he saw was real. If this doesn’t work…”

“It’s going to work,” Cameron said, pulling her to her feet, and then into his arms. “And Max already knows about the press release. He called Harrison yesterday and he got here this morning with a bunch of his men. The island is as safe as it can be.”

She buried her face in his chest, inhaling the clean scent of soap and his own unique scent. A wave of comfort washed over her, and she let out a long sigh. “I can’t stop thinking that this is all my fault,” she said. “We wouldn’t have to do all this if Walter hadn’t followed me to the island.”

“You can’t blame yourself. You couldn’t have known he was here. Max didn’t even know,” Cameron said. “I don’t want to hear another word about whose fault this is. You came up with a solution, which is way more important. Besides, something good has already come out of this. I found you, and I wouldn’t change that for anything in the world.”

“You’re right, I know you are,” she said, taking a deep breath and letting it out again. “Let’s go take that walk, I think I could use some quiet time before this all begins.”